How To Become An Engineering And Design Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an engineering and design consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an engineering and design consultant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $44.97 an hour? That's $93,537 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 4,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an engineering and design consultant?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreEngineering And Design ConsultantUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,537

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 14.57%

Black or African American 3.06%

Hispanic or Latino 8.72%

Unknown 4.65%

White 68.83%

Gender

female 8.51%

male 91.49%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an engineering and design consultant

Explore engineering and design consultant education requirements

Most common engineering and design consultant degrees

Bachelor's

66.7 %

Master's

14.6 %

Associate

14.3 %

Start to develop specific engineering and design consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Design Engineering	20.34%
Shop Drawings	9.07%
CAD/CAM	8.58%
Solidworks	5.62%
GD	4.85%

Complete relevant engineering and design consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New engineering and design consultants 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 engineering and design consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real engineering and design consultant resumes.

Research engineering and design consultant duties and responsibilities

Manage the development of the next generation products base on existing refrigerants and CO2 system including prototyping and initial manufacturing run.
Provide customer training and user support for CATIA and ENOVIA PLM systems.
Modele 3-d components and technical drawings in SolidWorks.
Design four dynamic fixtures for HVAC manifold assembly process.

Prepare your engineering and design consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your engineering and design consultant resume.

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Choose from 10+ customizable engineering and design consultant resume templates

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