What kinds of jobs are there today in EE ?

Thread Starter

MathematicianKing

Joined Nov 10, 2017
34
Hi friends,

I want to get a job as an electronics engineer when I finish my masters in microelectronics but I am not quite sure what area I'd like to go into. To be honest I don't want something too complicated, for example high speed signal design people, who have to worry a lot just to get a signal going. I think I want to first get into designing something like consumer products, like radios, or maybe toys. Something simple first. I really dislike HDL's because I think this is not electronics, because its too high level.

I like digital, but I like analog better. If after I gain some experience I wanted to do research in transistors, what direction should I pursue? Transistor research is the area that attracts me the most, as well as analog design. I would also like to develop and research on OpAmps. What kind of engineer designs OpAmps ?

Thanks a lot..
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,157
Hi friends,

I want to get a job as an electronics engineer when I finish my masters in microelectronics but I am not quite sure what area I'd like to go into. To be honest I don't want something too complicated, for example high speed signal design people, who have to worry a lot just to get a signal going. I think I want to first get into designing something like consumer products, like radios, or maybe toys. Something simple first. I really dislike HDL's because I think this is not electronics, because its too high level.

I like digital, but I like analog better. If after I gain some experience I wanted to do research in transistors, what direction should I pursue? Transistor research is the area that attracts me the most, as well as analog design. I would also like to develop and research on OpAmps. What kind of engineer designs OpAmps ?

Thanks a lot..
I think you need to readjust your expectations. What you should be looking at is an environment where you can expand your horizons and learn from experienced hands. Trust me on this: you do not want to be the center of attention on a project with a critical deadline in your first employment experience. You want to be in the background so you have an opportunity to learn your craft and perfect your skills. That said when you are assigned a task you dig in with relentless determination to produce the finest possible result.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,153
(some text removed)
Trust me on this: you do not want to be the center of attention on a project with a critical deadline in your first employment experience.
Otherwise it might be your last job at that company.

Since you are most interested in analog, go in that direction. There is nothing better than doing something you love. Analog is not going away anytime soon and I can only guess that good analog engineers, particularly in IC design and a few other specialties will continue to be more in demand as time goes on.
 

Thread Starter

MathematicianKing

Joined Nov 10, 2017
34
Otherwise it might be your last job at that company.

Since you are most interested in analog, go in that direction. There is nothing better than doing something you love. Analog is not going away anytime soon and I can only guess that good analog engineers, particularly in IC design and a few other specialties will continue to be more in demand as time goes on.

But I don't have much experience. I think I have almost enough theoretical knowledge to be able to design analog circuits as a beginner, but no experience, and without experience who would hire me? It seems to be a hard field to get started in. Specially for myself because my first degree is in maths, and I am currently doing a masters degree in microelectronics, where it's basically Cadence simulation and Verilog. But I really dislike verilog, so this course is not inspiring for me, but it's my only entrance door into this field so I'll have to cope.

I don't think I have any chance of starting out as a chip designer, which is my final goal, so I would hope to get a position developing simple products, but I would like to know what companies hire people without experience?
 

Thread Starter

MathematicianKing

Joined Nov 10, 2017
34
Yebbut, mathematics is the language of physics. You would fit right in.
That is quite true, but there's a big difference between building a hammer, or using the hammer to build a house! I studied pure mathematics and I have indeed started studying a bit of QM, and I can tell you it's extremely hard and requires a lot of dedication. I don't think I have the dedication to go into QM. My dedication is in "classical electronics" :p
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I don't think I have any chance of starting out as a chip designer, which is my final goal, so I would hope to get a position developing simple products, but I would like to know what companies hire people without experience?
Few companies will take the chance on hiring someone with no experience because it's a lot easier to hire than to fire.

One way to open doors is to do an internship and establish contacts in the industry. When I was working, that was a common path for new graduates to get jobs. Of course, you need to do well on your internship. I've had interns who didn't have a good work ethic and I wouldn't even give a referral. But, I only gave referrals for students worth the risk to my reputation...
 

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
This is off the subject, but as a first step in finding employment, check the cost of living and other factors in various cities where tech companies are located.

The San Francisco Bay Area has 1000s of tech businesses in both analog and digital. However the cost of living here is astronomical and the quality of life is the pits. Even if you find an employer, the job may not be worth the hassle of double digit inflation, traffic congestion, and all the endless socio-economic problems that plague the region.

However, there are a lot of small cities with a traditional industrial base that can use engineers and technicians. Low tech industries like agriculture and food processing are in need of engineers and techs and their wages and salaries are more in line with the regional cost of living.

Good luck with your search.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,153
But I don't have much experience. I think I have almost enough theoretical knowledge to be able to design analog circuits as a beginner, but no experience, and without experience who would hire me? (some text removed for clarity)
Very few engineers leap from the classroom into a lead engineering position. Many companies with more than one or two engineers have entry level engineering positions. Yes, you are supposed to understand the technologies involved to some extent but they expect you to learn the company's way of doing things on the job and the subtleties of the technologies involved from other engineers. I don't pretend to speak for Papabravo, but I think this was one of his points in post #2 when he wrote:

I think you need to readjust your expectations. What you should be looking at is an environment where you can expand your horizons and learn from experienced hands. Trust me on this: you do not want to be the center of attention on a project with a critical deadline in your first employment experience. You want to be in the background so you have an opportunity to learn your craft and perfect your skills. That said when you are assigned a task you dig in with relentless determination to produce the finest possible result.
To add to that, companies with entry level jobs because they need and want people with entry level skills.
 

Lyonspride

Joined Jan 6, 2014
137
But I don't have much experience. I think I have almost enough theoretical knowledge to be able to design analog circuits as a beginner, but no experience, and without experience who would hire me? It seems to be a hard field to get started in. Specially for myself because my first degree is in maths, and I am currently doing a masters degree in microelectronics, where it's basically Cadence simulation and Verilog. But I really dislike verilog, so this course is not inspiring for me, but it's my only entrance door into this field so I'll have to cope.

I don't think I have any chance of starting out as a chip designer, which is my final goal, so I would hope to get a position developing simple products, but I would like to know what companies hire people without experience?
In the current climate companies want graduates who they can mould and control, who don't answer back or question their "superiors" and who are most importantly CHEAP to employ.
Experienced engineers generally get hired on short term contracts to mentor the above, but we're like walking bullshit detectors, we don't take any nonsense from anyone, we don't work to fake deadlines and we tell it like it is. Modern business culture is ALL about, false targets, lies and deceiving the customers, so we don't really fit in long term.

Most electronics employers now are an admin culture, management who are non-technical, they don't value experience, they think you can teach unskilled workers how to be engineers by giving them a step by step guide/manual, so what they do want is graduates, people with certificates that will impress the customers, but they only want to pay a tiny wage for them.
 

bushrat

Joined Nov 29, 2014
209
Well, if all else fails, there are some electronic technician/engineering positions in government employment. One of my friends from school got hired as radar technician in FAA. A lot of driving from site to site, but his employment is satisfactory with him.
 
Top