Career Advancement

Most companies prefer someone with good experience to someone with a degree. Having said that, I suspect that the PE mafia is going to eventually make it very tough on non-PEs to get any kind of work in anything remotely involving something that might be considered engineering so at your age you really should give serious consideration to doing whatever it takes to get your PE, even if it means putting your life on hold.

Get a BSEE, well worth it, your pay will be more than doubled, and over your lifetime you should make over $1 million (honest - but most goes to house, cars, babies taxes etc) lots of doors open. Super tech has a glass ceiling, most never get past. Good luck!

-from a MSEE, manager of many groups of EEs, at first a hands on tech for 6 years.

I'd try to get into a MSEE program, if you can handle it. A MS wipes out any previous degree and should only take a couple of years, giving you the best of both worlds. IMO, most companies that do what you want to do are going to look seriously at the degree (the HR types have their standards). I know where I work even a BSEET degree gets you a glorified technician position (fixes broken machines on the manufacturing floor). It's possible to move from there, but *very* difficult.

Again, try to get into a MSEE program. You might have to take a few additional courses, but it should be far easier (and less time) than starting over, if anyone will even let you. BS programs don't seem to like to admit people with other BS degrees.

Go for the MSEE degree, if that's what you want to do. There is a chance your employer will pay the freight too (though it will take longer, obviously).

Remember that friends are a good thing to have all over the place. Keep a lot of old contacts in your rolodex, and call them every few years or so to find out what they are up to. The least that will happen is you will have a good feel for the state of the industry.

Tian

Romy,

As a person who advanced their education when they saw they were not going where they wanted fast enough (a long time ago), I would say you have several things going for you:

First you have identified what you would most like to do, and that is something a lot of people never achieve. Having found what you like to do will truly enable you to "Never work another day in your life." That is the saying about finding an occupation that you enjoy doing, versus simply doing it for a living. Follow what you enjoy doing, and my guess is you will excel at it and the money will follow you because of the skill level you achieve.

It is sometimes unfair that a person with real skill does not get a chance without some degree to open the door. That is simply life. Once you enter that door and make a name for yourself, people are willing to overlook your lack of formal education. But you must get the door to open first. Get your degree.

If you have identified a company and job that you would love to perform, go there and ask them what you must do to qualify for that job. Not only will you learn what you must do, but you will impress the company with your willingness to do what you must to qualify. Who knows, a job may be waiting for you when you graduate?

I will not go into detail about my experiences, except to say I realized very early that I needed to acquire more education. That education allowed me to do what I loved and work for a large company where I hired hundreds of electronic technicians and retire at age 49. Not bad, not bad at all! Good luck.

I'm at a similar crossroads in my career. I already have a degree in electronics engineering and control systems, but never really worked in soimething related to it. Where i'm from (Chile) there are not many interesting jobs in this field, and when i was offered one two years ago as a control systems engineer for the Gemini telescope, i was already working as an engineering manager and thought that i would be better off continuing on that path.

The truth is that i never felt comfortable in the business world and although i was making good money i wasn't achieving my best. After these years i 've realized that what i really like is to work in control systems and now i'm thinking about going back to school to get a masters or phd in to improve my chances of getting an interesting job (and also having fun learning, of course). Any suggestions?

" snipped-for-privacy@domain.invalid" touched a nerve with his/her posting. Working on what you really enjoy is the way to go.

By Control systems engineer, I would assume this would include working on automation systems? If this is the case, just about any large manufacturing plant has items like those to design and control. Automobile, petroleum, food processing, you name it. This is why the level of productivity has consistently risen in recent years.

If this is the type of work you would prefer, perhaps you are limiting your potential employers because you fear there is no such applications of your field??

I'm an EE, and I work alongside a many technologists in my engineering dept (located in ont). They hold the same job titles as other EEs and they get paid the same. As long as the person is bright and, most importantly, has the right experience, he can be promoted here. I think it's probably the same in most places.

You might be shooting yourself in the foot if you go for the degree, but taking extra college courses to fill in the your cracks might put you up there.

Thanks for the reply. Regardless of what I do, I WILL be taking some sort of classes, even if it's only part-time, which at the very least will be either some computer or mechatronics courses. I see you're in Ontario, When I was looking for a job, I found it a little difficult finding a good interesting job which didn't require a degree. I'm in the GTA and it just seems flooded with engineers, even people who don't like it are doing it. Out of curiousity, whereabouts (city?) do you work, (you don't need to mention the company if you don't wish to).

