Hey are you wondering whether electrical engineering is a good career option or not and is it worth it.
You don’t need to worry about it anymore because in this article let’s take a look at what electrical engineering is all about and
some advantages and disadvantages of this engineering branch in detail to understand whether it is a good career option or not.
So let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
Pros and cons of electrical engineering
Pros of electrical engineering
1. High paying jobs
One of the main advantages of this is that you can get a high paying job if you become an electrical engineer.
As a matter of fact according to bureau of labour statistics the average salary of an electrical engineer is around $100,000 annually which can be converted into $50 per hour.
And the average salary of an electrical engineer in India is approximately 4 lakh rupees annually.
Apart from a good salary you can also get many other benefits of a job as an electrical engineer like insurance, paid sick leaves and retirement benefits.
2. High demand job with low competition
Another big benefit of this career option is that it has a high demand job but also has low competition on the other hand.
According to statista, only 394 engineers graduate from electrical engineering branch out of every 1,000 engineers in India in the year of 2019,
but if you compare it with other engineering branches like computer science and mechanical engineering,
more than 880 students graduate from computer science engineering out of every 1,000 engineers and more than 750 student graduate from mechanical engineering out of every 1,000 engineers.
This clearly shows that compared with other engineering branches electrical engineering has less competition.
And now when we talk about the demand of course it has more demand.
The very essence of this career profession deals with electronics and electrical material and we all know that this material are used in almost every industry
you can think of so obviously the demand will be high because electric substances and materials like electric motors, Transformers, circuits, computers, etc play a huge role in our daily life.
As a matter of fact you can find plenty of jobs where you can apply on both naukri.com and Glassdoor website in your country.
According to the bureau of labour statistics this profession has 7% of growth from 2020 to 2030 in jobs.
I agree that compared to other engineering branches like computer science which have a massive growth percentage of 22% between 2020-2030 in jobs, electrical engineering does not have a huge percentage of job growth, but you should also consider that there is less competition in the electrical engineering branch as well.
3. Wide career scope
Another big advantage of electrical engineering is that it can have a wide career option and scope.
After you complete your electrical engineering, you can get into various industries and companies like Indian Navy, Indian railways, aerospace, automobile industry, government electric works.
Electrical engineering offers you flexibility to switch between different career options and paths after you get this engineering certificate and you can also go for higher studies like Mtech or MBA for more career options.
4. Working in different companies
Another big advantage of electrical engineering is that you can get a chance to work in different companies of different kinds and different sectors not just in India but also worldwide.
For example as an electrical engineer you can work in many popular companies like,
- Boeing
- Tata motors
- Lockheed Martin
- Intel
- Tesla
- Reliance industries
Etc and there are many more companies which hire electrical engineers
By working in different companies you can get different exposure and
gain knowledge and you can also choose any one of the company depending upon your interests and convenience.
5. Exciting career
Last but not least this is another interesting career option.
As an electrical engineer your work is not just to manufacture an electric equipment but also design and test them and
In most cases the electrical engineers work in a team and collaborate with other engineers while designing the equipment and testing it.
This profession requires a lot of critical and analytical thinking along with a lot of creativity and problem solving skills.
You will have to do a lot of research and come up with new ideas and use your creativity to create amazing electrical equipment and
gadgets and it can be quite exciting for you if you like to be creative in your profession rather than just following steps and procedures which can be boring sometimes.
Along with it when you realise that your work and your innovative ideas and creations in the electrical department will impact and add value in the life of millions of people,
this can give you a lot of job satisfaction and happiness, give you a lot of internal motivation and inspiration and also work as a driving force in your career
At the same time, because you can get a chance to work in many companies as I already mentioned earlier you can meet new people and learn from them and also increase your network as well.
So these are all the advantages of electrical engineering as a career option.
Cons of electrical engineering
1. Long hours of work
One of the main disadvantage of electrical engineering can be long hours of work.
On average the electrical engineers work around 40 to 50 hours every week and sometimes in order to meet the deadlines they will have to extend their work and go beyond limit.
If you are thinking that this career option requires less hard work then you are mistaken about it.
Your work as an electrical engineer is not just limited to manufacturing product designing the electrical equipment because of that
you will have to work on the desktop for a long time designing the equipments and testing them which causes long hours of work.
2. Constant learning is required
Due to constant changing technology and new innovative ideas coming in regarding using electrical equipment,
because of that you will have to constantly learn and upgrade your knowledge and skills in order to stay relevant and continue working as an electrical engineer.
This can be a problem if you are not open minded and not aware about the changes taking place in the industry.
3. It can sometimes be dangerous
Another big disadvantage of this career is that it can be sometimes dangerous and hazardous to your health.
The very nature of this job is related to handling electrical equipment, test & manufacture them, in such case you can face some dangerous situations like electric shock or short circuit in your work environment.
This can be sometimes dangerous to your health and it can also risk your life if proper safety measures are not practiced.
4. AI can be an issue
Yes you read that right artificial intelligence is one of those big problems that electrical engineers might have to face in future, yes I am talking about losing jobs due to automation.
According to many websites, the possibility of artificial intelligence can automate majority of the tasks of electrical engineers is more than 40% & and growing in the upcoming years.
Although I still stand upon the fact that artificial intelligence cannot completely replace and automate the work of electrical engineers because
Your job as an electrical Engineer is not just to manufacture the electrical equipment but also to design and test them, which is where artificial intelligence cannot replace humans and their ideas, knowledge, expertise and experience and artificial intelligence cannot acquire creativity which humans do.
But when it comes to testing and manufacturing the electrical equipment you might see that some of your tasks can get replaced by artificial intelligence in the future,
for more information you can check out how artificial intelligence can be useful in electrical engineering in detail here.
So these are all the advantages and disadvantages of electrical engineering as a career option..
Is electrical engineering a good career and worth it?
After learning all the pros and cons of this career option I believe that electrical engineering is definitely a very Good career option.
Electrical engineering can be a good career option for you if,
- You like to play around with electronic substances
- You have creativity, problem solving skills
- You want to have a career where you can choose to work in many industries and companies after you get engineering degree instead of just narrowing yourself to one industry or company
In all these cases electrical engineering can be a good career option and a wise decision.
With that said let’s conclude the article.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know about electrical engineering as a career option.
Do let me know your thoughts about electrical engineering in the comment section below.
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