Sound Engineer (Audio Engineer) CV Examples & Writing Guide

This sample mixes front of house at a mid-size venue and freelances on UK tours and festivals. Venue and company names are left out. Notice that consoles, channel counts and room capacities are on the page, because that is how production managers judge whether you can handle their show.

"Audio engineer" covers several jobs that hire on different evidence. Pick the one you are applying for and lead with its numbers.

“Tell me the desks and the channel counts and I know in ten seconds whether to call you. What I cannot use is a CV that says passionate about sound with a list of software. Passion does not fix a dead multicore channel eight minutes before doors.”

Two or three lines. Name the discipline, the gear, the volume of work and one reliability fact.

Audio CVs tend to list gear with no context. Attach the count, the room and the outcome.

Be specific enough that another engineer would recognise you as one of them.

• Consoles and control: the exact desks you mix on, input and mix counts, show file preparation, offline editing, virtual soundcheck.
• Systems: PA deployment and alignment, measurement software such as Smaart or Open Sound Meter, delay and fill design, amplifier and processor platforms, power distribution basics.
• Networking: Dante, AES67, AVB, switch configuration, IP addressing and clock management. This is now a hiring gate at most venues, so say your level.
• RF: spectrum scanning, frequency coordination, antenna distribution, in-ear monitor systems, intercom.
• Studio and post: your DAW, mic locker knowledge, preamps and outboard, editing and comping, mixing and stem delivery, loudness standards for broadcast and streaming, restoration tools.
• Practical: rigging awareness, load-in and load-out, cable practice and repair, soldering, tool kit, driving and trailer towing, working long call days safely.

No licence is required to be a sound engineer in the UK. A handful of certifications do open doors, especially in venues, places of worship and corporate AV.

• Dante Certification Program from Audinate, Levels 1 to 3. The most commonly requested audio certification in venue and install work, and it is free to study at the lower levels.
• Avid Pro Tools Certified Operator or Expert. Useful for studio, post and any facility running Pro Tools as the standard.
• AVIXA Certified Technology Specialist (CTS). Recognised in corporate AV and integration work rather than touring.
• Recognised rigging and temporary power training, if your job crosses into rigging or event electrical work. Name the course and the provider.
• IOSH Working Safely, plus Emergency First Aid at Work. Small, cheap and they matter on a load-in call.
• Portfolio: for studio and post work, link a discography, a showreel or a public credit list. For live work, list notable rooms and tours instead, and offer references from production managers.

Almost everyone starts by pushing cases and coiling cable. Venues and production companies hire on attitude, availability and whether you already own a working kit.

1. 1Say your availability first: nights, weekends, early load-in calls, on call for short-notice covers. That is what gets a new name onto the crew list.
2. 2Count everything you have done, however small. Student union shows mixed, sessions assisted, hours in the room, events covered, bands you have run monitors for.
3. 3Name the gear you have actually put your hands on, and be honest about depth. "Mixed on QL1, familiar with CL5" is credible; a list of ten desks is not.
4. 4Get Dante Level 1 and 2. They are free to study, they are on real job adverts, and few entry-level applicants bother.
5. 5Own a basic kit: measurement mic, a good multitool, adapters, gaffer tape, a torch and a spare cable or two. Say so on the CV; it reads as professional.
6. 6Take the unglamorous work. Stage crew and A2 calls are how you meet the people who book engineers, and one reliable load-in leads to the next call.

One page, two at most. Most audio work is booked by relationship, so the CV's job is to confirm you are real and get you a conversation.

• Put gear and consoles in a clearly labelled block so a production manager can scan it in three seconds.
• Use the advert's word: sound engineer, audio engineer, A1, A2, audio technician, FOH engineer, monitor engineer, recording engineer, post audio.
• Say whether you travel, whether you have a vehicle and whether you can tow, since touring and regional work depend on it.
• For venue and corporate roles, an ATS may be involved: keep the layout single column, no graphics, no photo, no date of birth, as is normal on a UK CV.
• Add a short line offering references from production managers. In this field a phone call from someone who has worked a bad night with you is worth more than the whole page.