Instrumentation Engineering : Job Prospects & Career Options

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Owing to rapid industrial and economic growth, job opportunities in this sector are increasing every day.

They find jobs in various sectors including R&D units of public and private sector companies, heavy industries such as thermal power stations, steel plants, refineries, cement and fertilizer plants etc. Companies manufacturing specialized instruments and the user industries themselves, both in public as well as private sectors, employ Instrumentation Engineers.

Senior level positions are occupied with a Masters Degree and they carry the highest level of responsibility and may include planning and managing activities, as well as leading on new developments.

They are absorbed by the IT industry in system design and control automation, in automobile industries in devising and controlling of navigational and control devices, some of the private sector companies like General Electric, Siemens, TATA, Aditya Birla Group etc. are a few to name among others and in public sector companies like HAL, BHEL etc.

Instrumentation Engineers have a multidisciplinary role to play. One may choose to move sideways into other career areas either within or outside their industry. This might include areas such as purchasing, sales, marketing, finance, HR, IT or general management.

Those who have an aptitude use the expertise they have gained in the industry and engage in academic research in universities. Another option is that of teaching, those with talent in teaching can join engineering institutes or IITs as professors or lecturers.

Remuneration

Working experience, qualifications, ability are important factors in determining the pay scale.

The average starting monthly salary of instrumentation engineering graduates in India ranges between Rs.10,000 – Rs.20, 000. Senior engineers can earn anywhere between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 50,000 a month. The pay-package in foreign countries is much higher as compared to India. Lecturers in colleges can earn a starting salary of Rs. 12,000–Rs. 13,000 per month. Fresh graduates from elite technological institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Birla Institute of Technology get more remuneration as compared to others. Those who are working in the private sector are paid more than the public sector.