Referee job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

8

O*NET task statements

O*NET occupation

Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

O*NET-SOC 27-2023.00

Preparation

Job Zone 1-2 of 5

very little to some preparation

Typical entry education

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$40,710

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials (O*NET-SOC 27-2023.00). O*NET 31.0 lists “Referee” as a job title for this occupation only (evidence: O*NET's Sample of Reported Titles (titles job holders report), O*NET job-incumbent data, the SOC Index, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and employer job postings). Figures on this page are for that occupation. TryHired has no separate career page for this title yet.

1. Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed. importance 5.0 of 5
2. Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements. importance 4.6 of 5
3. Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations. importance 4.5 of 5
4. Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition. importance 4.4 of 5
5. Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport. importance 4.3 of 5
6. Inspect sporting equipment or examine participants to ensure compliance with event and safety regulations. importance 4.2 of 5
7. Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions. importance 4.0 of 5
8. Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems. importance 4.0 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events and Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Judge performances in sporting competitions to award points, impose scoring penalties, and determine results.
• Verify scoring calculations before competition winners are announced.
• Start races and competitions.
• Compile scores and other athletic records.
• Verify credentials of participants in sporting events, and make other qualifying determinations, such as starting order or handicap number.
• Keep track of event times, including race times and elapsed time during game segments, starting or stopping play when necessary.

Knowledge areas: English Language.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 1-2 of 5 (very little to some preparation). Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

The most common answer among O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation is a high school diploma or equivalent (43%).

Job title: Referee
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Referee to officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed.
- Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.
- Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations.
- Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition.
- Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport.
- Inspect sporting equipment or examine participants to ensure compliance with event and safety regulations.
- Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions.
- Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in speaking, critical thinking and judgment and decision making
- Working knowledge of English Language
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Excel]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials, the median annual wage was $40,710 in May 2025. BLS publishes annual wages only for this occupation, so no hourly figure is shown. BLS estimates about 15,780 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials to grow 5.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,300 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

• Read a real referee posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only referee work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (speaking and critical thinking): a real situation, what you did and what changed.