Author Topic: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!  (Read 17804 times)

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Offline rstofer

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #25 on: December 03, 2017, 11:38:07 pm »
My main advice is, do the degree, don't do the PhD...  |O

*Goes back to cursing at data sets and writing*

I think the sweet spot is MS degree.   You just separated yourself from the masses of BS degrees but you haven't isolated yourself into academia.
 

Offline HalFET

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #26 on: December 03, 2017, 11:47:06 pm »
My main advice is, do the degree, don't do the PhD...  |O

*Goes back to cursing at data sets and writing*

I think the sweet spot is MS degree.   You just separated yourself from the masses of BS degrees but you haven't isolated yourself into academia.

You got to do the masters here to get the title of engineer in the first place, so it doesn't really give any distinction at all.
 

Offline expinkolator

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #27 on: December 03, 2017, 11:50:51 pm »
But if it's a real engineering job, you simply won't be able to do the work.

Then the assertion I quoted is rubbish. You can't have it both ways.
 

Offline tggzzz

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #28 on: December 04, 2017, 12:06:43 am »
But if it's a real engineering job, you simply won't be able to do the work[without the mathematics]  What you won't have is the math skill and you won't have the theory either because the theory is buried in math.  Nobody I ever heard of taught themselves differential equations and Laplace Transforms for giggles.  Sure, it is possible to cobble together a bunch of parts and maybe turn out a project but that is technician work, not engineering.

Yes.

Except my father did teach himself differential equations and most other things. He didn't have an option, since he was profoundly deaf in an age where deafaids didn't exist!

Quote
Engineering is all math.

Yes.

What some people don't seem to understand is that while "the result of the best mathematics is that you don't need all the detailed mathematics", you need to understand the theory to know where/when the maths doesn't apply.
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
 

Offline tggzzz

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #29 on: December 04, 2017, 12:08:37 am »
I have been retired for a very long time but I will say that having a degree gets you in the door to talk to someone.  Not having a degree, regardless of your talent, will almost certainly get your resume' dumped without a phone call.  Just the way it is!

Want to be an engineer?  Go to school!  Or find some other way of making a living that makes you happy.

Precisely.
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
 

Offline rstofer

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #30 on: December 04, 2017, 12:09:16 am »
My main advice is, do the degree, don't do the PhD...  |O

*Goes back to cursing at data sets and writing*

I think the sweet spot is MS degree.   You just separated yourself from the masses of BS degrees but you haven't isolated yourself into academia.

You got to do the masters here to get the title of engineer in the first place, so it doesn't really give any distinction at all.

In the US, the MS is an add-on.  The BS is about all it takes to get started.  I really enjoyed grad school.  I got to pick my courses and focused on stuff that interested me (computer hardware design).  I did have to take a 1 unit Engineering Seminar and a couple of math classes (Numerical Analysis and Signal Processing) but the others were the ones I wanted.

Had I been thinking, I would have postponed graduation in favor of taking some more classes.  The company was paying the bills and I doubt that they would have complained (or even noticed).
 

Offline cdev

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #31 on: December 04, 2017, 12:11:06 am »
High tech is fascinating and a lot of fun, and may even be good for work, now.

But don't fool yourself to think that simply being great at something, degree or not, will get you a stable job for the rest of your life. Stay out of debt and lighten your burn rate. Keep aware of the fact that there are a lot of incomplete contracts in the world. Assume nothing about our future.

Tech careers may soon become precarious work.

Which itself may rapidly dry up, wages falling, due to automation.

"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline rstofer

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #32 on: December 04, 2017, 12:39:09 am »
High tech is fascinating and a lot of fun, and may even be good for work, now.

But don't fool yourself to think that simply being great at something, degree or not, will get you a stable job for the rest of your life. Stay out of debt and lighten your burn rate. Keep aware of the fact that there are a lot of incomplete contracts in the world. Assume nothing about our future.

Tech careers may soon become precarious work.

Which itself may rapidly dry up, wages falling, due to automation.

Which is why I was blessed that my father taught me the electrical trade.  I was a Journeyman Electrician before I ever started college.  If things turned sideways, I could always make a living in the trade.  In fact, I worked in the trade during most of my undergrad years.

