How can a BSEET grad get a real engineering job?

Boondocks
Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:26:36 +0000

It’s way too hard to give you an answer to this without knowing you and your personal situation. That being said, here is some general advice:

1) Getting an MSEE will certainly put you in a better position to get a better job in the future than a BSEET or a BSEE degree. Ask yourself this: Do you want to go to work at a different job right now, or do you want to continue going to school?

2) My best guess is that I kind of doubt that taking the calc-based physics and theoretical math classes will make those who are skeptical about your technology degree hire you (I could be completely wrong here). A few might. Those classes might help you on the job, depending on what job you get.

3) Some companies won’t hire you if you have technology at the end of your degree. Some will only hire you into the applications-oriented positions, such as quality engineer, test engineer, field engineer, production manager/supervisor, manufacturing engineer, sales engineer, etc. Some won’t care at all. Some will only consider you for technician positions (don’t work for those companies – you’re not a technician). It’s a mixed bag. I just did some work for a company where the head of engineering had a BS in Industrial Technology, which requires far less math than an engineering technology degree. One of the people he oversees has a PhD in chemical engineering.

4) Yes, for-profit online schools are frowned upon by some companies. I don’t know how many places will block you because of that, but some will.

5) You mentioned that human resources doesn’t like for profit schools. That means you are trying to go through HR to get your job. Regardless of your degree, you should avoid human resources in your job search if you can. HR doesn’t hire anyone who doesn’t work in HR. On engineering positions, they can only screen people before putting them in front of hiring managers. You need to find a way to connect with the hiring managers. 12% of people hired from outside the company get hired via job boards. An equal number get hired via jobs posted on the company web site. That means that 75% are hired via other means, with the number one way being through networking, and number two being some other way of connecting with the hiring manager directly, such as direct mail. When you look for a job, you need to use all methods. Applying for advertised positions via the internet is the least likely to bear fruit, yet over half of most job hunters’ time is spent using this method, according to research.

6) You have many years of on-the-job experience from the Navy, plus experience from your current job. You carry the title of engineer. What you’re really saying is that you want to change from an applications engineering position to a different type of engineering position (to me, a CAD position sounds like a step down, by the way – lots of people with no degree or 2-year degrees do that). Moving from an applications position to a different type of engineering position can be done, but it will take a lot of work. Job hunting is hard work (as is continuing your education). Changing your career path is unlikely to happen by applying for posted jobs, because they are going to hire people who meet the specifications exactly. You need to connect with the right people and make them like you enough and believe in you enough to give you the chance to make the change. This is the case with all career-changers. At your experience level, you could now be considered for a management position, which may also want to consider. How to hunt for a job is a book, not just a post, and I can’t cover it here.

There is no easy answer, but you now have a BS degree. Don’t let what you think other people think about the technology tag and the school name let you get in the way of what you want to do. If need be, augment it with other courses. If you want a new job now, try knocking on doors now before you decide you’re going to be crawling on your back for life (the answer is that you will be if you’re not that great or if that is what you really enjoy doing and can be superior at it, and you won’t be on your back all your life if you are good and show some drive).

At this point, your work experience is probably more important than your degree. Your new degree is a plus. Get out there and see what you can find.