Electrical Engineer Salary – Career Information
The area of specialization of an electrical engineer is the ability to use electronics and electricity theory to create devices and systems that benefit society as a whole. This kind of expertise is needed across a wide variety of industries such as telecommunications, power generation, power electronics, biomedical technology and circuit design. Demand for electricity generation and distribution is the primary source of many opportunities for aspiring electrical engineers. The high demand for the particular knowledge base and skill set of this discipline is also due to the growing demand for high-tech devices such as smart phones and tablets. An engineer who has the necessary qualifications will find an array of opportunities to choose from in the job market. The demand for engineers is partly due to the expansion of the telecommunications industry and the aging engineers working in these divisions who either are about to retire or are being promoted to higher levels of management. Another reason for the demand is that over the past few years there has been a decline in the number of engineers graduating with this particular degree. It is interesting to note that an electrical engineer salary is actually one of the top 3 highest paid disciplines of engineering.
To start your engineering career and work as an Engineer in Training (EIT) you need to first complete a Bachelor’s degree in engineering. This four year professional degree can be completed at any accredited college or university that offers an engineering program.
Before you can work as a professional engineer it is necessary to complete an ethics exam and some training under the supervision of a senior engineer. If you are not yet ready to start your career, an alternative course of action is to return to school and pursue a Master’s in Engineering degree and possibly even a doctorate degree after that if you are interested in becoming a professor. The master’s and doctorate degrees improve your career opportunities and increase the salary you will receive, but it is important to note that the basic requirements are a bachelor’s degree and a licence as discussed earlier.
Once you have this professional degree, you must choose to work in a field such as telecommunications, power, biomedical, microelectronics. The demand for electrical engineers is high in all of these disciplines. Depending on your skill level and ability to perform the duties and responsibilities a particular job requires, the salary can be extremely rewarding. A recent study has shown that the average income is between $80,000 to $100,000 per year. The salary is completely dependent on the experience and ability of the engineer in his or her area of specialization. The entry-level and training positions are typically paid at least $48,000 per year. If the engineer has a master’s or doctorate degree in electrical engineering, their income would be considerably higher at all levels of employment than that of someone who only holds a bachelor’s degree.