Circuit design engineer vs engineering technician

The differences between circuit design engineers and engineering technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a circuit design engineer, becoming an engineering technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a circuit design engineer has an average salary of $107,694, which is higher than the $60,273 average annual salary of an engineering technician.

The top three skills for a circuit design engineer include circuit design, CMOS and RF. The most important skills for an engineering technician are technical support, data collection, and test equipment.

Circuit design engineer vs engineering technician overview

	Circuit Design Engineer	Engineering Technician
Yearly salary	$107,694	$60,273
Hourly rate	$51.78	$28.98
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	70,906	111,343
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	4

What does a circuit design engineer do?

A circuit design engineer specializes in designing and developing electrical components and circuits in devices and machinery. Among their responsibilities include identifying the needs of every project, developing strategies to attain optimal quality, developing diagrams and test structures, troubleshooting, and repairing issues. They must also perform regular maintenance checks on existing systems and perform upgrades and corrective measures as needed. Moreover, a circuit design engineer typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does an engineering technician do?

An Engineering Technician's duties vary according to the industry or company, whether mechanical, industrial, civil, agricultural, or more. However, most of the time, the responsibilities often revolve around resolving technical issues, working with and assisting Engineers in building, assembling, designing, gathering and testing data, and conducting more manual activities. Furthermore, Engineering Technicians can specialize and work in various fields after a certain training period, closely mentored or monitored by an engineer or someone with extensive expertise.

Circuit design engineer vs engineering technician salary

Circuit design engineers and engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Circuit Design Engineer	Engineering Technician
Average salary	$107,694	$60,273
Salary range	Between $84,000 And $137,000	Between $37,000 And $96,000
Highest paying City	Federal Way, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Washington
Best paying company	Apple	Western Digital
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between circuit design engineer and engineering technician education

There are a few differences between a circuit design engineer and an engineering technician in terms of educational background:

	Circuit Design Engineer	Engineering Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Purdue University

Circuit design engineer vs engineering technician demographics

Here are the differences between circuit design engineers' and engineering technicians' demographics:

	Circuit Design Engineer	Engineering Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6%	Male, 85.9% Female, 14.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 19.9% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 9.2% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between circuit design engineer and engineering technician duties and responsibilities

Circuit design engineer example responsibilities.

Lead cross-site LVR task force to get full set of schematics match to functional target RTL model.
Process orders for VPN long distance service and manage the VPN dial plan to ensure no duplications.
Manage client order request generate from sales, provisioning and designing data, voice and IP network services.
Size transistors to reduce RC time constant in dynamic flip-flops and to achieve equivalent performance in high frequency.
Lead a small design team to deliver a 90 nm LP 125 MHz medium-size Gigabit Ethernet PHY DSP.
Manage a team that include hardware engineers, software engineers, and verifications engineers to evaluate the McORE 200 microprocessor.

Engineering technician example responsibilities.

Used Microsoft SharePoint to manage projects, web base collaboration, alerts and for document management.
Achieve UL certification for thermal overload protection used in motor applications.
Manage equipment database and organize annual equipment calibration require by internal quality control and ISO standards.
Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Maintain engineering lab equipment: troubleshoot and repair any faulty electronic or mechanical malfunctions, and calibrate test equipment.
Specialize in software and hardware engineering to military standards and project management of DoD contracts.

Circuit design engineer vs engineering technician skills

Common circuit design engineer skills

Circuit Design, 14%
CMOS, 6%
RF, 6%
Verilog, 5%
CAD, 4%
FPGA, 4%

Common engineering technician skills

Technical Support, 5%
Data Collection, 4%
Test Equipment, 4%
Asphalt, 4%
Construction Projects, 4%
Construction Materials, 4%

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Circuit Design Engineer
Circuit Design Engineer vs Engineering Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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