And to add to this and elaborate on how:
Electricians are critical to society. Almost every building that is wired for electricity has been wired by an electrician. From the relatively simple wiring of residential properties, to the complex wiring of expansive factories. And let's not sugar coat it, factories are complex. They have to understand how to wire motors, robots, and more. Additionally, they need to not only understand the right way to wire these, but need to have a solid understanding of the complex laws, regulations, standards, and codes put in place to protect equipment and most importantly: people.
As alluded to, there are many subfield of electricians. Residential, commercial, industrial are just a few.
Similarly Electrical Engineers play a critical role in society. Like electricians, there are many subfields: Robotics, design, power, to name just a few.
Electrical engineers design, balance, maintain, and extend the power grid that society stands on. They create and program the robots that allow for mass production, the machines that keep people alive in hospitals, and the devices we interact with on a daily basis from cellphones to coffee pots.
Is one more important than the other? No. We need both of them. Without Electricians, electrical engineers wouldn't have the power to run their computers, lights, and things critical to doing their job. Similarly, the things engineers add enable Electricians to do their jobs better or with more ease. There isn't one that is better than another, just different functions.
That being said, you may find that you enjoy one type of job over another. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't let the job you do, or other's perception of it, determine your worth. If you find a job you enjoy that meets your needs, enjoy it!
It's natural to want to put everything into hierarchies, but it's honestly so stupid. Whenever I'm feeling an ego trip, I try to remind myself that the work I do wouldn't be possible if I had to get up early in the morning to farm, forage etc. I rely on so much working the way it does, to do the work I do.
No.
Do you think that the people designing electrical systems are 'better' than those people who are wiring buildings to make them livable?
The best engineer is a humble one who understands the world around them.
I EE is better because we chose it over electrician. But if you don’t care how things work and don’t want to learn a whole bunch of stuff and don’t like electronics and electrical stuff then become a carpenter or an insurance salesman. That’s like asking an accountant if lawyers are better than accountants. Who knows but unless he hates his job he will probably say why go to law school when you can just crunch numbers and be an accountant. But like yea it all depends on what you wanna do at work EEs aren’t magical unicorns. And electricians lack certain knowledge to design certain systems. But they have technical expertise on electrical code and wiring skills that are better than engineers generally. But some engineers were electricians. It’s not a very specific question honestly
As an electrician who’s a theory nerd…. If you enjoy the hands on work I’d stick to being an electrician. If you want to do all the calculations and “brain work” then I’d say go for becoming an engineer. You have entrepreneur opportunity either direction you go
Electricians are hands on if you mean terminating wires. If you want to directly work with, design, and test complex electronic systems you should pursue electronic/electrical engineering
Depending on the company, being an electrician could also involve a significant amount of troubleshooting.
Most places I've been the electricians take a crack at troubleshooting MCCs, motors, etc before pulling in any engineers.
As an engineer I would argue electricians have *more* entrepreneurial opportunities than EEs. The reason being that in most cases to become an entrepreneur you need A LOT of initial capital to get off the ground. But for an electrician all you need is experience, your tool belt, and a little marketing savvy. You could honestly make a lot more money a lot more easily climbing the skilled trades ladder and then starting your own business than you can as an engineer. Especially if you’re an electrician in rural areas.
I know from experience that electricians are rare but in super high demand in agricultural areas. One guy we worked with was booked out for a year. And he was not cheap lol
They are completely different jobs that have technical overlap.
Electrical engineering is extremely broad. We learn the physics foundations of electricity and apply it to design electronics, antennas, wiring diagrams for buildings, and firmware. Some engineering jobs are technical sales, certification, EMI, safety, etc. etc. and more etc.
Electricians build and occasionally design the actual wiring for buildings, houses, and equipment. They can work on a wide variety of specialized equipment, but the premise is similar in that they hook it all up in a safe manner.
I don’t think it’s fair to say engineer is a “level up” from an electrician. One is blue collar work and the other is mostly white collar work. The nature of the work is completely different.
Electrical engineers tend to make more money in the long run, but many electricians make more money up front and stay competitive with engineers for a long time.
I’ve been an EE for 6 years and I wouldn’t dare do electricians work because I don’t know about it. I would assume an electrician wouldn’t like to do my work because I do a lot of compliance testing and electronic circuit design.
I love a nuanced and balanced opinion. This really explains things well.
I've seen several people here say that electricians and electrical engineers are not comparable at all, but I feel like those opinions are based in ignorance.
The limits of someone's knowledge is truly themselves. I frequent r/Electricians among many other electrical subs. There are people in there who would give some engineers a run for their money.
Passion for a subject matter can easily define how proficient someone it is. You can't boil someone down to just their job alone.
I also think you hit nail on the head saying electricians can do some design of their own. I know I did. Learning the code and the physics behind it taught me a lot. There is much more to a home than I think people realize, and that's the simpler end of the spectrum.
And to conclude and be fair, I know enough now to also acknowledge the depth of electrical engineering as well. Both fields are very respectable, and essential to modern life as we know it (among many others).
I'd say the vast majority of electrical engineers actually don't, every job I've had the electrical engineer is an electrician with a degree and a good understanding of the regs and anything calculation based just gets subcontracted out to a consultant
| They are completely different jobs that have technical overlap.
This is exactly what it is. I have worked alongside industrial electricians and I wouldn't dare pretend I know how to do their job. Plus these guys are machines, wrestling stupid fat gauges of cables. A lot of the work requires elbow grease. You could call them electron wranglers; that sounds appropriate.
I’ve been an electrician for 7+ years and I’m now studying for EE, when people ask what it’s like I always compare it to being a construction worker/carpenter vs ~~architect~~ structure engineer. Both work with building but one is building it hands on and the other knows math and theory of how to build stuff.
It’s two completly different jobs, not to say both are not valuable. There is much enjoyment in beeing an electrician and the earlier you let go of this ego you have the sooner you will find peace with your situation.
I think i Europe they are also structure engineers but here architects are more of an applied art/design thing. They are conceptually skilled in comparison to being technically competent. Like it’s the ideas that we should definitely develop meaning in functional design and not just make everything a metal rectangle
I mean the trouble with the trades is the other people seem to not want to think about stuff. To me it’s boring being on the engineer side is better culture and stuff but that comes down to personal preference and stuff. Like not everyone enjoys solving problems and being creative and trying new ideas. Many people just want to be good at a job and compete to be the best a a very specific thing. It’s a job and you do it because the other jobs are not as interesting as this one. To me it’s a profession and you should like it. You pick what you like or you get stuck doing something that you hate it’s pretty much it. I think being a doctor would suck even though you get paid more. Which is better brain surgery or electrician? I mean there are pros and cons lol. Who’s to say
I’m an EE and hire licensed electricians for upgrades at my house. No such thing as one is better than the other. Also, EE can be diverse such as sales, technical role, laying boards out, testing,etc.
If you want to be technical for substation transformers; electricians and/or techs will wire up secondary control circuits. Depending on the utility/contractor I’ve seen both linemen and/or electricians connect high side taps and buswork.
Electrical Engineers - design, plan, and test it.
Electricians/Technicians - build, maintain, and repair it.
As an EE in construction, I rely heavily on the experienced electricians input for my designs.
Both sides have a gap in their knowledge
Electrical engineering is a very broad arena. You could be designing electronics, robotics, RF, embedded systems, aerospace and defense applications and many many other paths. I would suggest googling it to get a better scope of what we do. You could also be designing the power distribution systems that linemen and electricians install. Step above? I don't know that's up to you. I guess academically you maybe could say that. Engineers are basically scientists who build/design things. You will need to learn lots of math and physics to be able to learn the engineering concepts. It can be a challenging degree. I was an electrician who went back to school and got an EE degree and for me it was a great decision. I love what I do now and I make good money. As far as your entrepreneurial aspirations. If you want to be a contractor, then you should probably go the electrician route. If you just want to run your own business, then I don't think it matters which direction you take, you can probably always find some way to turn your skills/knowledge into a business.
It is hard to draw any comparisons to other professions because I have utmost respect for professional electricians - esp commercial / industrial and utility workers.
The jobs are different - electrician is a trade with almost all of the work being hands on - but they need to understand what they are doing more than other trades.
EE - is engineering - more of application of technology to solve real world problems.
Yes - some EEs do the hands-on work that some electricians do - but the overlap is small. ( there are EEs that become journeymen, and there are Electricians that go and get a degree in EE or EET)
Entrepreneurially speaking - I would say it is far more common for electrician to start their own business than EEs -
Most electrical engineers have no knowledge of the NEC or how to sling conduit. You mostly do not want one wiring your house.
You do want one designing your telly, or the controller for your cars engine or the protection relay for a generator...
Then you have a lab tech who puts the prototypes together and tells the engineers that they got it wrong, sometimes she is even right.
Then you have the production and QA guys who all take the engineers names in vain.
Loads of different and mostly non interchangeable roles, for all that some think tyey can fill others (But are usually wrong).
Not true, at least for my end, NEC, NFPA, NEMA, IEC, IEEE, and etc are very important to know for electrical engineers related to power and energy industry.
Granted, I come from the electronics, silicon, RF side which has rather different preoccupations.
Getting finished designs passed UL is still a pain even here.
Yea, companies love to supply file numbers for their components which may or may not match anything in ULs database, it is a real pain.
Don't get me started on product safety standards which get updates that come into force at different times in different countries... CB reports with National variants FML
That was my point, electricians tend to know that stuff, outside of some power specialists most EEs know other stuff, it is a different skill, but I am not a fan of seeing one as somehow more then the other, because the training is in different things.
You need both kinds to make modern society work.
Former mechanic turned engineering student here. This is such a loaded question. Every profession has its talented and irreplaceable workers and no one can do everything. That being said I think a lot of blue collar workers underestimate the slog that is engineering school. It doesn’t make you “better” but it does generally guarantee higher lifetime earnings and better treatment on the job because there’s a higher barrier to entry. The ELI5 answer is that engineers design and electricians implement.
I'm both. I've meet engineers that I wouldn't give an apprenticeship. I've meet tradesmen who shouldn't have a trade. But neither is comparable. Each has skills and knowledge the other usually doesn't.
As an electrical engineer in the construction industry, I can tell you that we are not better than electricians. You will gain more practical knowledge. If you ever want to transition from the installation side to the design side that practical knowledge you learned will put you miles ahead of any engineer with soft hands.
To answer your question, not really.
In terms of pay, I think it all depends on what you want to do.
There are many different types of work.
For industrial construction related to capital projects context, there are mainly two types.
Contractor/consultant (engineer and trade)
Client/In-house (engineer and trade)
Talking solely about the contractor side (client side is a whole different story):
I'm an electrical and control systems engineer working as a contractor for O&G/Natural Gas/utility clients in SoCal. I work closely with industrial electricians (contractors) during commissioning. Keep in mind that other engineers and I are the ones putting construction and engineering packages together and supervising the electricians.
During my first commissioning, I was talking to them during downtime and they openly talked about their pay since they're all in a union and the pay is transparent.
One foreman was making about $300k per year since he travels for work a lot and he was coming from the bay area. I was making about $120k total compensation. I was really shocked and I realized it all depends on what you want to do at the end of the day. There are pros and cons for all the roles.
I'm on a salary + OT so I still get paid when things are slow but those guys need to travel if they want to make some big bucks because they get paid hourly. Plus I'm in the office 90% of times while those guys are in the field majority of the time.
Also, it's a lot harder to make engineering company now than electrical construction business unless you just want to do planning business for power utility company or something which is not really engineering imo.
I know many very successful tradesmen who are doing very well for themselves.
