Failure analysis technician vs senior engineering technician

The differences between failure analysis technicians 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 a failure analysis technician and a senior engineering technician. Additionally, a senior engineering technician has an average salary of $88,615, which is higher than the $51,189 average annual salary of a failure analysis technician.

The top three skills for a failure analysis technician include troubleshoot, test equipment and failure analysis. The most important skills for a senior engineering technician are java, SR, and emerging technologies.

Failure analysis technician vs senior engineering technician overview

	Failure Analysis Technician	Senior Engineering Technician
Yearly salary	$51,189	$88,615
Hourly rate	$24.61	$42.60
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	23,962	94,734
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	4	4

Failure analysis technician vs senior engineering technician salary

Failure analysis technicians and senior engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Failure Analysis Technician	Senior Engineering Technician
Average salary	$51,189	$88,615
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $72,000	Between $63,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Idaho
Best paying company	-	CrowdStrike
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between failure analysis technician and senior engineering technician education

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

	Failure Analysis Technician	Senior Engineering Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Purdue University	Purdue University

Failure analysis technician vs senior engineering technician demographics

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

	Failure Analysis Technician	Senior Engineering Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 84.3% Female, 15.7%	Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 58.5% 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 Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between failure analysis technician and senior engineering technician duties and responsibilities

Failure analysis technician example responsibilities.

Achieve multiple certifications per FDA and NRC guidelines for various internal processes critical to quality and safety.
Conduct testing of COA to the inks by the use of GC/MS, IC, HPLC, ICP/MS and UV spectroscopy.
Perform hands-on electronic circuit assembly, fabrication, wiring, prototyping, testing, debugging and repair down to component level.
Perform system diagnostic testing, PCB debugging down to failure component or marginal components up to ASIC/IC level, SI analysis.
Support customers internal and external to troubleshoot product failures for continuous yield improvement activities.
Execute 'root cause' analysis of microelectronics, optical laser system & micro-mechanical devices.

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.

Failure analysis technician vs senior engineering technician skills

Common failure analysis technician skills

Troubleshoot, 10%
Test Equipment, 8%
Failure Analysis, 8%
Sample Preparation, 5%
Assembly Line, 5%
Sectioning, 4%

Common senior engineering technician skills

Java, 8%
SR, 5%
Emerging Technologies, 5%
Troubleshoot, 4%
Technical Support, 4%
Project Management, 4%

Failure Analysis Technician vs. similar jobs

Failure Analysis Technician related careers

Failure Analysis Technician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Architecture and Engineering Industry
Failure Analysis Technician
Failure Analysis Technician vs Senior Engineering Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse architecture and engineering jobs