AudioVisual Work

Whether you are looking to change career tracks, or are starting at the very beginning of your professional life, the audiovisual field is a path worth considering. While a decade ago many who embarked into AV work learned on the job, now there are many educational programs in audiovisual skills. Vocational and technical schools, along with some art schools and universities are now offering certificate and degree programs to train the next wave of AV professionals. Even with a good education and training, many audiovisual workers starting out begin in apprenticeships and internships. Usually lower-paid positions, the idea is that young AV professionals must learn to work and problem-solve on their feet, and therefore in these ‘stepping-stone’ positions are being partially compensated for their work by the continued education and exposure they get on the job. In most circumstances these beginning positions are wonderful start-outs and a great foundation for a lucrative AV career to come.

What makes the audiovisual field a smart career choice? The most dominant factor is the great expansion this field has witnessed in the last fifteen years. Audiovisual work went from being a small niche in the educational and entertainment realm to being broadly applied to hospitality, event planning, art, fashion and even the corporate sector. From the highest levels of corporate conferencing to rural elementary school classrooms, audiovisual technology can be found functioning on a daily basis. This means that innovation is demanded of the AV field constantly. As more sectors wish to apply this technology, more technicians and engineers must trouble-shoot new applications and uses. As the work becomes more creatively and technically sophisticated, so to does the compensation. Pay, even at the lower and beginning levels is on the high end of reasonable for audiovisual professionals. And, unlike many industries, the economic recession was kind to technological fields like audiovisual.

One of the other benefits of choosing the audiovisual line of work is the prevalence of quality audiovisual staffing agencies. Agencies who do audiovisual staffing, as well as other sorts of technical job staffing, are a huge help to AV workers, both in landing those first jobs, and also in continuing to maintain steady employment. To climb the career ladder, audiovisual professionals often must work a variety of different jobs, for different sorts of employers. Sometimes this is project-to-project, short term work, though longer more permanent jobs are also available. Either way, career growth usually makes it essential for AV professionals to stay informed about the opportunities present in the job market. Audiovisual staffing agencies serve as a key connection to companies that regularly need audiovisual staff, and a recruiter at a staffing organization can be one of the most important relationships a young AV professional can have. Above and beyond all of the good logistical reasons to investigate a career in the audiovisual field, is that these jobs can be creatively satisfying. With more freedom than many desk jobs and a greater artistic aspect than many other technical fields, AV work starts, and stays, exciting.

Audio Visual Systems

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The Amusement Park Industry, often categorized under Hospitality, is a very specific type of employment, and the jobs available are growing in number. Attraction centers and amusement complexes have grown over the past thirty years, not only in number but in size. From small carnivals or gaming parks, to large multi-resort centers, the technology-based job roster is large and multi-faceted. All over the United States and, for that matter, all over the developed world, these entertainment-based parks and resorts are expanding and evolving to stay cutting edge, profitable and fun for clientele. The audiovisual effects used at amusement parks are often large in scale, and thus so are the corresponding AV systems and technologies present to create them. The creative and technical minds that get to design, install and maintain these audiovisual systems are highly sought after, and often come from a pretty select group of audiovisual professionals.

As one might easily conclude, the creme-de-la-creme of amusement park work is with the mother of all entertainment companies: Disney. Theme parks, resorts, hotels, tours and cruise lines, all from the initial branding point of an animated mouse. Often, on the same lines as event planning and management, there are audiovisual components to jobs that might not usually lean heavily in that direction. Often Stage Managers and Event Coordinators are required by Disney to have some audiovisual knowledge or to receive appropriate training in the field. In Massachusetts, and in Orlando, Florida, Disney is seeking Audio Visual Systems Interns. In Hong Kong the corporation is looking for several different Designers and Technicians to build and run AV systems. Often technical audiovisual work falls under the Disney job title of ‘Entertainment Technician’ especially at particular resort or cruise- line locations. Disney is a respectively good organization to work for, with lots of benefits packages and workers perks extended to employees of all levels. They also like to hire from within and take care of their own, so once a professional has broken through the Disney door, they can find a great deal of continual career growth behind it.

