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| Education level required for employment as EE |
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| Omega Glory:
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. 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. |
| nanofrog:
It'll depend on what you're applying for (i.e. more generalized/common areas vs. something highly specialized). But just starting out in a more common/general topic area, a BS is enough to get your foot in the door. It's the highly specialized stuff, such as CPU design, that will require a graduate degree (MS or PhD, with the latter being more common for my example). And if you want to go into management, an MBA would be in order. The degree teaches you how to think and gives you the relevant background to be able to understand what you'll encounter once in the workplace. Ideally, you'll get to mentor with some more experienced engineers along the way (common in large companies; SMB's & startups, not so much). |
| rstofer:
I wish electronic engineering had a different designator than electrical engineering. I realize the topic here is electronics and electronic engineering but in my view electrical engineering is a completely different field having to do with power generation, distribution and utilization. There's good money in designing electrical systems for industrial applications and good security in working for a public utility., Side issues, I know... I would think a BS would be a way to get a foot in the door but these days, degrees are all over the place. An MSEE might provide better opportunities as long as the major is in the right area. Try to get one or more summer intern jobs. Yes, it will be scut work but at least you'll meet people in the field and get known around the company. Whether you go for MSEE or MBA, plan on doing one of the other. Management usually pays better than actually doing the work but it has the downside of having to deal with personnel issues. |
| German_EE:
"I wish electronic engineering had a different designator than electrical engineering. I realize the topic here is electronics and electronic engineering but in my view electrical engineering is a completely different field having to do with power generation, distribution and utilization. There's good money in designing electrical systems for industrial applications and good security in working for a public utility., Side issues, I know..." As an Electrical Engineer I feel your pain. I do however work on electronics for fun as I'm now too old and too fat to climb up and down elevator shafts. |
| EEVblog:
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. A candidate with a BS and experience in the field the job requires will almost always trump an MS with no experience in the field the job is about. Experience almost always trumps qualifications. So pick the field you have an interest in and get whatever degree you want, then take the first job in that field that comes along. Worrying "should I get a BS or an MS" without knowing what interests you and what field you might want to get into can be a bit of a pointless debate. |
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