What's your education level?

[fezder]

Intern or Co-op ?

i'm sorry, i didn't guite understand? English isn't my native language so i do struggle in some terms

 

[Cicero]

I have an EE degree, but was into electronics from a very young age with kits as a youngster, through courses in school and finally a formal tertiary education.

I still believe you learn over 90% on the job though, and whilst I value education to a certain degree, it doesn't quite prepare you for anything 'real world'. Maybe lays the foundation, but there's absolutely no substitute for experience. Which is why I'm so fond of this place...many of you fine folks have decades on me and are willing to share it. I hope you all know how much I appreciate that.

 

[Electroenthusiast]

Yes, But feel that you are young all time and so learn. Age shouldn't stop anyone from learning. And more than anything, there is nothing such as young age. It is just relative.
A reply to KeepItSimpleStupid , Who is just Awesome.

 

[Koenig]

i am a student of literary

 

[steveB]

i am a student of literary

When you graduate, will you start using periods in place of smiley faces?

Joking only ...

 

[atferrari]

Joking only...

Then the above could become: Joking only.

I could not resist. Sorry.

 

[tech master 117]

used to break things to find out the tech since 7 and tried to learn everything about tech, then in recent years got interested in nanotech.studying nanotech i want to make a nanosuit type of something like that.most motivating characters are jacob hargreve-crysis trilogy,and Dr.catherine elizabeth halsey-Halo franchise(though both are fictional).

 

[cowboybob]

Welcome to ETO, tech master 117!

... i want to make a nanosuit type of something like that...

So, you're like really, really small ?

 

[DerStrom8]

Welcome to ETO, tech master 117!

So, you're like really, really small ?

Don't you know? tech master 117 is actually Scott Lang in disguise

 

[cowboybob]

Don't you know? tech master 117 is actually Scott Lang in disguise

Ahhh! Fitting, as well (what with his being an "electro-tech" kind of guy). Super-hero gig getting boring, I guess...

 

[strantor]

Barely graduated high school. Unmotivated delinquent. Strong resolve to not go to college, for reasons I can't clearly remember.
Scored high on the military aptitude test, hounded constantly by recruiters. They offered me a 12K bonus to be a nuclear electronics tech, I accepted.
Failed out of nuke ET school before it was theoretically possible to do so. First time I ever tried my hardest and still failed at something. Actually, I think it was the first time I ever tried my hardest at anything, period.
Went on to be a Submarine weapons control system guy. Pretty cool gig, but didn't really dig the whole Navy part of it.
Got out of the Navy and went into the oil field as a field service guy and ended up being in their team of international travelling controls guys, making 6 figures installing & commissioning oil field equipment.
Got married and the travel was no longer acceptable so I now work as a maintenance guy in manufacturing plant making about half what I used to.
I'm tired of fixing things that other people designed, all the while thinking how I could have done a better job designing it.
Tired of my engineering projects being relegated to the garage-only realm. I want to be an engineer, and if you haven't been in the job market recently, don't try to tell me that a piece of paper isn't needed. It is.
So now that I'm grown up and less of a dumbass, I'm going to college to get a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering.

I'm taking my very first right now, Intermediate Algebra. I actually tested a lot higher up on the list of remedial maths than I thought I would.
Being 26 in a class 90% full of 13th year highschoolers is weird. I watch how they drag their feet around with no purpose or direction. They are only there because they have to be.
That's me, had I been forced to go at age 18. They have no idea what an opportunity this is, or what kind of sacrifices they will have to make if they decide to go later in life.
I am fortunate to have a very accommodating family and the Post-911 GI Bill; otherwise my aspirations of a degree would much further over the horizon, probably unattainable.

I saw this thread pop up and I remembered posting to it nearly 4 years ago when I was last active on this forum. I suppose I have relevant updates.

When I posted this, I had just quit my job to go to college, all expenses paid, plus a housing allowance, to get a degree in Electrical Engineering. Shortly after starting my classes I got bored and tired of being broke, so I started a LLC so I could go back and do odd jobs for my previous employer; they had certain machines who wouldn't play nice for anyone but me. As it turned out, I ended up getting even more work from my previous employer's competitors.

