Electrical Engineer
Career information and advice on being a Electrical Engineer

As an Electrical Engineer you would be required to design, build and maintain electrical control systems and machinery. The work is important in a wide range of fields, including the national power grid, large civil projects, specifying installation standards as well as production and process plants.

Electrical Engineers can choose from a range of career options.  In all cases you would be expected to produce effective solutions to a wide range of electrical requirements in a multitude of environments. You could specialise in design, inspection and testing, installation, maintenance and upgrading of process or control equipment. You could work for a consultancy, a large corporation or a small concern.

Your daily functions may include assessing the condition of power production and supply equipment, analysing appropriate steps to solve found problems and submitting reports based on such findings.

You could also design and implement your own electrical solutions for new projects where you would need to present ideas, manage a team and liaise with other specialists such as Civil Engineers and Architects.

Your Functions May include

Functions of an Electrical Engineer vary depending on the chosen field of specialisation.

A large portion of work would be centered in or around industry. In the role of a Plant Engineer the focus would be to ensure the electrical soundness of the plant to maxamise production. The remit of this role will be to assess and review all equipment currently in place, including fuses, circuit boards, PLC’s and electrical components. The Engineer would be tasked with reporting on all equipment and analysing steps required to replace any faulty / aging components with minimal disruption to the daily output of production lines.  This will also include some form of maintenance system.  Another large area of responsibility is ensuring all electrical installations comply to statutory, corporate and site specifications.  This also covers the safe working conditions of the staff and contractors.

A thorough and methodical approach to work is essential and one must be able to present findings in both formal reports and in layman's terms to management. You may be required to carry out feasibility studies for new technical developments or innovations.  Once approved the plans and specifications for projects would need to be drawn up. This may also include some design work, sizing of relevant parts and sourcing unique items. Computer-assisted engineering and design software are extremely useful tools for this process.

As an Electrical Engineer you may run or oversee several projects depending on their size and scope. In other cases you would lead the electrical aspects of a project while working with other Project Managers in a multi-disciplined team.  A common example would be the construction of a new building or factory.  Maintaining a constant log of the Project costs and sticking to pre-determined budgets is essential.