What is the career path for an electrical engineer?

The career path for an electrical engineer involves jobs as an electrical engineer, a machine learning engineer, and a systems engineer. The career path for an electrical engineer is expansive, with many on-ramps and off-ramps to specific fields and industries.

Electrical engineers almost always have at least a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or another related engineering field. Many also obtain advanced degrees to accelerate their careers and provide opportunities for managerial and supervisory roles.

Electrical engineers often obtain certifications to exhibit their expertise and skills in certain areas or with certain software. Some common electrical engineering certifications that can be helpful include:

• Autodesk AutoCAD

• Engineer in Training (EIT)

• Certified Technical Professional (CTP)

• Professional Engineer (PE)

• Project Management Professional (PgMP)

• Certified Systems Engineer Professional (CSEP)

• Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) certification

• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) certification

• Certified Energy Manager (CEM)

Electrical engineering is a broad field that has jobs in many different industries. Fields involving electrical engineering include:

• Computer engineering

• Advanced automation and robotic systems

• Aerospace systems

• Space defense systems

• Automotive advanced driver assistance systems

• Communications

• Biomedical engineering

In addition to engineering principles and knowledge, there are a number of skills utilized in the field of electrical engineering. They include:

• Collaboration skills

• Drafting blueprints and plans

• Critical thinking

• Comprehension of circuits

• Communication skills

• Data analysis

• Complex math skills

• Organizational skills

Here are the job descriptions for some common electrical engineering roles on the career path:

• Electrical engineer

An electrical engineer is someone who designs and installs electrical systems and equipment.

They generate ideas for electrical devices and mechanisms by creating blueprints, developing prototypes, performing product testing, and overseeing an electrical item's manufacturing.

• Machine Learning Engineer

A machine learning engineer is a tech professional that writes low-level code to tweak and optimize default implementations. They are also proficient in high-efficiency programming languages such as C++, Java, and Scala.

Machine learning engineers are mainly focused on taking models and helping scale them out into production while ensuring adherence to business service level agreements.

A systems engineer is a professional who works on the overall management of engineering projects. They have an interdisciplinary approach to managing the total technical effort necessary to transform requirements into solutions.

Systems engineers are generally focused on all aspects of computer-based system development. Some of their tasks include stakeholder analysis, interface specification, design tradeoffs, configuration management, systematic verification and validation, and obtaining engineering requirements.