How To Become An Electro Optical Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an electro optical engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Completion of engineering tasks related to electronics or optical devices is the responsibility of an electro-optical engineer. You are to design, analyze, test, and implement optical systems. For example, you will create optical designs and facilitate the use of laser optics, and design suitable mounts for optics and power supply systems. It is your job to incorporate a method for maintenance and repair of components and develop test procedures and instrumentations.

As an electro-optical engineer, you must assist with the manufacturing, developing, assembling, and fabricating process. You will also conduct application analysis to determine medical, scientific, military, industrial, and commercial use of electro-optical devices. Just keep in mind that you must confer with the engineering and technical personnel to test instruments, fabrication, and modification of designs.

Creativity is a key to becoming an electro-optical engineer. Communication skills, organization skills, time management skills are all essential skills to possess. The average salary of an electro-optical engineer is $73,000 annually, and the educational requirement is a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or other related fields.

ScoreElectro Optical EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $94,958

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 15.69%

Black or African American 4.78%

Hispanic or Latino 11.06%

Unknown 4.70%

White 63.60%

Gender

female 9.68%

male 90.32%

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

7.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an electro optical engineer

Explore electro optical engineer education requirements

Most common electro optical engineer degrees

Bachelor's

64.0 %

Master's

23.7 %

Associate

6.5 %

Start to develop specific electro optical engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
System Performance	9.40%
C++	7.48%
Data Analysis	6.09%
Remote Sensing	5.73%
RF	5.11%

Complete relevant electro optical engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New electro optical 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 electro optical engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real electro optical engineer resumes.

Research electro optical engineer duties and responsibilities

Apply technical knowledge in electromagnetic theory and microwave technology to plan and manage projects concern with ground-base radar systems.
Perform multiple augments installing and adding new devices/servers along with adding configurations for video streaming using Unix and checking router configurations.
Evaluate manufacturers' specifications for the approval of components, perform first article approval of proprietary components and troubleshoot design failures.

Prepare your electro optical engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your electro optical 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 electro optical 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 electro optical engineer resume templates

Build a professional electro optical 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 electro optical engineer resume.