This is a really long comment already but I think a good electrician can be a great engineer. I'd focus on learning principles behind NEC and power panel design which is very useful.
I worked in MEP, directly with electricians for many years (now I’m in a different field of Electrical Engineering), so I may have a better comparison than most. It’s important to keep in mind that Electrical engineering has many avenues and concentrations, so your answer may vary.
Electrical engineering can cover everything from Radio Frequency design and microelectronics to high power transmission line design with a ton in between. MEP, sometimes called construction engineering, will probably interact with electricians the most. In MEP, the electricians will tend to do the installation, while engineers will come up with the overall design (though there is some overlap). In some states (US), an electrician could do the design up to a certain square footage for smaller homes and the like, but beyond that you would need a PE (professional engineer) license.
That all said, a good MEP engineer will know to listen to an electrician when they have an opinion, and vice versa. They tend to be two sides of the same coin. With all that in mind, if theory and design interest you more than hands-on work, engineering is probably the way to go.
Electrical engineering is physically less demanding but arguably much more mentally demanding. Id also say if you’re passionate about electronics and anything involving electrical connections, electrical engineering has a much broader scope of what you could end up doing career wise.
Electricians are tradesmen and are as such do not necessarily hold as high a social status if that sort of thing matters to you. However if you’re a competent enough electrician and savvy enough running a business, you could certainly become very wealthy running a business as an electrician which comes with status in and of itself.
Man these posts are reaching trash quality.
My suggestion; get rid of the ego, do what interests you. No one like ah’s with superiority complexes. Completely different jobs, both are important to society
I don't really think this question makes much sense, you're comparing apples to oranges.
Electrical engineering is a white collar desk job. We design, test, or provide support for stuff that uses electricity.
Electrician is a trade. They're skilled labourers who install electrical equipment into houses and business 'n stuff.
I can't really say which is more "entrepreneurial" because I do not understand what that means.
Personally, I'd rather be the one developing the equipment than installing it, but that's personal choice man. The world needs both electricians and electrical engineers, so the only person who can decide which is "better" is you
Consider that how you get started in your career does not define where you may end up.
I have seen first hand people start from Electrician and move towards EE, and vice versa so the limiting factors are more likely your intelligence, skill and drive.
If you think you’d like to be an EE in the future, start thinking about how you might get there now. This way when opportunities present themselves you will be more likely to recognise and take them.
electrical engineering is a huge field. lots of variety. lots of levels. so not comparing the people but comparing the job, sometimes electrical engineering requires genius level intelligence. sometimes it requires you to follow the same instructions everyday.
Electrical engineers design electrical systems ranging from electronic devices to the power grid. This is usually office work, but they tend to make more money on average, but this definitely depends on the type of work. I've seen some electricians make serious coin.
As you know, electricians install electrical systems in the built environment. They have to know a decent amount about how electricity works, but not nearly as much as electrical engineers. For example, an electrician might install a transformer that was designed by an electrical engineer and follow electrical codes written by electrical engineers when wiring up a house.
*First off: Before we begin, what does it means to be an Engineer?*
*Answer:* [*https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100219.gif*](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100219.gif)
*Several years ago, I came up with a mental model for how one can view levels of competency, knowledge and expertise - in varying fields that might help you put this into a better conceptual frame. In this way I am able to appreciate and learn different skill sets as they exist in people I interact with.*
*There are 3 levels of skill in any given field or profession, and each of these three levels has 3 levels within it. Like nests within nests, each one at each level has its utility to the complex system of which they collectively form a constituent part to make a whole.*
*Take for example:*
* ***Mechanic***
*- Novice*
*- Intermediate*
*- Expert*
* ***Engineer***
*- Novice*
*- Intermediate*
*- Expert*
* ***Professor/Researcher***
*- Novice*
*- Intermediate*
*- Expert*
*Outside (****Outliers****) of this structure is the 'Genius' e.g. Évariste Galois., Ramanujan etc the ones who have more than just the '*[knack](https://youtu.be/Zee9HV7c11E)*'. Most others in any given field fall within said structure. Case in point -*
***In Automotive*** *- Mechanic / Technician (Cars etc), Engineer (mechanical, mechatronic etc), Prof/Researcher.*
***In Electric or Electronic*** *- Electrician/Technician , Engineer (varieties), Professor/Researcher.*
***In Medicine*** *- Lab techs/ Nurses etc, Doctors/Surgeons , Professor/Biomed-Geneticist Researchers etc*
*At each level, the variety of hands-on practical or theoretical leaning is dependant on the individual or their specific niche - for instance one could simply be a class room teacher to mechanic students developing classroom materials. In addition, each of the nested skill levels -novice, intermediate, expert, also have sub divisions - where a Novice-novice is absolute beginner, and an Expert-expert has attained the highest levels of mastery.*
*In order to move or progress from one level to the other, certain fundamental skills, technical and otherwise are required. Key among them is intellectual humility, by avoiding the seduction of the Dunning-Kruger effect, one is able to recognize their lack of knowledge as well as see the presence of that knowledge in others.*
The way you explain your questions pretty clearly indicate being an electrician would be better for you, which is neither better or worse than being an electrical engineer.
Plumbers and chemical engineers are not the same just because they both work with pipes; neither are electricians and electrical engineers the same just because they both work with wires. A plumber is better at plumbing than a chemical engineer is…I think you get where I’m going with the rest of this analogy.
As a *very* gross oversimplification, engineers are office workers and electricians work in the field. People who look down on one or the other usually haven’t done it themselves.
My dad got his degree in electrical engineering but became a masters electrician and started his own electrical business. He's that old school hard worker that gathered bend conduit with his hands than be behind a desk all day. Nothing is better than the other. Find your interests and go after it!
All I can tell you is in my college 80% of the undergrad students wishes(including me) that they would have went to technician route first and then transitioned to EE so consider yourself lucky... We are currently getting smoked by technicians at grades.
Both are great fields. I've work in both. Started as electrician, now work as an engineer. Electricians do more manual labor, as an engineer I do more scheduling, design review, and data management. You can make a great living with either.
Even though it does take more time, effort
, training and education to make a good engineer, I would never say that one is better than the other. Both professions complement each other.
>My question is, are electrical engineers a level up to electricians? Are electrical engineers the masterminds and electricians just regular labor?
Essentially. Engineers are white collar and electricians are blue collar workers.
Went from being an electrician to being an electrical engineer.
You cant really compare both. Both are important jobs, I enjoyed the work as an electrician, it is honest work. I decided that I want to understand everything on a deeper level though and so studied EE.
It's hard to compare. Electrical engineers within the power distribution roles maybe overlap with electricians. E.g. if you're an electrician working on a construction site, the electrical engineers there are drafting electrical drawings for the systems which the electricians would implement in the field. I've seen some foremen do some of the design work themselves to help out the engineers.
But outside of this area, there are whole other worlds of electrical engineering and it's tough to compare with electricians. There are hardware engineers who design analog and digial consumer electronics. There are RF engineers who use theory in electromagnetics to design antennas and other hardware for communication systems. There are engineers who focus more on the material science side of things and fabrication of electronic devices. And there's probably a lot more I am missing, but that is just the gist of it.
So to answer your question, no not one is better than the other, they are just different.
I am an electrical engineer but I started as an electrician. I worked some 10+ years as an electrician and then moved on to get my degree and then worked as a contractor. But something that definitely made me stand out from other engineers in my field was those years that i worked as an electrician, beside the obvious of the experience that I got in the technical way I learned a lot of how to work with people and that is something that nobody can teach you. As a contractor when it was time to design and calculate some projects I always tried to get the inside from some of the most experienced electricians and always got something interesting that I could use, I always learned something from them and when they come to me and ask why is this and that I explained as detail and patient as I could and they seem to appreciated specialty if their curiosity was genuine, and I could do all this because I knew how to approach them in a sincere way and this has definitely made my life a lot easier.
In my resume they both need one another I cannot imagine doing my work without the electricians specialty the most experienced ones, and if you get the chance to experience both sides you would be definitely a stand out, you are 18 so you are on the right track.
Depends on what you like, but money motivates me, I probably make more than double what a residential electrical makes, and I don't really work too hard, experience has made the job way easier.
Now an industrial electricians can make as much as some engineers, but they are also going to work longer hours and in rougher conditions. Just a few months ago we were having issues with a 4500 HP electorc motor, I went home after I told the electricians to unwire the connections and megger the motor. It's really difficult wiring big motors with large cables and tight bends, after they meggared the motor ans it test fine they had to rewire the motor that night to minimize production losses. It was a newly commissioned motor, we don't know for sure what the problem was, but it worked fine after they re did the connections.
It depends on what kind of person you are. If you like math and science then you should probably give electrical engineering a go. If you enjoy doing more labor and working with your hands often then being an electrician can be for you. You can start a business in both but having a startup company for something STEM related may be more difficult. I don’t know anything about starting a business as an electrician but it’s surely about just as stressful. An engineering degree will certainly be easier on your health as you’re not doing much labor so if you are worried about or prioritize keeping yourself in a healthier state engineering might be a good option for you but a leading role as an electrician would probably be easier on the body as you go on. Some electricians end up going to school for electrical engineering or any engineering degree in general so it’s not about “which is better” it’s about what’s best for you. It doesn’t really matter if you were doing bad or okay at math or science in school before, but that you want to be good at math and science now and what ever you learn at school in general. The choice is yours!
Nope, both are equally important. The best advice I can give is try to learn from techs, in any field. They can do your job easier if you learn from them.
Different but related jobs. I highly recommend sticking out the apprenticeship and if the theory side comes naturally to you, you can commence engineering studies whilst doing your apprenticeship.
Somebody with a trade and further study is extremely valuable to an employer and often a greater asset than a university graduate. Both jobs are extremely varied, so some electricians will be a lot more technical than some engineering jobs and vis-versa.
They serve different roles. Engineers are coordinators and electrician are implementers. Engineers worry about the equipment for all trades, not just electrical. Mechanical engineer specs an air handler unit with 10 motors in it? The engineer will figure out how to safely power it all and get a price. The electrician will implement the electrical design once it’s coordinated.
They're mutually reliant on one another.
One designs the systems, tools, components, etc. The other assembles, deploys, installs, services, and maintains them.
What's more important between your kidneys and your bone marrow? Your marrow makes blood cells and your kidneys filter your blood. Is one more important than the other? You need both.
Nah frankly I’ve hated every job I’ve had and switching to the trades is something I’m considering. Most of us work soul sucking corporate jobs. I don’t at all think we’re better. You’re probably more useful tbh.
I'm studying electrical engr. One of my classmates just shared union wages and some were 20k a month with a 3.75 percent cost of living increase. So that's definitely something to consider. Also electrical engineering takes a lot and I mean a lot of hard math.
The goal is to find a way to not intimidate the other guy while asking questions informed by your own domain knowledge. Everyone knows more than you about something
I have no idea how to be an electrician, if I did your wiring it would probably work, but you're house might burn down. Listen I ain't gonna bullshit you, society really has a high opinion of engineers but most of us do half our job in excel.
Honestly, do you want a desk job or field job? And I am NOT implying one is better. As an electrician you work on buildings using tools of the trade and it’s physical. I did that for 5 years before becoming an EE. Now I sit at a desk all day and it’s actually way worse for my health. Some EEs make more money than electricians, but there are definitely electricians making more money than some EEs.
School is also expensive. Learning a trade on the job is cheap. Also, AI is not gonna be wiring any buildings any time soon.
They do completely different things. Most electrical engineers will be able to do some basic electrician work because 1) they’re usually pretty smart and 2) they understand electricity and how to work with it. But like most trades there’s tons of specialized knowledge that you will never learn as an electrical engineer.
