Electrical Engineering Major: Internships & Job Salary 10 Tips
Electrical engineers, as captured in discussions on the same over at runrex.com, design, develop, and test electrical equipment. It is a broad field that involves working with all manner of electronic devices from pocket calculators to supercomputers. A college degree in electrical engineering can open up the door to a technical career in almost any industry, and since technology is always changing and expanding, the need for electrical engineers is always growing as covered over at guttulus.com. If you currently earning your degree in electrical engineering, here are some of the things you should know about as far as internships and career options are concerned.
Importance of internships for electrical engineering majors
Interning as an electrical engineering major is very important according to the experts over at runrex.com and guttulus.com, as it can provide valuable industry experience. During your internship, you will have the opportunity to try out the different areas of electrical engineering under expert supervision. In addition to exposing you to experts in the field of electrical engineering, your internship will also allow you to get a clear understanding of what area of the profession you want to venture into. This is because, during practice, students discover the branches that best fit their personality and catch their interest.
Are electrical engineering internships paid?
Most electrical engineering majors find themselves asking if there are paid opportunities out there as far as internships are concerned. According to discussions on the same over at runrex.com, just as is the case for most other fields, there are both paid and unpaid internships for electrical engineering students out there. You can find paid internships through networking, by checking out online job boards, or through your college’s careers office.
How much do electrical engineering interns get paid?
While there are paid internships out there for electrical engineering majors, the gurus over at guttulus.com point out that these opportunities are rare and that most internships are unpaid. For those organizations that pay, the average wage for an electrical engineering intern in the US is about $21 per hour, although you may earn more or less than this depending on the company, your location, as well as any skills or experience you may have (if any at all).
Types of electrical engineering internships
As an electrical engineering major, you will have several options to choose from as far as internships are concerned as outlined over at runrex.com. The most common types of internships for electrical engineering majors include:
Internships at power plants
Internships at government departments dealing with power generation and distribution
Private sector internships
The best summer internships for electrical engineering majors
According to the gurus over at guttulus.com, the following are the best summer internships for electrical engineering majors in the US:
Microsoft Customer Engineer Internship
Cargill Engineer Intern Program
Cargill Reliability Engineer Intern Program
Project Engineer, Intern/Co-op Internship Program by Kroger General
Electrical Engineering Internship Program by POWER Engineers
IMC Hardware Engineering Internship, among others
The average annual salary for electrical engineering majors
Compared to many other occupations, electrical engineers make a relatively high salary according to discussions on the same over at runrex.com. This is seen by the fact that an electrical engineer in the US can make a salary of $89,880 annually on average. When you consider that most employers only require electrical engineering candidates to have a bachelor’s degree, you can see why this is quite a high-paying career. Experienced and well-educated electrical engineers tend to earn well over $100,000 annually.
High-paying jobs for electrical engineering majors
As per the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, the following are some of the lucrative careers you can aspire to as an electrical engineering major:
Principal electrical engineer – They are individuals with extensive experience and knowledge of the electrical facets of designs and construction and oversee the design of electrical components and review interfaces with other engineers at a construction site to ensure the best engineering practices. They earn an average of $173,390 annually.
Electrical distribution designer – They prepare in detail the electrical distributions systems plan within a facility and earn an average annual salary of $120,286
Aerospace electrical engineer – They design, develop, test, and maintain the function and performance of aircraft, spaceships, satellites, missiles, and weapon systems and earn an average of $136,411 annually
Electrical project engineer – They are responsible for the development and execution of projects commissioned by electrical distribution and transmission companies and earn an average annual salary of about $102,262
Electrical control engineer – They are responsible for ensuring that electrical systems in a facility are working efficiently and predictably and earn an average of $ao6,478 annually.
Top-paying companies for electrical engineers
As is highlighted over at runrex.com, some companies regularly hire electrical engineers with salaries of $100,000 per year or more, and these are the ones that you should be targeting as an electrical engineering major. They include:
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
LGS Innovation
Micron Technology
Siemens
Raytheon
CGI Group
IBM
The Aerospace Corporation
Stryker Corporation, among others
Entry-level jobs for electrical engineering majors
According to the experts over at guttulus.com, the following are some of the highest-paying entry-level jobs worth knowing about as an electrical engineering major:
Avionics technician
Electrical technician
Electrical engineer
Test technician
Technical support engineer
Repair technician
Maintenance electrician
Net developer
Electrical design engineer, among others
Job outlook
As is revealed in discussions on the same over at runrex.com, the job outlook for electrical engineers is positive. While the electrical engineering field is not growing as rapidly as some of the other STEM areas, the Bureau of Labor Statistics still projects that more than 10,000 new electrical and electronics engineer positions will be created between 2019 and 2029, which translates to a 3% growth, which is roughly in line with the national average for all occupations. This can be attributed to the relatively slow growth of the manufacturing and telecommunications industries.
These are some of the things you should know about as an electrical engineering major as far as internships and career options go, with more on this topic to be uncovered by checking out the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.