Author Topic: Education level required for employment as EE  (Read 26523 times)

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Offline CM800

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #25 on: September 09, 2016, 08:32:43 am »
Does anyone know the general consensis on an HNC in Electronic Engineering? It's considered an equivilent stand alone (usually work based) qualification to a first year of a degree.

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Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas (HNCs/HNDs) are work-related qualifications.
Study is usually full or part-time over one or two years. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree, an HND to the second year of a degree.
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #26 on: September 09, 2016, 08:36:33 am »
Does anyone know the general consensis on an HNC in Electronic Engineering? It's considered an equivilent stand alone (usually work based) qualification to a first year of a degree.

Quote
Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas (HNCs/HNDs) are work-related qualifications.
Study is usually full or part-time over one or two years. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree, an HND to the second year of a degree.

My opinion is that HNC/HND don't have anywhere near as much theory as a good degree course; they are more practically-focussed. That's fine, but be aware of every alternative's limitations.

However, there are a lot of poor degree courses around. Caveat emptor.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
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Offline LabSpokane

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #27 on: September 09, 2016, 08:42:33 am »
Just plan on getting a MS or PE depending on your field: electronics, power, etc.
 

Offline CM800

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #28 on: September 09, 2016, 09:47:34 am »
Does anyone know the general consensis on an HNC in Electronic Engineering? It's considered an equivilent stand alone (usually work based) qualification to a first year of a degree.

Quote
Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas (HNCs/HNDs) are work-related qualifications.
Study is usually full or part-time over one or two years. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree, an HND to the second year of a degree.

My opinion is that HNC/HND don't have anywhere near as much theory as a good degree course; they are more practically-focussed. That's fine, but be aware of every alternative's limitations.

However, there are a lot of poor degree courses around. Caveat emptor.

I'm on the course, I'd have to agree with that view... But that doesn't mean I don't need to come out of it on top! :X
I guessi if I continue it on to Bsc I'll be good.
 

Offline SteveyG

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #29 on: September 09, 2016, 10:26:30 am »
I wish electronic engineering had a different designator than electrical engineering.

It does in every other country as far as I know. Just you crazy Americans call it Electrical Engineering for designing Electronics  :palm:

The BS will get your foot into the door on most engineering jobs.
The MS degree may actually be of no benefit if the job you are going for is outside the scope of your MS thesis. But then again there are lots of higher end jobs that simply ask for an MS or higher, just because.

Interesting - if you apply for a MEng in the UK, you generally do 4 years of lectures rather than 3 - i.e. you just learn more rather than doing a thesis. The final year project that you would have done in the 3rd year is done in the 4th year instead. If you took a BEng, there's not usually a simple route to getting an MEng - probably doing a new degree.
« Last Edit: September 09, 2016, 10:30:24 am by SteveyG »
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Online IanB

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #30 on: September 09, 2016, 03:36:05 pm »
Interesting - if you apply for a MEng in the UK, you generally do 4 years of lectures rather than 3 - i.e. you just learn more rather than doing a thesis. The final year project that you would have done in the 3rd year is done in the 4th year instead. If you took a BEng, there's not usually a simple route to getting an MEng - probably doing a new degree.

But an MEng first degree is not equivalent to a MSc postgraduate degree.
 

Online Zero999

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #31 on: September 09, 2016, 05:21:57 pm »
Does anyone know the general consensis on an HNC in Electronic Engineering? It's considered an equivilent stand alone (usually work based) qualification to a first year of a degree.

Quote
Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas (HNCs/HNDs) are work-related qualifications.
Study is usually full or part-time over one or two years. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree, an HND to the second year of a degree.

My opinion is that HNC/HND don't have anywhere near as much theory as a good degree course; they are more practically-focussed. That's fine, but be aware of every alternative's limitations.

However, there are a lot of poor degree courses around. Caveat emptor.
Well I don't have a degree so don't know for sure about the theory but the HND course I studied contained very little practical work. Most of the practical work I did was on the job training and didn't have anything to do with the HND but it counter towards city and guilds, a different qualification. I was told by my lecturer that if I wanted to do a degree, the theory wouldn't necessarily be more complicated, just more in-depth and more specialised, depending on the course. After completing my HND I felt burned out, as far as study is concerned and decided to take a gap before going back to do a degree but I never did.
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #32 on: September 09, 2016, 08:20:18 pm »
Does anyone know the general consensis on an HNC in Electronic Engineering? It's considered an equivilent stand alone (usually work based) qualification to a first year of a degree.

