any career advice to an Electronic/Electrical eng graduate??

[dazzlepecs]

Im graduating soon with a Bsc(hons) in Electrical & Electronic Eng.. prolly a 2:1 (knocks wood effect veneer)..

Im 27 and have 2 years of electronic technician work (downhole/topside techy)


any tips on getting a job in the UK? I know it will be hard.. And what is the most "fun" job.. I am good at control theory but i imagine a 9-5 control eng job will be horrible... Does gadget-type engineering exist? Do i go for graduate jobs?

many thanks

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Doesn't your uni have a careers advice department?.

Generally the companies looking for suitable employees will have contacts within the uni's.

 

[Pommie]

Im graduating soon with a Bsc(hons) in Electrical & Electronic Eng.. prolly a 2:1 (knocks wood effect veneer)..

Im 27 and have 2 years of electronic technician work (downhole/topside techy)
many thanks

If you can explain the terms in red then people may be better able to advise.

Mike.

 

[RadioRon]

At this point you don't really know exactly what you would like to do, so keep an open mind to any opportunity that lets you be a bit creative. If you have a desire to work in a particular industry, obviously try for something in that industry. No matter what you take on, the first year or two will be a learning experience so it will be both frustrating and challenging. If after that time you are bored, then perhaps a change of specialization will be in order. The other factor that makes or breaks how much you like a job is the people you work with, so keep an eye out for jobs where the people seem friendly, and where there are senior engineering types whom you can learn from.

 

[dazzlepecs]

Doesn't your uni have a careers advice department?.

Generally the companies looking for suitable employees will have contacts within the uni's.

I will check that up.. I think the competition will be too high though as I am literally the only one in the BSC course, everyone else is Beng or masters

At this point you don't really know exactly what you would like to do, so keep an open mind to any opportunity that lets you be a bit creative. If you have a desire to work in a particular industry, obviously try for something in that industry. No matter what you take on, the first year or two will be a learning experience so it will be both frustrating and challenging. If after that time you are bored, then perhaps a change of specialization will be in order. The other factor that makes or breaks how much you like a job is the people you work with, so keep an eye out for jobs where the people seem friendly, and where there are senior engineering types whom you can learn from.

yes i do want a creative job. thanks for the advice

 

[Hero999]

McDonald's?

 

[steveB]

I am good at control theory but i imagine a 9-5 control eng job will be horrible... Does gadget-type engineering exist? Do i go for graduate jobs?

many thanks

It sounds like you are saying that control eng is horrible because you may be working on a computer and not on real hardware? This isn't always the case. Often the engineer must establish models and optimize control systems, but must then implement and correlate that on a real working system. It really depends on the company. Personally, I've always found smaller companies to be better because the engineer can't specialize in a small niche.

 

[dazzlepecs]

It sounds like you are saying that control eng is horrible because you may be working on a computer and not on real hardware? This isn't always the case. Often the engineer must establish models and optimize control systems, but must then implement and correlate that on a real working system. It really depends on the company. Personally, I've always found smaller companies to be better because the engineer can't specialize in a small niche.

I meant that it seems a bit bland and perhaps unstimulating, spending a lot of time drawing root loci and pushing around PID block diagrams... I appreciate that real control engineering will have a lot more scope than what we diddled about with at university but nevertheless



I will keep that smaller-company tip in mind.. I do not mind working for less money as long as the job is stimulating and creative (even though im merely a graduate)

 

[Willbe]

Engineering, easy. Office politics, hard.
And watch out for "golden boys", the eng. equiv. of political appointees. They get the plum projects and credit for your work and you get the grunt work and the blame for their mistakes.