EEVblog #138 – Top 5 Tips for Graduate Engineers

[David]

First off, a big thank you to Dave for addressing the concerns I had. You've definitely given me some brilliant advice and confirmed some of my own thoughts.

Thankfully my personal projects do still keep my enthusiasm in electronics, even when I try hard to escape them there's something about electronics that keeps bringing me back!

P.S. I was already one step ahead of you with the "Screw you" money! 

Dave

[mitpatterson]

First off, a big thank you to Dave for addressing the concerns I had. You've definitely given me some brilliant advice and confirmed some of my own thoughts.

Thankfully my personal projects do still keep my enthusiasm in electronics, even when I try hard to escape them there's something about electronics that keeps bringing me back!

P.S. I was already one step ahead of you with the "Screw you" money! 

Dave

I agree, thanks Dave, i'm not a "Proffesional in the industy" or anything, but still alot of it applies to any field, i loved the one where he compared the people in the department to "seagulls" saying "mine," "mine," loved that and the "screw you money." a Big THUMBS up to Dave(Jones) and to David for prompting the blog

[JohnS_AZ]

Dave, great blog. My 35 years backs up everything you've said.

I would only add that screw-you money is also "you can't screw me" money. Some of the most miserable times in my career were when I was in a large company when everyone knew that layoffs or down-sizing was coming. Luckily I dodged the bullet each time, but having a bigger nest egg would have saved me more than a few sleepless nights and a hell of a lot of stress.

The MINIMUM goal is that you should have enough set aside so that you can cover all of your living expenses for 6 months without employment.
The trick, of course, is keeping that savings intact after you get married and have a kid or two. 

The biggest mistake I've made through my career? Not contributing the maximum allowed to my retirement plans.
The smartest thing? Paying off my house.

[Boloop]

Thanks for the tips, I myself will be graduating soon and will keep these points in mind. I have worked at another place before and it did seemed exciting as I was working on my own little project at the time I was there. And my superior was pretty happy to say that this was my own project. It was a piece of equipment to be used in house. So it wouldn't be too much of a failure if it fell through. It was mostly testing the waters, an ideal job for a student I guess.

Also,  will take the "screw you" money into account. I have been thinking of general strategies of what to do with my money when I start earning. Mostly I want to get rid of all my student loans as soon as. But I think debt will just be the way of life. And I guess if the heavies aren't knocking at my door, I shouldn't have to worry too much about it.

[Alex]

Great blog Dave, would definitely like more of this type. These are the sort of things textbooks, university or google cannot tell you, yet they are so important!

[David]

Mostly I want to get rid of all my student loans as soon as. But I think debt will just be the way of life. And I guess if the heavies aren't knocking at my door, I shouldn't have to worry too much about it.

That is one thing I really wouldn't do. Read what Martin Lewis has to say about it here (Very good advice): http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/student-loans-repay#should

[off-by-one]

Great tips Dave.

I'm in the process of looking for a new job and also figuring out what is it exactly that I want to do. I kind of would like to do the whole process myself, but I know how frustrating it can be at times if there's no help available. I'm afraid of getting a "one man band" job because I'm not that experienced. I'm bad at risk taking and I guess that's somewhat holding me back.
 
As a part of a team, it would be less stressful and also a team can accomplish greater things than just a single person. Still I don't want to be a part of a huge corporation because of the bureaucracy. I've been looking for smallish companies with tens or hundreds of employees.

Problem is that I don't know what these engineering positions usually are like. So I don't know what to expect and what is realistic to want. I Recently stumbled on a interesting thing called informational interview which seems like a good idea to get information about real life jobs, but I don't know if these are that common in our field and how would one arrange something like this. I also like the Describe your engineering job thread here. I wish there was more detailed information like this available. Someone should start interviewing professionals about their work. Hint

I've saved some "screw you money" and I'm really tempted to just quit and take some time off. But I should first plan how to make good use of that time.

[tinsmith]

Good video. I was sadly under the impression that it was targeted at graduate students in EE rather than graduates of EE. But even so, a lot of it translates if you substitute PHDComics for Dilbert.