Quote
Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas (HNCs/HNDs) are work-related qualifications.
Study is usually full or part-time over one or two years. An HNC is equivalent to the first year of a degree, an HND to the second year of a degree.

My opinion is that HNC/HND don't have anywhere near as much theory as a good degree course; they are more practically-focussed. That's fine, but be aware of every alternative's limitations.

However, there are a lot of poor degree courses around. Caveat emptor.
Well I don't have a degree so don't know for sure about the theory but the HND course I studied contained very little practical work. Most of the practical work I did was on the job training and didn't have anything to do with the HND but it counter towards city and guilds, a different qualification. I was told by my lecturer that if I wanted to do a degree, the theory wouldn't necessarily be more complicated, just more in-depth and more specialised, depending on the course.

It seems not much has changed in 30 years, and that there is broad agreement about a degree vs an HND.

One anecdote is that I remember a 2nd year maths student seeing our maths lectures, and being flabbergasted that we were covering much the same topics as he was! The end-of-year exams started "full marks will be obtained for answers to about six questions"; the lecturer wasn't too certain how much we could have assimilated! Bloody hard work :)

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After completing my HND I felt burned out, as far as study is concerned and decided to take a gap before going back to do a degree but I never did.

That's fair enough, and no doubt that was the best decision for you.

As to a lot of theory in a good electronic engineering course: yes, and that's just what I wanted and needed before starting the course. I was knackered at the end, but raring to get out and put it into practice in industry - which I promptly did :)

The main thing which annoys me (and I'm not implying you have this view) is statements to the effect that "nurses claiming there's no benefit to being a doctor, and that doctors are impractical and useless". Both doctors and nurses are necessary; neither is sufficient.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Offline Tabs

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #33 on: September 09, 2016, 11:09:39 pm »
I'm the hardware lead for my company and I'm also responsible for selecting new hw hires. I thought I'd give you my POV regarding what I look for in a candidate and why.

I prefer a generalist over a specialist. 90% of the work needs people with a broad skill set. When we get stuck in a niche area on 10% of time, we usually hire a contractor with specialist knowledge/expertise in that area. These people never have a MEng/Msc or PhD , just a lot of experience gained over time. The above is probably true for the vast majority of employers since only a few companies do high end new research.

This makes me consider BEng/MEng over Msc/PhD. This is backed up by experience when conducting interviews. The amount of times I see a BEng beat Msc makes me think it's a waste of time going any further than a BEng. That being said, the standard of BEng/MEng/Msc seem to be dropping every year. The MEng candidates are pot luck. Some are very good, others are worse than BEng. The ones that are good, are better than Msc.

The qualification is there just to get you past the hr department. Once you get to me, I can quickly tell if your're any good with a skim of your CV and phone call. That's when I decide to give you a face to face interview.

I would recommend analogue, digital, control, communication as core electives. Followed up by digital, especially if your university offers anything around FPGAs (verilog/vhdl) or embedded. In the UK we have a mechatronics degree which is a specialised eee degree concentrating on robotics and mechanical electronics.
Then there is ise which information systems engineering. This is a mixture of ee and computer science and it's primarily intended for software/hardware embedded people.
This will give you the kind of skills for any electronics job except rf/microwave (for which you will need electromagnetism and up to MEng), or microelectronics (for which you will need work experience).
The above field are niche(er) and you have less competition but fewer opportunity for employment. The general skills give you more competition but more opportunity for employment.

Specific things to learn: FPGAs, ARM, circuit analysis, feedback, PSU design.

Easiest places for jobs for new grad ee are in defence. The projects are not normally high end (mostly supporting legacy designs) unless you have an UOR. the time lines and money are not usually as critical in commercial sector.
These companies are usually filled with old grey beards that you can learn a lot from. It's generally a good place to incubate your skills. Stay about 4 years and move to commercial side where salary is a little higher (so is commercial pressure).

Also, have a realistic expectation of salary. I offer places to UK students only for them to ask for way over the top. Negotiation is OK, but be realistic. The last two positions went to two Spaniards. One left after a year because she learnt enough to get a better paid job just down the road. The other is still with us and he's doing great work. After 1.5 years he's on the salary the UK applicants we asking for. The UK applicants came back after a week to ask for the job but it had already gone.
 
