Audio Visual Design Consultant
The average workplace is becoming a much more digital space, incorporating multimedia needs into a variety of spaces. The audio visual design consultant plays a key role in helping clients gain insight into the best hardware, software, and layouts to meet their AV needs.
Job Description & Responsibilities
Effectively, audio visual design consultants help clients, primarily in companies and organizations of all sizes, develop, install, and implement AV system plans. This means working with clients to understand their broadcasting, recording, and video conferencing needs and helping to choose the hardware, software, and control systems that fulfill them.
As the clients of an audio visual design consultant can change, so too can the demands of the job. From setting up small meeting rooms to creating interactive video walls for sales and conference environments, there are many different ways an AV design consultant can help. However, here are a few of the general duties to expect:
- Sourcing and implementing AV equipment plans designed to meet the client requirements.
- Installing, implementing and configuring the appropriate AV technologies.
- Listen to client needs and communicate audio visual solutions in response.
- Writing proposals and quotations for provided consultations.
- Project management, including creating plans about scope, schedule, and deliverables for each client.
- Work with client’s IT and AV team to ensure successful operation of all AV technologies.
Qualifications & Skills
Though most employers will state that it’s not required, an associate’s degree in fields related to AV design and engineering is preferred, such as multimedia operations to video and sound engineering.
Audio visual design consultants do require AV technician experience, however, it’s also helped by sales and customer service experience as it is primarily a client facing role. Naturally, staying up with the trends and technologies recently arrived on the market is an essential part of offering the most sought-after AV services, too. The following skills are also essential:
- Project management skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- The ability to understand client needs and highlight the appropriate solutions.
- Technical understanding of AV and IT technologies.
- Problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
- A willingness to continue learning about new AV technologies and trends on the job.
Certifications
Besides the education, experience, and skills you need, certifications can play a key role in helping you establish yours as an audio visual design consultant. Simply put, certification is proof that you have the expertise that you need to stay at the top of your field. When using Field Engineer, having the right certifications can help you gain access to more opportunities than those who don’t.
Both clients and employers trust those who come with the right certifications. When it comes to audio visual design consultants, here are a few worth considering:
- CTS
- Crestron
- Extron
- CEDIA
Job Outlook
Audio visual technicians, including design consultants, provide an essential role in a business environment leaning more and more heavily on multimedia. As such, jobs in the market are expected to grow at a rate of 8% between 2016 and 2026, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
While all audio visual design consultants work with clients, there is a distinct difference in working as an employee of a team and working as a freelancer. Employed consultants often work for AV technology brands or with distributors, acting as part of the sales process. Either way, they tend to be one of several steps in helping them meet a client’s AV needs.
Freelance audio visual design consultants can find all kinds of opportunities on Field Engineer, however. With the right experience, you can work with clients of all sizes, with the freedom to offer a much broader range of solutions at your discretion.
Salaries
According to PayScale.com, the average salary for an Audio Visual Design Consultant is $58,468, which is slightly above other AV engineers. Furthermore, the higher reported earnings of this role reach as high as roughly $86.
Freelancers looking to make around the same kind of salary should look to charge an average hourly rate of $22. However, there are AV designers charging anywhere from $15 to $38 based on the experience and expertise they can demonstrate.
The best way to see what you could stand to earn based on your own experience is to see which opportunities are readily available to you. Upload your resume to Field Engineer and not only can you search for audio visual systems design positions, but you can see what other positions are relevant to your skills and what you stand to earn from them by comparison.
