ARGHHHH, How can you get in to the industry???

Sorry for yelling lol. I am just venting. Just got passed over for two dream jobs . Of course it was due to little experience. I finished Electronics school on 2 Dec 07, got my CEET degree. I am sure many of you fellows went through what I am going through. Can anyone tell me a good path to take to get my foot in the door for and R&D or Electrical Engineering job?

I do have experience as a Technician but none as a Engineer. I worked for Time Warner as a Broadband Tech and 3M as an Electronics Tech. It seems that I keep getting tech jobs but the Engineering jobs are running away from me. I would appreciate any advice or ideas.

Bryan76 said:

Sorry for yelling lol. I am just venting. Just got passed over for two dream jobs . Of course it was due to little experience. I finished Electronics school on 2 Dec 07, got my CEET degree. I am sure many of you fellows went through what I am going through. Can anyone tell me a good path to take to get my foot in the door for and R&D or Electrical Engineering job?

I do have experience as a Technician but none as a Engineer. I worked for Time Warner as a Broadband Tech and 3M as an Electronics Tech. It seems that I keep getting tech jobs but the Engineering jobs are running away from me. I would appreciate any advice or ideas.

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It's now what you know, but who you know...or so I'm told.

Apply at Lynntech in College Station. We need a good technician/engineer I. Our last one just left last Friday to go to grad school. I'm getting promo'd to EngII at the new year. They're looking for a tech but you could probably make them make you be a full blown engineer. You'd be doing maybe 50% technician work and board assembly/system debug, and if you can do it 50% programming/circuit design/pcb layout as you are capable. We are an electrochemical R&D company specializing in fuel cells, but we do a lot of crap. Everything is prototypes. Pay sucks, but after a year or two you will have a resume that will get you a job anywhere. It's that way especially in the electronics group, we have a high turnover. Avg employee stays 2 years probably. Managers and so forth stay a lot longer.

This is a good path because

a) you get paid ****. That means no competition for the job. You WILL get it. Apply for an Engineer I position. Don't tell them I told you to do that.
b) you get MAD experience. My resume after a year reads like a nerd's fantasy.
c) in a year or two, you get your dream job at those companies that passed you over before. I've seen it with two coworkers already, and heard about those who went before them. They generally go to Houston, Austin or Dallas and make good (70+) money.

Also, don't tell them I told you any of this. Just doin' you a favor. And we need someone who can solder TQFP's and if the can program and do schematic design, that's a plus too. Our last tech was making only 30k, an engineer I should do 40-45. It might be a hard sell to make them make you an eng I instead of a tech, but it's worth a try.

I should add that this can be a high stress job. Another reason people leave after two years.

Actually, just send me your resume. I'll give it to my boss. If you can tolerate College Station, that is. My pubilcy postable email account is asdf at hayenga dot com. I'll sort it out of the spam.

ETA: We do a LOT of work with PIC's. Mostly 16F and 18F. Also Freescale 9S12. If you can code C and know PIC's it's an easy sell. Don't claim it unless you can though, you will be grilled in the interview on it.

dknguyen said:

It's now what you know, but who you know...or so I'm told.

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I have heard that a couple of times. I was told that joining Tech clubs and the sort would be a good way to make connections.

speakerguy79 said:

Apply at Lynntech in College Station. We need a good technician/engineer I. Our last one just left last Friday to go to grad school. I'm getting promo'd to EngII at the new year. They're looking for a tech but you could probably make them make you be a full blown engineer. You'd be doing maybe 50% technician work and board assembly/system debug, and if you can do it 50% programming/circuit design/pcb layout as you are capable. We are an electrochemical R&D company specializing in fuel cells, but we do a lot of crap. Everything is prototypes, so no worry about having to do a lot of paperwork or anything, or worry about commercialization stuff. Pay sucks, but after a year or two you will have a resume that will get you a job anywhere. It's that way especially in the electronics group, we have a high turnover. Avg employee stays 2 years probably. Managers and so forth stay a lot longer.

