Top 12 Electrical Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's competitive job market, standing out as an electrical technician means showing a sharp, dependable skill set on your resume. Put the right abilities front and center to prove real-world proficiency and match what employers actually need, opening doors to stronger roles and steady growth.

Electrical Technician Skills

1. PLC Programming
2. AutoCAD
3. Multimeter Proficiency
4. Soldering
5. Oscilloscope Usage
6. Circuit Analysis
7. MATLAB
8. National Electrical Code
9. Power Distribution
10. Motor Control
11. Solar PV Systems
12. Variable Frequency Drives

1. PLC Programming

PLC programming means writing logic for a Programmable Logic Controller so machines and processes run on their own. Ladder diagrams, function blocks, structured text—use them to read inputs, drive outputs, and keep plants humming with predictable control.

Why It's Important

Automation lives here. With PLC skills, an Electrical Technician boosts uptime, squeezes waste, tightens safety, and keeps production repeatable when the stakes are high and the clock is mean.

How to Improve PLC Programming Skills

1. Nail the fundamentals: Ladder logic, scan cycles, I/O mapping, debouncing, latching, interlocks. Build from a clean mental model.
2. Practice in simulators: Use vendor or open simulators to test logic without risking hardware.
3. Work from P&IDs and I/O lists: Translate real process intent into structured code and comments that someone else can follow.
4. Template and standardize: Reusable function blocks, consistent naming, version control, clear fault handling.
5. Test methodically: Force bits in simulation, write test cases, document acceptance criteria before touching the line.
6. Stay current: New firmware, safety PLCs, networked I/O, cybersecurity hardening—keep pace and keep notes.

How to Display PLC Programming Skills on Your Resume

2. AutoCAD

AutoCAD is the drafting workhorse for 2D/3D layouts—panel schedules, single-line diagrams, schematics, conduit plans, device locations, the whole electrical story on paper (or screen) with precision.

Why It's Important

Clear drawings prevent rework, cut install time, and keep teams aligned. When changes hit, accurate updates stop costly confusion.

How to Improve AutoCAD Skills

1. Master the basics: Layers, blocks, xrefs, attributes, dynamic blocks, sheet sets.
2. Build real templates: Title blocks, symbols library, annotation styles, plot standards that match your shop.
3. Shortcuts and customization: Map keys, palettes, and toolsets to the way you actually draw.
4. Electrical focus: Practice cable schedules, wire numbering, panel layouts, and device legends.
5. QA habits: Run audits, purge junk, check scales, verify legends and revision clouds before release.
6. Iterate with feedback: Field crews and installers will tell you what’s unclear—tighten from there.

How to Display AutoCAD Skills on Your Resume

3. Multimeter Proficiency

Using a multimeter well means reading voltage, current, resistance, and continuity with confidence—and knowing when and how to measure without frying a circuit or yourself.

Why It's Important

It’s the daily driver for troubleshooting. Faster fault isolation, safer work, fewer guessy swaps of good parts.

How to Improve Multimeter Proficiency Skills

1. Know your meter: Ranges, auto/manual, true-RMS, CAT ratings, fuses, input limits. Read the manual like it matters.
2. Measure the right way: De-energize when required, verify zero energy, test your tester, then test the circuit.
3. Practice scenarios: Open vs short, series vs parallel, inrush, voltage drop, diode tests, 4-wire resistance.
4. Lead discipline: Good contact, stable hands, proper probe accessories, back-probing without damage.
5. Safety first: PPE, lockout/tagout, correct category rating for the environment, no shortcuts.
6. Log results: Record baselines and anomalies—trend data speeds future troubleshooting.

How to Display Multimeter Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

4. Soldering

Soldering joins components or wires with a lower-melting alloy, producing a conductive, durable joint that survives heat and vibration when done correctly.

Why It's Important

Reliable connections keep circuits stable. Cold joints and splatter? Intermittent nightmares.

