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

What is a radio technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Radio technicians are responsible for installing, maintaining, and repairing radio transmitting equipment and units. Radio technicians install and maintain radios and radio transmitters in a variety of industries, ranging from telecommunications, aerospace, navigation, broadcasting, shipping, and transportation. Their duties include, but are not limited to, monitoring the functionality and performance of radio units, troubleshooting issues and malfunctions that may arise, performing scheduled testing, repair and upgrades of radio transmitters and receivers, documenting step-by-step repair instructions and troubleshooting guides, and working with upper management to develop periodic maintenance charts.

Radio technicians have a broad knowledge of electronic principles, electronics theory, and electromagnetism, and are adept at detecting malfunctions and locating faults. They typically spend a part of the work week traveling to sites in the field to perform scheduled testing, repair and upgrades

Most radio technicians have a bachelor's or a certification in electrical engineering, communications or a relate field, however, an advanced degree is not a necessity if the individual has comparable experience. Radio technicians can make up to $43,000 per year, with job growth in the U.S. expected to grow 6% by 2028.

ScoreRadio TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,253

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.1

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 6.53%

Black or African American 11.78%

Hispanic or Latino 18.53%

Unknown 4.86%

White 57.67%

Gender

female 7.35%

male 92.65%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress Level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.4

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a radio technician

Explore radio technician education requirements

Most common radio technician degrees

Associate

40.0 %

Bachelor's

31.4 %

High School Diploma

16.4 %

Start to develop specific radio technician skills

Skills	Percentages
RF	11.08%
Test Equipment	6.02%
Electronic Equipment	4.81%
Radio Systems	4.13%
Two-Way Radio	3.79%

Complete relevant radio technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New radio 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 radio technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real radio technician resumes.

Research radio technician duties and responsibilities

Manage telecommunications installation and repair for hospital Nortel network.
Install, maintain and upgrade PBX's of Nortel and other brands.
Wire the system cable, LMR cable, RF jumpers, power cable according to wiring schematics.
Work as move, add, and change technician on Nortel, GTE, and Fujitsu PBX's and station equipment.

Prepare your radio technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your radio 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 radio 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 Radio Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Radio 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 Radio Technician resume.

Apply for radio technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a radio 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 radio technicians rate their job?

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Radio Technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2023

Pros

Very interesting because there is no end to learning it.