Electrical Engineer exam: what is tested and how to prepare

Updated 17 September 2026 · 3 min read

An electrical engineer test goes past knowing how a circuit behaves and asks whether you can size, protect and justify a system. Expect calculations with real consequences: the current a transformer will draw, whether a cable is large enough over its route, what happens to a motor when it starts, which breaker must clear a fault first. Expect too that some questions have several workable answers and only one that meets every constraint in the question.

How this guide was made

Written for this site with AI assistance, then checked automatically before publishing. The topic table, sample questions, worked examples and study plan are generated from this site’s question bank: each worked example is recalculated by separate code, and each sample answer says where it came from.

The guide deliberately states no salaries, grades, pass marks or exam dates. Those change, and they could not be checked here, so take them from the advert itself.

This site is independent and is not affiliated with MIFOTRA or any employer.

What the questions cover

Load estimation: connected load, demand and diversity, and sizing supply and transformers from them.
Three-phase systems: line and phase quantities, balanced and unbalanced loads, and real, reactive and apparent power.
Cables: current-carrying capacity, derating for installation conditions, voltage drop and short-circuit withstand.
Protection: fuses, circuit breakers, relays, discrimination between devices, and disconnection times.
Transformers: ratio, rating, losses, impedance and the fault level that follows from it.
Power factor: why it matters to a bill and to a cable, and how correction is applied.
Earthing and bonding: system types, earth electrodes, touch voltage and protective device operation.
Standards and drawings: what IEC 60364 governs, how single-line diagrams are read, and what a specification must state.

Where to spend your study time

The suggested emphasis reflects what this position works with day to day. It is a study guide, not a published exam blueprint.

Area	Suggested emphasis	Questions in the bank	Practise
Electrical principles and installation	56%	6,523	Electrical
Electronics and automation	22%	504	Electrical
Maintenance practice	22%	1,784	Electrical

Calculations carry the marks

Most engineering papers are decided on calculation questions, and most lost marks there are procedural rather than conceptual: a line voltage used where a phase voltage belongs, kVA treated as kW, or a derating factor forgotten. Work every calculation the same way each time. Write the formula, substitute with units, carry units through, and sanity-check the result against something you know, such as the typical current of a motor of that size.

Design questions have constraints, not preferences

A design question usually states more conditions than a candidate notices on first reading: a maximum voltage drop, an ambient temperature, a requirement to keep a process running during maintenance, or a budget. The expected answer satisfies all of them. Before looking at the options, list the constraints, then strike out any answer that breaks one. Elegance never beats a stated requirement.

Protection and discrimination

Questions about protection reward engineers who think in sequence. A fault must be cleared by the device closest to it, leaving the rest of the installation running, which means device characteristics and settings have to be graded. When a question describes a whole building losing power because of a fault on one circuit, it is testing discrimination, not device ratings.

Standards, tested through practice

You will rarely be asked to quote a clause. You will often be asked what good practice requires: that a protective device disconnects within the required time, that a cable is chosen for the worst condition along its route, that equipment is rated for the fault level where it sits, and that a design can be maintained safely. Read the principles behind the rules and most standards questions answer themselves.

Preparing

Give two-thirds of your preparation to calculations and one-third to judgement questions. Work through problems daily until formulas are automatic. Then practise reading scenarios for constraints, and explain your chosen answer in one sentence: an engineer who cannot justify a decision in one sentence usually has not made it on a sound basis.

Try a few now

A pressure transmitter operates on a standard 4-20mA loop. What is the primary advantage of using a "live zero" (4mA) instead of 0-20mA?
1. It saves power by drawing less current
2. It prevents the transmitter from freezing in cold weather
3. It allows the loop to carry voice communications
4. It allows the control system to detect a broken wire (0mA) as a fault, distinguishing it from a zero reading
Show the answer
D. It allows the control system to detect a broken wire (0mA) as a fault, distinguishing it from a zero reading
With 4-20mA, 4mA represents 0% of the scale. If the wire breaks, current drops to 0mA, instantly alerting the system to a loop failure (dead zero).
Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question
A maintenance tech uses a megohmmeter to test a 480V 3-phase pump motor. The reading from phase A to ground is 0.5 MΩ. What should the tech conclude?
1. The reading is acceptable if the motor is warm
2. The motor is in perfect condition and ready to run
3. The motor insulation is severely degraded and the motor should be removed from service
4. The tech should use a multimeter instead of a megohmmeter
Show the answer
C. The motor insulation is severely degraded and the motor should be removed from service
For a 480V motor, insulation resistance should generally be >1 MΩ. A 0.5 MΩ reading indicates significant insulation breakdown or moisture ingress.
Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question
You place a clamp-on ammeter around an extension cord powering a running 12A space heater, but the meter reads 0.00A. What is the reason for this reading?
1. The ammeter is set to DC instead of AC
2. The extension cord is shielded
3. The clamp is around both the hot and neutral wires, canceling out the magnetic fields
4. The heater is operating at 100% efficiency
Show the answer
C. The clamp is around both the hot and neutral wires, canceling out the magnetic fields
A clamp meter must be placed around a single conductor (the hot or the neutral). If placed around the entire cable, the opposing currents cancel the magnetic field, resulting in a zero reading.
Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question
A technician measures voltage at a standard 120V receptacle and gets 120V between hot and neutral, but 0V between neutral and ground, and 60V between hot and ground. What is the most likely fault?
1. The equipment grounding conductor is open or floating
2. The receptacle is wired correctly
3. There is a direct short between hot and neutral
4. The hot and neutral wires are reversed
Show the answer
A. The equipment grounding conductor is open or floating
If the ground is floating (open), capacitive coupling can cause the hot-to-ground voltage to read arbitrarily (often around half voltage, like 60V) with a high-impedance digital multimeter.
Original practice question, written against published exam objectives. Open this question

Common questions

Which standards should I study?

IEC 60364 for low-voltage installations is the common reference, alongside the standards for the equipment you work with. Check the advert or the institution for any national standard that applies to the work.

How much power systems theory is expected?

For most posts, enough to handle load flow in simple terms, fault levels, transformer impedance and protection grading. Transmission-level analysis appears mainly in utility and consultancy posts.

Are calculators allowed?

Assume not, and practise by hand. Where one is allowed, the marks still go to correct method rather than fast arithmetic.