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #34 on: September 09, 2016, 11:43:06 pm »
I agree with your view; it matches my experience.

I prefer a generalist over a specialist. 90% of the work needs people with a broad skill set. When we get stuck in a niche area on 10% of time, we usually hire a contractor with specialist knowledge/expertise in that area.

Yes indeed, but I'll add that I look for a generalist that has succeeded in depth in some topic, since that tends to indicates they can learn whatever we need next and apply it. To be checked during the interview, of course.

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This makes me consider BEng/MEng over Msc/PhD.

Our experience was that there was only one valid reason for doing a PhD, and many spurious ones. The latter included better job prospects/money; the former was "because I wanted to".

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The qualification is there just to get you past the hr department. Once you get to me, I can quickly tell if your're any good with a skim of your CV and phone call. That's when I decide to give you a face to face interview.

Yes, in spades. I'd add recruitment agencies to HR-droids.

A major problem is that PHBs and HR-droids don't know enough to assess technical competence, and can be so clueless they don't even realise it. While everybody has a tendency to "recruit in their own image", that's all PHBs and HR-droids can do. Hence the concept of "the old school tie".

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I would recommend ...

Look for a curriculum that preserves your ability to make late choices, and avoid those that mention very specific technologies. Hence "real time software" and "digital design" are OK, but "Xilinx Artix" or "WinRT" are not. The former will be useful in 30 years. The latter will be irrelevant in 5 years.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 
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Offline VK3DRB

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #35 on: September 10, 2016, 04:11:52 am »
An EE degree is fine for any work in electronics. What is important is the mindset of an EE and the ability to learn. You don't need a masters or PhD, unless the job is specifically related to their thesis.  One of the smartest electronics guru I ever knew was a technician who was often asked for his advice in electronics from seasoned engineers. I also know degree qualified EE's who leave PhD's for dead with skills.

Unfortunately I have come across discrimination by narrow minded people who think unless you have qualifications like them[/i], you can't join the club. One IBM manager would ignore you if you did not have an MBA like him. And there was another manager without a degree who ignored all job applications if they had a PhD. Its a bit like those ham radio operators who came up with any excuse to keep Morse Code as a requirement to work 20 metres HF. It really boiled down to the fact they had to learn Morse Code, so, so should everyone else. But the bigger problem in IBM was age discrimination. Unless you were young like them, you were going nowhere. In Australia, age discrimination is rampant and is out of control, a reflection on our culture that focuses on the young. I have heard older people become "invisible" when shopping - the shop assistants ignore them. A older colleague recently said to me, "Interviewers never ask if a young person can work with older people. Instead they ask whether the older person can work with young people."

So, you will always suffer some discrimination, irrespective of your educational level or your age.

In my own family we have a single degree EE, a PhD, a double degree EE/CS, a CS graduate, with older and younger engineers, and two ham radio operators (including the wife), so maybe I can speak from some experience.
 
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Offline Tim F

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #36 on: September 10, 2016, 05:25:04 am »
Completing a degree shows that you possess the ability to learn enough about a topic in a short time frame to complete a task satisfactorily - a laboratory exercise, an assignment, an exam paper etc. EE is such a broad field that an undergraduate degree alone cannot teach you enough to be competent in any one discipline/area such that you could become employed in that area without additional training. Anything extra you can add to your resume/CV to show that you already trained in the required areas or you are an exceptional autonomous learner will be seen favourably by most employers as this means that they will not need to invest as much $$$ into training you for the job. From this point of view a person who has extracurricular experience in the necessary discipline will be more desirable than a person who has a higher academic degree in the wrong discipline. Extracurricular experience can be anything from work experience or volunteer work, building projects at home, attending hackerspaces/competitions - whatever you're interested in doing.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2016, 05:35:06 am by Tim F »
 
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #37 on: September 10, 2016, 08:34:10 am »
Quote
This makes me consider BEng/MEng over Msc/PhD.

Our experience was that there was only one valid reason for doing a PhD, and many spurious ones. The latter included better job prospects/money; the former was "because I wanted to".

