Electrical Engineer
Frequently asked questions about hiring for the Electrical Engineer role, plus the mistakes that most often derail it.
Common hiring mistakes for this role
Hiring an Electrical Engineer with 3 to 8 years of experience rarely fails on the CV and often on a wrong reading of the concrete design practice. The following mistakes appear regularly at German SMBs.
Hiring on EPLAN command instead of design substance
The most common trap: a candidate shows 7 years of EPLAN Electric P8 and a clean circuit-diagram showreel, and the analysis stops there. Without an understanding of selectivity calculation, cable cross-section sizing under DIN VDE 0100, the loss and heat balance in the control cabinet and harmonic loading, command of the CAE tool says little. Always probe deeper with: tell me about the most difficult sizing decision of the last 12 months, including the selectivity and short-circuit calculation. Anyone who evades has a draftsperson profile, not a design profile.
Confusing Electrical Engineer and electrical designer
In the German-speaking world the terms Elektroingenieur:in (a degree at a university or applied-sciences university, design and calculation responsibility) and Elektrokonstrukteur:in (often a technician background, focused on circuit-diagram detail work and parts-list creation) overlap. The confusion leads to two classic outcomes: either you pay 70 k€ for a profile that in practice does 80 percent pure EPLAN detail work, or you pay 50 k€ for a profile from which you expect a selectivity analysis and a conformity assessment under the Machinery Directive, without the substance being there. Clarify the scope explicitly in the job posting.
Underestimating the qualified-electrician qualification and DGUV V3
An Electrical Engineer who plans, tests or commissions electrical installations must be qualified as a qualified electrician (Elektrofachkraft) under DGUV Regulation 3 and appointed in writing by the employer. At an SMB it often happens that this point only surfaces at the first audit or the first commissioning. In the interview, ask concretely: are you appointed in writing as a qualified electrician? Which recurring DGUV V3 inspections do you own? Anyone who evades can be technically strong but is not directly deployable for commissioning or for the responsibility as a plant operator under DIN VDE 0105-100.
Overlooking collective-agreement binding and IG Metall expectations
At tariff-bound companies (the metal and electrical industry, frequently in southern Germany) an Electrical Engineer with 3 to 8 years of experience expects classification under ERA (often EG 10 to EG 12) plus special payments and a 35-hour week. If you bring a profile from a tariff-bound company into a non-tariff-bound SMB, you have to calculate the total package cleanly (fixed salary, special payments, working time, vacation, pension). A simple 6 percent increase in fixed salary is rarely enough to compensate for the tariff package.