I never spent much time using my electronics education.  I moved into project management with a side helping of electrical design and construction - facilities type work.  I never strayed far from my roots!

Electronics was, and still is, just a hobby.  It's not the kind of thing I would want to do on a full time basis.  In fact, I don't even like drafting-board type engineering (CAD either, for that matter).  It's just boring.  I contracted that stuff out.  I just worked on the 'big picture'.  Details were left to others.


 

Offline Galenbo

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #33 on: December 05, 2017, 08:58:24 am »
You got to do the masters here to get the title of engineer in the first place, so it doesn't really give any distinction at all.
That's not true. Engineer and Ingenieur are not protected in Belgium. Anyone can call himself that.
Architect is protected, but violation is not punished.

Msc Ing. Ir. Dr. are protected, violation is punished.
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
 

Offline HalFET

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #34 on: December 05, 2017, 09:03:23 am »
You got to do the masters here to get the title of engineer in the first place, so it doesn't really give any distinction at all.
That's not true. Engineer and Ingenieur are not protected in Belgium. Anyone can call himself that.
Architect is protected, but violation is not punished.

Msc Ing. Ir. Dr. are protected, violation is punished.

I love how you say they're not protected and then proceed to list the titles as protected   :-DD
 

Offline Galenbo

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #35 on: December 05, 2017, 09:50:30 am »
I love how you say they're not protected and then proceed to list the titles as protected 

You fail to see the difference between the long words and the abbreviations.
Not difficult, try again.
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
 

Offline HalFET

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #36 on: December 05, 2017, 03:21:49 pm »
I love how you say they're not protected and then proceed to list the titles as protected 

You fail to see the difference between the long words and the abbreviations.
Not difficult, try again.

I did say "title of engineer" to avoid having to go through the entire list.  |O But if you go full grammar nazi sure, then we'd have to call it honorific. But here's the actual relevant law: https://data-onderwijs.vlaanderen.be/edulex/document.aspx?docid=12722
 

Offline JPortici

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #37 on: December 05, 2017, 03:56:28 pm »
At some point (when i landed a job) i decided to drop out. I don't want to bore you with the details of my life in that awful period but i am glad i did it, after 7 years (including high school) i was finally going to do something with my brain and not keep re-learning the same stuff i did in high school.

I did learn a lot of things and i improved my way of learning in the process, but i wouldn't do engineering again. If i went back to uni to get a degree it would probably be in biology (a field that fascinates me, at some point i decided electronic-bioengineering was what i would be going to specialize in, if i followed through)

Of my colleagues that ended up graduating, most ended up doing research for companies or in uni, others just wanted become managers and needed the degree. I wanted to be neither. I wanted to design products and challenge myself doing so (in a more practical way than what i believe a researcher do) and everything i don't know i learn. My employer also want me to keep learning and we all attend courses when relevant ones are available

On a side note, it is my understanding that starting 2019 a BS degree will have the same weight as my high school diploma. Is it because my diploma is THAT good or because a BS is THAT bad?
« Last Edit: December 05, 2017, 03:59:20 pm by JPortici »
 

Offline R005T3rTopic starter

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2017, 02:26:24 pm »
I find schools/college and university the best places to get all depressed and demotivated. Total waste of time.
In my opinion they put way to much effort in the formalities, but not about what is important.

Especially nowadays it's not difficult at all to teach stuff yourself.

So the only thing I can say, is good for you!  :-+

For the record, I don't know many employers who even really care about a degree.
They look for experience, the right attitude and if it 'clicks'.
To many people with a perfect (even cum laude) degree might passed school perfectly, but that doesn't mean they are great workers, or 'out of the box thinkers'.
Sometimes it only means they are good in 'studying', but definitely doesn't mean they are smarter.

So true,
I've started very motivated to get the degree, and I dropped it because of the climax and the BS that came all along with it... I'ts uneasy to study when all the students are your competitors, and it's even worst studying the things you don't like but are "essential" as they say, but we all know they are NOT!
 

