There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an electrical estimator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.39 an hour? That's $79,846 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 18,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many electrical estimators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an electrical estimator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 8.7% of electrical estimators included project management, while 6.5% of resumes included electrical systems, and 5.4% of resumes included bid packages. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the electrical estimator job title. But what industry to start with? Most electrical estimators actually find jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries.
If you're interested in becoming an electrical estimator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.6% of electrical estimators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.4% of electrical estimators have master's degrees. Even though some electrical estimators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an electrical estimator. When we researched the most common majors for an electrical estimator, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on electrical estimator resumes include high school diploma degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an electrical estimator. In fact, many electrical estimator jobs require experience in a role such as electrician. Meanwhile, many electrical estimators also have previous career experience in roles such as estimator project manager or estimator.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of estimator project manager you might progress to a role such as construction manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior construction manager.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
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The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.7% of electrical estimators listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an electrical estimator. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Electrical estimators make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $100,885. Whereas in Oregon and Massachusetts, they would average $95,612 and $93,842, respectively. While electrical estimators would only make an average of $90,320 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$93,842
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$83,887
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
$90,321
Avg. Salary