How to Improve Soldering Skills

1. Temperature control: Match tip size and heat to the job; avoid roasting pads or starving the joint.
2. Surface prep: Clean leads and pads, flux appropriately, tin tips and wires for smooth flow.
3. Technique variety: Through-hole, drag soldering for SMD, rework with braid and pump, hot air finesse.
4. Lead-free know‑how: Slightly higher temps, different wetting—practice to nail the shine and fillet.
5. Tip care: Wipe, re-tin, replace when pitted. A clean tip transfers heat like a champ.
6. Work to a standard: Follow IPC-style workmanship guidelines for joint shape, fillet size, and inspection.

How to Display Soldering Skills on Your Resume

5. Oscilloscope Usage

An oscilloscope lets you see voltage over time—rise times, noise, ringing, duty cycles, the hidden heartbeat of a circuit.

Why It's Important

When meters shrug, scopes reveal. Signal integrity, timing margins, glitches—you can’t fix what you can’t visualize.

How to Improve Oscilloscope Usage Skills

1. Start clean: Proper grounding, short ground leads, 10x probes for most work, match bandwidth to the signal.
2. Dial in the view: Trigger smartly, set timebase and volts/div with intention, use cursors and measurements.
3. Protect integrity: Minimize probe loading, use tip-and-spring grounds, watch for aliasing.
4. Go deeper: FFT for frequency content, math channels, segmented memory for rare events.
5. Calibrate and verify: Regular probe compensation and equipment checks keep readings honest.
6. Document: Save waveforms with annotations—evidence for root cause and future fixes.

How to Display Oscilloscope Usage Skills on Your Resume

6. Circuit Analysis

Circuit analysis dissects how current and voltage move through components, predicting behavior and revealing faults before they bite.

Why It's Important

It’s the grammar of electricity. Without it, troubleshooting devolves into guesswork and parts-cannon repairs.

How to Improve Circuit Analysis Skills

1. Lock down the laws: Ohm, Kirchhoff, Thevenin/Norton, superposition—use them until they’re muscle memory.
2. Simulate: Practice with SPICE-like tools; compare sims to bench measurements to build intuition.
3. Solve by hand: Do quick nodal or mesh calcs; sanity-check with back-of-the-envelope estimates.
4. Frequency domain: Bode plots, filters, impedance at AC—control and power electronics demand it.
5. Hands-on kits: Build small test circuits and intentionally break them to learn the failure signatures.
6. Keep a notebook: Capture schematics, expected values, and actual readings—patterns emerge.

How to Display Circuit Analysis Skills on Your Resume

7. MATLAB

MATLAB is a high-level environment for numerical computing, data analysis, visualization, and simulation—handy for signal processing, modeling, and control tasks.

Why It's Important

It speeds analysis and prototypes. From filtering noisy signals to modeling power systems, you get answers fast and repeatably.

How to Improve MATLAB Skills

1. Core fluency: Vectors, matrices, indexing, plotting, scripts vs functions.
2. Signal focus: Filtering, spectra, windowing, resampling, and time-frequency views.
3. Model systems: Use block-diagram simulation to test control logic before wiring a panel.
4. Write efficient code: Preallocate, vectorize, profile hotspots, document assumptions.
5. Toolboxes with purpose: Learn only what you need—quality over quantity.
6. Reproducibility: Organize projects, manage versions, package utilities you reuse.

How to Display MATLAB Skills on Your Resume

8. National Electrical Code

The National Electrical Code (NEC) sets safety requirements for electrical installations in the United States and is widely adopted. The 2023 edition is current, with updates every three years.

Why It's Important

It protects people and property. Following the NEC means safer designs, compliant installs, and fewer red tags at inspection.

How to Improve National Electrical Code Skills

1. Study by article: Break it down—definitions, wiring methods, overcurrent protection, grounding and bonding, special occupancies.
2. Use the index: Find answers quickly; learn the structure so you can navigate under pressure.
3. Code updates: Track changes from prior editions; note where old habits no longer fly.
4. Apply in the field: Turn rules into checklists and job aids; reinforce through real inspections.
5. Discuss edge cases: Review tricky scenarios with peers, AHJs, and senior electricians to sharpen judgment.

How to Display National Electrical Code Skills on Your Resume

9. Power Distribution

Power distribution delivers electricity from a source to loads through transformers, switchgear, panels, and protective devices, safely and efficiently.

