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Principal electrical engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

M. Stephen Enders Ph.D.,

Dr. Heidrun Schmitzer

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical principal electrical engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for principal electrical engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 18.6% of principal electrical engineer resumes contained electrical engineering as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a principal electrical engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 principal electrical engineer skills for your resume and career

1. Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is an applied science discipline that deals with the study of devices and systems which use electricity, design and application of equipment, electronics, and electromagnetism. Electrical engineering is now split into an array of fields, including systems engineering, power engineering, computer engineering, radio-frequency engineering, signal processing, telecommunications, instrumentation, and electronics.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use electrical engineering:

Designed, scheduled, cost, and planned for the I&C/Electrical engineering discipline.
Led the electrical engineering of various air separation projects with our joint venture in Mexico.

2. RF

Here's how principal electrical engineers use rf:

Evolved Digital Pre-Distortion RF amplifier technology with self-calibration feature.
Analyzed the RF power requirements, RF propagation effects, and timing constraints associated with operating in a GSM cellular network.

3. Analog

An analog system refers to a system that uses continuously variable signals.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use analog:

Task required project management, Intellectual Property analysis and transfer, and analog /digital circuit design and analysis.
Lead electronics design and development projects of Laser marking including digital to analog converter for XY2-100 interface.

4. FPGA

Here's how principal electrical engineers use fpga:

Implemented, tested and debugged an FPGA which processes and formats video and manages system functions including BIT and AMLCD configuration.
Worked on a DO254 DAL level A verification of an updated FPGA processor complex included in a larger avionics package.

5. Design Reviews

A dеѕіgn review іѕ a mіlеѕtоnе wіthіn a рrоduсt dеvеlорmеnt рrосеѕѕ іn whісh a design іѕ evaluated bаѕеd on іtѕ rеԛuіrеmеntѕ. Thе рurроѕе of dеѕіgn rеvіеwѕ іѕ tо examine thе overall design or a ѕресіfіс аѕресt оf a dеѕіgn аt еасh ѕtаgе of the development оf a nеw оr еxіѕtіng рrоduсt.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use design reviews:

Coordinated and led electrical circuit design reviews with engineering team.
Administered design reviews and created design documentation.

6. Mentor Graphics

Here's how principal electrical engineers use mentor graphics:

Checked and corrected wiring diagramsconverted from Helix to Mentor Graphics by SATYAM for wire harness build by Labinal-Mexico.
Designed and Developed electrical schematic design on Mentor Graphics.

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7. Power Electronics

Here's how principal electrical engineers use power electronics:

Redesigned power electronics and control hardware to incorporate a more modular design for greater flexibility and easier implementation
Developed appreciation and genuine interest in power electronics and its applications.

8. Circuit Design

Circuit Design is the process of designing how an electrical circuit will be constructed. These designs can be used to create complex electrical systems or smaller systems with individual circuits integrated within a transistor. Simpler systems may only require a single designer, whereas larger and more complex designs require entire teams dedicated to the design and construction.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use circuit design:

Reviewed and made changes to preliminary circuit designs for a point of care instrument for its feasibility design stage.
Experience with reliability predictions, circuit design, electrical part stress analysis, failure modes and effects analysis.

9. PCB

The PCB (Printed Circuit Board) refers to the hardware part housing all of the device's electrical connections.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use pcb:

Provided Layout Constraints for PCB designs regarding Signal Integrity, Power Integrity and E3 Compliance.
Translated product requirements into schematics, PCB layout, and IEC60601 3rd edition documentation.

10. Electrical Design

Electrical design refers to the whole process and includes all the steps which are involved in the development of any electrical equipment. In electrical design, planning and managing the process of designing and development, creating the equipment, and testing it to evaluate the equipment's performance are all integral steps.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use electrical design:

Developed control schematics and wiring diagram for new electrical designs.
Project engineer supporting electrical design for new products and redesign for end of life legacy products.

11. Product Development

Product development is the complete procedure of creating a product from concept until release of the final product. Product development has many stages after which a product is released into the market. Identifying the need, creating the opportunity, conceptualizing a product, and providing a solution, all are different stages of product development.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use product development:

Worked as Project Leader coordinating and managing product development tasks for multiple development teams and factory members.
Have published Work Instructions and Operating Procedures related to new product development of Medical Devices.

12. VHDL

Here's how principal electrical engineers use vhdl:

Clone-proofed a high-volume FPGA-based design with hand-coded VHDL SHA-1 encryption algorithm.
Integrated third party VHDL and Verilog cores including; DDR2/3 Memory, VME Bus Interface and PCI Express.

