How To Become An Assistant Photo Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an assistant photo editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an assistant photo editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.18 an hour? That's $52,384 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an assistant photo editor?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScoreAssistant Photo EditorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,384

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 3.47%

Hispanic or Latino 7.82%

Unknown 4.55%

White 76.89%

Gender

female 63.23%

male 36.77%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an assistant photo editor

Explore assistant photo editor education requirements

Most common assistant photo editor degrees

Bachelor's

87.9 %

Associate

7.6 %

High School Diploma

2.2 %

Start to develop specific assistant photo editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Edit Photos	28.21%
Photo Research	13.88%
Adobe Photoshop	12.47%
Photo Shoot Production	9.44%
Photography Assignments	7.65%

Complete relevant assistant photo editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New assistant photo editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an assistant photo editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real assistant photo editor resumes.

Research assistant photo editor duties and responsibilities

Manage international man-made fiber market research/publishing company and supervise editorial content and sales of industry statistical journal.
Compose sales- and customer-facing technical documentation, PowerPoint presentations, and training guides to enhance user experience and knowledge.
Create corporate portraits for national non-profit organization and others, including photos of executive management and clients.

Prepare your assistant photo editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your assistant photo editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an assistant photo editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable assistant photo editor resume templates

Build a professional assistant photo editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your assistant photo editor resume.