25+ Pros and Cons of Being an Electrical Engineering (Explained)

Electrical engineering is a discipline of study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism.

It has design, building, electrical control systems maintenance, machinery, and equipment. Its applications are on components, devices, and systems, from tiny microchips to huge power station generators.

It mainly focuses on large-scale production and distribution of electrical power.

Advantages of electrical engineer	Disadvantages of electrical engineer
Pay grade	Limited Employment Growth
Variety of fields	Ongoing Education Required
Practical applications	Pay Based on the Level of Education
Learn to deal electrical equipment safely	Requires dedication
Evergreen job opportunity	Scale of work
Coordinates	Mathematics
Skills	Occupational hazard
	Stress
	Requires a High Level of Knowledge

Advantages of electrical engineer

Pay grade

According to the surveys available online, electrical engineering graduates manage to get some of the highest salaries in the country. These engineering graduates starting out as trainee engineers in the field earned more than USD 90617/- per year on average.

As a whole, electrical engineers earned an average yearly salary of almost USD 122000/- on average before the COVID pandemic broke out.

The boom in telecommunication industries has opened a plethora of scope and companies offer lucrative salaries to deserving electrical engineers.

Variety of fields

Electrical engineers have options to choose to work in a variety of industries including telecommunications, computer, aerospace, and manufacturing industries, besides their core sector.

They can progress their career even further by specializing in specific areas. The streams such as telecommunications evolved from electrical engineering.

Practical applications

This stream of engineering has several practical applications. The laws governing the flow of current (electrons) in a network are basic systems laws and they apply equally to things such as water in a pipe or cars on the interstate.

And there’s a perfect analogy between force and voltage, current and movement, and resistance and friction. An electrical engineer designs electrical circuits of automobiles, Mobile towers, and even spacecraft, matched to their individual requirements.

Learn to deal with electrical equipment safely

As we have to work with electric equipment. During initial training, an electric engineer learns how to deal with electrical equipment safely and correctly so that they can keep themselves safe.

The safety precautions are standard operating procedures implemented to avoid electrical hazards and mitigate the risks of any accidents and injuries. They understand how electricity works, identifying and eliminating electrical hazards.

Evergreen job opportunity

As it is one of the basic streams of engineering. And it has applications in our day-to-day life. It has ample job opportunities in all market conditions.

They are required in every establishment. Newer technology like telecommunication and nanotechnology has opened a plethora of opportunities.

Coordinates

As the theories and skillsets of electrical engineering have application in several other fields. Many basic theorems and fundamentals in newer streams are driven by electrical engineers.

An electrical engineer can coordinate well with engineers of different fields. There is great fluidity within the different fields. They can have a greater understanding and communicate well with engineers of other fields.

Skills

Electrical engineers have profound practical and theoretical knowledge in their field. Skills learned can be used in other fields and make great use of them. It will help one to learn some other related skills easier.

An understanding of high-level math and electric circuits helps us to gain some great solving skills. Alongside being the ultimate problem solver, an electrical engineer also has remarkable creativity and practical skills.

Disadvantages of electrical engineer

Limited Employment Growth

The job growth in the electrical engineering and allied field in the year 2022 – 2023 is anticipated to be a mere 1%.

The lack of explosive job growth is primarily a result of an overseas engineering competition. Due to prevailing job market conditions, electrical engineers choose to shift to allied or other job streams.

Ongoing Education Required

As a result of ever-evolving technology and upcoming scientific research, electrical engineers have to constantly update their knowledge, education, and skillsets.

In order to excel in the field, electrical engineers must gain licensure within specific fields, such as signal processing, solid-state electronics, or control systems. As some engineering fields are so similar, skills can easily transfer to other specialties.

So an electrical engineer is required to keep a tab on the latest happening in allied and related streams of engineering.

Pay based on the Level of Education

As with other engineering streams, the payroll of electrical engineers is usually based on their highest level of qualification. Those with a master’s degree are paid greater than those having only bachelor’s degrees.

Similarly, those with a bachelor’s degree are paid greater than those having only a diploma. In many job advertisements, minimum educational qualification is required.

The reason behind this difference in salary is, with the advancement of technology, professionals must update their education and knowledge to match the technology requirements.

Requires dedication

Electrical engineering is one of the oldest and basic streams and with time it has evolved a lot. It contains several old theories and several latest innovations. It is vast and stretches from mathematics to fluid mechanics.

It has applications from tiny microchips to huge power station generators. Due to this, Electrical engineering is generally considered to be the most difficult undergraduate degree offered.

Scale of work

Often electrical engineers work in a team. They are allotted specific areas of work. They thus require a specialized skill set.

With the advent of computer-aided manufacturing and computer numeric control, they can do more work nowadays. Often it is a very large-scale job and it requires numerous hours spent on several different parts of the job.

Occupational hazard

Due to the nature of the job and working environment, electrical engineers have a risk of personal injury. Dangers may include the possibility of electrical shock and other occupational hazards.

Though electrical engineers follow security protocols, they may come with personal risk and mild job security concerns. There is always the risk of hurting yourself with either the tools or the electrical devices.

Stress

Job satisfaction is a crucial part of every job in engineering streams. The work environment may differ greatly depending on the type of electrical engineering one chooses to go to.

Most engineers work in teams and there is always competition ongoing between them. The competition is also between these teams.

The fact that electrical engineers are in competition and must meet deadlines can make electrical engineering a high-stress occupation.

Requires a High Level of Knowledge

The job of the electrical engineer is extremely intricate because it requires a higher level of intelligence and problem-solving skills. It also requires ability and knowledge with numbers, which might be difficult for many people.

The electric engineers mostly work with electric circuits, which is a very intelligent task. It demands problem-solving skills, a lot of patience, and a never quitting attitude. Due to the complexity, some large-scale jobs might require numerous work hours.