Another factor is to get deeper insight. PhD education forces one to travel through more circles and dig deeper to the paramount of his business, while MS are not required.
In the meantime, a PhD sees the trend and details in the latest technology, rather than already marketed technology. Which means, a PhD can lead a team to research future technology, not essentially pursuing immediate revenue, but rather like a technology reserve for the future of the company.

... but only in a very narrow technology. While that technology and knowledge are current and relevant, it is very valuable to a company. If not then its value is no more (and arguably less) than that which can be gained without a PhD. In many cases a company will quickly discard a world expert when they feel their expertise is no longer relevant.

IMNSHO it is possible and necessary to "get deeper insight" into whatever your employer is doing at the moment. The ability to do that can be demonstrated while still partway through a first degree course, let alone after doing a PhD. Any competent interviewer will take 5 minutes to give a yea/nay on that ability. But having the paper qualification is often a pre-requisite to meeting the competent interviewer :(

Be aware that I have worked in several R&D labs and companies for decades, and have been involved in recruiting in all of them. Without exception a PhD was only of interest if it directly matched our current needs. Even then we would reject any candidate that we felt wouldn't be useful after the current project finished. In no cases did we offer more money or a better starting position because of the PhD.

There's a career choice to be made: in melodramatic terms become "a world expert in 'Xerox Toner Mechanisms'" or become "a jack of all trades and master of none". Both are valid strategies, both have advantages and disadvantages.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2016, 08:41:33 am by tggzzz »
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 
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Offline SteveyG

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #38 on: September 10, 2016, 09:19:12 am »
But an MEng first degree is not equivalent to a MSc postgraduate degree.

In what way?
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #39 on: September 10, 2016, 09:44:45 am »
Completing a degree shows that you possess the ability to learn enough about a topic in a short time frame to complete a task satisfactorily - a laboratory exercise, an assignment, an exam paper etc. EE is such a broad field that an undergraduate degree alone cannot teach you enough to be competent in any one discipline/area such that you could become employed in that area without additional training.

In a decent degree course you should learn enough to know what is fundamentally possible/impossible.

Eric Laithwaite at Imperial College used to set exams where one question was easy and sufficient get you a pass mark, one was more challenging and couuld get you a good degree, and one could not be answered adequately in the time available. He expected his undergraduate engineers to be able to determine which questions to avoid. If they couldn't, they wouldn't make good engineers anyway.


Quote
Anything extra you can add to your resume/CV to show that you already trained in the required areas or you are an exceptional autonomous learner will be seen favourably by most employers as this means that they will not need to invest as much $$$ into training you for the job. From this point of view a person who has extracurricular experience in the necessary discipline will be more desirable than a person who has a higher academic degree in the wrong discipline. Extracurricular experience can be anything from work experience or volunteer work, building projects at home, attending hackerspaces/competitions - whatever you're interested in doing.

Yes, except for the cost of training. The real benefit to an employer is that extracurricular experience shows the candidate is motivated, can set objectives and learn - actually enjoys the subject. A PhD can achieve the same, of course.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
Having fun doing more, with less
 
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Offline Tabs

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #40 on: September 10, 2016, 09:45:16 am »
But an MEng first degree is not equivalent to a MSc postgraduate degree.

In what way?
An MEng still allows you to stay generic because the modules are electives and can be unrelated to each other or part of different disciplines. Examples are control theory and microwave communication.
An Msc restricts your electives to modules that are related to the discipline. It's targeted more towards a specific area but doesn't ask you to research new areas to advance the field like a PhD.
 

Offline VK3DRB

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #41 on: September 10, 2016, 11:52:56 am »
The danger with too much specialisation is you learn more and more about less and less, until eventually you will know everything about nothing.  :-DD
 

Online Zero999

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #42 on: September 10, 2016, 08:02:32 pm »
The main thing which annoys me (and I'm not implying you have this view) is statements to the effect that "nurses claiming there's no benefit to being a doctor, and that doctors are impractical and useless". Both doctors and nurses are necessary; neither is sufficient.
Well I agree with you about doctors and nurses but think the analogy is totally invalid as far as engineering is concerned. Perhaps it was true 30 years ago or is still the case in very large organisations and factories but not in the places I've worked.

