What does a Sound Engineering Technician do?

Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions. Day to day that includes work like record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment and Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.

What skills should a Sound Engineering Technician put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Sound Engineering Technician list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Audition, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Sound Engineering Technician work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Audio Engineer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, and Sound Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Sound Engineering Technician need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 22% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Sound Engineering Technician role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Sound Engineering Technician resume example

A resume for a Sound Engineering Technician needs to show the work itself: assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions. Day to day that means work like this: record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment; confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Audio Engineer
Mixer
Recording Engineer
Sound Engineer
Audio Operator
Mastering Engineer
Mixing Engineer
Sound Editor
Sound Technician
Studio Engineer
Audio DSP Engineer
Acoustical Engineer
Audio Digital Signal Processor Engineer
Audio Recording Engineer
Audio Video Engineer
Disc Recordist
Dub Room Engineer
Film Recordist

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.
Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.
Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage.
Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles.
Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.
Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.
Keep logs of recordings.
Mix and edit voices, music, and taped sound effects for live performances and for prerecorded events, using sound mixing boards.
Synchronize and equalize prerecorded dialogue, music, and sound effects with visual action of motion pictures or television productions, using control consoles.
Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment.
Report equipment problems and ensure that required repairs are made.
Tear down equipment after event completion.

14 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Audition
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Apple Final Cut Pro
Apple macOS
Audio editing software
Autodesk AutoCAD
Avid Pro Tools
Avid Technology audio visual editing software
Avid Technology Pro Tools
Cisco IOS

34 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

1/3 octave equalizers
Amplifiers
Audio compressors
Audio filters
Audio mixer consoles
Cable testers
Channel equalizers
Condenser microphones
Desktop computers
Digital audio recorders
Digital delay pedals
Digital oscilloscopes

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

IBM Middleware
Unity Technologies Unity

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Reading Comprehension
04Complex Problem Solving
05Critical Thinking
06Writing
07Active Learning
08Judgment and Decision Making
09Monitoring
10Operations Monitoring

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Computers and Electronics
Engineering and Technology
Communications and Media
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Telecommunications
Fine Arts
Psychology

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

22%Associate's Degree
22%Bachelor's Degree
19%Less than a High School Diploma

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Sound Engineering Technician do?: Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions. Day to day that includes work like record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment and Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.
What skills should a Sound Engineering Technician put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Sound Engineering Technician list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Audition, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Sound Engineering Technician work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Audio Engineer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, and Sound Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Sound Engineering Technician need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 22% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Sound Engineering Technician role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.