Any future in electronics?

dave3

I'm seriously thinking about returning to college in 2012 to study for a 3 year diploma in electronics. I'm just concerned about jobs in the area. College websites say the future in ireland is bright for people with these qualifications but i'm looking for anyone who has an independent opinion on the future for electronics graduates in this country.

Dave.

krd

Do your research.

A problem with electronics in Ireland. Nearly every company involved in it are really involved in assembly. Or it's unskilled work - carried out to a system designed elsewhere. Most of the people working in Intel would only have leaving certs. I don't know what your man was on about poor university education in Ireland. Most of Intels employees are not graduates.They have subcontracting firms doing most of the fiddly bits. The Intel employees are the Ummpa Loompas

We don't really do that much in Ireland and maybe less than we did 10 or 15 years ago. Most electronics is now done in Asia.

I was talking to someone recently, they'd qualified in electronics. But the only place they could get a job was outside the country.

Do as much research as you can on companies involved in electronics. While you're studying try to get as much work placement as possible. There's free electronics trade magazines you can subscribe to. They're worth looking at as they have all the manufacturers and trends in there.

Concentrate on learning practical skills that will make you employable. There might be some lucrative niche you might pick up on.

I know several people with degrees in electronics and they're having trouble getting decent work - or work full stop. That could just be things in general.

Just to add something. I have a qualification in electronics. And I would consider it, for all the good it ever did me, as being worthless. But that is me.

x in the city

dave3 wrote: »

I'm seriously thinking about returning to college in 2012 to study for a 3 year diploma in electronics. I'm just concerned about jobs in the area. College websites say the future in ireland is bright for people with these qualifications but i'm looking for anyone who has an independent opinion on the future for electronics graduates in this country.

Dave.

3 yr diploma in electronics is worth f**k all im affraid.

any jobs in that are mainly for highly skilled personnel now.

embedded programming, labview and teststand, matlab, front end and back end asic design, rf electronics....

the list goes on and certainly nothing you would learn in a 3 year diploma.

my tip would be research an area you want.

is it digital design or embedded design or RF electronics...

or telecommunications and data..

when you have your mind made up do a proper 4 year degree and dont waste your time with a diploma

even BEng degrees now are pretty useless..

x in the city

krd wrote: »

Do your research.

A problem with electronics in Ireland. Nearly every company involved in it are really involved in assembly. Or it's unskilled work - carried out to a system designed elsewhere. Most of the people working in Intel would only have leaving certs. I don't know what your man was on about poor university education in Ireland. Most of Intels employees are not graduates.They have subcontracting firms doing most of the fiddly bits. The Intel employees are the Ummpa Loompas

We don't really do that much in Ireland and maybe less than we did 10 or 15 years ago. Most electronics is now done in Asia.

I was talking to someone recently, they'd qualified in electronics. But the only place they could get a job was outside the country.

Do as much research as you can on companies involved in electronics. While you're studying try to get as much work placement as possible. There's free electronics trade magazines you can subscribe to. They're worth looking at as they have all the manufacturers and trends in there.

Concentrate on learning practical skills that will make you employable. There might be some lucrative niche you might pick up on.

I know several people with degrees in electronics and they're having trouble getting decent work - or work full stop. That could just be things in general.

Just to add something. I have a qualification in electronics. And I would consider it, for all the good it ever did me, as being worthless. But that is me.

ah Intel certainly have very skilled personnel who do Digital design EDA work...

and by all means they have $$$$, but its still a hell ish of a place to work.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Places I can think off the top of my head apart from Intel are

Analog Devices in Limerick
Cypress in Cork
Xilinx in Dublin

Analog have lots of Engineers with a B.Eng and Technicians with Diplomas etc.