13. Firmware

Firmware is a software, tangible electronic component, which contains necessary instructions for the hardware to work with the operating system. Firmware is embedded software instructions that are used to tell an electronic device on how to operate.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use firmware:

Developed firmware for lift motion control and overload algorithm for safety on over twenty product configurations.
Core Electronic Design in hardware design, software design (visual basic) and embedded C firmware development.

14. System Design

System design refers to the electronic structural component of a system.

Here's how principal electrical engineers use system design:

Performed as a reviewer on the Palisades Power Plant Safety System Design Confirmation (SSDC) team for Consumers Power.
Attended and successfully completed 40-hour ETAP course on power system analysis, harmonic analysis and ground grid system design

15. Electrical Systems

Here's how principal electrical engineers use electrical systems:

Completed 2014 NEC Changes, Emergency Electric Power, and Commercial Electrical Systems courses.
Led monitoring of development of all electrical systems within Toyota for 2016 Tacoma.

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What skills help Principal Electrical Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on principal electrical engineer resumes?

M. Stephen Enders Ph.D.

Professor & Department Head, Colorado School of Mines

The most important thing that stands out in resumes is past job experiences, particularly student internships in relevant companies. This demonstrates a student's ability to work safely and effectively in the workplace. The companies that employ our students expect them to have a fundamental proficiency in the basic sciences and mathematics as well as in the principles of engineering. Although this is necessary, it is not sufficient for most companies. They prefer graduates with demonstrated strong interpersonal, communication, teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking skills. They also want to see evidence that graduates can integrate and analyze multidisciplinary datasets, and they would really like to see computer coding and modeling expertise. On top of all of these attributes, companies also want to hire leaders and those who have a fundamental understanding or societal issues that impact their industry. This is a lot to expect. Students can get some of this from coursework and active participation in student clubs and other organizations.

Additionally: Presentation skills - written and oral. Management skills - CSM mining engineers have 3 to 4 courses focusing on management (mine operations, safety, construction and project mgt.), plus opportunities to work as crew fore(wo)men at the Edgar mine, where they get to lead small teams of junior classmates and assume responsibility for safety and job completion.

What soft skills should all principal electrical engineers possess?

Dr. Heidrun Schmitzer

Professor and Chair, Xavier University

Communication, teamwork.

What hard/technical skills are most important for principal electrical engineers?

Dr. Heidrun Schmitzer

Professor and Chair, Xavier University

Depends on the engineering career, but in general, an ability to know how to use design software, measurement/testing, and analysis equipment, in addition to prototyping and fabrication tools

What principal electrical engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Angela Rasmussen

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

Hone your skills by taking online classes, or consider getting something such as the University of Utah Electrical and Computer Engineering Online Master's Degree which can increase your overall income, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, by approximately $20,000 in comparison to just having a Bachelor of Science degree. Our department has removed many barriers and streamlined our admittance process for this upcoming Fall 2020 semester.

Another skill to expand is programming. Consider learning a new programming language to build on your current skills. Also, look at different job opportunities and choose a skill that you are lacking to improve upon.

What type of skills will young principal electrical engineers need?

Dr. Ramanarayanan "Vish" Viswanathan Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, University of Mississippi

All graduates need to 1) have a broad understanding of electrical engineering and have programming skills, 2) be able to work collaboratively, and 3) effectively communicate with co-workers, both orally and through writing. Additionally, depending upon the nature of the job, some would need effective communication skills to interface with external stakeholders, and some would need strong foundations on theory and applications of electrical engineering, including networking of computers and devices.

Do you want to know more?

List of principal electrical engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a principal electrical engineer resume and required skills for a principal electrical engineer to have include:

Electrical Engineering
RF
Analog
FPGA
Design Reviews
Mentor Graphics
Power Electronics
Circuit Design
PCB
Electrical Design
Product Development
VHDL
Firmware
System Design
Electrical Systems
CAD

Ethernet
Control Systems
UL
I2C
Test Procedures
DSP
Debugging
Circuit Analysis
Design Verification
Prototyping
Project Management
Embedded Systems
MathCAD
Technical Support
Earned Value Management
Autocad

System Integration
PCI
GPS
Medical Devices
Transmitters
A/D
ASIC
LabVIEW
SPI
CCA
USB
Management System
Transformers
Microcontrollers
ISO
IEC

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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