An engineering and technology teacher leads project-based design, engineering and manufacturing courses and often runs a makerspace. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, counts this role within Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School: 111,420 jobs and a median annual wage of $66,270. Define the program, set pay from BLS, test teaching and shop skill, then check references.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment | 111,420 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Median annual wage | $66,270 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How to hire an engineering and technology teacher: the short answer
Write the job around the actual program of study: which courses, which lab or shop, which student organization, and whether the teacher maintains 3D printers, laser cutters or CNC tools. Set a pay range from the BLS figures for SOC 25-2032. Screen with a work sample that shows both teaching and technical skill, then call references who saw the candidate lead projects, not only sit in a classroom.
What an engineering and technology teacher does
O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026) describes Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School as instructors who teach occupational and technical subjects through lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and laboratory, shop and field studies. Sample titles on O*NET include Technology Education Teacher and CTE Teacher. Typical employers for this specialty are middle and high schools, STEM academies and career centers.
If you also hire across pathways, the process for how to hire a career and technical education teacher uses the same occupation group and a broader set of shops. Keep this search tied to design, engineering and manufacturing technology.
Skills, knowledge and tools to look for
O*NET lists Instructing, Mathematics and Complex Problem Solving among the skills for this occupation, along with Learning Strategies, Critical Thinking and Active Listening. Knowledge areas include Education and Training, Computers and Electronics, and Mathematics. Job Zone Four: considerable preparation is needed, and employees usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training and/or vocational training. On education, 40% of O*NET respondents said a bachelor's degree is required, 23% a master's degree, and 13% an associate's degree or other two-year degree.
| Look for | Must-have on day one | Can train after hire |
|---|---|---|
| Instructing and project-based assessment | Yes | Local grading platforms and lesson templates |
| Engineering design process, sketching and CAD | Yes | A specific CAD package your lab just adopted |
| Safe use of lab or shop equipment | Yes | District inventory software |
Setting the pay range
Use BLS as the market reference. For Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School, BLS reports an annual 10th percentile of $50,040, 25th percentile of $60,590, median of $66,270, 75th percentile of $80,060 and 90th percentile of $101,340. Those percentiles are the spread of pay across the occupation. BLS publishes annual wages only for this occupation. Treat the figures as a reference for this specialty, not a rate unique to engineering and technology.
Place the offer using the BLS state median for the job location, then by the candidate's experience and the scope of duties (number of preps, makerspace upkeep, team coaching). A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area's employment than nationally. BLS location quotients and medians for the ten states with the highest annual medians:
| Rank | State | Employment | Annual median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 3,460 | $101,180 | 1.36 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 1,910 | $100,810 | 1.57 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 3,130 | $98,020 | 1.2 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 2,320 | $83,770 | 0.76 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 90 | $81,820 | 0.25 |
| 6 | California | 3,260 | $80,620 | 0.25 |
| 7 | New York | 7,610 | $79,820 | 1.1 |
| 8 | Delaware | 560 | $79,230 | 1.61 |
| 9 | Ohio | 5,130 | $79,230 | 1.29 |
| 10 | Vermont | 220 | $79,220 | 1.01 |
BLS also publishes large employment counts elsewhere in the same occupation. Texas employment is 32,250 with a location quotient of 3.2 and an annual median of $64,610. Florida employment is 6,820, location quotient 0.96, annual median $62,140. Match your offer to your state's published median and to the real load of the assignment.
Writing the posting and finding candidates
Use a title that matches the program: Engineering and Technology Teacher, not a vague "STEM teacher" line that hides the shop. Spell out the career pathway, the courses, whether the assignment is middle school, high school or a career center, the daily schedule, and extra duties such as robotics or design-team coaching. State that the teacher will run and maintain makerspace equipment. Borrow structure from the engineering and technology teacher job description template and cut anything you cannot defend in an interview.
Look past people already on a campus roster. O*NET's Job Zone Four profile and education mix leave room for practitioners who learned the work in industry and can teach it in a lab. Ask for evidence they have instructed others, not only that they can run a mill. A related shop search, such as how to hire a construction trades teacher, turns on the same mix of trade skill and classroom control; an information technology teacher hire is the closer cousin when your pathway leans coding and electronics more than fabrication.
Post where career and technical educators look, including ACTE Job Bank. Name the equipment, the student organization and the number of preps in the first screen of the ad so you do not spend interview days on candidates who wanted a lecture-only load.
Screening and interviewing
Run the same work sample for every finalist. Give a short lesson that takes students from a design problem to a first sketch or CAD model, then a walk-through of how the candidate would open a makerspace session: rules, personal protective equipment, machine assignments, what happens when a printer jams or a laser is left armed. Score instructing, technical accuracy and safety on one rubric.
| Work-sample part | Time | What you should see |
|---|---|---|
| Design-to-sketch or CAD mini-lesson | 15–20 minutes | Clear objective, demonstration, student practice, a way to check the model |
| Makerspace safety walk-through | 10 minutes | Startup checks, student monitoring, shutdown, injury and damage prevention |
Interview themes stay inside the job: engineering or technical background, project-based teaching and assessment, makerspace safety and equipment, and coaching student teams. Ask every candidate the same job-related questions. Under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (accessed September 24, 2026), it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Do not ask about those subjects. If you use a test, EEOC states it must be necessary and related to the job. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
| Ask | Listen for |
|---|---|
| Walk us through a unit that ends in a working prototype. | Design process, checkpoints, how failure is graded |
| How do you teach CAD to a student who has never opened the software? | Demonstration, guided practice, a first model that is actually assessed |
| A student bypasses a machine guard. What do you do in the next two minutes and the next two days? | Immediate stop, rule enforcement, reteach, record-keeping |
References, verification and the offer
Call people who watched the candidate teach, mentor or lead a build. Ask about technical ability, project leadership, and how the person handled equipment, safety and incomplete student work. Stay on job performance. Put the same questions to every reference.
Verify any degree, license or credential the candidate lists with the body that issued it, and complete that check before the start date. Follow your district's or college's own clearance process. Do not treat a listed credential as current until the issuer says it is.
Put duties, schedule and pay in writing: courses, lab or shop, makerspace upkeep, student organization or contest coaching, and the BLS-informed range you used. The first weeks should include a supervised pass through every machine the students will use, a meeting with the advisory committee or industry partners, and a calendar for work-based learning placements. If those items are not in the offer letter, they will be treated as optional.
More hiring guides
FAQ
What does an engineering and technology teacher do?
They teach occupational and technical subjects at the secondary level through lectures, discussion, demonstration, and laboratory or shop work, per O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026).
How much should I pay an engineering and technology teacher?
BLS OEWS, May 2025, reports a national median of $66,270 for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School, the group that includes this role.
Can I hire someone from industry with no teaching experience?
Yes, if they can teach the design process, run lab or shop equipment safely, and assess project-based work.
How do I test an engineering and technology teacher candidate before hiring?
Use a short work sample: a lesson from a design problem to a first sketch or CAD model, plus a walk-through of a safe makerspace session.
What should I ask an engineering and technology teacher in an interview?
Ask the same job-related questions of every candidate about technical background, project-based teaching, makerspace safety and coaching student teams.
