Moving between electronic/electrical engineering sectors

A Primal Nut

As you might know, Electrical and Electronic Engineering is very broad with everything from Power, Contol, Communications, Analag Electronics, Biomedical Engineering and Software just some of the main areas. These are very different from one another and although courses provide some degree of specialisation in one area, you are generally qualified to work in any sector. I'm in fourth year and I'm really not sure what area I want to get into.

So, say I did a graduate program in a Telecoms company but I decided I wanted to move into, say Power & Control after the two years, would this be possible. For example, most non-graduate jobs require experience in the area you apply for, so logically I would probably have to do another graduate job. Is it possible to apply for a graduate role in a different area if I've already done one elsewhere, would that company take me on. This is just a hypothetical question, really. I just think after two years i'd have a better idea.

DublinDilbert

A Primal Nut wrote: »

As you might know, Electrical and Electronic Engineering is very broad with everything from Power, Contol, Communications, Analag Electronics, Biomedical Engineering and Software just some of the main areas. These are very different from one another and although courses provide some degree of specialisation in one area, you are generally qualified to work in any sector. I'm in fourth year and I'm really not sure what area I want to get into.

So, say I did a graduate program in a Telecoms company but I decided I wanted to move into, say Power & Control after the two years, would this be possible. For example, most non-graduate jobs require experience in the area you apply for, so logically I would probably have to do another graduate job. Is it possible to apply for a graduate role in a different area if I've already done one elsewhere, would that company take me on. This is just a hypothetical question, really. I just think after two years i'd have a better idea.

This is a big problem in Electrical/Electronic engineering in ireland, once you even pick a major for your final year you almost become type-cast into that role for ever and ever.... Once people leave college and get their first year or two's experience they find it difficult to change between the various area's, cause of the view's of employers...

When i look at all the people i went to college with, they are nearly all working the same area's which the specialized in, in the final years of the degree..

I myself choose to work in the embedded systems area, cause you generally get to do work in all the different disciplines at one point or another...

You can also look at doing a taught masters latter on as a way of getting exposure to new areas of work...