How To Become A Contract Electrical Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contract electrical engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Robert Saunders P.E.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a contract electrical engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.79 an hour? That's $70,281 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 9,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a contract electrical engineer?

Robert Saunders P.E.

Assistant Department Head, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

The job market for an electrical engineering student coming out of college is challenging right now. Many companies are still hiring electrical engineering students but, the students can't be as finicky about what jobs they are accepting. More than half of the students are starting their new jobs working remotely, which is a large shift from normal but the companies seem to be using this time to bring the new hires up to speed on policy, procedures, and industry regulations.

ScoreContract Electrical EngineerUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,281

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.47%

Black or African American 4.79%

Hispanic or Latino 11.08%

Unknown 4.70%

White 64.78%

Gender

female 9.12%

male 90.88%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contract electrical engineer

Explore contract electrical engineer education requirements

Most common contract electrical engineer degrees

Bachelor's

72.9 %

Master's

12.8 %

Associate

9.7 %

Start to develop specific contract electrical engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Electrical Engineering	14.36%
Autocad	8.15%
PCB	7.52%
Electrical Components	4.89%
Control Systems	4.54%

Complete relevant contract electrical engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contract electrical engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a contract electrical engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contract electrical engineer resumes.

Research contract electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
Specify and procure PLC, HMI, MCC, motors, VFD and process instrumentation.
Perform various RF power amplifier test require by customer with Matlab
Resolve motion integration noise issues by designing encoder filtering PCB and enclosure.

Prepare your contract electrical engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contract electrical engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contract electrical engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable contract electrical engineer resume templates

Build a professional contract electrical engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your contract electrical engineer resume.

Apply for contract electrical engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a contract electrical engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do contract electrical engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Contract electrical engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

continuous learning

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

Working in electrical department is like a lifetime goal. And coming to the internship I can get to work with new people on my favourite site then put on some skills.

Cons

I like everything about it.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

To Install And Maintain Mostly In Building And Industrial Installation.

Cons

Repair, And Any Over Head Installation

What is a contract electrical engineer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a contract electrical engineer?

Contract electrical engineer career paths

Key steps to become a contract electrical engineer

Explore contract electrical engineer education requirements

Most common contract electrical engineer degrees

Start to develop specific contract electrical engineer skills

Complete relevant contract electrical engineer training and internships

Research contract electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Prepare your contract electrical engineer resume

Choose from 10+ customizable contract electrical engineer resume templates

Apply for contract electrical engineer jobs

How did you land your first contract electrical engineer job

Average contract electrical engineer salary

How do contract electrical engineers rate their job?

Contract electrical engineer reviews