has anyone here made a career of electronics without a recognized qualification?

[apbosh1]

If so what do you do? has anyone really done well for themselves (job role) just from there own learning?
There must be some glory cases out there. 
Whats your job?
Thanks

[dr.diesel]

Not again,   

This has been discussed many times already.

[Mechatrommer]

and then what? you'll tell your father that you dont have to study in school? that you are so deeply in love with "practical skill" that you can learn at home as a "hobbiest" and then be succesfull? yeah right! you dont have to go to school, save one vacancy for engineer post, thank you!

[c4757p]

...or he's just curious. I know I can be a bit bitchy sometimes too... but damn, be nice!

If so what do you do? has anyone really done well for themselves (job role) just from there own learning?

Not many, kid. More of them in fields like computer programming than engineering.

[free_electron]

-cough-

[tszaboo]

My boss, some 3 companies back had a 5 year old 15 person "startup" company. He did not finish university. It was working more-less all right. Made some government business also. Almost went bankrupted sometimes, and it is not a William H. Gates story. But if you self employ yourself, than you don't need to finish higher education. But I suggest to start it, because it is fun anyway.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Yes thanks.

[grumpydoc]

has anyone here made a career of electronics without a recognized qualification?

Lots of people, I imagine.

[Bored@Work]

To get a more balanced view, drive to the nearest larger city. Locate the dubious area of the city where the bums tend to hang around. Ask them if anyone there made a career in electronics without a recognized qualification.

[apbosh1]

Nice! i'll try and remove this post is this what the electronics community is like? i dont like it i'm off.

[c4757p]

Nice! i'll try and remove this post is this what the electronics community is like?

Opinionated? That's people, not "the electronics community".

[ovnr]

is this what the electronics community is like? i dont like it i'm off.

You expect to be able to accomplish things without even bothering with a proper education, and yet you get turned off and leave just by us being somewhat less than nice? Really? *smirk*

[Bored@Work]

Nice! i'll try and remove this post is this what the electronics community is like? i dont like it i'm off.

Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

[Fsck]

Nice! i'll try and remove this post is this what the electronics community is like?

Opinionated? That's people, not "the electronics community".

It's also the internet.

[bookaboo]

I've done it, maybe not set the world on fire but I make a decent living and I've only ever done a HNC (which Unfortunately due the modules chosen by uni was worse than useless)

Now, that said do I regret skipping uni?
Yes. Even though I think a hell of a lot of certain course material is useless and the university system is hopelessly inefficient. The fact is you get into a certain circle of firms straight away and thats where the learning is.
Sure by skipping over 5 years of theory you get to grind it out having fun doing all the practical under the sun..... but you probably do it for some mickey mouse firm and learn their bad habits. After the 5 years is up your alternate self has his degree and lands himself in a bluechip firm fast track learning from experienced engineers.

Just my opinion, flame away.

[G7PSK]

I had a friend go straight from school to work as a tech for Pye/Phillips in Cambridge he was taken on just because he had an amateurs licence, but that was back in 1968 so things were a lot different then now you need a PHD to flip fries for McD's.

[george graves]

Pay no attention to these bitter engineers that are stuck in a cubical, in a job they hate.     There's plenty of people that make money in EE without a degree.  But they don't work at a big company.

With that said, stay in school.

[Fsck]

You also (typically) get paid (or are able to charge) more for those pieces of paper.
Consultants with PhDs and many years of industry experience can really milk it.

[Mechatrommer]

...or he's just curious. I know I can be a bit bitchy sometimes too... but damn, be nice!

you cant imagine if the OP is your little brother. i have exactly one keep arguing like this, there will be always one "black sheep" in a family. i agree, if you want to be self employed, contract job or the like, you dont need shit except passion. but if you talking about job position? hehhhh.

[johansen]

I might be starting out down this road right now.

However, I wasted 5 years of my life in the military. very long, a most unique story. i am probably the only marine in US history that was building induction heaters in my barracks room, and got away with it. however, it was a waste of time because that experience is only valid within the companies that employ ex military technicians, and why i did it, i'm not quite sure. certainly got lucky that i stayed in a technical field.