This is a good path because

a) you get paid ****. That means no competition for the job. You WILL get it. Apply for an Engineer I position. Don't tell them I told you to do that.
b) you get MAD experience. My resume after a year reads like a nerd's fantasy.
c) in a year or two, you get your dream job at those companies that passed you over before.

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That sounds great, BUT i am stuck in Austin. No way my wifes going to move after scoring the job she has lol.

Probably better that way. Austin is way cooler.

speakerguy79 said:

Probably better that way. Austin is way cooler.

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Austin has a lot going in the Tech department. Thats why its so frustrating to have all these companies with Engineering jobs and not get a chance to get one. I finally finished school just to run into the "no or little experience barrier".

Dang Speakerguy, thats a great opportunity. You think another position will be open in 3-4 years?

Anyone have any advice???

You've been out of school for what, 9 days, and you've been turned down for dream jobs twice? It's not the end of the world, really. You don't want to know how long I looked, or how many part time jobs I filled the time with, till my dream job came along.

Advice? Keep looking.

mneary said:

You've been out of school for what, 9 days, and you've been turned down for dream jobs twice? It's not the end of the world, really. You don't want to know how long I looked, or how many part time jobs I filled the time with, till my dream job came along.

Advice? Keep looking.

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Well I am sorry you had a rough time, but thats what I am trying to avoid. Which is why I started this thread, to get help.

I had a rough start, but I'm still in that same dream job after over 35 years.

mneary said:

I had a rough start, but I'm still in that same dream job after over 35 years.

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Would you mind telling me what you do?

Come to Denmark. The company I'm working for has around 40 open positions at this time. Many of which are for electrical engineers. Start salary for engineers in DK is around 34000DKK a month (6800USD @ 5$/DKK).


Btw: We have a few small airports, so you could stay in Austin and travel back and forth on a daily basis - Its only around 6000 kilometers

Bryan76 said:

Anyone have any advice???

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hi,
Why dont you consider starting your own 'online' company wheeling n dealing in hobby electronics.

ericgibbs said:

hi,
Why dont you consider starting your own 'online' company wheeling n dealing in hobby electronics.

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Hi Eric that sounds great.I'm developing my own website these days & I don't know what I can do from it?

I'm sure Lynntech will have position(s) open in 3-4 years. We were purchased last January by an investment group who over time are planning to expand and commercialize what we've been doing mostly as prototype work for the government.

For example, I've worked on a non-thermal plasma based methane reformer that has the possibility of going in a weather balloon type thing that NASA will be sending to Titan (moon of Saturn). I've worked on a non-tethered taser projectile weapon that fires out of a 40mm grenade launcher for HSARPA with 100m range and remote control (for repeated tasings). I've worked on a hybrid fuel cell/electric vehicle for the Air Force that used dual 25kW fuel cells. I could go on, but you get the idea. Crazy ass high stress low pay job, but man do you rack up the experience in a wide variety of areas. By the time you leave, you've been exposed to such a variety of stuff you'll know what you want to go into.

ericgibbs said:

hi,
Why dont you consider starting your own 'online' company wheeling n dealing in hobby electronics.

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That sounds like fun but I don't think I am very business oriented.

speakerguy79 said:

I'm sure Lynntech will have position(s) open in 3-4 years. We were purchased last January by an investment group who over time are planning to expand and commercialize what we've been doing mostly as prototype work for the government.

For example, I've worked on a non-thermal plasma based methane reformer that has the possibility of going in a weather balloon type thing that NASA will be sending to Titan (moon of Saturn). I've worked on a non-tethered taser projectile weapon that fires out of a 40mm grenade launcher for HSARPA with 100m range and remote control (for repeated tasings). I've worked on a hybrid fuel cell/electric vehicle for the Air Force that used dual 25kW fuel cells. I could go on, but you get the idea. Crazy ass high stress low pay job, but man do you rack up the experience in a wide variety of areas. By the time you leave, you've been exposed to such a variety of stuff you'll know what you want to go into.

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That sounds like a lot of fun.

It is, til 45kV hits you. That kinda hurts. It's hard to keep up with the pace for more than a few years though. And you never really specialize in anything - it's a jack of all trades job, master of none. My next job move will hopefully be to something in mixed signal board/system design.