Also called: Assessment specialist, Test developer
Writes and reviews the questions on standardized tests and certification exams.
Item writers draft questions that measure exactly one skill, write tricky-but-fair wrong answer choices, review questions for bias, and analyze data on how questions performed. Many are former teachers, and some work freelance.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in the subject; teaching experience valued.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Education, English, Mathematics.
Growing about average. Steady.
High risk for 10 years. AI now generates test questions and answer choices at scale; writers shift to reviewing AI items, with far fewer openings.
Classes: AP English Language, AP Calculus or another subject, Psychology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 25-9031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.