• Electrical Engineering: Electrical engineers traditionally work on the generation and supply of power.
• Electronics Engineering: Electronics engineers apply the supply of power. They work with control systems or signal processing.

• Associate Degree: 2 years to complete
• Bachelor's Degree: 4 years to complete
• Master's Degree: 1-2 years to complete
• Doctoral Degree: 3-5 years to complete

Electrical engineering degrees exist at a every education level following high school. Based on the level of education, different job opportunities are available to those with degrees. When selecting a school for engineering, look to make sure that it is accredited. The accrediting body for engineering is called the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Your credits will be much more valuable if you have their stamp of approval.

An associate degree in electrical engineering generally takes two years to complete and is offered primarily at junior or community colleges, as well as technical schools and traditional four-year schools. They are designed to provide students with the necessary mathematics and science background, as well as give them hands-on experience in the working world. Graduates are able to get jobs as engineering technicians, where they assist with experiments and data that the engineer is collecting on particular products or processes.

Pursuing a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering is necessary to be considered an engineer. At this level of education, you will actually be designing the products yourself, not just testing them, and you will be responsible for overseeing the manufacturing process, as well. This is because a bachelor's degree gives students the full background in science and math and allows them time to specialize and focus on a specific field, like electrical engineering.

Although graduate degrees are not required for most electrical engineering jobs, they are required for some roles in research and development. Also, engineers may utilize them to learn more about specific disciplines, or to switch their own specialization to electrical engineering. Doctoral programs allow engineers to become faculty at universities and teach their own engineering students. (BLS)

The pay in electrical engineering is based almost entirely on experience level and specialty. Electronics engineers who deal with the application of energy rather than its production may earn slightly more than their electrical engineer counterparts. However, overall, the pay is great.

Those starting out in electrical engineering will be making around $50,000 as they enter the workforce. With experience, they advance and start to make closer to the median salary. The median salary for electrical engineering is $85,000 per year. The most experienced and best paid electrical engineers make in excess of $130,000. (BLS)

If engineers want to work directly with the public, they must first become licensed as a public engineer, or PE. This process involves getting a bachelor's degree in engineering. Then, the engineers must have four years of work experience under their belt. Finally, there is an examination. Each state may have slightly different rules for their PEs.

Apart from that, electrical engineers generally work with a sort of informal apprenticeship, where they are supervised by more experienced engineers and slowly presented with more advanced problems as they become more knowledgable. Some larger companies may even provide classroom training sessions to teach their own employees. (BLS)

Although positive job growth is expected in the electrical engineering fields over the coming years, increasing competition means that job prospects may still remain average. Many competitors from overseas are seeking out jobs in electrical engineering, and companies are outsourcing their electrical engineering needs. Those who do best will be electrical engineers who work to provide design services to manufacturers. (BLS)

Although many people with engineering backgrounds end up honing their skills and specializing in a particular area, such as electrical engineering, there are a variety of different specialities that someone seeking a degree in engineering might choose. Thus, there are a number of careers related to electrical engineering.

A computer engineer is very similar to an electrical engineer. They both design, develop, and test products, and they both help to oversee the manufacture of those products. The only difference is in the type of product. Computer engineers work with computer hardware such as motherboards or hard drives, while electrical engineers work with larger products like motors. Either way, they both utilize the same engineering background to accomplish their goals. (BLS)

Because mechanical engineers specialize in one of the broadest disciplines in engineering, there is also some overlap with electrical engineers. They design, develop, and test, as well, but they focus on the mechanical aspects of products. So while the electrical engineer may be concerned with how an electrical motor is wired, the mechanical engineer will oversee how the moving parts in the motor function. (BLS)

Nuclear engineers design, develop, and operate nuclear power plants. They employ the same background skills as an electrical engineer but focus on how to derive power from nuclear energy rather than on designing electrical products. Some may even work to reduce the amount of nuclear waste produced, find other uses for it, or even power some of our military vessels, like submarines. (BLS)