Experience Requirements Overview

  • Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
  • A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
  • Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
  • Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree

Related Work Experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

On-the-Job Training: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Detailed Work Activities

  • Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.
  • Discuss designs or plans with clients.
  • Design structures or facilities.
  • Design electrical equipment or systems.
  • Maintain electronic equipment.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

  • Investigate or test vendors' or competitors' products.
  • 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.
  • Perform detailed calculations to compute and establish manufacturing, construction, or installation standards or specifications.
  • Operate computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment to perform engineering tasks.
  • Confer with engineers, customers, or others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects or products.
  • Inspect completed installations and observe operations to ensure conformance to design and equipment specifications and compliance with operational, safety, or environmental standards.
  • Investigate customer or public complaints to determine the nature and extent of problems.
  • Prepare technical drawings, specifications of electrical systems, or topographical maps to ensure that installation and operations conform to standards and customer requirements.
  • Compile data and write reports regarding existing or potential electrical engineering studies or projects.
  • Prepare specifications for purchases of materials or equipment.
  • Estimate labor, material, or construction costs for budget preparation purposes.
  • Plan or implement research methodology or procedures to apply principles of electrical theory to engineering projects.
  • Supervise or train project team members, as necessary.
  • Assist in developing capital project programs for new equipment or major repairs.
  • Collect data relating to commercial or residential development, population, or power system interconnection to determine operating efficiency of electrical systems.
  • Develop systems that produce electricity with renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, or biofuels.
  • Develop software to control electrical systems.
  • Integrate electrical systems with renewable energy systems to improve overall efficiency.
  • Conduct field surveys or study maps, graphs, diagrams, or other data to identify and correct power system problems.
  • Design electrical systems or components that minimize electric energy requirements, such as lighting systems designed to account for natural lighting.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 28.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.