Career Prospects for Electrical Engineers in USA

Electrical engineering is a branch of engineering that blends the know-how of science, technology, and problem-solving skills to design, construct, and maintain products, services, and information systems. Career opportunities in the US for this kind of engineering are always prosperous.

Typically electrical engineers in USA earn either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in engineering areas that include electronics, electrical engineering, or computer engineering. A junior engineer may spend the first year or two on the job learning the company’s products and design procedures before choosing a technical specialty. Job responsibilities include specification, design, development, and implementation of products or systems, as well as research to create new ideas. This role provides a number of challenges ranging from problem identification and the selection of appropriate technical solutions, materials, test equipment, and procedures, to the manufacture and production of safe, economical, high-performance products and services.

Moreover, if a candidate can somehow maintain a balance between sharp technical mind set along with proper management acumen, the combination becomes very demanding in the market. The technical expertise required for management today is increasing because of the explosion of knowledge in engineering, technology, and science.

In addition to the primary fields of electrical, electronics, and computer engineering, a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering serves as an appropriate base for several allied fields. These include, for example, biomedical engineering, computer science, and aerospace engineering.

Some of the career avenues for electrical engineers in USA are:

• Design Engineer
• Project Engineer
• Engineering Specialist
• Chief Engineer
• Quality Control Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Development Engineer
• Reliability Engineer
• Research Engineer
• Systems Design Engineer
• Field Engineer
• Test Engineer
• Sales Engineer

There are many careers that one can choose as per one’s field of interest. If you choose to be a computer scientist it may be a viable alternative for those who are interested in applying mathematics and science toward the solution of technical problems and who enjoy working with computers but do not desire to pursue a career in engineering. Computer science stresses the more theoretical aspects of both computers and computation.

You can also be a technician and it is equally rewarding. Career paths for engineers, technologists, and technicians vary in many ways. Just as the amount and content of education required for these three positions vary, so do professional responsibilities. In general, an engineer’s position stresses theory, analysis, and design. A technologist’s job incorporates applications of theory, analysis, and design, and a technician is involved with fabricating, operating, testing and troubleshooting, and maintaining existing equipment or systems.

Factors affecting your career

One way to assess career opportunities is to look at the size and kind of company you want to work for. In a small organization you may have several responsibilities. Restricted capital resources and the small number of employees are often balanced by the speed with which decisions can be made and by the impact of individual ideas or abilities.

In a large corporation, virtually all categories of positions are found, and there is a greater opportunity to specialize in a given area of interest. Large corporations tend to offer a larger number of training programs, greater stability, and more capital and equipment support. Larger companies tend to move more slowly than smaller companies.

It is completely a personal prerogative which type of company one selects to work for. However, one thing is assured and that is—your career after becoming an electrical engineer in USA is assured and undoubtedly rewarding.