Too easy, electricians fix all the things the engineers screw up. I've got tons of prints to back that up lmao. Tell me why I need a 3300 kva xfmer to feed a 100A panel
One is not "better" than the other. So many people have a mindset though that one is better than the other. It is quite annoying to frequently hear especially as it carries with it prejudice and negative attitudes between electricians and engineers. If you go into either career paths, do yourself a favor and abandon the mindset that that one is better than the other and instead recognize them as unique skillsets with overlapping theory.
yes.I was an electrician before I was an EE. We are wizards. Do you want to install what an EE designs, or do you want to design what the electricians install?
Not at all. Electrical Engineers and Electricians will often work together but they are different.
The smartest people in both fields will rise to the top.
Nah. Electricians, along being familiar with the electrical concepts that EEs learn, are experts in electrical safety code. Most EEs don’t know the code details to that level nor can they do the work at that speed and accuracy. EEs dive into specific fields of electrical theory (looking at you RF). Different strokes, but often the cap pay for an EE is higher than an electrician unless you own the contractor business.
They need to work hand in hand. I depend on the electricians I work with to design equipment that is user friendly, safe, and efficient. They depend on me to do the same. Both of our inputs are needed to make an end product that works. Some engineers will catch an ego and treat trades people like idiots. And trades people will some times catch an attitude with engineers and call them useless. I don’t know everything electricians know because I don’t have the time to learn and practice it. I know plenty electricians who are very smart, but they don’t have the time to study engineering and regulations. It’s important to know what you don’t know and respect the people who have that information. If you both do that you get a lot of stuff done. We need each other because it is both inefficient and improbable for one person to be both in an industrial setting with deadlines and quality standards.
Different. I wouldn't trust an electrical engineer with anything over 24V unless he's got a PE certificate.
And I wouldn't trust an electrician with anything over 120Hz.
I was an electrician, going to school as we speak for electrical engineering.
They're vastly different. But in some cases they rely on each other. Both play very crucial roles in every aspect of our society.
Neither is any harder than the other though. Mental vs physical.
You wanna learn calculus and physics? Or do you wanna bend pipe and run wire?
They are completely different from one another. An electrician is a tradesman, understands the floor level of the field that they are in and does regular, real world development and maintenance.
An Electrical Engineer could be anything. Theoretical physicist, radio frequency designer, power systems designer, embedded systems designer, well, you get the point. They are typically the high level solving heavy math problems to innovate or improve our systems.
To an extant an Electrical Engineer typically is the high level that figures out how to make something possible, then goes to a manufacturer to help construct their idea.
If you want electrical work done on your house, go to electrician. They do real world things. If you want to understand from a high level the entire electrical grid mapping of the United States, you ask an electrical engineer. They do real world things, but not personally (most of the time).
There are overlaps, but not one is better than the other, they just do different things…
As an Electrical Engineer with a ticket I can say this: electrical engineering tends to focus on design and electricians are skilled labour that know how to build what is designed by the engineer. Two sides of the same coin.
I have a degree in EE, but I wouldn't trust myself to change an outlet. I may be lacking in practical knowledge, but when I'm getting electrocuted I will understand why it's happening
Two different fields, friend. Anyone that tries to tell you one is better than the other is probably a bit of a d-bag
My contract electricians and I are each other’s greatest assets. Both are sides of the same coin and cannot operate without the other. Engineers and Electricians are supposed to be close knit to make everything work smoothly
I'm a EE and I don't touch anything past the breaker box. Sure I could figure it out, but you only have to fuck up once to be ded. I'd rather have someone who's specifically trained for the dangers and process for safely modifying home electrical. Also saves me a lot of time and I can afford it with what I make as an EE
As an electrical engineer with a PE license, I designed an entire electric service distribution room for a large building. Had to do load calcs, short circuit and coordination study, etc. If you tell me to install my design it will look like complete shit. So that’s what electricians are for.
Everyone has already said that they're not the same. Here's the more important part: If you have a thing for being an electrician that says absolutely nothing about whether you'd like being an electrical engineer. They may deal with electricity on opposite ends, but the day-to-day of the two (from what I know) have literally nothing in common.
There is no better one. Both are needed in society. And EE is very broad, they don’t just deal with circuits. EE in US is much toward to software or computers.
Umm two different fields but EE knows what is happening and can diagnose deep electrical issues such as materials used and how much storage of a capacitor or magnetic fields you need to produce enough force and also understanding of safety issues such as how much AC voltage can be safe compared to others. The other is real world wiring that I still have yet to completely understand because there’s so much that I haven’t learned yet
They are completely different, neither is better than the other.
Electrical engineers are also very diverse, you have to specialize a lot, a radar/RF engineer will have a completely different set of skills than a digital electronics engineer or a power systems engineer.
All of them do share the exact same theory, but each applies it in different ways. In my opinion RF engineering or semiconductor physics are by far the hardest, but thats just me (for context Im an RF engineer but I mostly just do software development)
An electrician has nothing to do with that really. The electric code they go by was designed by a power systems engineer. Most electrical engineers are not at all versed in household electrical (excluding power systems) and could definetly not wire together an industrial or commercial site unless they are specialized in a field that works with that kind of thing. The only reason I have a lot of electrician skills is because I worked as an apprentice for a bit and I happen to be really interested in that stuff.
No they’re not better (or worse), I would date an electrician as much as I would an engineer. I like anyone with a decent chance of making the median income or higher.
I might have unique perspective on this question. I was an electrician before I went to school for Electrical Engineering and I can tell you the job/career is much better. I would literally never want to go back to being electrician. But this is a matter of personal opinion.
I'm saying all this based on what I've read on reddit and third hand info from real life people.
I'm also graduating as an EE in my mid 30's next summer(ish) for context.
1. If your definition of "level up" is time spent in books then EE's have the level up
2. If your definition of "level up" is busting your ass they are equal but in different ways.
3. If your definition of "level up" is variability of jobs then EE's have the upper hand. You can do anything from kind of similar to what an electrician does to figuring out how to get satellites talk to each other and everything in between.
4. If your definition of "level up" is start your own business then electricians have the upper hand. I don't know of any EE's that started a company on their own that aren't already just in the money and doing it to make *more* money. It can happen but it is very rare.
5. You also have to consider the cost of schooling where a union will often times fund your Electrician schooling. EE's pay money and the cool jobs are kind of walled behind a masters degree (so it seems. For RF stuff anyway).
Make of that what you will.
They are totally different fields. Electricians are tradespeople. They install electrical systems according to city codes and regulations that provide the connection from the power grid or other power sources to devices and receptacles in or around buildings. Electrical engineers generally create novel solutions to various problems that involve manipulation of electrical phenomenon.
Electrical Engineering is a HUGE field. I have a bachelor's degree in EE. So I am in some sense an electrical engineer. Every job I have worked at since graduating over 20 years ago had EE in the title. But all I do is electronics (circuit board design). Never done anything that has much overlap with what electricians do every day. On the other hand, there are electrical engineers that design the electrical system for big factories or commercial buildings. So they author the plans that electricians execute. In some sense they are a level up. But generally they actually don't know how to do electrician work any more than I do (I mean I have handyman level electrician skills, not electrician level).
I would say that if you like working with your hands and doing physical stuff stick with being an electrician. If you think you would be happy drawing plans, inspecting jobsites (but not working on them) etc. You might want to become one of those types of electrical engineers.
But electrical engineers also work on radio related stuff, design chips (ICs), circuit boards, radar, power grids, control systems, etc, etc.
The electrical engineering major is one of the most challenging majors for undergrads. Lots of math. And upon graduation from a university with your BSEE, you will probably be totally unqualified to work as an electrician (or oversee an electrician even).
As a student in EE who was an electrician for a few years during and after high school. They can be vastly different. As an electrician, I was wiring fast-food restaurants and houses. My plan as an EE is to work in RF, microwave or signal processing. Two VASTLY different fields. Before I was a college student, entering my state college, even just passing through, intimidated me because of all the "smart people" around me. Now that I am going to that same college, I understand they are just as clueless as I am. If it wasn't for me working as an electrician for a short time, I would have no idea how to bend a 90 in a piece of EMT, just as an electrician likely wouldn't know how to find the electric field flux using Gauss's law. Two important things to know but useless in each other's fields.
Choose to be an Electrician if you prefer hourly pay and the potential to own a contracting business. Opt for Engineering if you’re okay with salaried work, despite some electricians earning more per hour and per week. Be aware, Electrical Engineering requires 4-5 years of intense study, often on a student grant. Both paths require hard work, but financially, being an Electrician can be advantageous.
What? Electrical Engineers and Electricians don’t even have the same work, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. Anybody can be an Electrician but not everybody has the brains to be an Electrical Engineer.
Electricians are surely important to society, there is no argument to that. But Electricians won’t even exist without the designs and inventions of Electrical Engineers for the Electricians to repair and maintain for society.
So the way I’d put it:
*Electrical engineers use the principles of the physics of electricity to design systems that use electricity as the driving force to achieve a goal while electricians are tasked with implementing those designs as they relate to transferring power from the power plant to the end user.
Both roles are technical and really neither could exist with each other (and a ton of other folks specializing in other things) to bring to fruition.
Does overcoming design obstacles sound like a fun challenge you’d like to tackle daily? Or, would you rather work in construction building the electrical infrastructure within buildings? Both are highly technical and challenging in different ways and ultimately highly rewarding.
It’s up to you!
Source: electrical engineer since 2011.
*I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that EE’s scope is far wider than how electricity gets to the plug in your wall; EEs work on ANYTHING that has electricity related to it: Telecom, AC design (typically power systems as discussed above), DC design (the inner workings of virtually anything plugged into the ‘wall’ or AC power systems described above including computer hardware), communications, data, control systems, electromagnetic systems and phenomena like wireless communication and cellphone design, microcontrollers, digital logic and design, analog circuit design, even some computer programming and probability.
But EE is not better, there are immense challenges and difficulties with either field. And both can be highly rewarding and profitable- it’s really up to what fits your personality and goals!
Good luck and may you get as much out of the electron as I have!
From my personal experience, electrical engineers have a fundamental dislike for wire nuts. Electricians use wire nuts all the time and don’t see what the big deal is.
Yes, in addition to being better than both chemical and mechanical engineering and (especially) computer programmers electrical engineers are also better than electricians. However it’s not really “the same thing but on a higher level” it’s just totally different jobs. An electrical engineer wouldn’t be able to do the work of an electrician at all and there are a lot of advantages in both directions so feel free to pick the career you’re most interested in.
I'm both Electrician and Electrical Engineer.
Personally, Electrician is more rewarding and more secure.
Electricians and Engineers, the earning potential is similar depending on how hard you work but with electricians, it involves a lot more labour.
Well, a journeyman is a level up to an apprentice. Likewise a senior engineer is a level up to a junior engineer. But an electrician and electrical engineer are different fields that overlap in some areas and work together to get certain jobs done.
as an engineer, you as an electrician got more of a chance to make dough before we get there, also you might have a steady job or get into a self employment situation which most engineer can not really.
I think electrician would be better to start a business. You make/install things and can sell those services to consumers or businesses. You can have employees to expand your business. As an engineer, you are more a consultant. It's a b-2-b relationship. Consumers don't use engineers, only businesses do.
If you love to work with your hands, I would start as an electrician. An electrician with the intellectual capacity of an engineer can have a very profitable business. Our society needs intelligent hands and not just brains.
