Top 20 Electrical Technician Skills to be best on the Job

Top 20 Electrical Technician Skills to be best on the Job

To be successful as an electrical technician, you need to have certain skills and qualities. You will need to be able to deal with co-workers, management, clients, and other people you interact with in the course of your work, and effectively perform your job description.

This post will help you learn the skills you need to develop to increase your performance on the job and put your career on the path of success.

But before we dive into it, let’s look at who an electrical technician is:

Who is an Electrical Technician?

An electrical technician is a specialist in electrical wiring of buildings, immobile machines, and similar equipment.

He/she can specialize in wiring airplanes and ships; installing new electrical components; and maintaining and repairing existing electrical infrastructure, data and cable.

Now, back to the skills and qualities you need to have to be good on your job as an electrical technician:

20 Electrical Technician Skills and Qualities to be Effective on the Job

1. Customer Service Skills. Having excellent customer service skills is most useful to electrical technicians who work in positions that allow them to come in contact with customers. Some positions involve spending a lot of time servicing machinery within the company. This type of position does not allow the technician to make contact with customers; therefore, customer service skills may not be needed. However, in general, electrical technicians need to have good customer service skills to succeed in their career.

2. Mechanical Aptitude. Technicians who have inborn sense of mechanics stand a better chance of excelling in the profession. This means that the electrical technician should enjoy taking things aside to see how they work and should be able to embark on any do-it-yourself project. Having some mechanical aptitude will help you to be comfortable around electrical work and be confident in your abilities.

3. Analytical Thinking Skills. Electrical technicians need to make use of the logical reasoning training and knowledge they got during their educational program to solve electrical maintenance and repair issues. The analytical thinking skill set enables the technician to be able to figure things out when something goes wrong.

4. Problem-solving Skills. Analyzing and solving electrical-related problems is an essential part of an electrical technician’s job. Technicians should be able to respond to issues on their own and find the required solution. They need the ability to fully understand an electrical problem and come up with the right solution for it. They should also learn how to recognize the relative strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions to problems and decide the best to take.

5. Communication Skills. Electrical technicians need to possess excellent communication skills to be able to understand both spoken and written information; listen to what other people are saying, and ask questions at appropriate times.

6. Honesty. A good electrical technician needs to be honest and industrious in order to give their employers/clients the best of their abilities and charge a fair price for their service (for technicians on own business). An honest technician offers their customers a reasonable and exact quote, and also makes sure they ask as many questions as they wish about quotes so they can make necessary comparisons.

7. Reading Comprehension. Through written communications many work orders are assigned to electrical technicians, either through email or on paper. They need reading skills to be able to interpret work orders and write a summary of their own work to ensure job details are followed properly, and also to enable other technicians to understand the methods used should they need to perform the same project in the future.

8. Writing and Composition Skills. Electrical technicians should be able to communicate effectively with many people at once through writing of reports and blueprints. Your writing should not be confusing in order not to mislead your clients, colleagues, and/or management.

9. Observation and Empathy Skills. Technicians should be able to observe others and perceive what they are thinking, and how they will react to situations and requests. Technicians also need to have feelings for their colleagues, clients, etc. that makes them want to support them and get problems fixed as quickly as possible. Having these skills will make the technician easily noticeable in the team.

10. Dependability Skills. When you are dependable, your clients/company can easily rely on you to get the job done. You will respond quickly in an emergency situation and be punctual to work. Your professional qualities should include being at the place you promised to be and at the scheduled time, and fix the requested problem, or perform the installation that was promised.

11. Business Skills. It takes years to acquire business skills, and this involves having general knowledge of business practices, such as strategic planning, invoicing, tracking inventory, and managing employers. Possessing a good dose of business skills can help you to become an independent contractor, attain supervisory positions, and possibly run your own company one day.

12. Active Listening. Being silent while others are speaking will help you a lot in your electrical technician profession. With this skill set that comes easily to some and not so easily to others, you can understand the implications of new information for both current and future decision-making and problem-solving process.

13. Time Management. Electrical technicians should be able to effectively manage their time and that of others to be able to complete a job on time as scheduled. You will be a distinguished electrical technician when you are able to always complete your tasks within scheduled deadlines.

14. Mathematics and Algebra. Mathematical proficiency will help you to determine how much material is needed to complete a project; which size of tools to use, etc. Having mathematics skills will enable technicians to perform precise measurements and calculations of materials and processes, which is important for electrical performance and safety.

15. Patience and Self Control. One of the ugly circumstances of the technician’s job is working with difficult people. When such situation occurs, you need to keep your cool, communicate effectively, and keep your mind on the job. You have to stay focused on your job and keep your effort consistent.

16. Persistence. Electrical technicians need to be persistent when their job gets tough. They need to persevere when their job wants to throw them off balance to be able to conquer whatever difficulty they face, and help their team to grow.

17. Troubleshooting. Troubleshooting is a major part of electrical technicians’ day-to-day tasks. Technicians need to ensure things are going on the way they are supposed to. But if there is a problem, the technician is to diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix it. He/she also needs to have the ability to fix electrical wiring and circuitry problems. This requires troubleshooting, running tests, and carrying out other diagnostic procedures to find what the issue is and correctly fix it.

18. Excellent Work Ethic. Electrical technicians should display great work ethic; they should be ready to work every day, whether they work in a commercial, industrial, or residential setting, and adhere to their company’s operational procedures and policies.

19. Clerical Abilities. Technicians need to have the ability to understand simple business systems such as word processing, office procedures, basic accounting, filing, and other clerical abilities that can become useful in some job positions.

20. Technology Skills. Electrical technicians need to stay current on changes in technology in their industry to be able to answer any question about tools or devices, processes/procedures, etc. that is required, and explain what they are doing and why they are utilizing the methods they are working with.

Electrical Technician Skills and Qualities for Resume

if you are writing a resume for an electrical technician position, you can apply the skills and qualities above in making the core competence section of your resume where you let the recruiter know the skills and qualities you are coming with to excel on the electrical technician job that you are seeking.

Your chances of getting the electrical technician job will be brighter if the recruiter can see in your resume that you possess relevant skills and qualities to succeed on the job. 

Conclusion:

If you are an electrical technician who wants to succeed in your career, you can effectively prepare yourself for the job by developing the qualities and skills provided in this post.

Employers needing to hire a good and qualified electrical technician can increase their chances of finding the right person by using information shared in this post in the job requirements section of their vacancy advertisement.