How to Hire an Electrical Engineer

Why this role matters

Electrical design errors can cause fires, failed inspections, equipment damage or a product recall. A strong electrical engineer designs to the right codes and standards, documents their calculations, and works well with mechanical, civil and firmware colleagues. A weak hire produces designs that look complete but fail at commissioning, testing or certification.

Where to find candidates

• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) local sections, societies and job resources
• IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) in the UK, including members holding CEng or IEng
• State licensing board records in the US to confirm PE status for power and building design roles
• University electrical engineering programmes and student branches of IEEE and IET for graduate hires
• Specialist recruiters for building services, utilities, energy or electronics
• Equipment manufacturers, utilities and contractors you work with, for referrals

Skills to look for

Red flags

• Applies for a power role with only electronics experience, or the reverse, without acknowledging the gap
• Vague about which codes or standards they designed to
• Cannot walk through a calculation they did, such as a voltage drop or fault level check
• No experience of testing, commissioning or debugging a real system
• Claims a licence or chartered status that the register does not confirm

The interview process

1. 1

   Define the role and screen CVs

   Specify power, building services, controls or electronics before advertising. Screen for projects in that area and confirm any PE or chartered status on the official register.

2. 2

   Technical interview

   Ask them to explain a recent design: requirements, standards, calculations, what went wrong at testing and how they fixed it.

3. 3

   Design work sample

   For power roles, give a small single-line diagram and load schedule and ask them to size a feeder and protective device with a voltage drop check. For electronics roles, give a schematic with planted faults and ask them to review it and propose fixes. A job simulation of this real work is one option for comparing candidates fairly.

4. 4

   Cross-discipline interview

   Include a mechanical engineer, firmware engineer or project manager to assess how they communicate trade-offs and handle changes late in a project.

5. 5

   References

   Ask about design accuracy, documentation quality and how the candidate behaved during commissioning or certification.

How to evaluate

• Correct method, code references and stated assumptions in the work sample
• Faults found and quality of proposed fixes in the review exercise
• Safety awareness throughout their answers
• Clarity of calculation documentation
• Fit of their specialism and tools to your projects
• Communication with non-electrical colleagues

Onboarding

• 1Share your design standards, calculation templates and checking process in the first week
• 2Have a senior engineer check their first designs before issue
• 3Arrange site, lab or factory visits early so they see your systems in operation
• 4Confirm software licences and tool access before day one
• 5For graduates, agree a route towards PE licensure, CEng or IEng and record experience from the start

Common questions