How To Become A Printed Circuit Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a printed circuit designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a printed circuit designer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $47.19 an hour? That's $98,151 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -6,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePrinted Circuit DesignerUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $98,151

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 5.73%

Black or African American 3.03%

Hispanic or Latino 13.06%

Unknown 4.14%

White 73.89%

Gender

female 13.25%

male 86.75%

Age - 45

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 - 45

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a printed circuit designer

Explore printed circuit designer education requirements

Most common printed circuit designer degrees

Associate

52.3 %

Bachelor's

25.5 %

Diploma

6.7 %

Start to develop specific printed circuit designer skills

Skills	Percentages
PCB	15.48%
IPC	9.67%
RF	8.52%
Analog	5.96%
Mentor Graphics	5.08%

Complete relevant printed circuit designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New printed circuit designers 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 printed circuit designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real printed circuit designer resumes.

Research printed circuit designer duties and responsibilities

Control and manage the testing documentation of magnetics and mechanical documents using custom small scale PDM system base on windows files.
Design dies using Siemens NX software and at times would use Catia.
Design and documentation of RF and analog print circuit assemblies for use in microwave communication equipment.
Operate all standard manual and CNC tool room equipment.

Get printed circuit designer experience

Generally, it takes more than 10 years to become a printed circuit designer. The most common roles before becoming a printed circuit designer include mechanical draftsman, mechanical designer team lead and electronics technician.

Prepare your printed circuit designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your printed circuit designer 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 printed circuit designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable printed circuit designer resume templates

Build a professional printed circuit designer 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 printed circuit designer resume.