Bryan76 said:Its getting close to graduation day for me. I have about 6 months to go and like most I am having troubles figuring out what to do next so I figured why not ask some of you vetrans about your stories. First off Im not a spring chicken but I have been around long enough to have an idea of how the world spins
I am 30yrs of age and spent 6 1/2 of those years in the US Army. I went to tech school to use my GI BIll and get a degree. I knew I wanted to do electronics from the start. I like to make things and see how they work. The problem Im faced with now is to balance what I want to do with what I need to do in order to support the family 1 wife 2 kids. First off I would like to get one question out of the way (1) Is it true that engineers are less likely to have job security than a technician? I ask this due to an instructor of mine telling me that engineers are usually out the door after so many years due to changing technology versus techs only need to know the basics of analog and digital. (2)How did you choose your carreer? This is the part that kills me the most. Every day I find something else that intrests the hell out of me. The other day I was making my first digital probe and then got side tracked when I started to read on making your own PCb's thus again I got side tracked when I came across an article on stepper motors and so on an so on. One of my biggest problems is deciding which area I like the most. (3) What career or job have you found to be the most satisfying and or fun? (4) This question isnt as important but in your opinion where is the most money to be found in electronics?
Optikon said:(1) I believe generally untrue. Depends heavily on the company you work for. Besides, an engineering degree will always give you alot of potential in any tech field.
(2) I interned and researched (while in school) what kinds of jobs there are and all the gory details.
(3) Product development. Every project has unique challenges and I have found it not only fun but also full of learning opportunities. This also helps an engineer keep up to date with latest technology and thus remain valuable.
(4) VLSI design / high end consulting.
engineers are usually out the door after so many years due to changing technology
Nigel Goodwin said:It's an often quoted saying, and I've not yet found reason to disagree with it - "those who can do, those who can't teach".
Fred.Amoson said:That is a load of BS. Maybe poor engineers. A good engineer keeps up with technology and that argument is irrelevant. There is always room for a good engineer somewhere.
I would guess that your professor is biased in some way towards technicians. Either he is one, was one, or got the shaft because he was a poor engineer. Not judging your professor, as I know nothing about him (or her), but several professors are just plain lousy engineers that decided they should teach because they can't do anything else. I've had several of them.
This varies from company to company and changes over time.Bryan76 said:He worked for Mortorla as a tech and then supervisor he later retired.
This was not my experience. When times were tough we lost our techs.Bryan76 said:(1) Is it true that engineers are less likely to have job security than a technician?
Months before I intended to look for a job a prof let me know a company who employed several graduates from our campus was hiring. The on campus interview went well. A phone interview and a plant trip led to a job offer.(2)How did you choose your carreer?.
RadioRon said:1) In my experience this is not true. The employees with key and strategic skills and knowledge have the best job security and these are usually those with the highest level of training and experience in engineering problem solving, usually engineers.
2) Don't sweat this so much. Your career will evolve with you to some extent based on the opportunites that present themselves. It is wise to have some idea of a general direction but if you don't have a clear direction yet, just go with the flow and seek out the more creative opportunities that come along. And have a bit of patience or you will wear out your bosses.
3) The most fun job I had was my first job out of school because all of my assignments were a stretch, they changed frequently because they were giving me the smaller projects, and I had fewer responsibilities and so fewer worries. After several years on the bench designing circuits I was pushed into management which made me miserable for about 4 years until I learned to adapt. Then I evolved into a hybrid of manager and senior designer which was always very interesting, sometimes fun, often profitable, but took years off my life due to huge responsibilities. So the best time was the beginning.
4) the most money in electronics is made by owning a piece of a successful electronics business. It is the businessman taking the risks and reaping the rewards that makes the most, so use your engineering career as a springboard into the business world. Start a company, build it up and then sell it. If you wanted an answer that chooses a particular branch of electronics, I would say that the best branch is whichever one that produces whatever products that are in the highest demand when you hit your career peak, say in about 6 to 10 years from now? Good luck in choosing that. I have no particularly useful insight into this question other than to say that I was lucky to focus on RF electronics prior to the explosion of RF technology that began in the 80's.
Bryan76 said:Regarding your answer to (1), I asked asked about that. Being that engineers would have the knowledge to be a technician. His responce was that a company would let the engineer go instead of hiring him as a tech due to he would require the same pay.
Optikon said:Well, I wasnt thinking that an engineer would assume a tech position. Rather, the engineer has potential to leverage into other fields like programming, management etc... I think of it as having more _feasible_ options. It happens everyday.
ericgibbs said:Whatever career path you chose, if within the company you are working for, you don't move up the promotional ladder,
at least every two years, then you should move to another company.
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