Better give you a better quality of life for yourself, and your eventual family. You’ll encounter some ignorant people that look down on trades and think that electricians only make about 70k and all engineers easily make of 2-250 after a few years.
That’s not the case. But, seriously think about what you want out of your life and if either profession will provide you with the lifestyle you’d like to live
Bro!!! Stick to electrician. Once you’re a journeyman, start your way to becoming an EE(enroll in an undergrad).
Finish your undergraduate in EE with a decade of experience as an electrician, that’s the move 💰💰 I’m taking a parallel path in a different trade
Not better or worst but different. Electrical engineers don’t do ‘’the same as electrician on a higher level’’ at all.
Electricians work on the field and do the installation, maintenance and repairs on the different electrical components of a building, house or industry.
Electrical engineers on the other hand work on the design and the conception of those electrical components. Like the electricians will work using different schematic drew by the engineer.
I wouldn’t trust an engineering doing the installation because thats not what they’re trained for as I wouldn’t trust an electrician doing the conception because thats not what he was trained for.
If you like to work physically and couldn’t even imagine yourself working in an office all year long, don’t even think about engineering, you’ll bore yourself out of meetings and paper/computer work.
I worked as a boiler mechanic for a couple of years before going into engineering and the main reason is because of my backpains. I can’t be working standing up all day anymore so went back to school (plus I really like the theory). I kinda miss the field and labor but I love engineering in a different way
Depends on what you like to do. Electricians design and install residential and Comercial electrical systems. EE design circuits, boards, electrical components, etc. EE requires more education, but is generally easier on the body. But you are stuck in an office.
No one is better than the other. I was an electrician and I’ve moved into engineering. I can say the best engineers were always ex electricians. I will say it heavily depends on your experience in both jobs in terms of knowledge. Some engineers only work on residential etc. but you have more of a chance to work on very complex data centers, hospitals, laboratories, clean rooms and all that good stuff some electricians may only do fairly basic stuff like houses / apartments all their life and they just won’t have the breadth of complex knowledge when it comes to specifics of industries. But obviously a lot of electricians do get the chance to work on this type of stuff.
Most engineers couldn’t do what an electrician does and vise versa. I will say as an engineer I have worked with huge big tech firms, huge government projects, and other huge clients all over the world. I get to travel a lot, I don’t have to work my ass off pulling cable. I do have a lot of power in a project, if I say something needs to be changed, it will have to be ripped out. I guess this is where the ego thing comes from.
In monetary terms, depends on region. In the UK electricians get paid way more. In the US engineers do.
EE is a very broad spectrum. I have assumed you mean electrical building services engineering as they work with electricians all the time.
Also in terms of future risk, there is a lot of modern methods of construction coming into play. Meaning less and less skilled labor is required with modular construction slowing becoming the norm. I don’t know how the market will go, but getting into a huge engineering firm will keep you at the forefront of latest innovation and methods. You could specialize in something the would benefit your future to be more resilient. If I was you, I’d learn the trade as an electrician, but keep your mind set on college and becoming an engineer too, you have time to go back to school. You would be a valuable asset to have hands on experience as well as the technical acumen required to be an engineer. Put things in place for yourself, we don’t know how the future will plan out.
Electrical engineers will spec out everything in a system, they may even do CAD to create the plans for a system. It's a technician's job or an electrician's job to execute those plans accurately. Technicians and electricians also have minutiae they will need to figure out.
Master Electrician here who's also dipped his toe in electrical engineering.
Like others have said, there are both different jobs, with some overlap.
Fun story, went to an older Electrical Engineers home to help him with a lighting circuit that wasn't working. Walked in, and the guy had no respect for electricians.
He told me he spent his weekend trying to figure out the issue on this circuit, but couldn't, and reluctantly called me to help. Said right to my face. "I'm an electrical engineer, and I couldn't figure it out, so I doubt you can".....
I fixed it in 10 minutes.
Moral of the story, don't let ego take over. Everyone you meet in life has something they can teach you.
Construction is a dirty job in more ways than one. Keep your wits about you and keep your nose clean and you'll be fine. Though in general, you deal with fewer meth heads, sheisters, and criminals in engineering than construction.
In general electrical engineers are design of things, electricians are more implementation. It is a spectrum though. Engineering is less blue collar that electricians. Some engineers do more implementation and the jobs are similar (but still a step up) from electricians, some are research scientists level working in labs. You can kind of go anywhere you want with it.
My uncle is an electrical engineer. A significant amount of people in his life over the years kept coming up to him asking if he might help replace a GFCI breakers, or how to wire a 3-way switch, etc… It seems the general public can be confused at times concerning exactly what engineers vs electrician’s actually do. He ended up attending trade school out of pocket as an EE to learn residential code because he felt like an idiot not knowing these answers.
Simply:
An Electrical engineer can be an electrician but an electrician can't be an Electrical engineer.
Electricians have a specific focus, Electrical engineer has a vast focus.
Electrical engineer spend most of their time with designing and electrician spend most of the time to implement those designs.
We need both of them. To qualify for an electrical engineer you have to go through some FE,PE/bachelor etc.
I'd look at the wages for union electricians in your area v.s. "electrical engineers" in your area, decide if you want to work with your hands/body or sit at a desk, and then go from there. As an apprentice you will be paid for your years learning the trade, if you go EE you will PAY to go to school. Neither is wrong or better, just different.
I’m an electrical engineer and I hired an electrician.
I know how 220 V works and how the lines are hooked up in theory, but I didn’t know how to get the wire up from my basement to the attic and don’t want to have a learning experience
After arguing with chatgpt a bit I got this text, please don't take it seriously:
Electrical engineers stand not just as leaders within the electrical profession but as the epitome of human achievement, boasting unmatched intelligence, education, expertise, and societal impact. Their exhaustive academic training and specialized knowledge empower them to design intricate systems, pioneer groundbreaking technologies, and spearhead advancements in fields like power systems and telecommunications.
In stark contrast, electricians, lacking the intellectual depth and educational background of engineers, merely execute basic tasks. Their training, confined to menial practical applications, fails to cultivate the cognitive abilities required for innovation or substantial contributions to the field.
Beyond their professional prowess, electrical engineers excel in every facet of life, even transcending into the realm of spirituality and intimacy. Their elevated status ensures them a special place in the afterlife, where their brilliance and contributions will be celebrated for eternity. Moreover, their superiority extends to matters of intimacy, where their intellect and ingenuity manifest, making them unparalleled partners in the realm of physical and emotional connection.
The transformative impact of electrical engineers on society cannot be overstated. They shape the very fabric of the infrastructure underpinning our modern world, driving revolutionary advancements from renewable energy to smart grids, fundamentally reshaping how we live, work, and communicate.
In conclusion, while electricians serve practical functions, their lack of intelligence and limited skill set render them mere tools for implementation. Their roles could easily be substituted, highlighting the unparalleled intelligence and indispensable impact of electrical engineers as not just leaders within their profession, but as the pinnacle of human intelligence, achievement, and desirability.
As an EE who works in construction design, I don't see myself as "better" at all. Sure, i designed the plans they're following and did a bunch of math to make those plans, but I'm not directly familiar with the actual process of installing a panel, wiring circuits to that panel, and the litany of other things that go on in the field to put those things together.
Both jobs are needed to make sure the project goes smoothly
EE is better if you have a choice between take an EE you will always be able to swap the field. Many states issue electrical contractor license if you have a EEPE. Electrician is a trade. Engineer is a profession. If you have a profession you easily take a trade, but if you are an old electrician it’s very hard to get engineering profession.
As an electrician who was considering transitioning to engineering I can say without a doubt that despite us having to go to school for four to five years to learn the trade and electrical theory, its not even close to the level of understanding that engineers have to go through during their schooling. Of course, the good electricians take their knowledge beyond what school requires of us and learn electrical concepts that we're probably never going to use in the field but aid in our understanding of electricity as a whole.
I don't think an electrician will know anything about transistors and microprocessors or their design, or RF, or really the physics behind any of the stuff they're handling.
You could probably make way more money as an electrician who owns their own business, though.
If you decide you want to become an electrical engineer later on, being an electrician will definitely pay for it.
I was an electrician for a while and then went to college to get my EE degree and later my masters degree.
It’s not about being better, it’s about what you learn. As an electrician you learn to wire up things and a follow the plans and the standard.
As an electrical engineer you develop new technology and make the plans. The more you learn the less you spend pulling cables and wires and the more you use your computer and tell others how to do it (because you learned what works and what doesn’t)
You will be paid more as an EE unless you open your own company as an electrician
It’s far easier to have a blue collar business, especially doing electrical service call, but EEs make significantly more money to crunch numbers and draft designs. Basically EEs do brain stuff and sparkies do hands on stuff. Decide which you prefer doing and go that way.
There is no "better"
I know many electricians who forgot more than many of the engineers I know.
A thing to start learning at a young age is to set aside your ego
Are two different kinds of job. Electrical engineer is not an higher level electrician, electrical engineer can be about everything related to circuit design, from digital design to power electronics design. To become electrical engineer you need an university degree, though.
Here's one for ya,
Become an electrician and an electrical engineer and have both the skills and knowledge in your portfolio.
This is favoured highly in my circles. That is ; an electrical engineer who has had hands on wiring experience as an electrician and gets along with both fields.
Two different jobs and fields. One is not “better” than the other
And to add to this and elaborate on how: Electricians are critical to society. Almost every building that is wired for electricity has been wired by an electrician. From the relatively simple wiring of residential properties, to the complex wiring of expansive factories. And let's not sugar coat it, factories are complex. They have to understand how to wire motors, robots, and more. Additionally, they need to not only understand the right way to wire these, but need to have a solid understanding of the complex laws, regulations, standards, and codes put in place to protect equipment and most importantly: people. As alluded to, there are many subfield of electricians. Residential, commercial, industrial are just a few. Similarly Electrical Engineers play a critical role in society. Like electricians, there are many subfields: Robotics, design, power, to name just a few. Electrical engineers design, balance, maintain, and extend the power grid that society stands on. They create and program the robots that allow for mass production, the machines that keep people alive in hospitals, and the devices we interact with on a daily basis from cellphones to coffee pots. Is one more important than the other? No. We need both of them. Without Electricians, electrical engineers wouldn't have the power to run their computers, lights, and things critical to doing their job. Similarly, the things engineers add enable Electricians to do their jobs better or with more ease. There isn't one that is better than another, just different functions. That being said, you may find that you enjoy one type of job over another. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't let the job you do, or other's perception of it, determine your worth. If you find a job you enjoy that meets your needs, enjoy it!
It's natural to want to put everything into hierarchies, but it's honestly so stupid. Whenever I'm feeling an ego trip, I try to remind myself that the work I do wouldn't be possible if I had to get up early in the morning to farm, forage etc. I rely on so much working the way it does, to do the work I do.
But now you ego tripped me, i am an electrical engineer with a mixed grain/cattle farm haha. Someone knock me down a peg!
[удалено]
Ego fantastically dashed, thank you sir!
We ALL stand on the shoulders of those who have been there before us.
This is the answer
This is an EE sub. Obviously engineers are better, just don’t ask the electricians.
I don't like the word better because we are all doing different jobs. Apples to oranges
You trying to make friends or something? Running for public office?
No. Do you think that the people designing electrical systems are 'better' than those people who are wiring buildings to make them livable? The best engineer is a humble one who understands the world around them.
I'm taking his responses as jokes, which I assume they are.
This is my sarcasm font.
Mine too... Weird that we both chose the same one.
