How to become a Camera Operator: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 61% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 18% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 15% Some College Courses
- 7% Bachelor's Degree
BLS typical entry-level education: a bachelor's degree
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film” in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Most camera operators report needing an associate's degree (61% of workers surveyed by O*NET). O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “no related experience needed” (30%), and for on-the-job training “anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month” (73%).
Data Government data groups this job as Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film (O*NET-SOC 27-4031.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
What BLS lists for workers in the BLS occupation “Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film”
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, workers in the BLS occupation “Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film” in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, workers in the BLS occupation “Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film” in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Camera Operator
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a bachelor's degree
BLS typical entry-level education, 2025–35 projections. In O*NET's worker survey, 61% report an associate's degree. 32% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: no related experience needed (30% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Active Listening, Coordination, Judgment and Decision Making are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
Answers with low-precision O*NET estimates are not shown, so a card's shares can add to less than 100%.
Answers with low-precision O*NET estimates are not shown, so a card's shares can add to less than 100%.
O*NET Job Zone 3 (Medium Preparation Needed): Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Related roles that need less preparation
Data O*NET related occupations in a lower Job Zone with a skill match of 65% or more.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $74,990; the lowest-paid quarter earn $50,920 or less. See the full Camera Operator salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
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