Offline tggzzz

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #39 on: December 07, 2017, 02:29:33 pm »
I've started very motivated to get the degree, and I dropped it because of the climax and the BS that came all along with it... I'ts uneasy to study when all the students are your competitors, and it's even worst studying the things you don't like but are "essential" as they say, but we all know they are NOT!

And exactly what is different about working in a company?!
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
 

Offline R005T3rTopic starter

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #40 on: December 07, 2017, 02:35:12 pm »
The fact that at the end of the day, you get paid and you do something useful in life, for others and not only for yourself.
 

Offline R005T3rTopic starter

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #41 on: December 07, 2017, 02:43:07 pm »
The answer is that when you show your degree to a prospective employer you are showing him that:

1.  I have a functioning brain and can learn complex material relatively quickly and then apply it.
2.  I can learn things that may not be of interest to me and remember and apply it.
3.  I can put up with assorted BS.
4.  I have the persistence to stick with a project until I complete it.

Someone who spent 4 years and got into 10s of k debt just to show an employer that ought to be considered an idiot.

Couldn't show the same by doing a real job for 4 years? Even being paid nothing would be better than paying someone to teach you nothing useful.

Debt influenced my choice quite a bit 3K Eur per year is quite a lot of money... Also the fact that I was slipping out of the market influenced my choice.

However, I was lucky this time: the govt did something stupid (again) and involuntairly gave a major assist to me because of an idiotic reform back in the 2014...
It played a major role in my choice: I have a very good high school diploma which was still high-quoted in the 2015, and since the reform, it's value just went up, because the companies are looking for that specific one instead of post-reform ones, so companies are still calling me...

« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 03:00:44 pm by R005T3r »
 

Offline b_force

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #42 on: December 08, 2017, 03:59:27 pm »
Engineering is all math.
don't agree with this.
Engineering is all ballpark calculations but mostly intuition.
I seldom solve any difficult equations (besides some basic algebra).
If i really do need to figure out some nasty differential equations or integrals, I just use MatLab, Maple or what have you.
Or just ask the interns to do it sometimes  :popcorn:

Offline Galenbo

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #43 on: December 27, 2017, 07:51:47 am »
Engineering is all math.
don't agree with this.
Engineering is all ballpark calculations but mostly intuition.
I seldom solve any difficult equations (besides some basic algebra).
If i really do need to figure out some nasty differential equations or integrals, I just use MatLab, Maple or what have you.
Or just ask the interns to do it sometimes  :popcorn:
Ok, but an engineer worth the name knows how mesh analysis is done in simulations and other software, how to apply symmetry and assumptions, and knows the threats when a monkey enters data in statistics software.
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
 

Offline Technobabble_

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #44 on: December 28, 2017, 01:27:32 am »
Hello! There are dozens of us :D

From my personal anecdote: I still think most people should at least try a class or two at uni before they make a decision. I left after a year, and I did benefit in terms of networking, building contacts, and free electrical equipment.

For anyone else reading this, and is considering jumping ship. I recommend:

1. Be honest with yourself: Why are you doing this? Is it because you don't like that specific university, or do you simply learn better on your own (whether it be online courses, MOOC's, or hands-on building)?
2. Have a plan b and c and d in case that job/apprenticeship/internship you left uni for falls flat. I was fortunate enough to have contacts back at the uni I went to, and got a research position after my consulting business dried up.
3. Have enough savings to last you six months at least, in case things go south.
4. Build a personal portfolio website! When submitting your resume, have the link at the top.
5. If you do pursue another endeavor, it's going to take time (years) to ramp up to the income level you desire. Not everyone is going to be Steve Jobs or Bill gates, however paying the bills and being your own boss isn't too bad, either.

The reason I am writing this is that when I graduated high school, I felt college was shoved down my throat and I "drank the Kool-aid" so to speak. People learn differently, and at different rates. This doesn't even account for the rising cost of tuition (at least here in the US). I wish I had a little more guidance then.

Figure out what works for You.