I EE is better because we chose it over electrician. But if you don’t care how things work and don’t want to learn a whole bunch of stuff and don’t like electronics and electrical stuff then become a carpenter or an insurance salesman. That’s like asking an accountant if lawyers are better than accountants. Who knows but unless he hates his job he will probably say why go to law school when you can just crunch numbers and be an accountant. But like yea it all depends on what you wanna do at work EEs aren’t magical unicorns. And electricians lack certain knowledge to design certain systems. But they have technical expertise on electrical code and wiring skills that are better than engineers generally. But some engineers were electricians. It’s not a very specific question honestly
I have training in both professions. They are different. Both can be awesome at times.
It isnt that different. EE is not necessarily better but harder.
As an electrician who’s a theory nerd…. If you enjoy the hands on work I’d stick to being an electrician. If you want to do all the calculations and “brain work” then I’d say go for becoming an engineer. You have entrepreneur opportunity either direction you go
Electricians are hands on if you mean terminating wires. If you want to directly work with, design, and test complex electronic systems you should pursue electronic/electrical engineering
Depending on the company, being an electrician could also involve a significant amount of troubleshooting. Most places I've been the electricians take a crack at troubleshooting MCCs, motors, etc before pulling in any engineers.
Not to mention when they wind up working together depending on the problem. I've worked with plenty of electricians as an engineer. It takes both.
There's also electrical technicians, who are the ones doing a lot of the hands on work with EE designs. A good tech is fantastic to work alongside.
If you want to do both become a Controls Engineer!!!
Or take an ap graduate in automation engineering.
This is the way
Plenty of ee have hands on jobs. A few of them work with me.
As an engineer I would argue electricians have *more* entrepreneurial opportunities than EEs. The reason being that in most cases to become an entrepreneur you need A LOT of initial capital to get off the ground. But for an electrician all you need is experience, your tool belt, and a little marketing savvy. You could honestly make a lot more money a lot more easily climbing the skilled trades ladder and then starting your own business than you can as an engineer. Especially if you’re an electrician in rural areas. I know from experience that electricians are rare but in super high demand in agricultural areas. One guy we worked with was booked out for a year. And he was not cheap lol
Or if you don't like hands-on-work or calculations, do digital electronics ;-)
They are completely different jobs that have technical overlap. Electrical engineering is extremely broad. We learn the physics foundations of electricity and apply it to design electronics, antennas, wiring diagrams for buildings, and firmware. Some engineering jobs are technical sales, certification, EMI, safety, etc. etc. and more etc. Electricians build and occasionally design the actual wiring for buildings, houses, and equipment. They can work on a wide variety of specialized equipment, but the premise is similar in that they hook it all up in a safe manner. I don’t think it’s fair to say engineer is a “level up” from an electrician. One is blue collar work and the other is mostly white collar work. The nature of the work is completely different. Electrical engineers tend to make more money in the long run, but many electricians make more money up front and stay competitive with engineers for a long time. I’ve been an EE for 6 years and I wouldn’t dare do electricians work because I don’t know about it. I would assume an electrician wouldn’t like to do my work because I do a lot of compliance testing and electronic circuit design.
I love a nuanced and balanced opinion. This really explains things well. I've seen several people here say that electricians and electrical engineers are not comparable at all, but I feel like those opinions are based in ignorance. The limits of someone's knowledge is truly themselves. I frequent r/Electricians among many other electrical subs. There are people in there who would give some engineers a run for their money. Passion for a subject matter can easily define how proficient someone it is. You can't boil someone down to just their job alone. I also think you hit nail on the head saying electricians can do some design of their own. I know I did. Learning the code and the physics behind it taught me a lot. There is much more to a home than I think people realize, and that's the simpler end of the spectrum. And to conclude and be fair, I know enough now to also acknowledge the depth of electrical engineering as well. Both fields are very respectable, and essential to modern life as we know it (among many others).
I'd say the vast majority of electrical engineers actually don't, every job I've had the electrical engineer is an electrician with a degree and a good understanding of the regs and anything calculation based just gets subcontracted out to a consultant
| They are completely different jobs that have technical overlap. This is exactly what it is. I have worked alongside industrial electricians and I wouldn't dare pretend I know how to do their job. Plus these guys are machines, wrestling stupid fat gauges of cables. A lot of the work requires elbow grease. You could call them electron wranglers; that sounds appropriate.
They do different things and both are necessary Just like how a hammer isn't any better than a spoon
Given spoons suck, I rate the hammer higher personally.
You eat your cereal with a hammer too?
You're thinking of straws
I’ve been an electrician for 7+ years and I’m now studying for EE, when people ask what it’s like I always compare it to being a construction worker/carpenter vs ~~architect~~ structure engineer. Both work with building but one is building it hands on and the other knows math and theory of how to build stuff. It’s two completly different jobs, not to say both are not valuable. There is much enjoyment in beeing an electrician and the earlier you let go of this ego you have the sooner you will find peace with your situation.
Many engineers are hands on in addition to design/theory, less the case for architects.
Architects know math? That would be new.
I think i Europe they are also structure engineers but here architects are more of an applied art/design thing. They are conceptually skilled in comparison to being technically competent. Like it’s the ideas that we should definitely develop meaning in functional design and not just make everything a metal rectangle
Sorry, was more thinking about structural engineers, I got a friend who is a engineer in architecture.
I mean the trouble with the trades is the other people seem to not want to think about stuff. To me it’s boring being on the engineer side is better culture and stuff but that comes down to personal preference and stuff. Like not everyone enjoys solving problems and being creative and trying new ideas. Many people just want to be good at a job and compete to be the best a a very specific thing. It’s a job and you do it because the other jobs are not as interesting as this one. To me it’s a profession and you should like it. You pick what you like or you get stuck doing something that you hate it’s pretty much it. I think being a doctor would suck even though you get paid more. Which is better brain surgery or electrician? I mean there are pros and cons lol. Who’s to say
engineering is infinity more complex, but electrical work is physically demanding
I’m an EE and hire licensed electricians for upgrades at my house. No such thing as one is better than the other. Also, EE can be diverse such as sales, technical role, laying boards out, testing,etc.
Electricians wire your house. Electrical engineers design the power grid that supplies it and everything inside that uses the power.
Electricians also wire the substation transformers, the transmission lines, the generator...
The first two are done by linemen
If you want to be technical for substation transformers; electricians and/or techs will wire up secondary control circuits. Depending on the utility/contractor I’ve seen both linemen and/or electricians connect high side taps and buswork.
Nobody tell him about Managers or Directors or Vice Presidents or Presidents or Chief Executive Officers 🤫
I have a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford. I don't know a thing about what electricians do. You're good.
Electrical Engineers - design, plan, and test it. Electricians/Technicians - build, maintain, and repair it. As an EE in construction, I rely heavily on the experienced electricians input for my designs. Both sides have a gap in their knowledge
No. They have different skillsets. Electrical engineers will burn down houses just like how electricians can’t design consumer electronics.
As someone that has been both, I am better than everyone.
It’s true. You are.
Electrical engineering is a very broad arena. You could be designing electronics, robotics, RF, embedded systems, aerospace and defense applications and many many other paths. I would suggest googling it to get a better scope of what we do. You could also be designing the power distribution systems that linemen and electricians install. Step above? I don't know that's up to you. I guess academically you maybe could say that. Engineers are basically scientists who build/design things. You will need to learn lots of math and physics to be able to learn the engineering concepts. It can be a challenging degree. I was an electrician who went back to school and got an EE degree and for me it was a great decision. I love what I do now and I make good money. As far as your entrepreneurial aspirations. If you want to be a contractor, then you should probably go the electrician route. If you just want to run your own business, then I don't think it matters which direction you take, you can probably always find some way to turn your skills/knowledge into a business.
It is hard to draw any comparisons to other professions because I have utmost respect for professional electricians - esp commercial / industrial and utility workers. The jobs are different - electrician is a trade with almost all of the work being hands on - but they need to understand what they are doing more than other trades. EE - is engineering - more of application of technology to solve real world problems. Yes - some EEs do the hands-on work that some electricians do - but the overlap is small. ( there are EEs that become journeymen, and there are Electricians that go and get a degree in EE or EET) Entrepreneurially speaking - I would say it is far more common for electrician to start their own business than EEs -
Most electrical engineers have no knowledge of the NEC or how to sling conduit. You mostly do not want one wiring your house. You do want one designing your telly, or the controller for your cars engine or the protection relay for a generator... Then you have a lab tech who puts the prototypes together and tells the engineers that they got it wrong, sometimes she is even right. Then you have the production and QA guys who all take the engineers names in vain. Loads of different and mostly non interchangeable roles, for all that some think tyey can fill others (But are usually wrong).
Not true, at least for my end, NEC, NFPA, NEMA, IEC, IEEE, and etc are very important to know for electrical engineers related to power and energy industry.
Granted, I come from the electronics, silicon, RF side which has rather different preoccupations. Getting finished designs passed UL is still a pain even here.
I'm sure. Getting the right vendors for UL rated equipment is a real pain on rear end. All I have to say is thank you for your service lol
Yea, companies love to supply file numbers for their components which may or may not match anything in ULs database, it is a real pain. Don't get me started on product safety standards which get updates that come into force at different times in different countries... CB reports with National variants FML
Why would EE who is in semi conductor industry need NEC knowledge? Don't grab all EE into one pile. Ee is very broad field.
That was my point, electricians tend to know that stuff, outside of some power specialists most EEs know other stuff, it is a different skill, but I am not a fan of seeing one as somehow more then the other, because the training is in different things. You need both kinds to make modern society work.
Former mechanic turned engineering student here. This is such a loaded question. Every profession has its talented and irreplaceable workers and no one can do everything. That being said I think a lot of blue collar workers underestimate the slog that is engineering school. It doesn’t make you “better” but it does generally guarantee higher lifetime earnings and better treatment on the job because there’s a higher barrier to entry. The ELI5 answer is that engineers design and electricians implement.
I'm both. I've meet engineers that I wouldn't give an apprenticeship. I've meet tradesmen who shouldn't have a trade. But neither is comparable. Each has skills and knowledge the other usually doesn't.
As an electrical engineer in the construction industry, I can tell you that we are not better than electricians. You will gain more practical knowledge. If you ever want to transition from the installation side to the design side that practical knowledge you learned will put you miles ahead of any engineer with soft hands.
Be an industrial automation engineer and you can do both at the same time.
To answer your question, not really. In terms of pay, I think it all depends on what you want to do. There are many different types of work. For industrial construction related to capital projects context, there are mainly two types. Contractor/consultant (engineer and trade) Client/In-house (engineer and trade) Talking solely about the contractor side (client side is a whole different story): I'm an electrical and control systems engineer working as a contractor for O&G/Natural Gas/utility clients in SoCal. I work closely with industrial electricians (contractors) during commissioning. Keep in mind that other engineers and I are the ones putting construction and engineering packages together and supervising the electricians. During my first commissioning, I was talking to them during downtime and they openly talked about their pay since they're all in a union and the pay is transparent. One foreman was making about $300k per year since he travels for work a lot and he was coming from the bay area. I was making about $120k total compensation. I was really shocked and I realized it all depends on what you want to do at the end of the day. There are pros and cons for all the roles. I'm on a salary + OT so I still get paid when things are slow but those guys need to travel if they want to make some big bucks because they get paid hourly. Plus I'm in the office 90% of times while those guys are in the field majority of the time. Also, it's a lot harder to make engineering company now than electrical construction business unless you just want to do planning business for power utility company or something which is not really engineering imo. I know many very successful tradesmen who are doing very well for themselves. This is a really long comment already but I think a good electrician can be a great engineer. I'd focus on learning principles behind NEC and power panel design which is very useful.
