What country / territory do you think is the best to work as an EE?

[ivan747]

What country / territory do you think is the best to work as an EE? I think is the United States: cheap equipment, good salaries and easy language for me. Specially Silicon Valley, where all the action is. Japan would be a good choice if the culture wasn't so different.

[caffeinatedbard]

I agree with US.  However for quality of life, I am not so sure.  Pitiful vacation time, and high cost of living are pretty annoying to me.

I will be curious to hear from our European friends since we have such similar cultures, but also other parts of the world where cultures might differ a little.

[ivan747]

It might be expensive, but not more than here in many aspects! Also it is close enough to my country.

[elCap]

I think the culture isn't the problem in Japan. Sure, it's different but not a problem. Language is the big problem as you need a really high level of Japanese to even be considered for a job. Then as a foreigner, it gets even harder. And English is only known by a few.

Personally I think the Japanese education system have to change to make sure the Japanese learn better English. Japan is seeing more and more competition from other Asian countries (mainly China and South Korea) and the domestic market isn't what it used to be. English is a basic need for doing business on the international market. Some Japanese companies have understood this and are using English as the official language. (One example is Rakuten which sells all kinds of things over internet).

Back to the topic: I think many countries in Europe is good. And as a Swede I have to say Scandinavia! US is good if you get a job in a good city.  Australia seems nice But it all depends very much on what kind of contract, benefits, vacation, salary, etc. you get.

By the way, the best way in to another country is by an Expat contract. Sure difficult to get but once there it's very good.

[saturation]

It depends on what you decide to do.  As a general EE, open to any work on any application, the US is great for:

Medical
Military/Aerospace
Industrial
Networking

China >> Mexico
Consumer goods
T&M, in general

[Hypernova]

Taiwan, all the benefits of China combined with the freedom of a modern democracy.

[Time]

I agree with US.  However for quality of life, I am not so sure.  Pitiful vacation time, and high cost of living are pretty annoying to me.

I will be curious to hear from our European friends since we have such similar cultures, but also other parts of the world where cultures might differ a little.

Speak for yourself.  My vacation time is amazing.

[caffeinatedbard]

Speak for yourself.  My vacation time is amazing.

I was speaking for myself.  Don't take my comment out of context and make it look like I was generalizing it for every engineer in the US...

[markus_b]

I vote for Switzerland. The living standard is high, quality of life too. There are also plenty of industries to choose from. Goes from encryption (Kudelsky/Nagra) over machine industry (plenty of small and mid-sized companies) to world class electricity (ABB) to watches to high energy physics research (CERN).

In winter it takes me 1h to go skiing, in summer 15min to go swimming in the lake. Foreugn nationals are treated well, learning the local language is good, but not required. I know some people, living here since 20 years, who barely speak a couple of words of french.

Markus