How To Become A Sound Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a sound technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Scott Boyle

The average sound technician salary is $43,270. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an music major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a sound technician. Sound technicians with a Master Certified Electronics Technician (CETma) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 12,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a sound technician?

Scott Boyle

Associate Professor/Technical Director, University of Minnesota - Duluth

Theater companies are still figuring things out post-pandemic. A lot of experienced workers moved on leaving some companies scrambling for people to fill the vacancies. There's also a lot of financial instability within the theater world. DO YOUR RESEARCH when searching for a job. Search for local articles written about the health of the Arts scene in that area. Look at the cost of housing, food and transportation. Be realistic about what it costs to live and how that stacks up against what the job pays.

ScoreSound TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,270

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 5.04%

Black or African American 9.31%

Hispanic or Latino 16.05%

Unknown 6.26%

White 62.97%

Gender

female 17.13%

male 82.87%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

0.5

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a sound technician

Explore sound technician education requirements

Most common sound technician degrees

Bachelor's

55.5 %

Associate

20.6 %

High School Diploma

15.6 %

Start to develop specific sound technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Sound Equipment	16.10%
Wireless Microphones	12.85%
Audio Equipment	12.80%
Technical Equipment	5.09%
Live Sound	4.98%

Complete relevant sound technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sound technicians 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 sound technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sound technician resumes.

Research sound technician duties and responsibilities

Create new costumes, props and scenery.
Coordinate costumes for various roles and scenes.
Set up all audio and dj equipment for schedule events.
Create weekly PowerPoint presentations for Sunday services as well as other events as they occur.

Prepare your sound technician resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable sound technician resume templates

Build a professional sound technician 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 sound technician resume.