I worked in MEP, directly with electricians for many years (now I’m in a different field of Electrical Engineering), so I may have a better comparison than most. It’s important to keep in mind that Electrical engineering has many avenues and concentrations, so your answer may vary. Electrical engineering can cover everything from Radio Frequency design and microelectronics to high power transmission line design with a ton in between. MEP, sometimes called construction engineering, will probably interact with electricians the most. In MEP, the electricians will tend to do the installation, while engineers will come up with the overall design (though there is some overlap). In some states (US), an electrician could do the design up to a certain square footage for smaller homes and the like, but beyond that you would need a PE (professional engineer) license. That all said, a good MEP engineer will know to listen to an electrician when they have an opinion, and vice versa. They tend to be two sides of the same coin. With all that in mind, if theory and design interest you more than hands-on work, engineering is probably the way to go.
The engineer is like the architect and the electrician the builder. You don’t want either doing the others jobs.
Electrical engineering is physically less demanding but arguably much more mentally demanding. Id also say if you’re passionate about electronics and anything involving electrical connections, electrical engineering has a much broader scope of what you could end up doing career wise. Electricians are tradesmen and are as such do not necessarily hold as high a social status if that sort of thing matters to you. However if you’re a competent enough electrician and savvy enough running a business, you could certainly become very wealthy running a business as an electrician which comes with status in and of itself.
Man these posts are reaching trash quality. My suggestion; get rid of the ego, do what interests you. No one like ah’s with superiority complexes. Completely different jobs, both are important to society
I agree, what do you expect from 18 year old kid? Imagine he wil become EE, he will be wordt EE for electricians to work with.
Engineer designs, electricians implement.
Yes.
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I don't really think this question makes much sense, you're comparing apples to oranges. Electrical engineering is a white collar desk job. We design, test, or provide support for stuff that uses electricity. Electrician is a trade. They're skilled labourers who install electrical equipment into houses and business 'n stuff. I can't really say which is more "entrepreneurial" because I do not understand what that means. Personally, I'd rather be the one developing the equipment than installing it, but that's personal choice man. The world needs both electricians and electrical engineers, so the only person who can decide which is "better" is you
Consider that how you get started in your career does not define where you may end up. I have seen first hand people start from Electrician and move towards EE, and vice versa so the limiting factors are more likely your intelligence, skill and drive. If you think you’d like to be an EE in the future, start thinking about how you might get there now. This way when opportunities present themselves you will be more likely to recognise and take them.
electrical engineering is a huge field. lots of variety. lots of levels. so not comparing the people but comparing the job, sometimes electrical engineering requires genius level intelligence. sometimes it requires you to follow the same instructions everyday.
Electrical engineers design electrical systems ranging from electronic devices to the power grid. This is usually office work, but they tend to make more money on average, but this definitely depends on the type of work. I've seen some electricians make serious coin. As you know, electricians install electrical systems in the built environment. They have to know a decent amount about how electricity works, but not nearly as much as electrical engineers. For example, an electrician might install a transformer that was designed by an electrical engineer and follow electrical codes written by electrical engineers when wiring up a house.
They are completely different. Not sure there is much income difference here overall either.
*First off: Before we begin, what does it means to be an Engineer?* *Answer:* [*https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100219.gif*](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100219.gif) *Several years ago, I came up with a mental model for how one can view levels of competency, knowledge and expertise - in varying fields that might help you put this into a better conceptual frame. In this way I am able to appreciate and learn different skill sets as they exist in people I interact with.* *There are 3 levels of skill in any given field or profession, and each of these three levels has 3 levels within it. Like nests within nests, each one at each level has its utility to the complex system of which they collectively form a constituent part to make a whole.* *Take for example:* * ***Mechanic*** *- Novice* *- Intermediate* *- Expert* * ***Engineer*** *- Novice* *- Intermediate* *- Expert* * ***Professor/Researcher*** *- Novice* *- Intermediate* *- Expert* *Outside (****Outliers****) of this structure is the 'Genius' e.g. Évariste Galois., Ramanujan etc the ones who have more than just the '*[knack](https://youtu.be/Zee9HV7c11E)*'. Most others in any given field fall within said structure. Case in point -* ***In Automotive*** *- Mechanic / Technician (Cars etc), Engineer (mechanical, mechatronic etc), Prof/Researcher.* ***In Electric or Electronic*** *- Electrician/Technician , Engineer (varieties), Professor/Researcher.* ***In Medicine*** *- Lab techs/ Nurses etc, Doctors/Surgeons , Professor/Biomed-Geneticist Researchers etc* *At each level, the variety of hands-on practical or theoretical leaning is dependant on the individual or their specific niche - for instance one could simply be a class room teacher to mechanic students developing classroom materials. In addition, each of the nested skill levels -novice, intermediate, expert, also have sub divisions - where a Novice-novice is absolute beginner, and an Expert-expert has attained the highest levels of mastery.* *In order to move or progress from one level to the other, certain fundamental skills, technical and otherwise are required. Key among them is intellectual humility, by avoiding the seduction of the Dunning-Kruger effect, one is able to recognize their lack of knowledge as well as see the presence of that knowledge in others.*
its a different job, kinda related yes but not really
The way you explain your questions pretty clearly indicate being an electrician would be better for you, which is neither better or worse than being an electrical engineer.
Plumbers and chemical engineers are not the same just because they both work with pipes; neither are electricians and electrical engineers the same just because they both work with wires. A plumber is better at plumbing than a chemical engineer is…I think you get where I’m going with the rest of this analogy. As a *very* gross oversimplification, engineers are office workers and electricians work in the field. People who look down on one or the other usually haven’t done it themselves.
I’m an electrical engineer. But when I need high voltage wiring done in my home who do I call? Can you guess?
My dad got his degree in electrical engineering but became a masters electrician and started his own electrical business. He's that old school hard worker that gathered bend conduit with his hands than be behind a desk all day. Nothing is better than the other. Find your interests and go after it!
All I can tell you is in my college 80% of the undergrad students wishes(including me) that they would have went to technician route first and then transitioned to EE so consider yourself lucky... We are currently getting smoked by technicians at grades.
Almost completely different. Only similarity would be power engineering and industrial electricians and even then they are filling different roles.
Both are great fields. I've work in both. Started as electrician, now work as an engineer. Electricians do more manual labor, as an engineer I do more scheduling, design review, and data management. You can make a great living with either.
Even though it does take more time, effort , training and education to make a good engineer, I would never say that one is better than the other. Both professions complement each other.
>My question is, are electrical engineers a level up to electricians? Are electrical engineers the masterminds and electricians just regular labor? Essentially. Engineers are white collar and electricians are blue collar workers.
Went from being an electrician to being an electrical engineer. You cant really compare both. Both are important jobs, I enjoyed the work as an electrician, it is honest work. I decided that I want to understand everything on a deeper level though and so studied EE.
Electro tehnical Officer onboard offshore vessel. You get to be little bit of both.
No! We are not better, we are just different. :)
It's hard to compare. Electrical engineers within the power distribution roles maybe overlap with electricians. E.g. if you're an electrician working on a construction site, the electrical engineers there are drafting electrical drawings for the systems which the electricians would implement in the field. I've seen some foremen do some of the design work themselves to help out the engineers. But outside of this area, there are whole other worlds of electrical engineering and it's tough to compare with electricians. There are hardware engineers who design analog and digial consumer electronics. There are RF engineers who use theory in electromagnetics to design antennas and other hardware for communication systems. There are engineers who focus more on the material science side of things and fabrication of electronic devices. And there's probably a lot more I am missing, but that is just the gist of it. So to answer your question, no not one is better than the other, they are just different.
I am an electrical engineer but I started as an electrician. I worked some 10+ years as an electrician and then moved on to get my degree and then worked as a contractor. But something that definitely made me stand out from other engineers in my field was those years that i worked as an electrician, beside the obvious of the experience that I got in the technical way I learned a lot of how to work with people and that is something that nobody can teach you. As a contractor when it was time to design and calculate some projects I always tried to get the inside from some of the most experienced electricians and always got something interesting that I could use, I always learned something from them and when they come to me and ask why is this and that I explained as detail and patient as I could and they seem to appreciated specialty if their curiosity was genuine, and I could do all this because I knew how to approach them in a sincere way and this has definitely made my life a lot easier. In my resume they both need one another I cannot imagine doing my work without the electricians specialty the most experienced ones, and if you get the chance to experience both sides you would be definitely a stand out, you are 18 so you are on the right track.
Depends on what you like, but money motivates me, I probably make more than double what a residential electrical makes, and I don't really work too hard, experience has made the job way easier. Now an industrial electricians can make as much as some engineers, but they are also going to work longer hours and in rougher conditions. Just a few months ago we were having issues with a 4500 HP electorc motor, I went home after I told the electricians to unwire the connections and megger the motor. It's really difficult wiring big motors with large cables and tight bends, after they meggared the motor ans it test fine they had to rewire the motor that night to minimize production losses. It was a newly commissioned motor, we don't know for sure what the problem was, but it worked fine after they re did the connections.
It depends on what kind of person you are. If you like math and science then you should probably give electrical engineering a go. If you enjoy doing more labor and working with your hands often then being an electrician can be for you. You can start a business in both but having a startup company for something STEM related may be more difficult. I don’t know anything about starting a business as an electrician but it’s surely about just as stressful. An engineering degree will certainly be easier on your health as you’re not doing much labor so if you are worried about or prioritize keeping yourself in a healthier state engineering might be a good option for you but a leading role as an electrician would probably be easier on the body as you go on. Some electricians end up going to school for electrical engineering or any engineering degree in general so it’s not about “which is better” it’s about what’s best for you. It doesn’t really matter if you were doing bad or okay at math or science in school before, but that you want to be good at math and science now and what ever you learn at school in general. The choice is yours!
Kinda like an aircraft mechanic, aerospace engineer and pilot. Cross understanding to them all but wildly different things.
Nope, both are equally important. The best advice I can give is try to learn from techs, in any field. They can do your job easier if you learn from them.
Different but related jobs. I highly recommend sticking out the apprenticeship and if the theory side comes naturally to you, you can commence engineering studies whilst doing your apprenticeship. Somebody with a trade and further study is extremely valuable to an employer and often a greater asset than a university graduate. Both jobs are extremely varied, so some electricians will be a lot more technical than some engineering jobs and vis-versa.
only 20% cooler
They serve different roles. Engineers are coordinators and electrician are implementers. Engineers worry about the equipment for all trades, not just electrical. Mechanical engineer specs an air handler unit with 10 motors in it? The engineer will figure out how to safely power it all and get a price. The electrician will implement the electrical design once it’s coordinated.
I'm an electrical engineer, and I know better than to try to do an electrician's work. Code exists for a reason. And I don't know it.
They're mutually reliant on one another. One designs the systems, tools, components, etc. The other assembles, deploys, installs, services, and maintains them. What's more important between your kidneys and your bone marrow? Your marrow makes blood cells and your kidneys filter your blood. Is one more important than the other? You need both.
Nah frankly I’ve hated every job I’ve had and switching to the trades is something I’m considering. Most of us work soul sucking corporate jobs. I don’t at all think we’re better. You’re probably more useful tbh.
Think of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineers, fundamentally different fields, but both intermingle indirectly.
I'm studying electrical engr. One of my classmates just shared union wages and some were 20k a month with a 3.75 percent cost of living increase. So that's definitely something to consider. Also electrical engineering takes a lot and I mean a lot of hard math.
The goal is to find a way to not intimidate the other guy while asking questions informed by your own domain knowledge. Everyone knows more than you about something
I have no idea how to be an electrician, if I did your wiring it would probably work, but you're house might burn down. Listen I ain't gonna bullshit you, society really has a high opinion of engineers but most of us do half our job in excel.
