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Board operator vs station engineer

The differences between board operators and station engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a board operator and a station engineer. Additionally, a station engineer has an average salary of $97,899, which is higher than the $42,557 average annual salary of a board operator.

The top three skills for a board operator include adobe audition, phone calls and control room. The most important skills for a station engineer are troubleshoot, HVAC, and engineering support.

Board operator vs station engineer overview

Board OperatorStation Engineer
Yearly salary$42,557$97,899
Hourly rate$20.46$47.07
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs31,34822,120
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

Board operator vs station engineer salary

Board operators and station engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Board OperatorStation Engineer
Average salary$42,557$97,899
Salary rangeBetween $24,000 And $73,000Between $64,000 And $149,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between board operator and station engineer education

There are a few differences between a board operator and a station engineer in terms of educational background:

Board OperatorStation Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorCommunicationElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeNew York UniversityJohns Hopkins University

Board operator vs station engineer demographics

Here are the differences between board operators' and station engineers' demographics:

Board OperatorStation Engineer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 64.4% Female, 35.6%Male, 93.8% Female, 6.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 7.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 5.4% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between board operator and station engineer duties and responsibilities

Board operator example responsibilities.

  • Manage website, Spreaker, Podbean, iTunes, YouTube and other social media accounts.
  • Manage and update show's Facebook page and website with strategically tailor content aim at growing audience base.
  • Work behind the scenes screening calls, adjusting microphone volumes, monitoring commercials, and managing clips for intro/outro bump music.
  • Ensure all commercials, broadcast components, EAS tests and logs are correct and FCC compliant.
  • Work as a radio DJ for WJVL / WCLO.
  • Host live air shift from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily for FM country station.
  • Show more

Station engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage system outages for several Nokia wireless telecommunications switches operation on the Unix platform.
  • Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
  • Monitor, troubleshoot of Redcom 5EES switches.
  • Maintain daily FCC logs for station operation.
  • Administer the facility LAN and PBX system.
  • Provide support and direction to DJs and staff.
  • Show more

Board operator vs station engineer skills

Common board operator skills
  • Adobe Audition, 11%
  • Phone Calls, 11%
  • Control Room, 10%
  • Wide Orbit, 8%
  • Control Board, 5%
  • FCC, 4%
Common station engineer skills
  • Troubleshoot, 26%
  • HVAC, 25%
  • Engineering Support, 20%
  • FCC, 16%
  • RF, 7%
  • CAD, 3%

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