At Disney, and with other entertainment companies and amusement parks getting the desired position is not always easy. This is where audiovisual staffing comes into play. Agencies that do audiovisual staffing often staff multiple sorts of technical jobs. AV staffing agencies interview job seekers and gather together a database of skilled professionals. This database of resumes and portfolios is then used to fill job openings at companies who hire or work with the audiovisual staffing agency. Because AV jobs are often contract-based and short term, it is important to the professionals and to the field at large, that audiovisual staffing agencies are at work to keep the community consistently employed. AV staffing agencies can work with all levels of the industry from interns and technicians, to designers and engineers. These audiovisual staffing agencies are sometimes also responsible for payroll and benefits, acting almost like a moveable human resources department that sends out workers to specific projects and locations. Other agencies simply connect workers with the jobs at hand. For jobs in the amusement and entertainment industry, audiovisual staffing is a key component.

#1 The Market is Growing

As audiovisual and other information technologies are applied to a broader range of fields and circumstances, the economic market for this industry and for this type of work is expanding. Though the hard numbers are a little more difficult to pin down, the number of participants in industry seminars and the number of AV companies incorporating in the United States has grown in the last few years. This is good news for all the newly-trained and educated audiovisual designers, engineers, and technicians coming out of technical institutes and universities. While even ten years ago AV was a very small and niche career choice, now audiovisual technology can be seen applied in almost every sector of public and private industry. At the corporate level, a lack of audiovisual representation speaks to a lack of professionality. The art and design world is also heavily dependent on AV technologies, not to mention advertising, education and even the government.

#2 The American Educational System in Married to the Audiovisual Field

Almost more so than any other economic force in the U.S., the education system is in strong relation with audiovisual tech. From the public primary school system, where AV technology is used to bring sound, image and video elements right into the classroom so young minds can learn and be inspired, up to the schooling at the collegiate level where no accredited university system can be taken seriously without extensive classroom, laboratory and in-field audiovisual systems, AV in schools is big and obvious. The support jobs are growing in quantity, but so are the professorial, teaching and research careers in the AV field. As audiovisual technologies become more utilized in everyday situations, students have more expectation of it’s presence within their education, and more research shows that is enables learning in an important way. While education-based jobs may seem less lucrative or more restricted than, say, corporate AV careers, education is actually a big money maker and has a high demand for audiovisual professionals.

#3 AV/IT, How to Land the Right Job

While a decade ago the audiovisual field and the information technology field were two separate industries, the crossover between the two has recently become so much that the differentiating line has become almost invisible. This means that AV job hunting has begun to take a whole new route. Audiovisual staffing serves to connect AV professionals with the long and short term work they need. Now, agencies that work in audiovisual staffing are seeking more AV techs with IT skills and experience. Many AV staffing job listings and connections also may call the roll an ‘IT’ role, but are really looking for someone who is heavily proficient in audiovisual technologies. Because of this growth towards and with IT, audiovisual staffing recruiters must compile a strong case for worker’s technological abilities beyond the usual audiovisual knowledge. Some companies that do audiovisual staffing have specific trainings offered to current AV and IT workers to educate them more towards the corresponding focus and thus make them more employable. As this crossover continues to grow and meld titles may even shift and more space will be created for AV professionals to find work.

Audiovisual work is booming. In the United States, and abroad, demand for professionals in the audiovisual field has grown as the technology therein has been application to a wide range of industries. Schools use AV technology to attract and educate students from primary to collegiate institutions. Event planners use audiovisual effects to create ambience and project film and image. Hotels and other hospitality organizations retain AV staff to install and maintain video conferencing and corporate presentation equipment. Companies and businesses of all sorts use audiovisual means to promote cutting edge communications, marketing and sales. As AV technology become more and more utilized in various circumstances and more industries become dependent on these technological means, audiovisual staffing agencies are kept on their toes to meet the hiring requirements.

