What does an instrument and electrical technician do?
An Instrument and Electrical Technician is responsible for inspecting all production and manufacturing equipment's performance and stability to ensure efficiency during operations. Instrument and Electrical Technicians run quality control procedures for the processes to produce high-quality deliverables for customer satisfaction. They also conduct preventive maintenance, perform troubleshooting and repairs, and replace defective components as necessary. An Instrument and Electrical Technician must have excellent organizational and mechanical skills to fix system inconsistencies and prevent operational delays.
Instrument and electrical technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real instrument and electrical technician resumes:
- Supervise and manage several environmental ECAS annual, monthly and weekly reports in cooperation with regional CEMS manager for federal compliance.
- Maintain transmitters, control valves, analyzers, and microprocessor control system to provide continuous operation of the process unit.
- Install and maintain SCADA system.
- Provide end-user training/coaching on SCADA controllers, and software issues.
- Inspect, clean commutators and replace brushes on DC motors.
- Troubleshoot buckets, motors, switches, relays, and transformers with DMM and electrical wiring diagrams.
- Measure and read DMM, meggers, micrometers and thickness gauges using electrical and mechanical testing instruments.
- Replace faulty electrical components on equipment, such as relays, switches, and motors, and positions sensing devices.
- Perform schedule calibrations of opacity analyzer, scales, thermocouples & RTD s, pressure sensors, and frequency drives.
- Perform electrical and mechanical work associate with HVAC.
- Work require manual dexterity in an assembly line environment
- Calibrate diverse high-precision test instrumentation pressure transducers and altimeters.
- Instrument test items with thermocouples to monitor temperature stabilization.
- Perform various field modifications during start-up to ensure correct system performance.
- Calibrate process instrumentation, sensors, transducers and data acquisition equipment.
Instrument and electrical technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Instrument And Electrical Technicians are proficient in Electrical Equipment, Control Systems, and Transmitters. They’re also known for soft skills such as Color vision, Communication skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Instrument And Electrical Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Electrical Equipment, 7%
Provided troubleshooting, repair and maintenance experience for electrical equipment, motors, pneumatic and electronic control instrumentation.
- Control Systems, 7%
Performed troubleshooting repair, calibration and general maintenance of large industrial plant operating and control systems using schematics and logic drawings.
- Transmitters, 6%
Performed instrumentation & electrical-related wiring and installation of transmitters, loop checks, calibration of instruments for industrial projects.
- Ladders, 5%
Work aloft on ladders, elevated platforms, and lifts to troubleshoot circuits.
- Preventative Maintenance, 5%
Performed various maintenance duties, including preventative maintenance, troubleshooting and repair of all electrical and instrumentation systems.
- Control Valves, 4%
Calibrate, repair, and change various control equipment from area gas detectors, flow meters and control valves.
"electrical equipment," "control systems," and "transmitters" are among the most common skills that instrument and electrical technicians use at work. You can find even more instrument and electrical technician responsibilities below, including:
Color vision. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an instrument and electrical technician to have is color vision. Their role and responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics installers and repairers must be able to identify the color-coded components that are often used in electronic equipment." Instrument and electrical technicians often use color vision in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "spearheaded the infrared testing division, creating additional company revenues, while providing improved electrical systems reliability for our clients. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform instrument and electrical technician duties is communication skills. Instrument and electrical technicians responsibilities require that "electrical and electronics installers and repairers work closely with customers, so they must listen to and understand customers’ descriptions of problems and explain solutions in a simple, clear manner." Instrument and electrical technicians also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "programmed plc's, hmi panels and profibus communications. "
Physical strength. This is an important skill for instrument and electrical technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how instrument and electrical technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "electrical and electronics installers and repairers may need to lift heavy parts during the repair process." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an instrument and electrical technician: "installed physical structures, pipe, and electrical systems in the office, and production area following specifications. ".
Technical skills. instrument and electrical technician responsibilities often require "technical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "electrical and electronics installers and repairers use a variety of mechanical and diagnostic tools to install or repair equipment." This resume example shows what instrument and electrical technicians do with technical skills on a typical day: "perform routine electrical maintenance and technical support to keep flow of product through the plant. "
Troubleshooting skills. Another crucial skill for an instrument and electrical technician to carry out their responsibilities is "troubleshooting skills." A big part of what instrument and electrical technicians relies on this skill, since "electrical and electronics installers and repairers must be able to identify problems with equipment and systems and make the necessary repairs." How this skill relates to instrument and electrical technician duties can be seen in an example from an instrument and electrical technician resume snippet: "helped co-worker in electrical troubleshooting as a backup when they had problems or too many trouble calls. "
The three companies that hire the most instrument and electrical technicians are:
- Covanta45 instrument and electrical technicians jobs
- Plains All American Pipeline24 instrument and electrical technicians jobs
- WestRock12 instrument and electrical technicians jobs
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Compare different instrument and electrical technicians
Instrument and electrical technician vs. Electronic equipment installer
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, instrument and electrical technician responsibilities require skills like "electrical equipment," "control systems," "transmitters," and "ladders." Meanwhile a typical electronic equipment installer has skills in areas such as "security systems," "ran," "visual inspections," and "drill holes." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Electronic equipment installers tend to reach similar levels of education than instrument and electrical technicians. In fact, electronic equipment installers are 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Instrument and electrical technician vs. Electronic equipment repairer
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, instrument and electrical technician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "electrical equipment," "control systems," "ladders," and "preventative maintenance." Meanwhile, an electronic equipment repairer has duties that require skills in areas such as "electronic equipment," "electronic systems," "computer system," and "radio equipment." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Electronic equipment repairers earn similar levels of education than instrument and electrical technicians in general. They're 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Instrument and electrical technician vs. Electronic equipment repairmen
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an instrument and electrical technician is likely to be skilled in "electrical equipment," "ladders," "preventative maintenance," and "control valves," while a typical electronic equipment repairmen is skilled in "hydraulic systems," "diesel engines," "troubleshoot," and "electronic repair."
Electronic equipment repairmens typically earn similar educational levels compared to instrument and electrical technicians. Specifically, they're 3.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Instrument and electrical technician vs. Marine electronics repairer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between instrument and electrical technicians and marine electronics repairers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an instrument and electrical technician might have more use for skills like "electrical equipment," "transmitters," "ladders," and "preventative maintenance." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of marine electronics repairers require skills like "condensers," "electronic equipment," "fiberglass," and "gps. "
Marine electronics repairers reach similar levels of education compared to instrument and electrical technicians, in general. The difference is that they're 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of instrument and electrical technician
Updated January 8, 2025