I spent a year there and maintained a 4.0 GPA. Not hard to do in freshman classes at community college I suppose. It took me a year to figure out that I was already making more money as a part time self employed field service guy than I was at my previous job, and more than I would as a rookie engineer. I figured out that I didn't want waste 4 years babysitting entitlement-crippled adolescents through group projects, just to get out and compete with the same people in 3rd world countries whose work I was already doing for them via online forums; people who are willing to work for a fraction of what it takes to support my family. There is only one thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up; an Engineer. There was no logical change-of-major for me, so I left school and went to work full time in my self employed endeavor.

A year of that, and I was approached by a competitor. They offered me less per hour than I charged my customers, but they promised a steady work flow; guaranteed 40hrs/wk with benefits. It was an increase in pay and consistency so I took it. I naively signed a non-compete and handed over my customer base to them. I worked there for a year and it was not a bad gig. I made good money. I moved out of the role of Field Service Technician (troubleshooter) and into the role of Field Engineer (albeit without the change in title or pay). But then one day they severely shorted me on my pay (long story) and refused to correct it.

So I left, and intended to go back to being self employed; this is where I learned the meaning of NON COMPETE. FRACK! So I went to work for one of my best customers. It was a company that once upon a time I had redesigned an entire badly designed control system for one of their subsea tools. I knew they had great respect for me and they had tried to recruit me in the past. So I asked for the title of Controls Engineer and they gave it to me. I now design control systems and training simulators for subsea sawing tools, similar to ROVs.

I was wrong in my post 4 years ago. I DOESN'T take a piece of paper to become an Engineer.

 

[JoeJester]

Strantor,

In the world of government electrical engineers, the phrase "equivalent experience" pops up for most lesser degree positions. Those working in broadcasting engineering, are also called engineers. You my friend, certainly hold "equivalent experience."

I hope there was a time limit on that "non-compete" clause.

 

[strantor]

I hope there was a time limit on that "non-compete" clause.

There was, and I'm in the clear now. It was 1 year. I had my attorney review it and he said it was a very strong non-compete. Something they had paid a lot of money to have drafted up; not something printed off a website. It had all the right MODERN legalese and it was not "unreasonable" by today's standards. He said that if I violated it, I would lose in court.

 

[JoeJester]

Glad it's over..... So you can resume if the mood strikes you.

 

[strantor]

Glad it's over..... So you can resume if the mood strikes you.

Yeah I always have that on the back burner. But my contacts are getting stale. It's been long enough I worry about turnover. But I did it once and I can do it again.

I would have to forfeit my Engineer title; My employer can call me an Engineer, but by law I cannot offer engineering as a service outside the company I work for unless I'm a licensed PE, and that doesn't happen without a degree.

 

[JoeJester]

I see .

 

[tech master 117]

im not some scott lang in disguise,just joined new and please visit my group.BTW im liking this forum for its simplicity.

 

[DerStrom8]

im not some scott lang in disguise,just joined new and please visit my group.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, but I would just like to remind you that spamming is not allowed. I don't know what "visit my group" means, but if you are asking that people visit your website or something of the like, that is not allowed.

If I am completely misunderstanding you, then I offer my apologies. I realize there is a bit of a language barrier here

Best wishes,
Matt

EDIT: I just looked around and discovered you can create groups here! I didn't know that before, so that explains a lot

I don't know of any members using the "groups" feature, to be honest, so I'm not sure you'll have much luck.

 

[atferrari]

I realize there is a bit of a language barrier here

Hola Matt,
Look where he lives... that is a clue somehow.

 

[DerStrom8]

Hola Matt,
Look where he lives... that is a clue somehow.

I don't know what that is but I can only guess it's from a video game, based on his profile picture.

I happen to know where he is from, and it makes even more sense (no offense to Tech Master 117 intended).