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Education level required for employment as EE
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rstofer:
I don't think much of the electronics business.  I read the other day that Cisco was laying off thousands of electronic engineers and hiring as many code wienies.  It seems there is more profit in selling code than in selling hardware.  I have no idea where the industry is headed but I guess I would try to work with FPGAs if I could or almost anything having to do with embedded processors.  Both are actually code wienie work.  If you want to do electronics, try to design motherboards or graphics cards.

OR...

Get your BSEE and sign up for a hitch in the Air Force (Navy and Army also).  They have serious electronics needs and their systems span decades.  You will get a heck of a lot of experience in a short period of time.  Then go to work for a defense contractor.  Hire back as an overpaid consultant!

With all of the fabrication and most of the board design being done off-shore, I'm not sure what to think of the future of electronics in this country.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure it requires that YOU lay your hands on it.  If it can be outsourced, it will be!

This is a serious issue for me.  My grandson is starting college and talking about becoming an EE.  I'll help where I can but I'm not too certain of the future.  I want to make sure he also takes classes in programming.  Lots of classes - even an extra year or two.
rstofer:
As an electronics engineer, you will probably spend your entire career sitting behind a desk designing stuff.  Never a breath of fresh air!  And the stuff you design won't even be interesting.  It will be just day after day of total monotony.  I hated desk work and my mechanical drafting sucked.  The instructor said my arrow heads looked like squashed butterflies!  Well, he was a great draftsman, no doubt.  But I traveled the world building stuff.  I never spent a day using my BS or MS in electronics.  They were just the price of admission.

Get interested in electrical.  You can design buildings, factories, automation!  You will soon get out of engineering and into project management where you will have to get away from your desk and supervise projects and people.  You will be more self-directed and, actually, the work will be more interesting.

Think about automation.  Some factory is going to build the robot and it won't be a factory in the US.  But some factory in the US will need to install and maintain the robot and that's where you can come in.  Some electrical, some electronics.  But at least it's not sitting behind a desk.  Hook up with the manufacturer and try to get a service business going.  They are often quite open to having someone local to handle repairs.  Start your own company!

IanB:

--- Quote from: Omega Glory on August 27, 2016, 01:07:50 am ---I will be applying to colleges this year, and I am interested in pursuing a career in electrical engineering. From what I have gathered from this forum and other sources, most EE programs at colleges will not prepare you well for a career in electrical engineering, but rather, most of your knowledge and skill will come from work experience.
--- End quote ---

On the contrary, a good engineering program will prepare you very well for a career in engineering, no matter what you may have heard from some people. It prepares you by teaching you a lot of the important fundamentals, the foundation of knowledge that you will build on later in the workplace. If you have no foundation, you cannot build.


--- Quote ---I have, however, read that in order to secure an EE job at many companies, you must possess a EE degree.
--- End quote ---

And this is the reason. Companies want to be sure you have the required foundation, and a degree from an accredited institution should give you that.

Do also note the comments from others above about electrical engineering vs electronics. Professional engineering can be a career with enormous breadth, challenges and responsibilities, but these things are associated with large, high value projects. So for a rewarding career, consider going where the money is, which is where the big, expensive projects are (hint: it is not consumer goods). An engineering degree can get you there. You aren't going to walk in off the street and be responsible for high value infrastructure where design codes have to be satisfied, the cost of failure is large, and life and safety may be at risk without having formal training.

(I am not myself an EE, I am a chemical engineer, but all the same considerations have applied in my career.)
tggzzz:

--- Quote from: Omega Glory on August 27, 2016, 01:07:50 am ---From what I have gathered from this forum and other sources, most EE programs at colleges will not prepare you well for a career in electrical engineering, but rather, most of your knowledge and skill will come from work experience. I have, however, read that in order to secure an EE job at many companies, you must possess a EE degree. I was wondering if any of you would tell me if a bachelors degree is adequate, or if a masters degree is required for most job applications. Also, if I have misunderstood how a college education and degree in EE benefits students, I would be grateful if you corrected me.

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You will find some people that say a degree is a waste of time. You must assess that person and why they have that opinion. Usually they don't have a degree, and often they have been unable to get a degree. If that's the case, how can they possibly know the value of a degree?

An engineering degree should teach you how to think, how to understand and apply fundamental theory that will last your lifetime, give you an overview of the many sub-disciplines in your chosen field (e.g. for an EE, analogue, RF, digital, high current), how to determine which are the key engineering/technical questions that should be asked and answered.

An engineering degree is the easiest, fastest and surest way of mastering those topics. But while those topics are necessary for being a good engineer, but they are not sufficient for being a good engineer.

Product technology knowledge has a half-life of maybe 5 years. Therefore while project work in an engineering degree will probably use todays products, it should not concentrate on todays hardware/software.

Practical experience is also necessary, and the best way for you to gain that is to do your own personal projects outside the course. Employers will love that, since it shows you have drive and initiative; don't hide your mistakes from them, since that shows you know how to improve.

Higher degrees are only useful if they are directly relevant to your first job.

An engineering degree isn't necessary if you want to become a technician. Consider that engineer:technician = doctor:nurse. Both doctors and nurses support each othe and both are vital; vive la difference.

As an example of how what you learn in a degree course should last a lifetime, consider that even last week I referred to a textbooks I used 40 years ago! The information is still just as accurate, pertinent and useful! (Of course, I also use newer textbooks where appropriate!)

Zero999:

--- Quote from: tggzzz on September 01, 2016, 08:46:33 am ---You will find some people that say a degree is a waste of time. You must assess that person and why they have that opinion. Usually they don't have a degree, and often they have been unable to get a degree. If that's the case, how can they possibly know the value of a degree?
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I think the reason why some people will say that a degree is a waste of time is because they've worked with people who are very well qualified but are totally useless at their job. Of course I wouldn't say a degree is a waste of time. It just won't make anyone a good engineer.


--- Quote ---An engineering degree isn't necessary if you want to become a technician. Consider that engineer:technician = doctor:nurse. Both doctors and nurses support each othe and both are vital; vive la difference.
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't agree with that. There are plenty of people without engineering degrees who are doing exactly the same jobs as engineers who have degrees but are paid less.
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