Short carbon fibers have excellent mechanical properties and high electrical conductivity which make them a suitable reinforcement for polymer composites. It is well-known that the mechanical and electrical properties of polymeric composites can be tailored by controlling the orientation of these fibers. There are different methods to produce composites with aligned fibers, including the application of a magnetic, electric, or ultrasonic field. Also, different levels of alignments can be achieved due to the flow developed during molding of such materials. Magnetic field allows three-dimensional remote alignment of a reinforcement in polymer and can be generated by using either permanent magnets or electromagnets. Typically, for alignment of carbon fibers, a high-intensity magnetic field is required. However, coating these fibers with the elements that are ferromagnetic like nickel makes them more responsive, even to a magnetic field as low as 10-100 mT. Thus, field strength and the amount of nickel coating on fibers are the two main parameters that affect the alignment behavior of short fibers. In this study, epoxy matrix composites containing nickel coated carbon (NiC) fibers are fabricated under magnetic field. To align the fibers, the composite sample is placed between two Neodymium Iron Boron magnets, generating a horizontal magnetic field during cure. The effects of different field strength (10-50 mT) and percentages of nickel coating (20 or 40 wt. % of the fiber) on the alignment behavior of NiC fibers in an epoxy resin are investigated. Then, a comparison of the orientation microstructure of the composites fabricated with and without magnetic field is performed using confocal microscopy and image analysis techniques. Depending on the field strength and percentages of coating, three phenomena has been observed: (i) rotation of fibers, (ii) formation of fiber chains parallel to the applied field, and (iii) migration of fibers towards the magnetic poles.