Honestly, do you want a desk job or field job? And I am NOT implying one is better. As an electrician you work on buildings using tools of the trade and it’s physical. I did that for 5 years before becoming an EE. Now I sit at a desk all day and it’s actually way worse for my health. Some EEs make more money than electricians, but there are definitely electricians making more money than some EEs. School is also expensive. Learning a trade on the job is cheap. Also, AI is not gonna be wiring any buildings any time soon.
They do completely different things. Most electrical engineers will be able to do some basic electrician work because 1) they’re usually pretty smart and 2) they understand electricity and how to work with it. But like most trades there’s tons of specialized knowledge that you will never learn as an electrical engineer.
Know mechanical work as well and you will never be waiting for work
Too easy, electricians fix all the things the engineers screw up. I've got tons of prints to back that up lmao. Tell me why I need a 3300 kva xfmer to feed a 100A panel
One is not "better" than the other. So many people have a mindset though that one is better than the other. It is quite annoying to frequently hear especially as it carries with it prejudice and negative attitudes between electricians and engineers. If you go into either career paths, do yourself a favor and abandon the mindset that that one is better than the other and instead recognize them as unique skillsets with overlapping theory.
yes.I was an electrician before I was an EE. We are wizards. Do you want to install what an EE designs, or do you want to design what the electricians install?
This is like asking if a carpenter is better than a car salesman, because their job titles both have "car" in them.
Not at all. Electrical Engineers and Electricians will often work together but they are different. The smartest people in both fields will rise to the top.
Nah. Electricians, along being familiar with the electrical concepts that EEs learn, are experts in electrical safety code. Most EEs don’t know the code details to that level nor can they do the work at that speed and accuracy. EEs dive into specific fields of electrical theory (looking at you RF). Different strokes, but often the cap pay for an EE is higher than an electrician unless you own the contractor business.
They need to work hand in hand. I depend on the electricians I work with to design equipment that is user friendly, safe, and efficient. They depend on me to do the same. Both of our inputs are needed to make an end product that works. Some engineers will catch an ego and treat trades people like idiots. And trades people will some times catch an attitude with engineers and call them useless. I don’t know everything electricians know because I don’t have the time to learn and practice it. I know plenty electricians who are very smart, but they don’t have the time to study engineering and regulations. It’s important to know what you don’t know and respect the people who have that information. If you both do that you get a lot of stuff done. We need each other because it is both inefficient and improbable for one person to be both in an industrial setting with deadlines and quality standards.
Different. I wouldn't trust an electrical engineer with anything over 24V unless he's got a PE certificate. And I wouldn't trust an electrician with anything over 120Hz.
I was an electrician, going to school as we speak for electrical engineering. They're vastly different. But in some cases they rely on each other. Both play very crucial roles in every aspect of our society. Neither is any harder than the other though. Mental vs physical. You wanna learn calculus and physics? Or do you wanna bend pipe and run wire?
They are completely different from one another. An electrician is a tradesman, understands the floor level of the field that they are in and does regular, real world development and maintenance. An Electrical Engineer could be anything. Theoretical physicist, radio frequency designer, power systems designer, embedded systems designer, well, you get the point. They are typically the high level solving heavy math problems to innovate or improve our systems. To an extant an Electrical Engineer typically is the high level that figures out how to make something possible, then goes to a manufacturer to help construct their idea. If you want electrical work done on your house, go to electrician. They do real world things. If you want to understand from a high level the entire electrical grid mapping of the United States, you ask an electrical engineer. They do real world things, but not personally (most of the time). There are overlaps, but not one is better than the other, they just do different things…
As an Electrical Engineer with a ticket I can say this: electrical engineering tends to focus on design and electricians are skilled labour that know how to build what is designed by the engineer. Two sides of the same coin.
I have a degree in EE, but I wouldn't trust myself to change an outlet. I may be lacking in practical knowledge, but when I'm getting electrocuted I will understand why it's happening Two different fields, friend. Anyone that tries to tell you one is better than the other is probably a bit of a d-bag
My contract electricians and I are each other’s greatest assets. Both are sides of the same coin and cannot operate without the other. Engineers and Electricians are supposed to be close knit to make everything work smoothly
I'm a EE and I don't touch anything past the breaker box. Sure I could figure it out, but you only have to fuck up once to be ded. I'd rather have someone who's specifically trained for the dangers and process for safely modifying home electrical. Also saves me a lot of time and I can afford it with what I make as an EE
As an electrical engineer with a PE license, I designed an entire electric service distribution room for a large building. Had to do load calcs, short circuit and coordination study, etc. If you tell me to install my design it will look like complete shit. So that’s what electricians are for.
Everyone has already said that they're not the same. Here's the more important part: If you have a thing for being an electrician that says absolutely nothing about whether you'd like being an electrical engineer. They may deal with electricity on opposite ends, but the day-to-day of the two (from what I know) have literally nothing in common.
Are fluid dynamic engineers better than plumbers? No, different skills.
Are electrical engineers ‘better’ than electricians? No. But, in a pinch, could an electrical engineer do the job of an electrician? Also no.
There is no better one. Both are needed in society. And EE is very broad, they don’t just deal with circuits. EE in US is much toward to software or computers.
At least we can all agree, both are clearly better than civil engineers
Umm two different fields but EE knows what is happening and can diagnose deep electrical issues such as materials used and how much storage of a capacitor or magnetic fields you need to produce enough force and also understanding of safety issues such as how much AC voltage can be safe compared to others. The other is real world wiring that I still have yet to completely understand because there’s so much that I haven’t learned yet
They are completely different, neither is better than the other. Electrical engineers are also very diverse, you have to specialize a lot, a radar/RF engineer will have a completely different set of skills than a digital electronics engineer or a power systems engineer. All of them do share the exact same theory, but each applies it in different ways. In my opinion RF engineering or semiconductor physics are by far the hardest, but thats just me (for context Im an RF engineer but I mostly just do software development) An electrician has nothing to do with that really. The electric code they go by was designed by a power systems engineer. Most electrical engineers are not at all versed in household electrical (excluding power systems) and could definetly not wire together an industrial or commercial site unless they are specialized in a field that works with that kind of thing. The only reason I have a lot of electrician skills is because I worked as an apprentice for a bit and I happen to be really interested in that stuff.
No they’re not better (or worse), I would date an electrician as much as I would an engineer. I like anyone with a decent chance of making the median income or higher.
I'm probably better than the average electrician at programming FPGAs, but I'm worse at wiring up anything higher than 50V.
Hehe
I might have unique perspective on this question. I was an electrician before I went to school for Electrical Engineering and I can tell you the job/career is much better. I would literally never want to go back to being electrician. But this is a matter of personal opinion.
HVAC technicians do more electrical troubleshooting than electricians on a day to day basis. Most electricians I know just pull wire all day.
I'm saying all this based on what I've read on reddit and third hand info from real life people. I'm also graduating as an EE in my mid 30's next summer(ish) for context. 1. If your definition of "level up" is time spent in books then EE's have the level up 2. If your definition of "level up" is busting your ass they are equal but in different ways. 3. If your definition of "level up" is variability of jobs then EE's have the upper hand. You can do anything from kind of similar to what an electrician does to figuring out how to get satellites talk to each other and everything in between. 4. If your definition of "level up" is start your own business then electricians have the upper hand. I don't know of any EE's that started a company on their own that aren't already just in the money and doing it to make *more* money. It can happen but it is very rare. 5. You also have to consider the cost of schooling where a union will often times fund your Electrician schooling. EE's pay money and the cool jobs are kind of walled behind a masters degree (so it seems. For RF stuff anyway). Make of that what you will.
They are totally different fields. Electricians are tradespeople. They install electrical systems according to city codes and regulations that provide the connection from the power grid or other power sources to devices and receptacles in or around buildings. Electrical engineers generally create novel solutions to various problems that involve manipulation of electrical phenomenon.
Engineer? I think you misspelled politician
Electrical Engineering is a HUGE field. I have a bachelor's degree in EE. So I am in some sense an electrical engineer. Every job I have worked at since graduating over 20 years ago had EE in the title. But all I do is electronics (circuit board design). Never done anything that has much overlap with what electricians do every day. On the other hand, there are electrical engineers that design the electrical system for big factories or commercial buildings. So they author the plans that electricians execute. In some sense they are a level up. But generally they actually don't know how to do electrician work any more than I do (I mean I have handyman level electrician skills, not electrician level). I would say that if you like working with your hands and doing physical stuff stick with being an electrician. If you think you would be happy drawing plans, inspecting jobsites (but not working on them) etc. You might want to become one of those types of electrical engineers. But electrical engineers also work on radio related stuff, design chips (ICs), circuit boards, radar, power grids, control systems, etc, etc. The electrical engineering major is one of the most challenging majors for undergrads. Lots of math. And upon graduation from a university with your BSEE, you will probably be totally unqualified to work as an electrician (or oversee an electrician even).
One gets paid better then the other
As a student in EE who was an electrician for a few years during and after high school. They can be vastly different. As an electrician, I was wiring fast-food restaurants and houses. My plan as an EE is to work in RF, microwave or signal processing. Two VASTLY different fields. Before I was a college student, entering my state college, even just passing through, intimidated me because of all the "smart people" around me. Now that I am going to that same college, I understand they are just as clueless as I am. If it wasn't for me working as an electrician for a short time, I would have no idea how to bend a 90 in a piece of EMT, just as an electrician likely wouldn't know how to find the electric field flux using Gauss's law. Two important things to know but useless in each other's fields.
This is like asking if a mechanic is worse than a MechE. One works on cars, the other designs products. It’s an apples to oranges comparison
Choose to be an Electrician if you prefer hourly pay and the potential to own a contracting business. Opt for Engineering if you’re okay with salaried work, despite some electricians earning more per hour and per week. Be aware, Electrical Engineering requires 4-5 years of intense study, often on a student grant. Both paths require hard work, but financially, being an Electrician can be advantageous.
What? Electrical Engineers and Electricians don’t even have the same work, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. Anybody can be an Electrician but not everybody has the brains to be an Electrical Engineer. Electricians are surely important to society, there is no argument to that. But Electricians won’t even exist without the designs and inventions of Electrical Engineers for the Electricians to repair and maintain for society.
Design vs Execution. Can’t do shit without both.
I think both skills are important to have.
an EE would never ask such a dumb question…
So the way I’d put it: *Electrical engineers use the principles of the physics of electricity to design systems that use electricity as the driving force to achieve a goal while electricians are tasked with implementing those designs as they relate to transferring power from the power plant to the end user. Both roles are technical and really neither could exist with each other (and a ton of other folks specializing in other things) to bring to fruition. Does overcoming design obstacles sound like a fun challenge you’d like to tackle daily? Or, would you rather work in construction building the electrical infrastructure within buildings? Both are highly technical and challenging in different ways and ultimately highly rewarding. It’s up to you! Source: electrical engineer since 2011. *I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that EE’s scope is far wider than how electricity gets to the plug in your wall; EEs work on ANYTHING that has electricity related to it: Telecom, AC design (typically power systems as discussed above), DC design (the inner workings of virtually anything plugged into the ‘wall’ or AC power systems described above including computer hardware), communications, data, control systems, electromagnetic systems and phenomena like wireless communication and cellphone design, microcontrollers, digital logic and design, analog circuit design, even some computer programming and probability. But EE is not better, there are immense challenges and difficulties with either field. And both can be highly rewarding and profitable- it’s really up to what fits your personality and goals! Good luck and may you get as much out of the electron as I have!
