Job opportunities for Electronic Engineering Graduates

charlie1234

Hi,

I'm studying Electronic Engineering (in my 3rd year) and I'm having doubts about it. I really enjoy it but some days I can't see myself working in this field. I'm going to stick the degree out and graduate from it 100% but it's after that I'm not so sure about....

I'm looking for some advice from people who are working in electronics and from people in other fields that would be willing to take engineer graduates.

I'm not really "in the know" with all this. I chose electronics because out of all the options we had (civil, mechanical, chemical etc...) it was my favourite.

Is there many jobs for electronic engineers in Ireland? What kind of work would I be doing? The parts I found the most interesting this year are Signals/Telecomms and Digital Systems end of the course. I really can't stand Micro-Electronics at all, is this important?

Thanks in advance (and apologies for my naivety)

DublinDilbert

Firstly you were right to go with the option that you liked the most. Stick with it, there are jobs out there.

Have you ever considered embedded systems? Writing software and/or designing hardware? You'll get to use a complete range of skills.

Communications is a good area too, lots of wireless stuff going on too.

Shiny

I did Electronic Engineering for my undergrad and I too had my doubts while I was doing it.
It just seemed like never ending Maths/Equations/Control/Simulation/Pointless programming etc...
I too chose it as it was my favourite and I felt a bit cheated when I didn't
really get to do much actual electronics during the degree.

What I didn't know at the time is that all this misery was providing
a mathematical base of knowledge which you would be able to use for
applications that you wouldn't ever imagine. I finished the course the
summer before the sh1t hit the fan recession-wise in 2008. I was applying
for jobs but felt useless as on paper I wasn't an expert at any one thing
that would lead to a strong interview. So after a summer of PFO's from
companies I decided to do a Masters.

By doing this I got to pick my subjects in an area I was interested in and
also do a far more applied project than the Final year project in the undergrad.
I don't think I was ever so busy in my life, starting at 9 or 10 in the morning and working
solid until 9/10 at night. The difference was that I loved every second of it.
Everything was different, the course assumed a certain engineering standard and that was it.
No more background theory, no more Laplace Transforms/Maxwell Equations/PID Control bla bla bla.
Everything was applied now, this stuff was what "Actually" happened in industry/real world,
as opposed to the pie in the sky stuff from the undergrad.

I learned a lot during that Masters and one thing I learned was to appreciate the things I learned in my undergrad.
That masters would have been next to impossible without the solid engineering background. Every week you would
learn something and think back to your undergrad and have an "Oh Now I understand what that ___ ___ technique meant!!!".
That is still happening now.

In terms of jobs I had no idea what I wanted to do at the time but after
the last few years I have seen a good few area's where electronic engineers
could go towards.

Development for this platform whether hardware or software is going to increase exponentially over the coming years as these boards are in everything! (think iPad/Drobo/Phones etc)

Robotics is always going to be a huge area as new products will always need new production lines etc....

Machine vision, already a large area but could also start to grow even more due to the likes of Microsoft's Kinect platform which will certainly attract competitors.

Transmission mediums (Wireless, Fibre Optics) are going to become very important as smart phones/internet ready devices/cloud computing flood the networks with huge amounts of additional traffic.

^ I tried to make suggestions here based on subjects you might be doing in your final year.

All I am trying to say, even if you don't read the stuff above, is that it IS worth it! When you start to apply what you have learned,
this starts to happen big time in 4th year, you will realise that your original instinct was correct.

[I apologise in advance for my rambling but I hope it helps in some way as I wish I knew back then what I know now so that I would have done a little bit less messing/gaming and a bit more work perhaps.:o]

dan_d

Well there's always this....
https://www.candidatemanager.net/esbi/

Otherwise you probably were right to go with what you liked. I did civil, and yes, it's very strong on Maths, until you hit final year when it suddenly becomes hugely practical.It was like doing a completely different course.

I don't know about Elec, but you have a lot of options with it, so don't get too downhearted.

ARGINITE

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Have you ever considered embedded systems? Writing software and/or designing hardware? You'll get to use a complete range of skills.

Lots of job in this area maybe not in Ireland but plenty going in the UK and other parts of Europe.

D-Generate

You sound like me two years ago OP. I wasn't too keen on Elec Eng after my summer placement in a large multinational and I started scouting around for other areas to get in to. Like you I had more enthusiasm for the maths areas than the typical Elec areas and my favourite subjects were information theory, DSP, etc. I finished up my degree in Elec Eng and pursued an MSc in Machine Learning which is basically algorithm development with maths and computer science and it really broadened my horizons about how doing engineering really sets you up with a solid foundation in both maths and programming.
My personal interests were in current affairs and finance so after my studies I joined an investment bank as an assistant trader. I am currently interviewing for a trading position and you wouldn't believe how impressed people are that I came from an Elec Eng background, it is seriously appreciated in the finance world as being a tough degree and those who finish it are gifted in the maths domain. Incredibly in my last interview they were even concerned that coming from a maths background that I would not feel challenged enough in a trading position.

If you are in third year and have a modicum of interest in finance then start cold calling some of the HR departments of the banks in London since the internship hiring period has passed. You will have a better maths basis than 90% of the people out there applying for similar positions and will definitely stand out for an interview. I will be completely honest that sometimes I wish I was doing engineering work which in the grand scheme of things is more rewarding to both society and yourself but then I realize that the pay is kick ass in finance and I always can go back to engineering at a later date.

charlie1234

First off, thanks for all the advice so far - it's been really helpful!

As I said, I enjoy it but I have no idea if I will work in this field at all. I am encouraged by the apparent "easiness" of changing fields though...as in I wouldn't be against working in finance or somewhere for a couple of years to make a bit of money and then moving into more engineering related stuff.

One thing I was afraid of though was how electronics moves so quickly - Moore's law and all that. One of my lecturers last year told me that the stuff that's "current" now will be obsolete before we even graduate. It just seems that electronics is a crazy fast field to move into - if I take a year or two out then I'll be lost and I won't be able to keep up with recent technological advancements. Can anyone shed some light on that?

Also, this may not be the correct forum for this, but I would love to move abroad for a couple of years (at least) and work outside of Ireland. Has anyone got any experience in this? I'd like to live in Italy or France or somewhere like that.

Thanks again:)

THEFRIDGE

Ok OP fill me in.. How did it all work out 3 years down the road ? I am keen to know as I have just finished my level 7 ordinary degree. I am planning on doing one more year to level 8. My sole purpose is to get my degree and move abroad to somewhere warm..

Would be interested to know if you stayed in the field.

Thanks

adrian92

I did a degree in Electronic Engineering (a long time ago). Worked for one year in a memory chip manufacturing company. The rest of my career I spent working as an electrical engineer in power applications - which was (for me) much more interesting. Perhaps an option for you?

THEFRIDGE

Just finished a few weeks back and looking for work. If anyone hears any whispers please let me know.

Thanks