They are responsible for coming up with better product ideas and the system used in their production. To achieve this, they engage in intense research, which produces a better, more productive method. They are also responsible for modifying the already existing products, improve on performance, which will, in turn, improve efficiency.
System Design Engineers make use of computer software tools to help them successfully carry out their activities. Such tools include Computer Assisted Engineering (CAE) and Computer-Aided Design (CAD). There are certain skills you need to have as a System Design Engineer.
Talking about the skills required to be a system design engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.8% included system design, while 9.0% of resumes included hardware, and 7.3% of resumes included architecture. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
As for the salaries, it depends on the location, experience, and size of the organization. But in the United States, a System Design Engineer is paid $92,000 on average. But they can also earn as high as $124,000 and as low as $69,000 depending on the factors we have mentioned above.
System Design Engineer Overview
Working as a System Design Engineer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a system design engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $44.59 an hour? That's $92,752 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 8,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a System Design Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many system design engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed concentration, initiative and speaking skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a system design engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.8% of system design engineers included system design, while 8.4% of resumes included hardware, and 6.7% of resumes included architecture. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the system design engineer job title. But what industry to start with? Most system design engineers actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a System Design Engineer
If you're interested in becoming a system design engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 47.9% of system design engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 35.3% of system design engineers have master's degrees. Even though most system design engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a system design engineer. When we researched the most common majors for a system design engineer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on system design engineer resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a system design engineer. In fact, many system design engineer jobs require experience in a role such as design engineer. Meanwhile, many system design engineers also have previous career experience in roles such as systems engineer or project engineer.
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System Design Engineer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a system design engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as project engineer, progress to a title such as project manager and then eventually end up with the title manager, project management.
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Average Salary for a System Design Engineer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Randstad Packaged Refrigeration Systems Design Engineer Packaged Refrigeration Systems Design Engineer | Randstad Randstad | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $85,00001/23/2021 $85,000 |
Leidos Holdings Inc. Systems Engineer-Nmci Requirements, Architecture, and Design Systems Engineer-Nmci Requirements, Architecture, and Design | Leidos Holdings Inc. Leidos Holdings Inc. | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $65,00001/22/2021 $65,000 |
Leidos Systems Engineer-Nmci Requirements, Architecture, and Design Systems Engineer-Nmci Requirements, Architecture, and Design | Leidos Leidos | 01/21/2021 01/21/2021 | $65,00001/21/2021 $65,000 |
Randstad Network Systems Design Engineer Network Systems Design Engineer | Randstad Randstad | 11/24/2020 11/24/2020 | $125,22011/24/2020 $125,220 |
ESG System/Design Engineer (JOB Code: 1050) System/Design Engineer (JOB Code: 1050) | ESG ESG | 08/15/2020 08/15/2020 | $81,82708/15/2020 $81,827 |
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System Design Engineer Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a System Design Engineer. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a System Design Engineer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless System Design Engineer resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for System Design Engineers
1. Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI • Public
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Public
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
6. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
9. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
10. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Top Skills For a System Design Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.8% of system design engineers listed system design on their resume, but soft skills such as concentration and initiative are important as well.
- System Design, 9.8%
- Hardware, 8.4%
- Architecture, 6.7%
- Matlab, 6.0%
- C++, 4.6%
- Other Skills, 64.5% See All System Design Engineer Skills
Best States For a System Design Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a system design engineer. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Washington, and Vermont. System design engineers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $99,129. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $98,901 and $98,646, respectively. While system design engineers would only make an average of $96,966 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$98,646
Avg. Salary
2. New Mexico
$94,245
Avg. Salary
3. California
$98,901
Avg. Salary
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