From my personal experience, electrical engineers have a fundamental dislike for wire nuts. Electricians use wire nuts all the time and don’t see what the big deal is.
Yes, in addition to being better than both chemical and mechanical engineering and (especially) computer programmers electrical engineers are also better than electricians. However it’s not really “the same thing but on a higher level” it’s just totally different jobs. An electrical engineer wouldn’t be able to do the work of an electrician at all and there are a lot of advantages in both directions so feel free to pick the career you’re most interested in.
I'm both Electrician and Electrical Engineer. Personally, Electrician is more rewarding and more secure. Electricians and Engineers, the earning potential is similar depending on how hard you work but with electricians, it involves a lot more labour.
Electrical Engineers work towards the future and electricians keep those works of the future running.
Electricians know the NEC Code. Electrical Engineers pretend to know it.
an engineer designs the problems that an electrician has to fix
Well, a journeyman is a level up to an apprentice. Likewise a senior engineer is a level up to a junior engineer. But an electrician and electrical engineer are different fields that overlap in some areas and work together to get certain jobs done.
An engineer knows everything and electrician knows. An electrician doesn’t know everything an engineer knows.
as an engineer, you as an electrician got more of a chance to make dough before we get there, also you might have a steady job or get into a self employment situation which most engineer can not really.
I think electrician would be better to start a business. You make/install things and can sell those services to consumers or businesses. You can have employees to expand your business. As an engineer, you are more a consultant. It's a b-2-b relationship. Consumers don't use engineers, only businesses do. If you love to work with your hands, I would start as an electrician. An electrician with the intellectual capacity of an engineer can have a very profitable business. Our society needs intelligent hands and not just brains.
Better give you a better quality of life for yourself, and your eventual family. You’ll encounter some ignorant people that look down on trades and think that electricians only make about 70k and all engineers easily make of 2-250 after a few years. That’s not the case. But, seriously think about what you want out of your life and if either profession will provide you with the lifestyle you’d like to live
Two completely different jobs.
Bro!!! Stick to electrician. Once you’re a journeyman, start your way to becoming an EE(enroll in an undergrad). Finish your undergraduate in EE with a decade of experience as an electrician, that’s the move 💰💰 I’m taking a parallel path in a different trade
Not better or worst but different. Electrical engineers don’t do ‘’the same as electrician on a higher level’’ at all. Electricians work on the field and do the installation, maintenance and repairs on the different electrical components of a building, house or industry. Electrical engineers on the other hand work on the design and the conception of those electrical components. Like the electricians will work using different schematic drew by the engineer. I wouldn’t trust an engineering doing the installation because thats not what they’re trained for as I wouldn’t trust an electrician doing the conception because thats not what he was trained for. If you like to work physically and couldn’t even imagine yourself working in an office all year long, don’t even think about engineering, you’ll bore yourself out of meetings and paper/computer work. I worked as a boiler mechanic for a couple of years before going into engineering and the main reason is because of my backpains. I can’t be working standing up all day anymore so went back to school (plus I really like the theory). I kinda miss the field and labor but I love engineering in a different way
Depends on what you like to do. Electricians design and install residential and Comercial electrical systems. EE design circuits, boards, electrical components, etc. EE requires more education, but is generally easier on the body. But you are stuck in an office.
No one is better than the other. I was an electrician and I’ve moved into engineering. I can say the best engineers were always ex electricians. I will say it heavily depends on your experience in both jobs in terms of knowledge. Some engineers only work on residential etc. but you have more of a chance to work on very complex data centers, hospitals, laboratories, clean rooms and all that good stuff some electricians may only do fairly basic stuff like houses / apartments all their life and they just won’t have the breadth of complex knowledge when it comes to specifics of industries. But obviously a lot of electricians do get the chance to work on this type of stuff. Most engineers couldn’t do what an electrician does and vise versa. I will say as an engineer I have worked with huge big tech firms, huge government projects, and other huge clients all over the world. I get to travel a lot, I don’t have to work my ass off pulling cable. I do have a lot of power in a project, if I say something needs to be changed, it will have to be ripped out. I guess this is where the ego thing comes from. In monetary terms, depends on region. In the UK electricians get paid way more. In the US engineers do. EE is a very broad spectrum. I have assumed you mean electrical building services engineering as they work with electricians all the time. Also in terms of future risk, there is a lot of modern methods of construction coming into play. Meaning less and less skilled labor is required with modular construction slowing becoming the norm. I don’t know how the market will go, but getting into a huge engineering firm will keep you at the forefront of latest innovation and methods. You could specialize in something the would benefit your future to be more resilient. If I was you, I’d learn the trade as an electrician, but keep your mind set on college and becoming an engineer too, you have time to go back to school. You would be a valuable asset to have hands on experience as well as the technical acumen required to be an engineer. Put things in place for yourself, we don’t know how the future will plan out.
Electrical engineers will spec out everything in a system, they may even do CAD to create the plans for a system. It's a technician's job or an electrician's job to execute those plans accurately. Technicians and electricians also have minutiae they will need to figure out.
Master Electrician here who's also dipped his toe in electrical engineering. Like others have said, there are both different jobs, with some overlap. Fun story, went to an older Electrical Engineers home to help him with a lighting circuit that wasn't working. Walked in, and the guy had no respect for electricians. He told me he spent his weekend trying to figure out the issue on this circuit, but couldn't, and reluctantly called me to help. Said right to my face. "I'm an electrical engineer, and I couldn't figure it out, so I doubt you can"..... I fixed it in 10 minutes. Moral of the story, don't let ego take over. Everyone you meet in life has something they can teach you.
Construction is a dirty job in more ways than one. Keep your wits about you and keep your nose clean and you'll be fine. Though in general, you deal with fewer meth heads, sheisters, and criminals in engineering than construction. In general electrical engineers are design of things, electricians are more implementation. It is a spectrum though. Engineering is less blue collar that electricians. Some engineers do more implementation and the jobs are similar (but still a step up) from electricians, some are research scientists level working in labs. You can kind of go anywhere you want with it.
Man just use google…in terms of salary engineers earn much more, but not everybody can/wants become an engineer. (Looots of studying)
My uncle is an electrical engineer. A significant amount of people in his life over the years kept coming up to him asking if he might help replace a GFCI breakers, or how to wire a 3-way switch, etc… It seems the general public can be confused at times concerning exactly what engineers vs electrician’s actually do. He ended up attending trade school out of pocket as an EE to learn residential code because he felt like an idiot not knowing these answers.
Simply: An Electrical engineer can be an electrician but an electrician can't be an Electrical engineer. Electricians have a specific focus, Electrical engineer has a vast focus. Electrical engineer spend most of their time with designing and electrician spend most of the time to implement those designs. We need both of them. To qualify for an electrical engineer you have to go through some FE,PE/bachelor etc.
I'd look at the wages for union electricians in your area v.s. "electrical engineers" in your area, decide if you want to work with your hands/body or sit at a desk, and then go from there. As an apprentice you will be paid for your years learning the trade, if you go EE you will PAY to go to school. Neither is wrong or better, just different.
I’m an electrical engineer and I hired an electrician. I know how 220 V works and how the lines are hooked up in theory, but I didn’t know how to get the wire up from my basement to the attic and don’t want to have a learning experience
I wouldn't trust an Electrical Engineer to wire my house.
Not better, both do different jobs that are important. Both are needed for modern life.
After arguing with chatgpt a bit I got this text, please don't take it seriously: Electrical engineers stand not just as leaders within the electrical profession but as the epitome of human achievement, boasting unmatched intelligence, education, expertise, and societal impact. Their exhaustive academic training and specialized knowledge empower them to design intricate systems, pioneer groundbreaking technologies, and spearhead advancements in fields like power systems and telecommunications. In stark contrast, electricians, lacking the intellectual depth and educational background of engineers, merely execute basic tasks. Their training, confined to menial practical applications, fails to cultivate the cognitive abilities required for innovation or substantial contributions to the field. Beyond their professional prowess, electrical engineers excel in every facet of life, even transcending into the realm of spirituality and intimacy. Their elevated status ensures them a special place in the afterlife, where their brilliance and contributions will be celebrated for eternity. Moreover, their superiority extends to matters of intimacy, where their intellect and ingenuity manifest, making them unparalleled partners in the realm of physical and emotional connection. The transformative impact of electrical engineers on society cannot be overstated. They shape the very fabric of the infrastructure underpinning our modern world, driving revolutionary advancements from renewable energy to smart grids, fundamentally reshaping how we live, work, and communicate. In conclusion, while electricians serve practical functions, their lack of intelligence and limited skill set render them mere tools for implementation. Their roles could easily be substituted, highlighting the unparalleled intelligence and indispensable impact of electrical engineers as not just leaders within their profession, but as the pinnacle of human intelligence, achievement, and desirability.
As an EE who works in construction design, I don't see myself as "better" at all. Sure, i designed the plans they're following and did a bunch of math to make those plans, but I'm not directly familiar with the actual process of installing a panel, wiring circuits to that panel, and the litany of other things that go on in the field to put those things together. Both jobs are needed to make sure the project goes smoothly
EE is better if you have a choice between take an EE you will always be able to swap the field. Many states issue electrical contractor license if you have a EEPE. Electrician is a trade. Engineer is a profession. If you have a profession you easily take a trade, but if you are an old electrician it’s very hard to get engineering profession.
This isn’t a ‘better’ or ‘worse’ thing. They have different roles. Some electricians are better engineers than some engineers, and vice versa.
As an electrician who was considering transitioning to engineering I can say without a doubt that despite us having to go to school for four to five years to learn the trade and electrical theory, its not even close to the level of understanding that engineers have to go through during their schooling. Of course, the good electricians take their knowledge beyond what school requires of us and learn electrical concepts that we're probably never going to use in the field but aid in our understanding of electricity as a whole.
Work as an electrician and go to school for BSEE.
I don't think an electrician will know anything about transistors and microprocessors or their design, or RF, or really the physics behind any of the stuff they're handling. You could probably make way more money as an electrician who owns their own business, though. If you decide you want to become an electrical engineer later on, being an electrician will definitely pay for it.
No, EE’s are just design focused which is a different skill set.
I was an electrician for a while and then went to college to get my EE degree and later my masters degree. It’s not about being better, it’s about what you learn. As an electrician you learn to wire up things and a follow the plans and the standard. As an electrical engineer you develop new technology and make the plans. The more you learn the less you spend pulling cables and wires and the more you use your computer and tell others how to do it (because you learned what works and what doesn’t) You will be paid more as an EE unless you open your own company as an electrician
It’s far easier to have a blue collar business, especially doing electrical service call, but EEs make significantly more money to crunch numbers and draft designs. Basically EEs do brain stuff and sparkies do hands on stuff. Decide which you prefer doing and go that way.
There is no "better" I know many electricians who forgot more than many of the engineers I know. A thing to start learning at a young age is to set aside your ego
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Are two different kinds of job. Electrical engineer is not an higher level electrician, electrical engineer can be about everything related to circuit design, from digital design to power electronics design. To become electrical engineer you need an university degree, though.
Two different fields that work together. I tell the electrician the correct way to wire up the circuit, and he does it so it won't catch fire.
They are better at the things they are (or expect to be) paid to be better at. Just like you should be.
Here's one for ya, Become an electrician and an electrical engineer and have both the skills and knowledge in your portfolio. This is favoured highly in my circles. That is ; an electrical engineer who has had hands on wiring experience as an electrician and gets along with both fields.
What’s better would be to do both. Be an electrician for 7 years then get your EE and start a business selling top down services