But....the only reason military electronic technicians might be worth anything in the civilian world is due to artificial restrictions that exist down those deep rabbit holes most people stay far away from. (yes, i know what i'm talking about, i was running circles around the civilian technicians who worked for Boeing, xxx, xxx, and looking deep into the rabbit holes.. i suggested frequently that entire projects be scrapped, but that's not how the game is played moron!) having delved into classified shit from 40 years ago, learning Two's compliment from an ex cold war wire tapper in highschool.. 10 years ago, i was exposed to what makes the world go round.. and i'm disgusted.

That said, i'm working for someone part time who's been in the electronics business for 30 years.
There are "industry approved" ways of doing things that make absolutely no sense to me.
and a clear head who can think out of the box is all that is required to play this game.

that said, if you can afford the insurance, if you can incorporate, and sell your idea.
no one knows who you are!
Nations are merely corporations at this game!

ever wonder why we went to war with Iraq?
they went bankrupt, and we collected on the debt. but they protested....

[BulletMagnet83]

I managed to get a foot in the door with no qualifications to my name... which is more down to "right place right time" than whatever skills I did or didn't have! Being able to use scopes, PSUs and DMMs, and knowing my arse from my anode certainly helped It was enough to demonstrate potential, and as of yesterday I've officially enrolled on a foundation electronic engineering course, with a hope to progress to an HND... all the while gaining industry experience.

Not a bad way of doing things, but it was a pain in the arse and took a LONG time to get to the point where I thought I might have some sort of solid career path.

[woodchips]

No.

I went to uni as a mature student, and struggled. But it amazes me just how much of the degree course I have remembered, and used, decades later. And this isn't just the obvious, it is strength of materials, mechanics, electromagnetism and I was doing an electronics course. On the other hand I learnt nothing about digital design there.

I think that uni introduces you to books, lots of them, and you find that some are rather better than others. On line searches and ebooks may be the in thing, but sitting in a comfy chair with a dead tree is so much more concentrated.

University is so much more than lectures, it is being immersed in a learning culture that simply isn't available anywhere else. If you want to do something on your own, you can, there is the equipment and people to help.

[Rigby]

The late, great Jim Williams (certainly a person of note on these forums) was entirely self taught.

It can be done, but you will find great difficulty if you rely on self-taught qualifications, alone.  Jim Williams was a rare case, a true genius.

[M0BSW]

I had a friend go straight from school to work as a tech for Pye/Phillips in Cambridge he was taken on just because he had an amateurs licence, but that was back in 1968 so things were a lot different then now you need a PHD to flip fries for McD's.

I've also seen in Radcom the very occasional job in their that reads, Radio amateurs with experience in Microwave technology applications considered, so it must still happen. I also know another amateur that passed the exams the same time as I did, except about 30 years younger getting a position with a local TV repair company, I found that heart warming .

[free_electron]

A collegue of mine that retired just wrote her autobiography (she's 75...). You have to read that one (it's 33 pages long....) i will ask her if i can post it here.
A real eye opener on what is possible..

She has a degree ...in french ! ....

At the end of her career she designed multimillion gate asics and wrote the embedded firmware in a self designed language on a custom processor that does the predicitve error correction in harddisks. Only a few people in the world know how that works.... And this engine sits in about 50% of the worlds drives, quietly doing it's work retrieving bits from the noise...

She worked a while  for adaptec where she made the first SCSI controllers for PC and wrote the first drivers for DOS and Windows. she also worked for Maxtor and Kalok...

She started learning electronics by watching her boyfriend repair radios and tv with tubes in the 60's.... When he left she was pennyless and figured 'how hard could it be' so she bought a soldering iron and some early radio manuals and set off.
She writes code in fortran, pl1 , c , specman, verilog and systemverilog. She does timing closure, validation . The whole shebang.

You can pit her against any 'gold-plated magna cum laude msee' she'll run circles around him and kick his ass, all over the place.

Learning by doing....