Electrical Engineers

Also Called:

Design Engineer,

Electrical Design Engineer,

Electrical Engineer,

Project Engineer

What they do: Research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics icon

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Design, implement, maintain, or improve electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes.
  • Oversee project production efforts to assure projects are completed on time and within budget.
  • Direct or coordinate manufacturing, construction, installation, maintenance, support, documentation, or testing activities to ensure compliance with specifications, codes, or customer requirements.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

Innovation

Achievement Orientation

Intellectual Curiosity

Cautiousness

Attention to Detail

Dependability

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Realistic

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Investigative

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Conventional

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Communicate by writing

  • Read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

  • Notice when problems happen

Math

  • Choose the right type of math to solve a problem

  • Add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Attention

  • Pay attention to something without being distracted

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Writing things for co-workers or customers

  • Reading work related information

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Electrical Engineers jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop