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What is an electrical design engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Angela Rasmussen
introduction image

Electrical design engineers work on designing and perfecting electronic devices, either big or small. Whether giant generators are feeding entire cities with electricity, GPS navigation systems, or remote-controlled robots, electronic design engineers will have something to do with it.

As an electrical design engineer, your job will combine exciting areas of science, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. By applying principles of these disciplines, your job will be to analyze, create, install and maintain electric systems operating various devices.

Your expertise in this ever-growing field will always be appreciated, and finding a job with a degree in electrical design engineering will not be an issue. Working in one of the many branches of this profession, you can make anything between $65000 to $11000, averaging around $85000 a year.

What general advice would you give to an electrical design engineer?

Dr. Angela RasmussenDr. Angela Rasmussen LinkedIn profile

Professor (Lecturer) Director of Mentoring and Advising Director of Electrical Engineering Senior Projects, University of Utah

Take heart that while Electrical Engineering jobs have been impacted by COVID19, it's impact is minimal in comparison to most other areas. While many areas have been hit hard by layoffs, Electrical Engineering has only slightly been affected in comparison. Many companies have declared hiring freezes and many others are still hiring. Therefore, don't get discouraged. There are Electrical Engineerings jobs needing to be filled! Make sure to be professional in all your interactions and work on improving your online presence.
ScoreElectrical Design EngineerUS Average
Salary
6.6

Avg. Salary $83,944

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 14.39%

Black or African American 4.85%

Hispanic or Latino 11.29%

Unknown 4.71%

White 64.57%

Gender

female 10.13%

male 89.87%

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

Electrical design engineer career paths

Key steps to become an electrical design engineer

  1. Explore electrical design engineer education requirements

    Most common electrical design engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    74.5 %

    Master's

    11.7 %

    Associate

    11.1 %
  2. Start to develop specific electrical design engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Electrical Design9.72%
    Revit5.35%
    Electrical Systems4.90%
    CAD4.32%
    Analog4.05%
  3. Complete relevant electrical design engineer training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New electrical design 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 an electrical design engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real electrical design engineer resumes.
  4. Research electrical design engineer duties and responsibilities

    • Utilize LabView software package to automate testing.
    • Used Perl and Linux script to help automate the ASIC design and test flow.
    • Work with approval agencies to achieve UL, CSA, CE, FCC and IC certifications.
    • Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
  5. Prepare your electrical design engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your electrical design 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 an electrical design 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 electrical design engineer resume templates

    Build a professional electrical design 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 electrical design engineer resume.
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
    Electrical Design Engineer Resume
  6. Apply for electrical design engineer jobs

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

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

How did you land your first electrical design engineer job

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Average electrical design engineer salary

The average electrical design engineer salary in the United States is $83,944 per year or $40 per hour. Electrical design engineer salaries range between $63,000 and $110,000 per year.

Average electrical design engineer salary
$83,944 Yearly
$40.36 hourly

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Electrical design engineer reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023
Pros

continuous learning


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A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2023
Pros

It can gurantee you a good salary and if you are creative you can do many things.

Cons

you have to be creative.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2021
Pros

Finding NEW devices to open up the range of features for nrw development! New technologies, new materials, allowing new concepts!

Cons

Right now, being stuck handling fine details of determining equivalents for parts which are currently unavailable (or 1year+ lead times for delivery). I can DO it, but regret the loss of higher-priority time/tasks...


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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