Electrical and Electronics Drafters
Prepare wiring diagrams, circuit board assembly diagrams, and layout drawings used for the manufacture, installation, or repair of electrical equipment.
- Median pay
- $76,870
- Doing it now
- 18,900
- By 2035
- Down 3.4%
- Usually needs
- Associate's degree
a year
across the country
1,400 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Draft working drawings, wiring diagrams, wiring connection specifications, or cross-sections of underground cables, as required for instructions to installation crew.
- Assemble documentation packages and produce drawing sets to be checked by an engineer or an architect.
- Consult with engineers to discuss or interpret design concepts, or determine requirements of detailed working drawings.
- Review completed construction drawings and cost estimates for accuracy and conformity to standards and regulations.
- Examine electronic schematics and supporting documents to develop, compute, and verify specifications for drafting data, such as configuration of parts, dimensions, or tolerances.
- Confer with engineering staff and other personnel to resolve problems.
- Draft detail and assembly drawings of design components, circuitry or printed circuit boards, using computer-assisted equipment or standard drafting techniques and devices.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/TechniciansSee 138 colleges that teach it
- Electromechanical Technologies/TechniciansSee 55 colleges that teach it
- Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/TechniciansSee 25 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $76,870 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.