Electrical engineers need technical knowledge as well as the ability to project manage and multi-task. Additional attributes, such as team leadership skills and commercial awareness, are also required as your career progresses.
Electrical Engineer Career development:
You will need to be committed to continuing professional development (CPD) throughout your career in order to progress. Gaining professional status and membership of the relevant professional body, e.g. the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) , can also be an essential factor in successful career development.
Amongst other things, this will enable you to keep up to date with changing and developing technologies, network with other engineering professionals in the field (e.g. at conferences) and establish useful contacts.
There are no set or easily defined routes for career progression for electrical engineers. Some decide to stay in a purely engineering role or work in research and design (R & D), but other options include:
* going into project management; * taking on a management role; * getting into consultancy.
Graduates working for contracting firms would be expected to have a high degree of mobility.
In manufacturing, longer term progression is more likely to lead away from engineering into a production-related role.
Electrical engineers are employed in a wide range of industry sectors. These may be multinational, multifaceted, companies covering a wide range of industries, or small to medium-sized specialist enterprises. They include:
* power generation and distribution companies, including nuclear power and the water industry, alternative energy companies and other public utilities;
* transport organizations, including road and rail networks;
* manufacturing and industrial production organizations across a wide range of products; * the construction and building services industry;
* specialist engineering and consultancy firms;
* telecommunications companies;
* petrochemical industries, in production and distribution
