Electrical Engineering - Careers, Salary, Jobs, Scope

Why ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING?

Electrical engineering is one of the core fields in engineering. It is concerned with the design, development, construction and maintenance of electrical systems and their components. Electrical engineers have to ensure the quality, safety and sustainability of the electrical systems used in a variety of industries, which include construction, building and distribution of electricity.

The course is offered both at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, with certain specializations to be opted for at the postgraduate level.  You will study about the structure and functioning of various electronic components like microprocessors and semiconductors, if you go for electrical engineering as the course of your choice.

Top electrical engineering colleges in India–

• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
• Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad
• Jadavpur University
• Thapar University
• College of Engineering, Pune

The average working hours for electrical engineers are around 40 hours per week, but you might be required to put in late shifts and weekend work to meet deadlines and troubleshoot design problems. Travel within the working day is common, but you’ll rarely be required to travel out of the city or country, except for seminars or conferences related to your work.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Jobs and Career Opportunities

Electrical engineers have a lot of scope and variety of jobs and sectors to work in, because individuals with an expertise of power systems, electrical components and knowledge of semiconductor mechanics are needed in almost all engineering companies and ventures.

Some common job profiles that you might want to pursue after obtaining your electrical engineering degree are mentioned as follows-

Control and Instrumentation Engineer

They are mainly responsible for designing, constructing and installing systems to monitor and control engineering systems, machinery and/or processes concerned with electrical supply and power distribution.

Instrumentation and Control engineers are employed both by companies who manufacture these systems as well as by those who use them, like nuclear power plants and renewable energy companies. They also test the newly developed or already existing power systems for their adherence to specific norms.

Design Engineer

Design engineers are included in the initial designing phase of the project, and mitigate any issues pertaining to the design aspects of the execution. The design engineers will need to have a thorough knowledge of design software like Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical, and they must also have strong leadership and project management skills.

You have to apply your mathematical skills, technical knowledge and design acumen to come up with innovative solutions to problems in the electrical systems and a myriad other issues across a diverse range of fields. You may also be required to write user manuals or technical reports related to the projects you might be working on.

Nuclear Engineer

Nuclear engineers, as the name suggests, primarily work on designing and running nuclear power stations. They can be involved in designing new systems, maintaining existing systems and making them more efficient, or to improve the sustainability of the power plant, and also how to maximize the power output of the plant and minimizing cost and power losses.

You can also be involved in decommissioning existing power stations and planning and execution of safety procedures for the radioactive waste transport and disposal. There can be various specializations within a job for a nuclear engineer, such as health and safety specialist, instrumentation and control engineer, process engineer, project engineer, quality engineer, reactor operator, etc.

Electronics Engineer

An electronics engineer is a highly specialized industry that will have you working with high end and sophisticated technology in a plethora of areas. Electronics engineers are responsible for developing and testing components and devices that use electricity as their source of power, which include transistors, diodes, capacitors and resistors.

You may also be required to systematically examine and improve upon the detailed design of a piece of equipment, and also write technical reports and user manuals regarding the same. You will also have to ensure that user- friendly interfaces are created and safety standards are sufficiently met.

The precise job also differs according to the position you hold, for example, the job of an incorporated engineer is very different from a chartered engineer’s.

Electrical Engineer

As an electrical engineer, you’ll design and maintain electrical control systems and components to required specifications.  You will need to keep in mind the economy, quality, reliability, safety and sustainability of the product you develop.

The equipment you develop will be used across a variety of industries, including the building industry (lighting, ventilation and heating), transportation networks, manufacturing and construction, and production and distribution of power. You may be involved in any stage of the development process, from the concept and detail of the design to implementation, testing, handover, and subsequent maintenance of the product. You must be familiar with British, European and other standards.

Other job profiles you can go for are as follows-

• Aerospace engineer
• Broadcast engineer
• IT Consultant
• Network engineer
• Systems analyst
• Management consultant
• Multimedia programmer
• Project manager
• Technical author
• Technical sales engineer

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Salary

The average salary for an electrical engineer in India is Rs. 3, 50, 000 per annum. Experience strongly influences pay for electrical engineers.

The salary for an entry-level electrical engineer is around Rs. 3,00, 000 per annum, while the salary of an electrical engineer in the middle of his career reaches close to Rs. 5, 00, 000 per annum.

Skills that can lead to an increase in pay include knowledge or expertise in C programming language, Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical and Engineering Design.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Recruiters

Various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) that recruit electrical engineers are as follows-

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
• Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
• Power Grids
• State Electricity Boards

Private companies that are employers for electrical engineering graduates are-

• Crompton Greaves
• Siemens
• Hitachi
• Jindal Steel and Power
• Reliance
• L & T
• Tata Power
• Samsung Engineering
• Wipro Lighting Corporate
• Schnider Electric
• Bajaj Electricals Ltd
• Alstom Corporate
• Havells India Limited
• ABB India Limited
• EMCO limited
• HBM power system
• KIRLOSKAR Electric Company Limited
• Ace Bimetalliks India Pvt. Ltd.
• Balar Marketing Pvt. Ltd
• E S Electronics (India) Pvt. Ltd
• Modern Electrical Stores
• Eveready Industries India Ltd
• Microtek
• Exide Industries Ltd

Specialisations

Since electrical engineering is a very vast area of study and offers lot of scope, hence it becomes necessary for a student to pick an area of specialization to focus his/ her mind and time on, and to succeed in her/ his chosen career.

A list of popular engineering specializations that can be taken up in mechanical engineering is mentioned below. These are offered in the postgraduate level at Indian Institute of Technology-

• Communications Engineering
• Control and Computing
• Power Electronics and Power System
• Microelectronics and VLSI
• Electronic Systems

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Syllabus

• Basics of Electronics Engineering
• Electrical machines
• Fiber-optics
• Introduction to manufacturing processes
• Opto- Electronics
• Power generation
• Power Systems
• Semiconductor Devices Technology
• Signals systems and networks

Popular Colleges offering ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

The top colleges for studying electrical engineering in India are mentioned below. For seeking admission, the candidate needs to have studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 10+2 level at school. They will need to crack the IIT-JEE exam and attain a sufficiently high mark for gaining admission into these colleges.

Why should you choose ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING?

Because of development in technology and fast-growing infrastructure, the demand for all kinds of engineers is on the rise and the same goes for electrical engineers.

Electrical engineering is growing in various key areas like wireless communications and mobile technology, and also cross- field areas like nanotechnology and biomedical engineering, hence these fields are the ones to look out for and specialize in, for they have a tremendous scope.

The world is moving towards the renewable source of energy including hydro, solar and wind power, and multi-national corporations are searching for power generation experts. This is another course of action you could pursue a career in.