Why It's Important

Well-designed distribution means fewer outages, lower losses, clearer protection coordination, and easier maintenance.

How to Improve Power Distribution Skills

1. Preventive maintenance: Inspect terminations, torque checks, IR scans, insulation tests, breaker exercising.
2. Balance loads: Spread phase currents, minimize neutral heating, reduce voltage drop.
3. Upgrade wisely: Modern breakers, higher-efficiency transformers, arc-fault and ground-fault protection where appropriate.
4. Short-circuit and coordination: Calculate available fault current, set protective devices to trip in the right order.
5. Meter and monitor: Use power quality meters and logging to catch harmonics, sags, swells, and demand peaks.
6. Safety essentials: Clearances, labeling, PPE, arc-flash studies, lockout/tagout rigor.
7. Documentation: Keep one-line diagrams and panel schedules current—no mysteries behind the door.

How to Display Power Distribution Skills on Your Resume

10. Motor Control

Motor control covers starting, stopping, reversing, and protecting motors, plus tuning speed and torque when required.

Why It's Important

Motors drive the plant. Good control keeps them efficient, responsive, and alive far longer.

How to Improve Motor Control Skills

1. Know the motor: Nameplate data, duty cycle, enclosure, torque curves—match control to the application.
2. Install correctly: Alignment, grounding, conductor sizing, overload selection, and proper conduit practices.
3. Protect smartly: Overload, short-circuit, jam and stall detection, thermal considerations.
4. Choose controllers: Across-the-line, soft starters, VFDs—pick based on process needs and power quality.
5. Maintenance rhythm: Bearings, insulation testing, vibration checks, cleanliness, termination integrity.
6. Energy sense: Right-sizing, power factor correction where justified, efficient duty cycles.
7. Safety every time: LOTO, verification of zero energy, safe test procedures—no exceptions.

How to Display Motor Control Skills on Your Resume

11. Solar PV Systems

Solar PV systems turn sunlight into DC power, then inverters make it useful AC. Mounting, wiring, protection, and monitoring bring the system together.

Why It's Important

Renewable generation is surging. Technicians who can install, commission, and troubleshoot PV are in demand—and it’s good work.

How to Improve Solar PV Systems Skills

1. Design for yield: Aim for optimal tilt/azimuth, minimize shading, account for local climate and soiling.
2. Electrical details: Correct conductor sizing, voltage drop, string sizing across temperature, proper overcurrent protection.
3. Inverter choices: String vs micro vs optimizers—match to site conditions and serviceability.
4. Monitoring and data: Track performance ratios, detect underperforming strings, set alerts.
5. Thermal thinking: Ventilation for inverters and panels; heat kills efficiency and components.
6. Storage integration: Battery systems for shifting load and backup—design with protection and communication in mind.
7. Code compliance: Labeling, rapid shutdown, grounding/bonding, disconnect placement—build to current code.

How to Display Solar PV Systems Skills on Your Resume

12. Variable Frequency Drives

Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) modulate voltage and frequency to control AC motor speed and torque, often slashing energy use and mechanical stress.

Why It's Important

Fine control without hard starts means smoother processes, lower bills, longer equipment life.

How to Improve Variable Frequency Drives Skills

1. Install for EMC: Grounding, shielded motor cables, proper cable length, separation from sensitive signals, and ferrites or reactors when needed.
2. Ventilation and cooling: Keep clearances, manage ambient temps, clean filters—heat is the silent killer.
3. Tune parameters: Accel/decel ramps, minimum/maximum speed, torque limits, PID loops, skip frequencies.
4. Protect the motor: Thermal models, flying start, DC injection braking where appropriate, bearing protection for high-frequency currents.
5. Maintain and monitor: Periodic inspections, error log reviews, trending faults, and updating firmware when recommended.
6. Power quality: Use line/load reactors or filters to curb harmonics and voltage spikes; check THD against site limits.
7. Safety and lockout: DC bus can stay charged—verify discharge times and follow procedures religiously.

How to Display Variable Frequency Drives Skills on Your Resume