How To Become A Production Assistant/Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production assistant/editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

Do you want to be a key player on a film or television set? If you enjoy performing diverse projects, becoming a production assistant is the right career path for you.

Production assistants, otherwise popularly known as PAs, work in the cable, news, and film industries. They review cutbacks, coordinate plans, track invoices, and provide basic administrative assistance. Some PAs will aid technicians with sound and lighting. Working hours are also lengthy and exhausting, especially when deadlines are approaching. Unemployment periods between projects may occur.

Most employers select graduates with bachelor's degrees. Undergraduate programs in the areas of films and television broadcasting are available in many schools and generally provide hands-on work experience. These courses educate students about the equipment used in preproduction, production, and post-production processes. Employment is open in major cities for production assistants, but New York and Los Angeles area typically provide more options for work. Some employers also prefer assistant you have a background in using editing software programs.

What general advice would you give to a production assistant/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.

ScoreProduction Assistant/EditorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,759

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 7.28%

Black or African American 3.59%

Hispanic or Latino 8.15%

Unknown 4.59%

White 76.12%

Gender

female 51.91%

male 48.09%

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 a production assistant/editor

Explore production assistant/editor education requirements

Most common production assistant/editor degrees

Bachelor's

76.8 %

Associate

10.3 %

Master's

6.7 %

Start to develop specific production assistant/editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Adobe Photoshop	8.87%
Photography	6.68%
Audio Board	6.61%
Video Production	6.35%
Teleprompter	5.44%

Complete relevant production assistant/editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production assistant/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 a production assistant/editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production assistant/editor resumes.

Research production assistant/editor duties and responsibilities

Develop SEO strategies to increase profitability and manage social media to spread brand awareness and bolster readership.
Promote to improve design consistency of the daily metro sections.
Monitor internal systems for media requests, including tape and DVD duplication, encoding and file management.
Assist with filming and editing for a friend's YouTube channel covering inspirational minutes for community organization.

Prepare your production assistant/editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production assistant/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 a production assistant/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 production assistant/editor resume templates

Build a professional production assistant/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 production assistant/editor resume.

Apply for production assistant/editor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a production assistant/editor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do production assistant/editors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Production assistant/editor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019

Pros

Being an editor allowed me to give shape to a story or point of view that I otherwise would not have had any say in. I got to create a vision and put my mark on the work.