Cheers.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #45 on: December 28, 2017, 06:52:14 am »
While I do think college is tremendously overrated, it's also a fact that many jobs require a degree, even if having that degree says little about whether the person can do the job or not. All you need is one manager who got a fancy degree and is fully on board with everyone else having one and it's very difficult to get in the door. I dropped out of college myself and while I've managed to stay gainfully employed in engineering, if I didn't already have the job I do, my employer would never hire me. Since the acquisition a couple years ago I've never seen them hire anyone who isn't fresh out of college with an engineering degree. Now some of those guys have been quite good, but so are some of our non-degreed guys.
 

Offline tggzzz

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #46 on: December 28, 2017, 09:46:32 am »
Figure out what works for You.

Precisely.

There is a tendency amongst some people on this forum to make statements akin to "university is rubbish" and "graduates are useless". Such statements should be taken with a very big pinch of salt, since they reveal more about the author than the subject.

In a company, what matters is that the team has an complementary set of skills and personalities, so that each person covers the other people's weaknesses.

Anybody that thinks otherwise is also likely to think that it is unnecessary for hospitals to have doctors plus nurses. Frequently this is manifested on this forum in the form of "doctors cannot do simple practical tasks such as inserting a needle into a vein, and are therefore hopeless".
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
 

Offline R005T3rTopic starter

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #47 on: December 28, 2017, 09:56:16 am »
Engineering is all math.
don't agree with this.
Engineering is all ballpark calculations but mostly intuition.
I seldom solve any difficult equations (besides some basic algebra).
If i really do need to figure out some nasty differential equations or integrals, I just use MatLab, Maple or what have you.
Or just ask the interns to do it sometimes  :popcorn:

Difficult equations = wolphram alpha or similar software.

Once you learn how to use mathlab or wolfram language, you can do pretty much everything whit it. And the best is that your chances of making calculations mistakes are 0.
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #48 on: December 28, 2017, 10:03:21 am »
Difficult equations = wolphram alpha or similar software.

Once you learn how to use mathlab or wolfram language, you can do pretty much everything whit it. And the best is that your chances of making calculations mistakes are 0.
I love Wolfram Alpha. It's so convenient it feels like cheating, but if you're after results, it's very effective.
 

Offline R005T3rTopic starter

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Re: I quit university and now I'm doing a job I love!
« Reply #49 on: December 28, 2017, 10:08:58 am »
Hello! There are dozens of us :D

From my personal anecdote: I still think most people should at least try a class or two at uni before they make a decision. I left after a year, and I did benefit in terms of networking, building contacts, and free electrical equipment.

For anyone else reading this, and is considering jumping ship. I recommend:

1. Be honest with yourself: Why are you doing this? Is it because you don't like that specific university, or do you simply learn better on your own (whether it be online courses, MOOC's, or hands-on building)?
2. Have a plan b and c and d in case that job/apprenticeship/internship you left uni for falls flat. I was fortunate enough to have contacts back at the uni I went to, and got a research position after my consulting business dried up.
3. Have enough savings to last you six months at least, in case things go south.
4. Build a personal portfolio website! When submitting your resume, have the link at the top.
5. If you do pursue another endeavor, it's going to take time (years) to ramp up to the income level you desire. Not everyone is going to be Steve Jobs or Bill gates, however paying the bills and being your own boss isn't too bad, either.

The reason I am writing this is that when I graduated high school, I felt college was shoved down my throat and I "drank the Kool-aid" so to speak. People learn differently, and at different rates. This doesn't even account for the rising cost of tuition (at least here in the US). I wish I had a little more guidance then.

Figure out what works for You.

Cheers.

Hey,
I'm definitely not a fool.
1.  I'm doing this, mostly because after having spent 5 years in a road that brought me nearly nowhere. I can't say that studying is not my thing, in reality I can do complex stuff, but in my own terms.  However, I can clearly say that studying like they require is something I'm partially able to do... I learn better on my way and in my terms. That's all.
2. I alredy have found a good job and the chances are good that I'll be an enterpreneur someday (in an evergreen sector)
3. yep I defenitley have that, fortunately for me, money are not a big issue right now.
4. I'll think about that...
5. Income level? I'm not doing that job because of the income level, it's more like I want to learn that job.

In the recent years automation is becoming more and more popular.
 


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