How To Become A Field Electrical Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a field electrical engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Angela Rasmussen

A field electrical engineer is an on-site expert in electrical systems, technologies, and tools. They are responsible for installing electrical lines and equipment, inspecting the quality of the installed technologies, and ensuring the safety and sustainability of electrical systems.

Some of the more specific duties of a field electrical engineer are performing routine checks on electrical systems, supervising work plans and schedules, and contributing to the system or product documentation. A field electrical engineer has to be skilled in technical writing, communications, and engineering codes and standards. They also have to be great at team settings, often collaborating with other engineers and technicians in implementing projects.

To be qualified for the job, a field electrical engineer needs at least a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and proven work experience in the industry. They are also required to have a background in electrical design and calculation software and a deep knowledge of electrical processes.

What general advice would you give to a field electrical engineer?

Dr. Angela Rasmussen

Professor (Lecturer) Director of Mentoring and Advising Director of Electrical Engineering Senior Projects, University of Utah

Take heart that while Electrical Engineering jobs have been impacted by COVID19, it's impact is minimal in comparison to most other areas. While many areas have been hit hard by layoffs, Electrical Engineering has only slightly been affected in comparison. Many companies have declared hiring freezes and many others are still hiring. Therefore, don't get discouraged. There are Electrical Engineerings jobs needing to be filled! Make sure to be professional in all your interactions and work on improving your online presence.

ScoreField Electrical EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $86,347

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.28%

Black or African American 4.95%

Hispanic or Latino 11.61%

Unknown 4.73%

White 64.24%

Gender

female 5.83%

male 94.17%

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

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a field electrical engineer

Explore field electrical engineer education requirements

Most common field electrical engineer degrees

Bachelor's

68.4 %

Associate

15.1 %

Master's

6.4 %

Start to develop specific field electrical engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Electrical Systems	12.55%
Oil Gas	11.37%
Control Systems	7.78%
Start-Up	7.55%
Design Drawings	7.00%

Complete relevant field electrical engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New field electrical 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 a field electrical engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real field electrical engineer resumes.

Research field electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Develop LabVIEW code to automate test procedures and to communicate with units for verification of functionality and accuracy.
Represent HVAC Field3 (cont . )
Analyze systems in hot zones such as PLC's and VFD's in various nuclear applications.
Design and implement automation and communications systems for various projects/applications, including PLC and HMI programming, and PID control.

Prepare your field electrical engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your field electrical 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 a field electrical 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 field electrical engineer resume templates

Build a professional field electrical 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 field electrical engineer resume.