Especially in U.S. west coast cities, audiovisual staffing is helping to connect technicians with a variety of jobs that fall under the scope of AV work. These jobs offerings have a diverse array of types and sorts. In Seattle, WA, for example, Premera Blue Cross, a health and insurance provider is seeking a Multimedia Creative Designer to develop media and trouble shoot graphic design and presentation for brand development, research, marketing, sales and corporate communications. Candidates should hold a degree from an accredited source of education and have at least five years experience in this sort of design and application based field. This job leans more towards the creative end of audiovisual staffing, however it is important to note that Premera is seeking someone with strong technical and hands-on skills to apply the media they design.

Seattle isn’t the only west coast location in need of audiovisual technicians. Near San Francisco, in Emeryville, CA, Davidson Hotels and Resorts is looking for an AudioVisual Manager to oversee the AV components for banquets, conferences and events at the Hilton Garden Inn. This represents a good full time AV position, with a retirement package, paid leave, and all the benefits and perks of working for a hospitality company. Audiovisual staffing recruiters often help to do the headhunting for jobs such as these, and can aid qualified technicians in climbing the professional ladder to steady work like this.

Further South, in the greater Los Angeles area UCLA is looking for a Senior AV technician. This job with the University of California, Los Angeles, is mainly to coordinate and support the audiovisual needs for events and projects. As a senior tech, this also requires the training of staff, and the managing the logistical considerations of organizing and distributing equipment throughout the various educational departments, staff, and students. This is a ‘career’ classified position, meaning that it is long term or permanent hire. With the benefits of working for a large university and the stability of and audiovisual job in education, this is not an opportunity to be ignored. While higher education usually does it’s own hiring, audiovisual staffing can still send technicians in the right direction and frequently collaborate with schools seeking specifically qualified techs. This job, like others becoming available on the west coast can be sought through AV staffing.

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AudioVisual describes work of many types and jobs with many different qualifications. AV is a term for any technologies that involve image, film, and sound, and particularly the coordination of those components. At conference centers and event locations audiovisual technicians are employed to install and update, maintain and repair the AV equipment that promotes communication, entertainment and presentation. This places audiovisual workers in a variety of umbrella fields including: hospitality, event planning, corporate communications, film, television, radio and education.

Audio Visual Jobs

A good deal of audiovisual jobs are temporary. Based on contracts, and usually part time, these sorts of AV jobs are designed per project or per event; a one time deal. This means that audiovisual contractors may be flooded with work and income at some times, and underemployed at others. Agencies that do audiovisual staffing are a great help to solving the problem of inconsistent hire. Audiovisual staffing agencies build a base network of technical and creative AV workers. The agency is then hired by companies to find workers for specific projects and positions, both short or long term. Audiovisual professionals who are working on a somewhat freelance basis depend heavily on a good relationship with one or more audiovisual staffing agency to help keep them steadily working and making income.

One of the biggest questions in a technical field like Audiovisual is if, when, and how to transition from contract to contract based employment to full time, or a single position with a specific company or organization. Depending on location there is bound to be more or less AV work and that work has the potential to be more or less lucrative. Urban areas generally have more opportunities at all levels, but there is also more competition for these jobs. It is difficult to predict success, but if you have the energy and the connections to seek contract-for-hire AV gigs through an agency that does audiovisual staffing, you may stand to work more hours and make more money than in a salaried position. However, if the work in the area hits a slow spell or is minimal to start with, the consistency offered by a steady position may be more beneficial.

Audio Visual Staffing

The other issue at hand is the existence of jobs with companies that are themselves contracted for hire, and may have no way to guarantee how much work they will get hired for, or how many jobs they will be able to send each worker out on. Recruiters who do audiovisual staffing may be able to give a clearer idea of which route is the most beneficial in each area and for each worker. Obviously, the more adaptable and qualified the audiovisual technician, the more suitable job openings there will be. Jobs in education, especially at colleges and universities are often more maintainable. These institutions are in continual need of audiovisual technology and professionals to manage them. Even in poor economic times, educational organizations tend to stay afloat and solvent. It is a tough call, and every situation is different, however it is important to consider the progression of your audiovisual career.