In a relatively small organisation, it makes no sense to employ a technician and an engineer. It makes far more sense to find someone who's highly skilled both in theory and practically and can do both.
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #43 on: September 10, 2016, 08:55:54 pm »
The main thing which annoys me (and I'm not implying you have this view) is statements to the effect that "nurses claiming there's no benefit to being a doctor, and that doctors are impractical and useless". Both doctors and nurses are necessary; neither is sufficient.
Well I agree with you about doctors and nurses but think the analogy is totally invalid as far as engineering is concerned. Perhaps it was true 30 years ago or is still the case in very large organisations and factories but not in the places I've worked.

In a relatively small organisation, it makes no sense to employ a technician and an engineer. It makes far more sense to find someone who's highly skilled both in theory and practically and can do both.

That presumes a technician is capable of doing an engineer's job, and vice versa. While there can be overlap, in general it isn't true. I, for example, can solder, but not well enough for production quality. OTOH, I can find a way of making an optical receiver with 180bB dynamic range from jellybean low tolerance components, etc etc.

That presumes there isn't enough work for  two people.

That presumes people all have the same personalities and skills. They don't. A classic mistake is to try to make a team with everybody having the same team role; see Belbin's work for why that is suboptimum.

So yes, it is always being wary of assuming your experience is generally true. Usually a subset of one person's experience corresponds to a subset of situations.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Offline nfmax

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #44 on: September 10, 2016, 09:18:45 pm »
It seems not much has changed in 30 years, and that there is broad agreement about a degree vs an HND.

One anecdote is that I remember a 2nd year maths student seeing our maths lectures, and being flabbergasted that we were covering much the same topics as he was! The end-of-year exams started "full marks will be obtained for answers to about six questions"; the lecturer wasn't too certain how much we could have assimilated! Bloody hard work :)

Second year maths! I remember it well - "Can you get a move on, please - I'm catching up"
 

Online Zero999

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #45 on: September 10, 2016, 10:24:49 pm »
The main thing which annoys me (and I'm not implying you have this view) is statements to the effect that "nurses claiming there's no benefit to being a doctor, and that doctors are impractical and useless". Both doctors and nurses are necessary; neither is sufficient.
Well I agree with you about doctors and nurses but think the analogy is totally invalid as far as engineering is concerned. Perhaps it was true 30 years ago or is still the case in very large organisations and factories but not in the places I've worked.

In a relatively small organisation, it makes no sense to employ a technician and an engineer. It makes far more sense to find someone who's highly skilled both in theory and practically and can do both.

That presumes a technician is capable of doing an engineer's job, and vice versa. While there can be overlap, in general it isn't true. I, for example, can solder, but not well enough for production quality. OTOH, I can find a way of making an optical receiver with 180bB dynamic range from jellybean low tolerance components, etc etc.
There's not much need for people who can solder to production quality these days and even when there was, it was seldom done by people with any theoretical qualifications but by assemblers who often knew nothing about electronics theory. There were electronic assemblers at the defence contractor I used to work at. They knew the resistor colour code, IC packages and could solder to a very high standard but didn't even know Ohm's law.

Quote
That presumes there isn't enough work for  two people.

That presumes people all have the same personalities and skills. They don't. A classic mistake is to try to make a team with everybody having the same team role; see Belbin's work for why that is suboptimum.

So yes, it is always being wary of assuming your experience is generally true. Usually a subset of one person's experience corresponds to a subset of situations.
Yes, in larger organisations there will be more of a tendency for people to specialise: a programmer for the software, an analogue engineer will design the part with filters, op-amps etc. a digital designer for the FPGAs and a technician to get the prototype working. Smaller organisations will tend to employ one or two people and may use contractors and consultants to get extra work done and fill in the gaps in knowledge
 
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Online tggzzz

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #46 on: September 10, 2016, 11:08:13 pm »
The main thing which annoys me (and I'm not implying you have this view) is statements to the effect that "nurses claiming there's no benefit to being a doctor, and that doctors are impractical and useless". Both doctors and nurses are necessary; neither is sufficient.
Well I agree with you about doctors and nurses but think the analogy is totally invalid as far as engineering is concerned. Perhaps it was true 30 years ago or is still the case in very large organisations and factories but not in the places I've worked.

In a relatively small organisation, it makes no sense to employ a technician and an engineer. It makes far more sense to find someone who's highly skilled both in theory and practically and can do both.

