Know What You Need to Know to Build a Career as an Electrical Engineering

Have you ever wondered about the key resource which drives human civilization? Our daily lives and industries? The answer is energy. Among the energies, electrical energy or power is the most critical apart from the energies you get from fuel. Imagine your life without electricity. You would be practically driven back to the past. You won’t get almost all the products that you use daily. You will have to depend upon local artisans for carrying on. This is just not possible as artisans cannot supply all the products that are needed by the humongous population of the earth today. Electrical Engineers are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical power. They are involved in designing equipment, devices, and systems which uses electricity to run. Interested?

An electrical Engineer is a specialist who designs, develops, tests, manufactures and maintains various equipment, processes, devices and systems that are run by electrical power and electromagnetics. They are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical power from various energy sources such as fossil fuel (petroleum, natural gas, etc.), solar energy, wind energy, water, biofuel, etc.

Why Become an Electrical Engineering?

An electrical engineer is a specialist engineer who studies and designs electrical equipment, devices and systems that use electricity or electromagnetism like electric motors, radars, navigation systems, communication systems, power generation systems, etc.

As an electrical engineer, you will be either involved in the manufacturing domain or the research & development domain.

If you are in the manufacturing domain of the field, then you will deal with creating different electrical equipment at the assembly or manufacturing plant. Thus, you will ensure total quality and control while manufacturing, and testing equipment for their durability, safety engineering, etc.

If you are into research and development, then you will use mathematical models and formulas to better the performance of the equipment, develop new technologies, etc. You will design, and develop equipment/ machinery and their components at from production and till the development stage.

As an electrical engineer, you will work in a wide range of industries. Some of you may be in the manufacturing of electrical equipment and some of you may work in power generation. Some of you may be working with the government electrical departments like Public Works Department.

Popular Specialization in Electrical Engineering Profession

A telecommunication engineer is an expert who uses electrical engineer and computer engineering as the source to support and enhance telecommunication systems. They design circuits, install telecommunication equipment, and install complex electronic switching systems, optical fibers, IP networks, and microwave transmission systems.

What Does an Electrical Engineering do?

As an electrical engineer, depending on your field of specialisation, you would have the following roles and responsibilities:

• You will Operate computer-assisted engineering or design software to complete various engineering and design tasks.
• You will design technical drawings, specifications of electrical systems, or topographical maps.
• You will make sure that the installation and operations of electrical equipment and processes meet the standards and customer requirements. 
• You will meet and discuss with other engineers, customers, or others about existing or potential engineering products. 
• You will design, plant, install, produce, maintain, and improve, etc. electrical instruments, equipment, processes, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes. 
• You will continuously work on new designs to create new ways to use present electrical products or developed new improved products.
• You will do a detailed project calculation to develop manufacturing, construction, and installation standards and specifications.
• You will check complaints filed by customers or by the public. You will evaluate these problems and recommend solutions.
• You will work with project managers to ensure that all projects are completed in time with satisfaction and within budget.

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How to Become an Electrical Engineering – Eligibility Criteria

To become an Electrical Engineer, you may do a Bachelor’s degree in any one of the following fields or in a related field:

• Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Electrical Engineering

After your Bachelor’s degree, you can do a Master’s degree in any one of the following fields or in a related field:

• Communication Engineering
• Control Engineering
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Electrical Drives & Systems
• Electrical Engineering
• Electrical Signal Processing & Systems
• Electromagnetics
• Industrial Power & Automation
• Instrumentation Engineering and Technologies
• Sound Engineering
• Telecommunication Engineering
• Energy Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Power Engineering
• Renewable Energy Technology
• Solar Engineering
• Wind Energy Engineering

Job Opportunities

• If you join PWD departments of different states, then you will join as Assistant Engineer (Electrical).
• If you are into the design side of the engineering career, then you may join as a design engineer/ Design engineer trainee.
• If you are into production, then you may join as a production engineer trainee.
• If you are into teaching, then you may join college or university at the profile of an assistant professor.
• If you are into research, then you can join a research institute at the role of research associate.
• If you are into scientific research, then you can join as a Scientist with Grade “C”.
• Some of you may also join as a service engineer.
• If you are into sales, then you may join as an assistant sales manager/ sales representative.

