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Architecture & engineering

Calibration technologists and technicians

Typically requires Associate's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedMedium uncertainty
top 24% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +4.7% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (40/100).

52
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Data note: O*NET 29.0 doesn’t cover this SOC code yet, so its skill profile (used for fit, moat, and related careers) is estimated from sibling occupations in the same SOC group — see methodology.

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 72% of careers (+4.7%).
  • +High pay — above 61% of careers ($65,040).
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (40% of tasks exposed).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: it carries some AI exposure (40% of tasks).
Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+4.7%
Median pay
$65,040
AI exposure
40/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 204 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$60,951
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$29,557
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.1×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/TechnicianInstrumentation Technology/Technician
Selective schools offering these majors
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
Carnegie Mellon University
PA · 12% admit rate
$83,654/yr
$114,862 grad pay
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
MI · 16% admit rate
$34,654/yr
$83,648 grad pay
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
FL · 21% admit rate
$23,970/yr
$44,349 grad pay
Southern University and A & M College
LA · 35% admit rate
$26,341/yr
$43,371 grad pay
University of Puerto Rico
PR · 35% admit rate
$12,501/yr
$34,409 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

engineeringdesignmathtechnical