Am i on the right track careerwise???

[mikecriss]

Hello people all around the world,
This is My short introduction as well a question.
I am a 21 year young electronics enthusiast from a small town in Serbia, and i was like that from the very beginning. My father tells me that I would rather take a multimeter and play with it than eat sweets. When i grew up a bit and got into school (8-9 years old) my dad helped me build my first audio amp (basically he did it by him self and i just watched) and i never lost the feeling that you get when you produce a device by your self since. I was hooked and started messing around with electronics my self.
Since high schools here are professionally orientated i had no doubt and i was going to pick electronics when the time came. As i continued throughout high school , i started fixing stuff and learning electronics from books and internets as i go, but because money was always in the way all i had was an analog meter (old yugoslav iskra 45 ) and a crappy soldering guniron and a PSU i built myself.
And than my birthday came and i collected all the money i had and made a list of all the things i would need to by my self a decent lab , but i only had about 500 bucks. I bought myself a temp controlled iron , a couple of digital multimeters (not very crappy ones), a 10 MHz dual trace phillips CRO and a bunch o other small items.
When i finished high school had a job offer to fix and maintain knitting machines in a small confection factory near me. I took the job since i had no money and since i worked in shifts i had no time for faculty so i dropped out very quickly. I stayed on the job for a year and a half and than i quit the job since i found a better one.Also i should say that i never stopped learning myself but i also never got back to faculty.
OK time passes by and i am now working as rework and service guy at an EMS company, so basically i chose to build my name and reputation on a biography instead of school.
So my question is , as the title says, am i on the right track or not , and should i go back to faculty and get a degree since i don't work shifts anymore.

Thanks in advance.
Mike

[nctnico]

Get the degree! You'll learn a lot of usefull things like math, electrical theory and how to break down problems into manageble pieces.

[stmdude]

It's kind of hard to give advice, since you don't really tell us what you aspire to do.

You should always have a "dream job" in mind, and be prepared to change it if you decide you don't like where it's taking you.

So, what do you want to do?   Design?  PCB Layout?  RF Design?  Sourcing? (yea, no, no engineer wants to do that) etc.

Do you want to lead a team in the future?  Go into management?

[grouchobyte]

Your story is remakably typical. Most sucessful engineers I know have a carrer path much like yours.
Being driven by loving what you do is the best motivator.

You are on the right path. Just look at Dave Jones's bio. Now there is nothing typical about Dave.....well maybe just a little

[IconicPCB]

Crni Miko,

Da ti ne citiram chika Jovu Zmaja...

znanje je snaga
znanje je moc...

Ako imash prilike da se nadjesh na faksu.. samo napred.

Nemoj da se osvrcesh na sadashnju ekonomsko politichku situaciju..stvari se menjaju.

[tggzzz]

If you get a good formal qualification with a good amount of theory then you will be much more powerful and useful employee. You can, of course, have a successful career without it - but you may have more choices with it.

Theory, particularly maths, will open up the kinds of things I mention near the bottom of https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-percentage-of-electrical-engineers-physically-handle-electronics/msg920904/#msg920904

[dino]

Zdravo Miko,

Considering the fact that you are on this forum, you are on the right track

Like IconicPCB said, if you have a choice - go for it.
Scholarship is free if you are eligible for the state budget (or ~1kEUR per year if not).

Not sure where you are from, but here in Novi Sad there are multiple electronics related companies which scout for employees at the university, via student internships. These companies generally tend to prefer people with degrees.
So, if nothing else, university is an entry ticket to get the internship, and prove yourself.

Of course, there is the other way, you can learn hands-on, by taking up freelancing projects, and avoiding the university altogether, but then you will be missing out all the cool stuff not directly related to knowledge (friends, booze and stuff)

[DimitriP]

At 21, I'd go for the degree.
Along with your practical experience you'll end up ahead.
Worse feeling ever is not getting a job because you don't have a piece of paper.
The other worse feeling is getting the job because you have a piece of paper and not being able to do it.

There are other "worse feelings ever" but that's a subject for another thread

At 21, I'd go for the degree.

[ez24]

At 68, I'd go for the degree.

If all things equal, it will open more doors for you.

[IconicPCB]

At age 21 I had my first degree
At age 45 I went for a second degree

Make the most of Your life... get a degree .. get a family...  get happy...  make Your mark

[CatalinaWOW]

We can't answer for you.  Only you know what you want.  If you are happy doing what you are doing, and your financial needs are met you are basically done.  If you want to do more or earn more something will have to change.  A degree is a good way to change things as it will teach you a broad range of things you might not realize you want to know, and because it is a signal to hiring companies that you might be someone they are interested in.  In some places and markets it is also a mandatory requirement for most engineering jobs.