That presumes a technician is capable of doing an engineer's job, and vice versa. While there can be overlap, in general it isn't true. I, for example, can solder, but not well enough for production quality. OTOH, I can find a way of making an optical receiver with 180bB dynamic range from jellybean low tolerance components, etc etc.
There's not much need for people who can solder to production quality these days and even when there was, it was seldom done by people with any theoretical qualifications but by assemblers who often knew nothing about electronics theory. There were electronic assemblers at the defence contractor I used to work at. They knew the resistor colour code, IC packages and could solder to a very high standard but didn't even know Ohm's law.

It was a too brief and not very well chosen example on my part, and you are reading more into the specifics than they deserve.

Instead of soldering, I could equally well have chosen examples relating to maintaining development environment infrastructure, or IT infrastructure, some test harnesses, or routine elaboration/mutation of designs to meet the next customer's requirements. I have little interest in, and am barely competent to do those vital activities. Cf a nurse in a hospital.

Instead of the optical receiver I could have chosen examples related to architecting high-availability telecom systems and understanding failure modes that can never be avoided (e.g. "split brain syndrome") or the limits on time synchronisation, or selecting which technologies are best suited to nextgen products and which should be avoided, or inventing and patenting novel techniques etc. Cf a doctor in a hospital.

Doctors tend to be incompetent at nurses's tasks. Nurses do not have the training or skills to do the doctors' tasks - but some of them think they do, usually because they never see/understand what a doctor does and how they reach their decisions.

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That presumes there isn't enough work for  two people.

That presumes people all have the same personalities and skills. They don't. A classic mistake is to try to make a team with everybody having the same team role; see Belbin's work for why that is suboptimum.

So yes, it is always being wary of assuming your experience is generally true. Usually a subset of one person's experience corresponds to a subset of situations.
Yes, in larger organisations there will be more of a tendency for people to specialise: a programmer for the software, an analogue engineer will design the part with filters, op-amps etc. a digital designer for the FPGAs and a technician to get the prototype working. Smaller organisations will tend to employ one or two people and may use contractors and consultants to get extra work done and fill in the gaps in knowledge

Specialisation can occur, but does not have to. But you are missing the concepts I was alluding to.

Very briefly, one cut on Belbin's team roles is to divide them into "chairman", "ideas man", "critic", "worker", "finisher", "contacts man" and a couple of others. Each role has its required strengths and allowable weaknesses. To have a successful team, you need different people to fill a cross section of those roles.

A team made up of "ideas men" will be very inventive, impractical and nothing will be shipped. A team made up of "critics" will be boring, practical, and nothing will be shipped. A team made up of "contacts men" will have lots of customers, but nothing will be shipped. A team made up of "workers" and "finishers" will ship the same as everybody else.

But a team where a "critic" selects the sound ideas emitted by an "ideas man", gets them made by a "worker" and polished by a "finisher" will be able to ship things to clients discovered by the "contacts man". And the "chairman" will get them all working together.

"Engineers" are usually primarily "ideas men" or "critics", with a secondary "worker" role. "Technicians" are usually primarily "workers" or "finishers", with a secondary "critic" role. Vive la difference.
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Offline Syntax_Error

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #47 on: September 12, 2016, 04:40:27 pm »
I just want to say this thread has provided some fantastic insight into various things, and I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts. I'm learning a lot here, and hope the discussion continues.
It's perfectly acceptable to not know something in the short term. To continue to not know over the long term is just laziness.
 

Offline SteveyG

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #48 on: September 12, 2016, 06:44:17 pm »
But an MEng first degree is not equivalent to a MSc postgraduate degree.

In what way?
An MEng still allows you to stay generic because the modules are electives and can be unrelated to each other or part of different disciplines. Examples are control theory and microwave communication.
An Msc restricts your electives to modules that are related to the discipline. It's targeted more towards a specific area but doesn't ask you to research new areas to advance the field like a PhD.

That must be a university specific thing. We were only allowed to choose subjects that were taught by the engineering department
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Offline Galenbo

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Re: Education level required for employment as EE
« Reply #49 on: September 13, 2016, 11:25:30 am »
Math:  Well, EE has a bunch of math classes and I have come to the conclusion that the better you are at math, the more money you make.  Regrettably, Statistics is included in that observation.  I hate Statistics!
Math is needed to be able to make money, and Statistics is necessary to prevent liars from taking your money away.
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