There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a special effects specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.22 an hour? That's $58,694 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many special effects specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, speaking skills and leadership skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a special effects specialist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 19.9% of special effects specialists included data entry, while 17.2% of resumes included product knowledge, and 13.0% of resumes included procedures. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the special effects specialist job title. But what industry to start with? Most special effects specialists actually find jobs in the non profits and manufacturing industries.
If you're interested in becoming a special effects specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 42.8% of special effects specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.4% of special effects specialists have master's degrees. Even though most special effects specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a special effects specialist. When we researched the most common majors for a special effects specialist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on special effects specialist resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a special effects specialist. In fact, many special effects specialist jobs require experience in a role such as customer service representative. Meanwhile, many special effects specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as specialist or internship.
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The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.9% of special effects specialists listed data entry on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and speaking skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a special effects specialist. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and New Hampshire. Special effects specialists make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $102,589. Whereas in Connecticut and Delaware, they would average $102,518 and $100,182, respectively. While special effects specialists would only make an average of $94,642 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Delaware
$100,183
Avg. Salary
2. Indiana
$83,355
Avg. Salary
3. District of Columbia
$95,253
Avg. Salary