Senior operator vs tape operator

The differences between senior operators and tape operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior operator, becoming a tape operator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior operator has an average salary of $85,677, which is higher than the $60,356 average annual salary of a tape operator.

The top three skills for a senior operator include safety procedures, math and powerpoint. The most important skills for a tape operator are tape library, troubleshoot, and mainframe.

Senior operator vs tape operator overview

	Senior Operator	Tape Operator
Yearly salary	$85,677	$60,356
Hourly rate	$41.19	$29.02
Growth rate	7%	10%
Number of jobs	45,548	26,204
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	2

Senior operator vs tape operator salary

Senior operators and tape operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Operator	Tape Operator
Average salary	$85,677	$60,356
Salary range	Between $54,000 And $135,000	Between $38,000 And $93,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	-
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	-
Best paying company	Google	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between senior operator and tape operator education

There are a few differences between a senior operator and a tape operator in terms of educational background:

	Senior Operator	Tape Operator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Business	Photography
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Senior operator vs tape operator demographics

Here are the differences between senior operators' and tape operators' demographics:

	Senior Operator	Tape Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2%	Male, 75.9% Female, 24.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 17.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 2.6% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 12.3% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	4%	10%

Differences between senior operator and tape operator duties and responsibilities

Senior operator example responsibilities.

Measure and inspect parts with calipers, scale, MRP, leads, micrometers and taper.
Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Operate QC testing equipment such as calipers and micrometers.
Experience with MVS and JES2 command sets, the weekly shutdown and initial power load of production systems.
Assist in migration to the LAN environment, perform quality control and JCL setup and interface with user and vendor communities.
Train with TSO, JES2, and UCC7.

Tape operator example responsibilities.

Create large quantities of VHS dubs from master tapes both digital & analog formats.
Duplicate tapes into D2 , 1", 3/4"and 1/2"formats.
Operate all standard def machines and exposure to high def machines (D5, HDCAM, DVCPRO HD).
Respond to console and ATL messages.
key punch data using key to disk system
Experience with DVD authoring and mass duplication.

Senior operator vs tape operator skills

Common senior operator skills

Safety Procedures, 17%
Math, 8%
PowerPoint, 7%
Windows, 5%
Logistics, 5%
CDL, 5%

Common tape operator skills

Tape Library, 23%
Troubleshoot, 16%
Mainframe, 5%
Unix, 4%
QC, 4%
Disk, 4%

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Senior Operator
Senior Operator vs Tape Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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