Thanks for the uplifting reply. I'm not one to judge myself, but in the two "real" jobs I've had I've seemed to make a name for myself and earn the respect of others. However trying to prove that in an interview is almost impossible.

Romy

Thanks Bob,

I have been putting some very serious thought into going back to school. I've been talking to many people, and even decided to ask here as I would get a fair and unbiased opinion. As you can expect, after just being in my very first engineering position, it isn't an easy decision to just walk out and go back to school for another 4 years, only to face the "no job, no experience" thing again. Your comments, as well as everybody else's will play a factor in my decision, so thanks to everybody who has taken the time to give me some feedback, I look forward to receiving more soon.

Romy

Good advice, I'll be sure to keep that in mind.

Well, I wanted out from the electrician job not because I didn't like it, (the guys I worked with made it fun), but because I just wasn't challanged enough, and I also wanted to put my eduaction to work a little bit more.

As for the cost, going back to school full-time will put me out of pocket about $250,000 once it's all said and done. I'm not so much worried about the money (lost income, tuition, etc.) but more worried about any real benefit in the end. No form of education is a waste, but who knows if I'll even be interested in doing engineering when I'm done, or for very long. t seems like very few people actually do what they want, and everybody seems to be changing jobs every 5 years.

Romy

Dunno. A $megabuck over 30-40 years isn't a lot these days (that's only $30K/year!). I look at the costs of college these days, and I'm not convinced it's a financially sound investment, even at a two-mill lifetime earnings. Certainly better is out there. I've made far more than a million in today's dollars. OTOH, I only spent a small fraction of today's education costs (and I paid out of my pocket, something that I see as virtually impossible today).

In short, if you're an engineer, go for it. If not, do the "plumbing" thing.

...from a thirty-year BSEE engineer. Management? ptooie! I didn't become an engineer to babysit others.

Romy .....Im 46 and face the same dilemma you are facing

I never went to collge.....only finished high school. Believe me that was probably a mistake. Like others have said a college degree doesn't guarantee you success.... but it does open more "doors"

Having said that Ive contemplated going back to school myself and slowly getting a degree of some sort over many years time. Id have to do it over 10 yrs or so....as i must work full time and go to school both.

Anyway.....Ive often wondered if it would "pay back ' at my age. Ive also wondered what degree I would get. I mean Im just not sure if id get into the tech areas nowdays. I think id be more inclined into getting into the health field or maybe a general business degree with a minor in computers

My question is whether taking (min.) four years out of my life at this point will really be worth it in the end.

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Monetarily, you can simply subtract the difference between the salary of a EE and a EET (use

Then compare that with the loss of your annual salary for 4-5 years plus the tuition and expenses of going to school again.

I bet it would come out better to go for the EE, given you are so young. However, that gap will close as you age, and the degree will become less important as well. It is very common to see folks in EE positions based on experience and not on their degree.

There also may be some advantage in your mind to having more schooling whether it be the knowledge you get or just being able to say you have a BSEE as opposed to another degree. That is hard to quantify.

interesting

Well, now that I think about it some more - I wouldn't rule out getting that degree at your age. By studying at a large school such as UofT, you could condense the study period into 2 or 3 years by taking classes all year-round.

---Snip---

I haven't ruled it out yet. I sent my transcripts to the University of Waterloo to see if I can get any credit towards the degree, (or if I can even get accepted at all). Lakehead University also has a program which allows technologists to continue studying there for an additional 2.5 years and earn a B. Eng out of it. But I haven't heard many good things about them.

I've thought about going to school year-round to shorten the length of time. I'll have to take a look at the courses a bit more to see how the pre-requisites work. I'm still a little confused as to how much all this will really benefit me, especially because I'm not really into ASIC, communications, programming etc which is seems to be what most EE programs are all about these days. I like microcontrollers and all, but I like it as a hobby, not too sure I'd like to do it all day, everyday.

Thanks again, Romy

Why not?

I fear that you may not like "electronics" any better. Greener grass, and all that.

You may be independently wealthy, but you're a rare breed. Most of us look at an education as an investment. I'm starting to believe it's not a good one.

Nonsense! There are only so many "history professorships" available. Higher education is an investment. If you're rich enough that you can throw a quarter-of-a-megabuck away, perhaps you should do what you're doing for a couple of more years and then retire to a yacht in the South-Pacific.

I've changed jobs about ever five years, but have had the same employer for thirty. Would I make the same decisions in today's climate, good grief no!