Electrical Engineer
Job description, salary, sourcing, 15 interview questions and a 30/60/90 plan to hire an Electrical Engineer in a German SMB.
At a glance
- Time to fill55–85 days
- Experience3–8 years
How to hire an Electrical Engineer for your SMB
Before you write the job posting, settle three framing questions. They determine which profile you actually need and whether a hire is the right answer right now.
Do you need an Electrical Engineer or an electrician with a master craftsman’s qualification? An Electrical Engineer with a degree (BSc or MSc in electrical engineering) brings system-design competence: circuit diagram design from scratch, sizing calculations, standards confidence across DIN VDE and IEC, an interface to mechanical and automation. An electrical master craftsman or technician you can hire for similar money; that profile is stronger in execution and excellent in maintenance, but rarely able to lead a new plant from specification sheet to commissioning as the responsible qualified electrician. If you mainly maintain existing plants or continue existing circuit diagrams, the master craftsman is often the more cost-effective choice; for new design and engineering you need the engineering depth.
Generalist or specialist? A generalist Electrical Engineer covers classic plant-engineering topics (low voltage, switchgear construction, PLC connection, commissioning). Specializations such as functional safety (IEC 61508 and ISO 13849), medium voltage up to 24 kV, railway applications (EN 50121, EN 50128), explosion protection (ATEX) or power electronics are scarce in the market and cost a 10 to 20 percent premium on the median. Clarify early whether your pipeline needs this specialization permanently or whether you bring in an external expert for rare cases.
First or fifth Electrical Engineer? The first person builds the engineering standards: the component library, the EPLAN templates, the test procedure, the documentation structure. You need a profile with 5+ years of experience who can formalize and not just execute. The fifth person enters an existing structure; they should integrate rather than reorganize everything. You recognize both profiles by different answers in the behavioral and values questions (see the evaluation section).
An indicative capacity calculation: an experienced Electrical Engineer at an SMB typically owns 4 to 6 medium-sized projects per year from design to commissioning, in parallel with existing-customer support. Scale the team as soon as you structurally expect more project pipeline or a second specialization is in demand.
Where to source this role
LinkedIn
€250-500 per month for Job Slots plus Recruiter LiteThe strongest channel for younger Electrical Engineers (3 to 6 years of experience) with a university degree from TU Munich, RWTH Aachen, KIT or TU Berlin. Active sourcing via InMail works better than pure job posts, because many profiles search passively and are well paid through a collective agreement. Expect 40 to 50 percent of qualified applications from here when you recruit actively.
XING
ProJobs from €195 per monthStill very strong for Electrical Engineers in the classic Mittelstand (machinery and plant engineering, energy utilities, switchgear construction), especially in NRW, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. Profiles with 8+ years of experience and a collective-agreement background are often more visible here than on LinkedIn. Complements LinkedIn rather than replacing it.
Hays Engineering
Success fee 25-30 percent of the annual fixed salaryA specialized staffing provider with a genuine vertical focus on engineering professions. Worthwhile when you are looking for a rare specialization (medium voltage, functional safety IEC 61508, railway applications) or when the internal search has not produced 3 final candidates after 8 to 10 weeks. Commission model, budget 25 to 30 percent of the annual fixed salary.
VDE career network and TU alumni portals
VDE job posting from €690; alumni portals mostly freeThe VDE career network and the alumni portals of TU Munich, RWTH Aachen, KIT, TU Darmstadt and TU Berlin are undervalued channels. Low volume, but very high signal quality. Especially effective for the direct entry of master's graduates and for targeted outreach to specific specializations (drive technology, power electronics, automation technology).