How to Become a Broadcast Engineer

Broadcast engineers work on the transmitter technologies of television and radio stations. The work of these engineers is now expanding to include digital signals and broadcasting. In order to become a broadcast engineer, you'll need an educational background in electrical engineering.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

1. Study electrical engineering at college. This discipline is the backbone of broadcast engineering. Some schools offer engineering electives or minors that deal directly with broadcast work.

2. Get involved with your college's television or radio station. Often these stations will employ or contract a broadcast engineer whom you may be able to shadow or volunteer to help. Additionally, you may be able to work on the audial or visual engineering at these stations.

3. Look for an engineering internship at a local radio or television station to further build your resume. The types of things you'll be working on at the internship will be very different from the work at the college station. For example, the signal broadcast will be much stronger away from campus, so you may have to help deal with complaints of interference.

4. Join an electrical engineering group after you graduate to help you with your job search. One of the most common and largest groups is the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (see Resources below). Groups like the IEEE often provide workshops and classes to their members to help them stay on top of industry advancements.

5. Stay up to date on digital broadcast technologies. As radio and television stations begin to offer Internet streams of more of their material, the stations' broadcast engineers are becoming responsible for this content, too. Some stations are able to hire a separate engineer to work on the digital material, but many smaller stations don't have the budget for a second engineer.

Tips & Warnings

• Some freelance engineers are able to make a living working as the broadcast consultant for several local stations. You should have around 5 years of broadcast experience before you try to become a freelance engineer.
• If you're an adventurous person, consider interviewing with foreign news bureaus who need a broadcast engineer. If you want to become this kind of engineer, it would be helpful to study a second language during college.
• Be sure to learn about the safety precautions that are needed when working in a station's broadcast tower.

Resources

• More information about the industry and broadcast jobs at IEEE, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Who Can Help Sponsored

• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.

[davidhall3]

on 4/12/2009 I'm a Broadcast Engineer of 30 years. It would be great if you would add more details concerning what we do and how we do it.