Employers

Approximately 130,500 electrical and electronics engineering technicians are employed in the United States. Technicians are employed by companies that design, develop, and manufacture industrial and consumer electronic equipment. Such employers include service shops, manufacturing plants, and research laboratories. Others serve in the armed forces, or by nonprofit science or technical organizations. 

Starting Out

You may be able to find your first full-time position through your school's career services office. These offices tend to develop very good working relationships with area employers and can offer you excellent interviewing opportunities.

Another way to obtain employment is through direct contact with a particular company. It is best to write to the personnel department and include a resume summarizing your education and experience. If the company has an appropriate opening, a company representative will schedule an interview with you. There are also many excellent public and commercial employment organizations that can help graduates obtain jobs appropriate to their training and experience. In addition, the classified ads in most metropolitan Sunday newspapers list a number of job openings with companies in the area.

Professional associations compile information on job openings and publish job lists. For example, the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians offers a list of of job openings around the U.S. and Canada at its Web site, https://iscet-jobs.careerwebsite.com. Information about job openings can also be found in trade magazines on electronics, and at general job-search Web sites.

Advancement possibilities in the field of electronics are almost unlimited. Technicians usually begin work under the direct and constant supervision of an experienced technician, technologist, scientist, or engineer. As they gain experience or additional education, they are given more responsible assignments, often carrying out particular work programs under only very general supervision. From there, technicians may move into supervisory positions; those with exceptional ability can sometimes qualify for professional positions after receiving additional academic training.

The following short paragraphs describe some of the positions to which electronics technicians can advance. 

Electronics technician supervisors work on more complex projects than do electronics technicians. They supervise other technicians and may also have administrative duties, such as making the employee work schedule; assigning laboratory projects to various technicians; overseeing the training progress of new employees; and keeping the workplace clean, organized, and well stocked. In general, they tend to have more direct contact with project managers and project engineers.

Engineering technologists are senior technicians or engineering assistants who work as part of a team of engineers and technicians in research and development of new products. Additional education, resulting in a bachelor of science degree in engineering, is required for this position.

Production test supervisors make detailed analyses of production assembly lines in order to determine where production tests should be placed along the line and the nature and goal of the tests. They may be responsible for designing the equipment setup used in production testing.

Quality control supervisors determine the scope of a product sampling and the kinds of tests to be run on production units. They translate specifications into testing procedures.

Workers who want to advance to engineering positions can become electrical engineers or electronics engineers through additional education. A bachelor of science degree in engineering is required.

Read tech publications to learn more about the field. Additionally, IEEE publishes more than 75 journals and periodicals about electrical and electronics engineering and related topics. Visit https://www.ieee.org/content/ieee-org/en/publications for more information.

Visit the following Web sites for job listings:

• https://iscet-jobs.careerwebsite.com
• https://jobs.ieee.org

Join professional associations such as the American Society of Certified Engineering Technicians to access training and networking resources, industry publications, and employment opportunities.

Become certified by the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians, ETA International, and other organizations in order to show employers that you have met the highest standards established by your industry.