anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

so, I have been working in the automotive industry for roughly 5 or 6 years now, mostly as a light duty tech, but now im managment at a quick lube, and i make a decent salary, mid 30k range, but i have no schooling or ase certs, so im kinda stuck where im at now, and it sucks to think i'll be here forever, i dont want to stay in the automotive industry. something I can see myself doing in the future is working with electronics/computers as i enjoy doing thiss sort of thing, although my current life situation and shcooling history wont allow me to attend a university to get the degree i want (electrical engineering) so my coices are stay in the automotive industry forever or go to a technical school, and i want a bachelors degree because i feel like an associates isnt good enough. anyway i guess my question is will a bachelors degree in electronics and communications engineering be a worthwhile investment from a technical school rather than a university, being that it cost roughly $80k to get this degree from the technical school? i just dont want to spend 4 years of my life and put myself into $80k in debt, if it's going to be a battle to get decent jobs because i didnt go to a university :-\ anyone who works in this industry i would greatly appreciate your input on this matter....

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

My brother"s company won't even hire him on with his two associates. He's been a temp for like 3 years. He got one degree for Information Tech, and the other I forgot but still computer related. He's still going to get his Bach. I told him...bro two associates don't equal a bach. lol.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

community college then ati

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

you could go to a 4 year school, live on campus get a B.S. in EE and not be 80k in debt. 80k is out there.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

why would i do that? i can go to a technical institute w/o cc so that would be a waste...
and rawr, this is true, but not when you have to work full time and earn a $30k/year salary so that i can pay for my current debt, also im married so living on campus= not an option..

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

well i dont know about 80k thats a little much... about 40k to much...

just go to a community college and see if you cant get your associates then try again at university...

other than that... ARMY FTL... it sucks but its a gaurantee job in comms while your in and its a good foot in the door when you get out...

now for an entry level job... say 16 an hour but you will get ---- tons of over time... Caprock has a good feildtech job. you will be trained on the job and you will get pretty good benifits. the only problem is you will end up makeing about 60 or so a year because of all the over time... but majority of the over time is sitting on your ass on a boat or a helicopter going to different oilriggs fixing the coms...

thats just for starters... after a few years you could get a job in a noc were you control the gateway communications...

now if your wanting to work with cisco crap and do a bunch of networking ... go to school...

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

I graduated my MEng (master of engineering) in electronics last year. I went to the uk equivalent of IVY league i guess. There are, at least in the UK, alot of jobs. But only for the very elite of the educational system. If your willing to work as a service/maintenance engineer/technician you can earn good money, but the career progression prospects are limited. However the schooling requirements are correspondingly lower. If you are capable of it, software programming is probably the most lucrative area for electronics/comms etc.

Compared to my friends who went into business and finance, i earn comparatively little (~$50k) but i don't have to work overtime, get various benefits (health/travel/dental/free food/coffee/80% staff discount). Overall, electronics is a solid field to work in with plenty of growth.

I'd also look into civil engineering, its all alot more straightforward (mostly punching data into computer programs) and everyone needs houses/roads and infrastructure, so jobs are guaranteed. My friend lives in the north of england and after 2.5yrs now earns ~$65k with a possible $12k biannual bonus.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

hey was it hard to put on ur turbo kit? im buying one from a personal seller this friday and he tells me he reccomends me getting it professionally installed....can i do it myself? i know well over enough about my car.......its a d16y7...

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

the it field is kind of strange, the company i work for they wont even give you an interview without an associates and some certifications, but you only start at around 31500, with incremental salery increases every year.
its funny though because the job i just interviewed for within the company pays 11k more per year to start and requires no technical experience at all, lol.

basicaly the way i was told is that any ------- can ace a class and not learn anything, but with certifications and experience you prove that you actually posess the skills to perform the job, but usually without a degree they won't even talk to you, so its kind of a catch 22.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

go 2 yrs community college, get all a's go to a private school on a scholarship and do lots of rich chicks and coke. i did that and only have $20k in loans after everything. i work for $15 an hour doing websites part time to work up my social network and do my freelance 50/hr webdesign and 75/hr flash.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

how do you charge per hour to do flash... just curious...

i do a little flash and most people i know charge by job... because you could suck ass and take years to do a simple cartoon in flash and it still only be worth 75 bucks...

just curious how you work that with customers...

oh and wanna help me with my work ...

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

Up to the top, you're being fed a line of crapola... well, not really, but an incomplete line.

www.graduatingengineer.com is an awesome website, check it out. Circa '01 a BSEE with specialty in telecom *started* at $60K/year if you didn't suck were willing to relocate.

I dunno what the situation is wherever it is that you are at, but ALL NCCC (North Carolina Community Colleges) have a large bulk of their curriculum transferrable to any UNC (University of NC) school. The curriculum guidelines for transferrable classes are the same on a state level, you just download the course catalog online and only take those community college courses. Further, NCCC has a 2+2 transfer program set up with the UNC system where you take two years of community college and it covers the first 64 credit hours towards most any BS degree.

