What is a production specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Erin Dougherty

A production specialist oversees the manufacturing or creation of goods within a company. They work to ensure efficient and effective production for products that meet quality standards. This includes managing production schedules, coordinating with departments, troubleshooting issues, and implementing improvements. They may also train and supervise production staff, as well as monitor inventory levels and order supplies. A production specialist aims to produce products on time, within budget, and according to quality standards.

What general advice would you give to a production specialist?

Erin Dougherty

Associate Professor of Costume Design Costume Director, Catawba College

Don't underestimate what you can do. Make sure to advocate for yourself, push for the max salary listed once you've been offered the job, and be firm that you meet the qualifications. Talk about the skills you can do, how you can collaborate, and adjacent skill sets that could come into play, including "soft" skills. Don't lie of course, because that will come back to bite you, and facts are really easy to check these days. You need to express self-confidence if you're going to survive in this industry, and overall, be a good person to work with.

ScoreProduction SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,090

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.29%

Asian 6.32%

Black or African American 10.78%

Hispanic or Latino 18.38%

Unknown 4.28%

White 58.94%

Gender

female 37.62%

male 62.38%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a production specialist?

Pros

Opportunities for growth and advancement within the company
Competitive salary and benefits package
Ability to develop technical skills in areas such as audio, video, and lighting
Opportunities for travel to different locations for on-site productions
Ability to work on high-profile events with well-known clients

Cons

Long, irregular hours including nights, weekends, and holidays
Limited personal time due to demanding schedule
Can involve extensive travel which can be tiring and disruptive to personal life
Can be difficult to maintain work-life balance due to demanding nature of job
Can involve a lot of standing or being on your feet for extended periods of time

Key steps to become a production specialist

Explore production specialist education requirements

Most common production specialist degrees

Bachelor's

49.7 %

Associate

21.4 %

High School Diploma

17.4 %

Start to develop specific production specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	35.67%
Customer Service	10.92%
Preventative Maintenance	7.81%
Math	7.69%
Production Process	7.68%

Complete relevant production specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production specialists 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 specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production specialist resumes.

Research production specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage and refine the metadata system for a photography database -communicate with customers over e-mail with regards to advertisement proofs
Labele individual components assuring accuracy in order to meet GMP and FDA guidelines.
Host and handle VIP lists and Facebook marketing, assist production crew during shows ,
Produce and cast several videos for the main Facebook page that reach millions of views.

Prepare your production specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production specialist 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 specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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Build a professional production specialist 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 specialist resume.