How To Become A Recording Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a recording engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a recording engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.55 an hour? That's $78,099 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 12,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRecording EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,099

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 5.10%

Black or African American 9.23%

Hispanic or Latino 16.47%

Unknown 6.26%

White 62.58%

Gender

female 8.57%

male 91.43%

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 recording engineer

Explore recording engineer education requirements

Most common recording engineer degrees

Bachelor's

60.1 %

Associate

20.7 %

High School Diploma

6.7 %

Start to develop specific recording engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Digital Audio	17.24%
R	8.10%
Music Videos	6.38%
Analog	5.81%
Studio Equipment	5.04%

Complete relevant recording engineer training and internships

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

Research recording engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage PowerPoint and mixing music at the same time.
Prepare and run equipment during live FM broadcasts.
Work with ReverbNation, MP3.com, Facebook, YouTube platforms.
Trouble shooting software glitches in multiple DAW 's

Prepare your recording engineer resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Recording Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Recording Engineer 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 Recording Engineer resume.

Apply for recording engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a recording engineer 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 recording engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Recording Engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2021

Pros

i get to mix and master as well produce anything i can think of, anytime i want

Cons

how long it takes or the creative block i get when i cannot music for a few days