11 Skills For An Electrical Engineer With Tips For Improving

Updated 8 September 2023

Electrical engineers test various electrical systems, designs and equipment that companies and individuals use in their day-to-day lives. Being an electrical engineer requires you to have a specialised skill set, including technical expertise and soft skills. Showcasing your relevant electrical engineering skills is essential to let the hiring manager know you possess essential skills for a successful career. In this article, we discuss the top eleven skills for an electrical engineer, understand ways of enhancing and explore the tips for highlighting your electrical engineering skills.

Top 11 Skills For An Electrical Engineer

Here are the top eleven skills for an electrical engineer that can help in a rewarding and successful career:

1. Problem-solving skills

Regardless of the engineering discipline, employers prefer electrical engineers who are problem-solver. As a part of their work duty involves identifying and analysing issues, these professionals assess the information and tools required for developing electrical engineering solutions. These professionals require excellent problem-solving skills because it helps in tackling complex challenges and devising innovative ideas. An engineer faces new challenges with each project, such as the interaction between multiple systems, requiring excellent problem-solving skills.

2. Electrical circuit knowledge

When working with large installations and highly advanced pieces of hardware, an electrical engineer requires proficiency in an electrical circuit. Having a strong understanding of basic circuit design can help create safe electrical systems. Proficiency in circuit knowledge is essential for developing and repairing electrical devices. You can enhance your circuit design knowledge by completing school projects, taking part in online classes and enrolling in circuit design courses. Having fundamental knowledge of physics can help in enhancing your electrical circuit knowledge.

3. Critical thinking

Employers prefer candidates who can logically and critically think about the weakness and strengths of an electrical product or system. Assessing process information and keeping emotional aspects aside is essential for this role. Critical thinking abilities help an electrical engineer come up with alternative solutions. They require this skill set to assess a client's problem and develop circuits and electrical systems that suit their requirement. Employers prefer candidates who can solve many complex problems through their work.

4. Communication skills

Another essential skill set for this job role is excellent communication skills. The ability to communicate and explain complex terms can help fulfil the project. These professionals require communication skills to collaborate with colleagues and clients. These professionals often require excellent technical writing skills to prepare documents that explain how an engineering system or circuit works. Also, many engineering offices communicate through phone calls and emails. So having proficiency in using all these forms of communication is essential in an electrical engineering role.

5. Organisational skills

Being organised is essential for building safe systems while completing work on time. An electrical engineer's organisation is crucial because they require organisational skills to prioritise and plan their workday. As engineers may work on time-sensitive projects, employers prefer candidates who can manage their time. Also, these professionals may work on multiple projects simultaneously, which requires excellent organisational skills.

6. Attention to details

As electrical engineers work with complex projects and design large systems, they require extra attention to detail to ensure the entire project's success. Missing out on a few details might affect the entire project. When an electrical system faults, it adversely affects the company's reputation. Minor errors in execution can cause a poor reputation, financial losses and even dangerous situations because of faulty systems development. So, it is essential to give great attention to details while designing and testing electrical systems and circuits.

7. Mathematics

Often, electrical engineers perform complex calculations while testing and designing electrical products. Employers prefer candidates with excellent mathematical abilities. They require mathematical calculations for understanding the electrical potential and developing prototypes. Also, these professionals require strong mathematics skills to identify potential errors in calculations. This can help in preventing significant faults from occurring. Electrical engineers may use mathematics skills to repair electrical engineering components.

8. Extensive electrical knowledge

Electrical engineering is the ability of an individual to analyse information related to an electrical system. Using this skill set, engineers can provide valuable data from the information provided. Knowing the basics of electrical engineering helps these engineers provide sources for electrical design. Employers prefer candidates with extensive electrical engineering knowledge as it ensures the designer is working with accurate information when creating final functional products.

9. Drafting plans and schematics

Electrical engineers require in-depth knowledge about different software which they might use to develop schematics and draft plans for electric circuits and systems. They also require this skill to understand and read plans schematics prepared by other electrical engineers. As electrical engineers progress in their careers, they require less drafting work, but entry-level engineers may draft more plans and schematics.

10. Willingness to learn

In electrical engineering, learning does not stop at university or college. As electrical engineering is a fast-changing field, employers prefer candidates willing to learn and upgrade their skills. It is essential to stay up to date with the latest trends and technology when working in this area. You can ensure a fulfilling career by reading trade publications and paying attention to the latest trends.

11. Creative thinking

Apart from critical thinking, these professionals require creative thinking skills to explore endless possibilities to develop systems and new technologies. This is true when large companies are trying to develop industry-changing technologies. Coming up with significant engineering discoveries requires creative professionals who can think differently.

How To Improve Skills For An Electrical Engineer?

Here are a few ways to improve your electrical engineering skills:

Attend training programs: After completing your electrical engineering degree, it might be helpful to attend various training courses to enhance and uplift your skills. Enrol in different electrical engineering training programs, such as designing for consumer electronics, basic circuits or robotics training.
Ask for feedback: To enhance your skills, get in touch with your managers and colleagues to understand areas that require improvement—asking for feedback from others helps identify improvement areas you might otherwise overlook.
Pursue relevant certifications: Completing widely accepted electrical engineering certifications can help you enhance your skill set. Standard certification programs include safety and conversation, power systems and solar panels.
Pursue higher education: Most electrical engineers start their work soon after graduation. Often, pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering can help improve your skill set and ensure a higher learning curve that might be beneficial for shaping your career.
Gain experience: During your bachelor's degree, enrol in an internship program to get hands-on experience with the electrical engineering skill set. Gaining practical experience can develop your understanding of the job and sense of performing work.
Use available resources: For improving your skill set, use all the resources such as online seminars, books, journals and videos. For instance, you can improve your critical thinking skills by reading fiction and non-fiction books as they help you develop an opinion, ideas and thoughts.

Tips For Highlighting Your Electrical Engineering Skills

Here are a few tips for highlighting your electrical engineering skills:

Decide the most relevant skills: Knowing about the most relevant skills required for the job can help get a desirable electrical engineering role. It can help identify skills you can learn for a fulfilling career.
List your skills: When creating your resume, focus on listing skills relevant to the job role. Showing only relevant skills can help you target keywords the employer is looking for and get you shortlisted for an interview.
Showcase skills used in past jobs: Giving employers an idea about the skills you used in previous employment can make you a suitable candidate for the job role. Focus on explaining how you used certain critical skills at the previous job.
Emphasise your digital proficiency: With companies relying heavily on the latest tools and technologies to develop electrical systems, your digital proficiency is essential for this role. Ensure you include all relevant skills on your resume.
Avoid using generic sentences: Electrical engineers commit a significant mistake in using long and generalised statements regarding their skills. So, be precise in every aspect of the skills you mention in your resume.
Keep it short: When giving details about your skill set, keep it short. This is essential because employers have only 10-20 seconds to read the resume.
Prepare for the answer about skills: Interviewers may ask you question relevant to your skills. So, prepare for the interview by identifying ways of mentioning these skills in your answer.