Going without a degree can work, but it is generally harder.  You either have to be very entrepreneurial, or carefully select a company that is large enough to let you grow and that will recognise your learning and contributions without a degree.

[vzoole]

I'm 34 and actually I applied for EE-MSc.
So do it! It will definitely open opportunities.

[ez24]

At age 21 I had my first degree
At age 45 I went for a second degree

Make the most of Your life... get a degree .. get a family...  get happy...  make Your mark

At age 48 I had my first degree - it opened a lot of doors and now at 69 I am not homeless 

edit 1st and only ha ha ha

[IconicPCB]

Good on ya Ez!

[Scrts]

Degree is the way to go - I agree on that too. On top of that, you will have student parties, new friends, maybe new future business employees, will have your mind twisted in terms of math, etc. I remember my university times being really interesting in terms of having fun. What a great period of life it was. You won't be late to get a job, however degree opens a lot of doors.

[mikecriss]

Thank you for your answers.
Sorry for late reply , but the more people answer this question the better.
I made up my mind, and i will go for the degree.
There are , as some o you say , a lot of people in similar situation as i am so since i am convinced, maybe these answers will come in handy.
Thank you again for encouraging words of wisdom.

[uncle_bob]

Thank you for your answers.
Sorry for late reply , but the more people answer this question the better.
I made up my mind, and i will go for the degree.
There are , as some o you say , a lot of people in similar situation as i am so since i am convinced, maybe these answers will come in handy.
Thank you again for encouraging words of wisdom.

Hi

Ok, so now the *much* harder question:

What degree and from where?

There are a *lot* of places that will take your money / use up your time
and put you in a classroom. If you work at it, most of them will teach
you useful stuff in the process.

There are a smaller number of places that consistently do a good job of
teaching people. There are an even smaller group that have all of the
"certifications" from various organizations. This is *not* to say that a
dedicated student will only do well at one of these places.

The key issue is that the places with the certifications, give you a degree
that employers (and other institutions) will put more value on. This may
or may not matter, depending on what your goals are. I'd love to tell you
that companies all pay people simply based on merit.... that has not
been my observation over the years...

Another layer to this:

Where do you want to work?

There are a number of schools within 300 km of here that turn out good
graduates. If I travel to another part of the country, nobody has heard of
most of them. If I want to go to school here *and* work in another region,
I would do better going to a well known school. If I want to work in this
geographic region, that's not as big an issue.

Lots of decisions !!

Bob

[IconicPCB]

Uncle Bob,

There are a number of universities and campuses he can attend.

I would think once he is accepted based on passing entrance exam he will get a free ... NO COST  education.

Arguably world class Elektro Tehnicki Fakultet is the place to aim for.

It probably has a campus in Novi  Sad as well.

Certainly Nis has a reputable university which was probably established to support andprovide engineers for what used to be a huge employer way back in its hayday; Elektronska Industrija Nis. They manufactured mainframes in early sixties rivaling Honeywell technology of the day.

The city of Nis is the birth place of Byzantine Emperor Constantine ( think Constantinople)

[uncle_bob]

Hi

He will get an education that does not require him to pay tuition fees. That is indeed a big deal. While he is going to class, he is not going to be working and earning money. That's a very real cost. He still needs someplace to live and food to eat. That may or may not (mostly not) be subsidized. That also is a cost. Finally there is the basic fact that staying on a job likely gets you pay raises and promotions. All of that needs to be balanced against the (very likely) long term benefits of a degree. It's a cost now for a benefit later.

Now, before you go a bit crazy about "but he'll get so much more money with the degree". I beg to differ. Including a sizable amount of overtime, I made more money immediately *before* I got my degree than I did after. As soon as you get the degree, the overtime is still worked, but not paid. I have also seen a *lot* of people get "the wrong degree" and not make as much money as they might otherwise.

I also beg to differ on the "wide acceptance" of degrees worldwide. If the ultimate plan is to come to the US and work there .. not so much. I have seen a lot of people do that and talked at length with at least a few hundred of them. In > 80% of the cases, they get very little to no credit for their degree. Is that in any way fair or rational? Of course not. It's just the way the market (or the licensing laws in some professions) works. Does it only apply to places far away? Surprise!!! No it does not. It also applies to my wife's teaching license each time we move from state to state (Yes, that's very US specific). Each time it's back to school for her ....

It's an investment with a cost. Do it wisely.

Bob