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

What is a laser engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Colin Briskey

A laser engineer is an electrical engineer that specializes in the installation, operation, repair and maintenance of equipment that perform tasks with lasers and the lasers themselves. They perform research on new technology and then design, develop, and test the equipment to ensure it meets the safety requirements and standard performance measures.

Laser engineers can work in different industries including telecommunication, medicine, research and development, aerospace, manufacturing, industrial, the military, alternative energy and cosmetic industries. They work closely with engineers and other technicians to efficiently execute their duties. A successful laser engineer should have technical skills, interpersonal skills, collaborative skills, critical thinking skills, analytical skills, attention to detail and research skills.

Laser engineers mostly work in a laboratory setting. They work 40 hours a week Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. They may work late hours in instances where complex problems with equipment crop up.

What general advice would you give to a laser engineer?

Colin Briskey

Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice, University of Massachusetts - Lowell

While I would give slightly different advice for someone who is soon to graduate, has graduated and is looking for a job, or has graduated and is starting a job, there are some universal pieces of advice that I've found useful.1) Your environment should be full of opportunities. Take advantage of them. Whether there are technical/soft skill training opportunities inside/outside the institution, or opportunities to simply observe a senior personnel doing what you hope to do one day, pursue the opportunities that interest you and match with your professional goals the most. If you find yourself in an organization that doesn't create opportunities for their employees/students, you may want to look for another organization. 2) Along those lines, find your people. There are a seemingly infinite number of quotes that reflect the sentiment, but the idea is that you'll be influenced most by those around you; not the geographical region or the size/shape of your desk. As you look toward your next position/opportunity, consider how the values of that institution match with yours. If they don't, there's no amount of pay and compensation that will keep you happy in that position after 3-5 years.

ScoreLaser EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $85,319

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 18.05%

Black or African American 4.19%

Hispanic or Latino 10.46%

Unknown 4.71%

White 62.30%

Gender

female 5.23%

male 94.77%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a laser engineer

Explore laser engineer education requirements

Most common laser engineer degrees

Bachelor's

59.4 %

Associate

21.1 %

Master's

13.5 %

Start to develop specific laser engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
MATLAB	13.38%
Data Collection	9.68%
LabVIEW	9.21%
Data Analysis	7.77%
Optical Engineering	6.19%

Complete relevant laser engineer training and internships

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

Research laser engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
Support manufacturing by testing lenses on ZYGO interferometer or MTF tester and designing and implementing electro-optical test beds.
Prepare soil data in geotechnical software and graphical figures to be used and review by professional engineering project managers.
Prepare soil data in geotechnical software and graphical figures to be used and review by professional engineering project managers.

Prepare your laser engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your laser 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 laser 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 laser engineer resume templates

Build a professional laser 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 laser engineer resume.