Turn an engineer's drawing into a working circuit, then test it until you know exactly why it fails.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical technologist
$78,190
New technician
$49,510
Senior or lead
$115,700
The national median is $78,190 a year, and the bottom tenth start near $49,510. The survey lumps technologists and technicians into one occupation. Technologists, who usually hold a four-year technology degree, sit in the upper half of that range and technicians in the lower half.
$49,000 to $60,000
First job with a two-year associate degree
Defense suppliers, semiconductor plants and utilities pay the most. Small electronics shops pay the least. A four-year technology degree usually adds $8,000 to $15,000 to a first offer.
$115,700 and up
Lead technologists, test leads and field service specialists
Field service, where you fly out to fix a customer's equipment, pays the most because of overtime and travel allowances. It also costs you weekends.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a two year associate degree at in district community college prices, a set of hand tools with a multimeter and soldering station, and one certification exam. The high end is a four year technology degree at an in state public university with a fuller tool kit and a couple of certifications. A Pell Grant of roughly 7,400 dollars a year can cover community college tuition outright, which makes this one of the few well paid careers you can enter with no debt at all.
File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). A Pell Grant of roughly $7,400 a year covers community college tuition outright for many students, so this is one of the few good-paying careers you can enter with no debt at all.
Employer-paid upgrades
Manufacturers routinely pay for certification courses and for a four-year degree while you work.
Overtime
Test and field work is hourly at most employers, so extra hours mean extra pay rather than a longer day for free.
Utility and government pensions
Public power utilities and federal labs still offer defined-benefit retirement plans.
Travel allowances
Field service technologists get a daily allowance plus mileage on top of the salary.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Two years gets you working. The fourth year, if you do it, is what moves you from technician to technologist.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Algebra, trigonometry and physics. Shop or robotics club if your school has one.
Associate degree in electrical or electronics engineering technology
2 years
Two years at a community college or technical school. Circuits, digital logic, instrumentation, and a lot of bench time.
First job as a technician
Straight after graduating
Test, assembly, calibration or field service. You learn the equipment your employer actually sells.
Certification
1 to 3 years in
ETA International (the Electronics Technicians Association) and the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies both run tiered credentials that employers recognize.
Four-year technology degree, if you want to lead
2 years, optional
Two more years, often part time and paid for by your employer. This is the step from technician pay to technologist pay.
Algebra and trigonometry
Enough math to work with circuits, without the calculus an engineering degree demands.
Physics
Voltage, current and magnetism are the whole job.
Computer science
Test equipment is programmed now, usually in Python.
Technical drawing
You will read schematics and wiring diagrams every day.
You do not need a license to do this job. Two things are worth knowing. First, several states restrict who may call themselves an engineer, so your job title may legally have to be technologist or technician. Second, if you later want a Professional Engineer license, some state boards accept an engineering technology degree with extra years of experience and some do not accept it at all. Ask your own state board before you count on that door being open.
Look for a program accredited by the engineering technology side of ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology).
Community colleges
Two-year electronics and electrical technology programs exist in nearly every state, usually with local employers on the advisory board.
Technical institutes
Focused two-year schools with heavy lab time and strong placement into manufacturing.
Four-year technology programs
Many state universities run a bachelor of science in engineering technology designed for transfer students.
The military
Navy and Air Force electronics training is among the best in the country and comes with tuition benefits afterwards.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Certified Electronics Technician
ETA International (the Electronics Technicians Association) runs it at an associate level for newcomers and journeyman levels by specialty.
Engineering technology certification
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies runs levels one through three in areas like electrical power testing.
PLC (programmable logic controller) training
Factory automation skills are in constant short supply and go straight onto your hourly rate.
Fiber optics installation
Short certification courses, and data center and telecom work is expanding fast.
Soldering skill you can demonstrate
Being genuinely good with a fine iron is still a hiring advantage.
A driver's license
Field service roles, the best-paid ones, all require it.
Safety training
Courses from OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and arc flash training are cheap and expected in industrial plants.
A home lab
A meter, a cheap oscilloscope and projects you can talk about in an interview.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
A bench with a board on it, a meter, a scope and a test plan. You build prototypes an engineer designed, run them through temperature and voltage tests, and write down exactly what failed and when. Some days you are on the factory floor sorting out why a production line is rejecting units, some days you are reading a wiring diagram against an actual panel, and some days you are on a plane to a customer site.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
In the accreditation system a technician usually holds a two-year degree and a technologist a four-year one. The national wage survey counts them together, which is why one published median has to cover jobs paying $49,510 and $115,700.
ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) runs one commission for engineering degrees and a different one for engineering technology, covering associate and bachelor's programs. Which commission accredited your degree can decide whether a state board ever licenses you.
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, which certifies technicians in fire alarm systems, electrical power testing and more, is affiliated with the National Society of Professional Engineers.
ETA International (the Electronics Technicians Association), founded in 1978, offers over 80 vendor-neutral certifications covering fiber optics, biomedical equipment, renewable energy, photonics and smart home systems.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise.