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The differences between outside plant engineers and electrical engineers lead can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an outside plant engineer and an electrical engineer lead. Additionally, an electrical engineer lead has an average salary of $111,251, which is higher than the $85,603 average annual salary of an outside plant engineer.
The top three skills for an outside plant engineer include CAD, outside plant and OSP. The most important skills for an electrical engineer lead are electrical engineering, autocad, and engineering design.
| Outside Plant Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $85,603 | $111,251 |
| Hourly rate | $41.16 | $53.49 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 34,742 | 82,196 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The job of an outside plant engineer revolves around design, constructing, and maintaining plant infrastructure, engineering, and conducting route analysis of aerial and underground fiber-optic installations. Typical day-to-day duties include assisting clients in resolving issues when they arise, developing engineering plans, schedules, and costs relevant to the projects, and providing guidance on telecommunication issues. As an outside plant engineer, you need to ensure the proper installation of the infrastructure and the availability of fiber cable storage, access, and termination equipment.
An electrical engineer lead is an engineering professional who works with clients and internal engineers to establish project requirements and work on multiple electrical projects. Electrical engineer leads provide the cost estimation of electrical projects and prepare budget proposals as well as assign personnel with the capabilities required to complete the assigned tasks. They are required to review the calculation methods to ensure that they comply with all regulatory and project requirements. Electrical engineer leads must also accurately check the electrical design calculations for electrical loads, short circuit, and voltage drop using standard electrical engineering software.
Outside plant engineers and electrical engineers lead have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Outside Plant Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Average salary | $85,603 | $111,251 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $117,000 | Between $83,000 And $148,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Washington |
| Best paying company | - | |
| Best paying industry | - | Construction |
There are a few differences between an outside plant engineer and an electrical engineer lead in terms of educational background:
| Outside Plant Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between outside plant engineers' and electrical engineers lead' demographics:
| Outside Plant Engineer | Electrical Engineer Lead | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |