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Engineering assistant vs senior engineering technician

The differences between engineering assistants and senior engineering technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an engineering assistant and a senior engineering technician. Additionally, a senior engineering technician has an average salary of $88,615, which is higher than the $64,402 average annual salary of an engineering assistant.

The top three skills for an engineering assistant include troubleshoot, C++ and worksheets. The most important skills for a senior engineering technician are java, SR, and emerging technologies.

Engineering assistant vs senior engineering technician overview

Engineering AssistantSenior Engineering Technician
Yearly salary$64,402$88,615
Hourly rate$30.96$42.60
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs53,76794,734
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4545
Years of experience44

What does an engineering assistant do?

An engineering assistant is responsible for supporting the engineering department's operations under the supervision of a head engineer. Engineering assistants help with operating tools and equipment, developing and analyzing designs, communicating with clients by responding to their inquiries and concerns, creating project plans, and identifying business opportunities to generate revenues and increase profitability. An engineering assistant must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and processes to carry out tasks within strict deadlines and under minimal supervision.

What does a senior engineering technician do?

A Senior Engineering Technician uses the technical principles of engineering to create and develop a project or product. They also provide technical assistance to professional engineering staff on special projects.

Engineering assistant vs senior engineering technician salary

Engineering assistants and senior engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Engineering AssistantSenior Engineering Technician
Average salary$64,402$88,615
Salary rangeBetween $41,000 And $99,000Between $63,000 And $123,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaIdaho
Best paying companyGoogleCrowdStrike
Best paying industryEnergyEnergy

Differences between engineering assistant and senior engineering technician education

There are a few differences between an engineering assistant and a senior engineering technician in terms of educational background:

Engineering AssistantSenior Engineering Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorBusinessElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeStanford UniversityPurdue University

Engineering assistant vs senior engineering technician demographics

Here are the differences between engineering assistants' and senior engineering technicians' demographics:

Engineering AssistantSenior Engineering Technician
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 68.8% Female, 31.2%Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 11.2% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 11.3% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between engineering assistant and senior engineering technician duties and responsibilities

Engineering assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage the RFI process to clarify discrepancies and questions concerning the plans and specifications.
  • Create, manage and maintain the ECR process to ensure accurate and timely processing.
  • Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
  • Assist in the maintenance of files for engineering drawings, ECO's, manufacturing specs, and BOM's.
  • Ensure documentation load into IP vault.
  • Review systems implementation to comply with RFP and plans.
  • Show more

Senior engineering technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
  • Determine and insure how statistical process control (SPC) are performed, collect, and update.
  • Test equipment utilize included DMM's, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, waveform function generators, and signal generators.
  • Demonstrate expertise in analog and digital electronic circuit design.
  • Rework and diagnose SMT PCBs.
  • Implement native and HTML5 UI.
  • Show more

Engineering assistant vs senior engineering technician skills

Common engineering assistant skills
  • Troubleshoot, 14%
  • C++, 13%
  • Worksheets, 11%
  • Java, 11%
  • Debugging, 7%
  • Auto CAD, 4%
Common senior engineering technician skills
  • Java, 8%
  • SR, 5%
  • Emerging Technologies, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%
  • Technical Support, 4%
  • Project Management, 4%

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