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

What is a light technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Brandon Vaccaro

A Light Technician is responsible for setting up the lights and effects used in television, film, and theatre. Light Technicians work closely with art directors and directors to know the appropriate effects required. They must have a vast knowledge of various effects like standard stage lighting and other special effects like searchlights and strobes.

The Light Technician sets up, repairs, and dismantles lighting arrays and the computer and electronic systems used to control them. They must have the technical know-how and understand complex systems. They may also be tasked with laying electrical cables, installing color effects or image patterns, focusing the lights, and creating effects or programming sequences.

A Light Technician must have technical and organization skills. You must be prepared for intense physical work and late hours. The Light Technician earns between $21 and $30 an hour.

What general advice would you give to a Light Technician?

Dr. Brandon Vaccaro

Associate Teaching Professor of Music Coordinator, Sound Recording Technology University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Massachusetts - Lowell

Specifically in music technology and sound recording, there is a lot of buzz about AI, particularly AI tools that can facilitate workflows. Rather than replace creatives in the field, we will likely see these tools used by creatives as part of a streamlined workflow.
Also, immersive mixing is very much in vogue, with a strong push from Apple and others to increase the amount of available content. It remains to be seen whether this will be a lasting trend or another flash in the pan.

ScoreLight TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,111

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.7

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 9.24%

Hispanic or Latino 16.55%

Unknown 6.36%

White 62.37%

Gender

female 13.43%

male 86.57%

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

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.3

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.6

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a light technician

Explore light technician education requirements

Most common light technician degrees

Bachelor's

45.0 %

High School Diploma

21.7 %

Associate

21.6 %

Start to develop specific light technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Ladders	13.81%
Hand Tools	9.14%
Light Fixtures	8.63%
OSHA	8.58%
A/V	5.81%

Complete relevant light technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New light 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 light technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real light technician resumes.

Research light technician duties and responsibilities

Maintain and manage multiple stages: FOH mix, monitor mix, and video presentation editing mix.
Provide support for the engineering, furnishing, and installation of classify and unclassify video teleconferencing systems and video distribution systems.
Communicate with other departments and coordinators to maintain order.

Prepare your light technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your light 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 light 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 Light Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Light 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 Light Technician resume.

Apply for light technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a light technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do light technicians rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Light Technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2023

Cons

Getting under paid. Dealing with rude customers and people who think they know it all. But I love my job

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

I get to work with top of the line gear, major players in big companies, it is normally a chilled and diverse atmosphere.