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Electrical & instrumentation designer vs designer

The differences between electrical & instrumentation designers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an electrical & instrumentation designer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an electrical & instrumentation designer has an average salary of $81,188, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.

The top three skills for an electrical & instrumentation designer include PLC, instrumentation design and control systems. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.

Electrical & instrumentation designer vs designer overview

Electrical & Instrumentation DesignerDesigner
Yearly salary$81,188$66,347
Hourly rate$39.03$31.90
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs81,24352,433
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4538
Years of experience212

What does an electrical & instrumentation designer do?

An electrical instrumentation designer's main job is to design instruments that can be used in various areas such as laboratories, power plants, or research institutes. They work together with a team or individually to design instruments, create a prototype, and test its functions. They can even install these instruments in different establishments and locations. They are tasked with repair and training engineers. At other times, they are assigned to record expenses and other documentation.

What does a designer do?

A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.

Electrical & instrumentation designer vs designer salary

Electrical & instrumentation designers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Electrical & Instrumentation DesignerDesigner
Average salary$81,188$66,347
Salary rangeBetween $60,000 And $109,000Between $45,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City-Seattle, WA
Highest paying state-Washington
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between electrical & instrumentation designer and designer education

There are a few differences between an electrical & instrumentation designer and a designer in terms of educational background:

Electrical & Instrumentation DesignerDesigner
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorDrafting And DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeMichigan Technological UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Electrical & instrumentation designer vs designer demographics

Here are the differences between electrical & instrumentation designers' and designers' demographics:

Electrical & Instrumentation DesignerDesigner
Average age4538
Gender ratioMale, 85.2% Female, 14.8%Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage6%13%

Differences between electrical & instrumentation designer and designer duties and responsibilities

Electrical & instrumentation designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage database for PDF drawings and other electronic files.
  • Modify chemical process areas with new control installations, utilizing various DCS's, and PLC's on these projects.
  • Work in PDMS creating instruments, cable tray routing, locating junction boxes, remote I/O cabinets, and lighting.
  • Work include modification of existing instrument panels to accept PLC & DCS racks and wiring; update pneumatic instrumentation to electronics.
  • Develop new instrument installation detail drawings, instrument location plan drawings, instrument elevation drawings and loop diagrams for the refinery.
  • Design process plant instrumentation and electrical power systems within NEC and industry standards.
  • Show more

Designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead & design all creative content stemming from apparel design to web identity.
  • Manage various PCB designs utilizing state of the art DFM techniques and comply with company standards.
  • Utilize CSS, DHTML, HTML, and JavaScript for cross browser, cross platform compatibility and consistency.
  • Develop different kinds of functions globally, locally for the development of forms using JavaScript, CSS.
  • Transform customer specifications into usable SolidWorks 3D models and assemblies from which all manufacturing are derived.
  • Process ECR's and ECO's using Windchill.
  • Show more

Electrical & instrumentation designer vs designer skills

Common electrical & instrumentation designer skills
  • PLC, 8%
  • Instrumentation Design, 7%
  • Control Systems, 6%
  • I/O, 5%
  • Electrical Design, 4%
  • Panel Layouts, 4%
Common designer skills
  • Sketch, 10%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Graphic Design, 6%
  • CSS, 5%
  • HTML, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%

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