Okay, it has been a little bit since I have last posted. Alot has gone on lately. Well, i finally gave in to the Electronic systems technician program i was attending at this trade school. I got sick of sitting there not learning and being able to read my manuals on my own equipment and save 12,000 dollars. So i called the school and said i wanted to switch over to the Electrical Construction Maintenance. I have been off all this month since i have to wait till March 2nd to restart in the new program. Since I am out of school right now I have been reading a book i bought called Basic Electricity By Van Balkengurgh,Nooger and Neville inc. Its a great easy to read begginers book it reminds me of a comic book in a way lol.

This book has 5 volumes and i am almost done with the 3rd volume. It was a great refresher for ohm's law, seris, parallel, series-parallel and now i am in the ac side of the book. I am really happy how i am understanding all of this and it actually makes sense to me know then it did a month or two ago. I also found a couple good websites with actual lectures from a instructor in the field and each one of the very many videos is about 20 minutes each.

Now with the Electrical Construction Maintenance diploma program i currently am taking at school i have some questions. First off is this an actual field of electronics? Is this plainly a place to start to learn the basics and pray for an entry level position and then learn everything from the company you work for?

Because i am still not sure what part of the field to go into. I am trying to find some info on the web that shows the different fields but no luck yet. I wouldnt mind becoming an engineer but the problem lies with the 2 or 4 year degree which i cannot do now.

What is a good field of electronics or electrical to get into that does not require a 2 or 4 year degree but still pays good and has openings and that i can get into with the diploma program i am in right now.

Here is a link to the program i was taking called EST http://www.coyneamerican.edu/programs/electronics-systems-technician/ this link shows the classes that came with the program.

Here is a link to the program i switched to which is called ECM
http://www.coyneamerican.edu/programs/electrical-construction-and-maintenance/ this link shows the classes that come with the program.

I was thinking along the lines of PLC'S, I was thinking finish school get a job in the field and then learn the PLC's on my own and if the employer pays for education then i would go that route if not learn it on my own and attend allen bradleys week long courses for the paper work. any thoughts? thanks

 

Tony8404,

Based on these statements:

Now with the Electrical Construction Maintenance diploma program i currently am taking at school i have some questions. First off is this an actual field of electronics?

You should have asked that question before signing up for the course. Its name does not suggest electronics.

Is this plainly a place to start to learn the basics and pray for an entry level position and then learn everything from the company you work for?

Some companies may be willing to do that, but why should they bear the expense of training you to go somewhere else? There are lots of engineers and 2-year degree people looking for work right now. What do you have to offer a potential employer?

Because i am still not sure what part of the field to go into. I am trying to find some info on the web that shows the different fields but no luck yet. I wouldnt mind becoming an engineer but the problem lies with the 2 or 4 year degree which i cannot do now.

What is a good field of electronics or electrical to get into that does not require a 2 or 4 year degree but still pays good and has openings and that i can get into with the diploma program i am in right now.

You need to contact a career counselor or someone knowledgeable about you and your interests and stop wasting money and time. As for getting meaningful additional training and credentials in a year or less that will get you a good paying job in electronic design, that seems unlikely.

Learning doesn't come easily. I find it unsettling that you were sitting in a class not learning anything, but found a simplified "comic book" approach very helpful. If I were interviewing a job candidate who expressed something like that, I would be very concerned about whether the candidate would require spoon feeding for every change we needed to make or new task.

John

 

Okay, let me clarify this up a bit... The class i was in was home theater class, we were learning surround sound, satellite dish install, how to run wires in the wall, difference between 1080I and 1080p. The class is 4.5 hours long with 30 minutes break, out of the 4.5 hours we would spend about 1/2-1 hour on actual class stuff. the rest of the time was finding funny stuff on youtube, watching the presidential election, football games, not to mention free food the teacher would by example 2 or 3 buckets of rib tips, while watching the game or him finding stupid stuff on youtube.

I had gotten mad thinking, i can get done more on my own by reading my tv manual, dish manual, surround sound manual... Just in one night of class which this night we did absolutely nothing, i took out there so called book (mind you this book was made by there own print shop in the building, i know alot of places do this but there alittle more professional at least) in just that night of class i read the whole thing. I do not want to harp to much on school cause i had done that a bit in some other posts.

I know i will not make a ton of cash or have the greatest job once i am done with this school. but i just want to get something going... This is why i was asking about the different fields in electrical or electronics to see which field i may want to get into so i can then focus on school. For right now i want to learn the basics to get that out of the way. So right now i am at the crossroad of which field to get into or what i would like to do... I am searching for info on the web about the different fields for electronics and electrical. If anyone has some good info or links please help me out.. thanks

 

It would be good to know your age, background, and other responsibilities. I am assuming you are a recent HS graduate of about 19 to 20 years old, in the USA, and with virtually no other training. Are you a veteran? Do you have a family to support?

Assuming the latter don't exist and the former is true, then what's the rush? Four years at your age is nothing, particularly if it gets you a better start. For the 12G you already spent, you could have gone to a state college or university.

As for that school/class, I would suggest talking to administration about that class. If administration is non-responsive, find another school. If electronics, not electrician, is your interest, you will probably need a degree, not just a one-year diploma. But, you need to be realistic based on your abilities and so forth. That's why you need to physically talk with a counselor or advisor.

John

 

I am 30 years old, have a family 2 small girls, wife, house and a job that was good when I was single or when we first had been married. I am in illinois more near the city then anything.

I have been messing with computers since i was 10. I was a computer tech for a few years. I stopped getting into computers even more in the late 90's when everything kinda started to go sour in the IT field, i stopped going for a degree in MIS.

I always tried to get into what ever my dad was doing wether it would be digging a hole, home repairs, auto repairs, making beer, watching him fix a tv. He is an engineer and just retired this year, thank god cause now he has the time to sit with me when needed not to mention he picked up alot of tips and tricks over the last 30 years. Yet there are times it is difficult to talk with him due to him being a perfectionist. Not in a bad way but when i try speaking to him about jobs he doesnt go past you have to find what you like. I agree but i am trying to ask him about the different jobs in the field i still think there is only engineers, techs, instrumentation i think. lol

John, i know what you mean i am kicking myself right now that i never took school seriously, the four years, that i did not put in is killing me now and believe me i would do almost anything for the chance to get those four years to go to school back.... but with a family, full time job, not to mention my wife lost her job back in december. So here i am...

Now the reason for the school i am going to is,

1. its at nights, 3 days a week and it is 30 minutes walking distance from my full time job.

2. Since I needed to start somewhere I thought this would be good intro, to see if I even like it, now that i know i do i wanted to finish the course and then see if i can continue with more school or classes even or just learning on my own but i thought i may be able to get my foot in the door somewhere entry level...

I did find the u.s. postal service at a job fair and i was told i need to take there electronic/mechanical battery test and all i have to do is get a 70 to get the job. From what i was told i would be doing repairs, upgrades, maintenance. But i heard and searched a bit on the battery test and its not really easy. so i thought get done with school along with learning on my own as well then try there test.