Different types of companies can offer you a job. Such as:

• Public Development Departments of various States of India
• Government defence department like DRDO in India.
• Space departments like ISRO
• Nuclear stations and atomic research stations like BARC in India.
• Institutes of scientific learning like IISc, IIA, RRI, TIFR, etc.
• Electrical Engineering department of all IITs and Engineering colleges.
• Leading electrical manufacturing firms like GE.

Salary of an Electrical Engineering

• At the entry-level, as a Scientist (grade C) you would be earning around Rs. 80,000 to 100,000 per month. As an assistant professor, you would be earning anything between Rs. 65,000 to 70,000 per month. As a production engineer/ design engineer/ service engineer, etc. you would be earning anything between Rs. 25,000 to 2,00,000 per month. In government departments, you will start as an Assistant Engineer (Electrical) with a salary of around Rs. 56,000. As a sales representative, you might be earning Rs. 15,000 to 100,000 per month.
• At the junior level with a work experience of 2-6 years, you would be earning anything between Rs. 50,000 to 2,50,000 per month.  In government departments, you would be earning around Rs. 80,000 to 1,40,000 at the position of Executive Engineer (Electrical).
• At the middle level with an experience of 10-12 years, you would be earning anything between Rs. 1,40,000 to 1,90,000 per month as a scientist and Rs. 1,20,000 to 1,60,000 as a professor and as a production engineer/ service engineer, etc. Rs. 1,00,000 to 4,00,000 per month. In government departments, you would be earning around Rs. 1,60,000 to 2,25,000 at the position of Chief Engineer (Electrical). 
• At the senior level of over 15 years of work experience, you would be earning anything between Rs. 1,60,000 to 2,00,000 per month as a professor and Rs. 2,10,000 to 2,50,000 per month as a Scientist. As a production engineer/ service engineer etc. you would be earning anything between Rs. 1,20,000 to 10,00,000 per month. In government departments, you would be earning around Rs. 2,25,000 to 2,50,000 at the position of Additional Director General (Electrical) or Special Director General (Electrical).

Career Progression in Electrical Engineering Profession

• If you are into the design side of the engineering career and joined as a design engineer/ Design engineer trainee and then become a design engineer. Soon, you would either become a design engineering manager or design manager or project manager.
• If you are into production and joined as a production engineer trainee. Soon, you would become a production engineer. You may be then promoted to production manager (Manufacturing) and then plant manager (manufacturing).
• The career growth in university and college states from Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor, Professor and Professor Emeritus. Professors can also get administrative positions such as Director/Dean/Vice Chancellor, etc.
• If you start a career as a sales representative or sales manager, then you may become a senior sales manager and then an area sales manager and then a regional sales manager. Some of you may even become VP of Sales.
• Research laboratories will hire you as a scientist/scientist officer with the lowest grade and the grade changes from low to high. In India, grades are “Scientist “C” as the joining level and then D, E, F, G, H, etc. A senior-level scientist can also get into administrative positions like Principal Scientist, Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Director, etc.
• If you join the PWD department of various states as Assistant Engineer (Electrical), then you will be promoted to Assistant Executive Engineer (Electrical) and later Executive Engineer (Electrical) and then Superintending Engineer (Electrical). Afterward, you will be promoted to the senior position of Chief Engineer (Electrical) and then Additional Director General (Electrical) and finally Special Director General (Electrical) some of you may even be promoted to Director General.

What does Industry Trends Say – Future Prospects

Electrical Engineers have a huge demand in engineering products and projects industry. The heavy goods engineering industry size of India was estimated to be USD 70 billion in 2017 and expected to become USD 115.75 billion in 2025. Similarly, electrical equipment production will reach around USD 100 billion in 2022 from a mere USD 27.3 in 2017. The electrical engineering products are this likely to grow 4 times in next 5 years. From 2016 to 2017 the electrical engineering industry grew by 19.1%. Thus, even the rate of growth seems to be accelerating in the next 5 years. Such high growth rates make for a bright future prospect for electrical engineering graduates.

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