Your pitfall:

Some things, such as EE, are very course-specific so there is a speshul transfer agreement over a related degree. Yup, not EE, but a ECET (Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology) is what I'm being derailled onto. Most of the first year EE classes are calculus based, whereas a majority of NCCC electronics courses are algebra based, so you get shunted or play catchup. So, 64 hours at the CC level with another 64 at the university level, and I have a 17 credit hour minor in Telecommunications, since I'm taking classes in the summer I'll have it done in four years flat.

Plain truth is I'm bright and I am a spatial savant. Sounds great, right? Wrong. Anyone in an EE curriculum is bright, and being a savant usually means you lack a cognitive understanding of what/how you do things. Long story short, if I can do this so can you. Best part about it is you can take transferrable CC classes at night while you figure out what to do for employment when you make the jump to day classes.

I've got a couple gigs of math texbook .pdfs, some of which are EE-math. If you can get through first semester AC/DC circuit analysis - there is nothing harder - the rest of it is complex as hell but very much downhill from there. :)

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

Very true words..im working on my BS degree at nights at Mt Olive college now...nice lil drive..but it can transfer anywhere like he said above

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

Take a look at a basic circuit analysis book and see if you can figure any of it out. If you can, go for EE. If you are like 98% of the people in the world, you will be confused. I couldn't get circuit analysis past the very basics. Once loops and a bunch of ---- was added, I was lost. EE just wasn't for me. EE requires a strong foundation in calculus as well. You do A TON of math with EE. There are computer programs that assist you such as Matlab, but still requires a ton of math. If you like computers and electronics, technicians do well. My roomate is getting a degree in ITT at the end of the year. Basically what kind of job the degree gets you is service various technical problems on a hands on level but also be able to speak about the problems on an administrative level. He also takes very very easy classes and starting pay in the NE is about 40-50k. If you are unsure what you want to do, call up your local CC and find out whats up. They deal with people like you every day. They suggest degrees and will tell you what classes will transfer to the local university. With that info find out what you can do with an associates degree and also see what you could do with a bachelors degree. Also if you want to go back to school, drop your hours to 20 a week, take out a big student loan(enough to cover your missing salary and schooling) and just commit to finishing school. Taking 10 years to get your associates is a waste of time. Just do it and pay the loan when you are done. As long as you are getting a degree in a field that has job opportunities, don't worry about the debt. It will pay itself off. The only time you should worry about college debt is when you are getting a degree that has limited job opportunities. I don't care about getting in $40k of student debt because I know that because of my schooling I will enter the job marketing making $50-60k a year and there are jobs out there for me.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

in saying that your basicly encourageing something that you cant predict... not saying you wont make money... but what if you end up with a kid or something happens and now you cant finish school... or you are just to stupid to finish school...

i agree that if you get a job and are still single that you can easily pay somthing like that off... i would just think twice before you start on a debt like that...

but you are right in the since that it can easily pay for it self once you have the degree...

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

Circuit analysis is awkward logic for run of the mill critical thinkers, and it takes a second to catch on. You should give it a try every 6 months or so, Inqy, it's not easy initially but at some point it clicks into place. Further, I agree with your philosophy of student loans and full time school, but I stand by my recommendation to take some/a night class first. This gives you a buffer period to get back in tune with study habits, which most twentysomethings who havent been in a classroom need.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

I don't disagree. I'm still young but during high school did absolutely no work and forgot how to think/do work. In the end I spent some time at the CC learning how to study/use my brain again and at an affordable cost. Now I'm at a good university with very little issues as far as passing my classes with above average marks.

As for licenseless, I don't agree. It's the same thought when high school girls get knocked up and drop out. They should suffer while in school and deal with the adversity so after they graduate, life is slightly easier. Sometimes you have to work through tough times to get what you want in the end. If you want to go to school and get a better job in this day in age, you most likely will have to go into some debt. Its life.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

There are some people who have done just that, and would disagree with you fervently. They all have degrees in English, Psychology, Philosophy, etc. Small wonder they can't find work "in their profession," yet they have strong vocal opinions on the subject.

Anyway, it costs an NC resident barely more to go to a UNC school than it does to go to a NCCC, which I pay out of pocket and as such have no loans. My only hassle is the commute my junior and senor years when I have to drive 45 minutes one way to Western, whoopty-doo.

Re: anyone in electronics or telecommunications?
 

Most every state has a system like JD was talking about. The larger CCs in MN all have a transfer system set-up with the state and university systems. Makes things really easy when you don't lose any credits. You can also just do "distance learning" through many schools. You take your courses online that way you can make them fit your schedule as a full time worker.