How To Become A Contractor-Test Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contractor-test engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a contractor-test engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.44 an hour? That's $77,879 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 3,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreContractor-Test EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $77,879

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 17.79%

male 82.21%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contractor-test engineer

Explore contractor-test engineer education requirements

Most common contractor-test engineer degrees

Bachelor's

69.6 %

Associate

13.7 %

Master's

11.3 %

Start to develop specific contractor-test engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
C++	12.76%
Test Cases	8.41%
Troubleshoot	8.41%
Python	6.80%
QA	5.44%

Complete relevant contractor-test engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contractor-test 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 contractor-test engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contractor-test engineer resumes.

Research contractor-test engineer duties and responsibilities

Develop Perl scripts to automate test program cleanup tasks.
Create Perl scripting tool to automate substitution of strings in docx files.
Manage projects including for entire aircraft electrical distribution with respect to EMC requirements and testing.
Develop software tools and test software routines for WiBro/Mobil WiMAX RF measurements, instrument control, and device control.

Prepare your contractor-test engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contractor-test 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 contractor-test 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 contractor-test engineer resume templates

Build a professional contractor-test 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 contractor-test engineer resume.