"Electronics Technology."

[pinkphiloyd]

I'm considering going back to school. I've been a paramedic for 18 years. I am totally and completely over it. I hate my job. HATE. HAAAAAATE. I went back to school a few years ago and got a B.S. in Biology thinking maybe i'd go to medical school. It was about the time that I was graduating that I realized that I didn't want to move into a new career in healthcare, I wanted out of healthcare all together.

So, I've been trudging along, blah. If I'm going to change careers, the time is now. At 38, I'm not getting any younger. I'll get to the point.

I'm considering 2 options.

1.) Going all out and becoming an electrical engineer. Or trying to. My math skills aren't fantabulous, but when I went back for my B.S. I went as far as Cal 1. I had to work at it, but I got out of there just shy of an A. And I think I could have pulled the A but I had to miss several days towards the end of the semester.

2.) My local CC has an associates in "electronics technology." I've already had all my core classes, as well as the physics, trig, etc. so that would just leave me with the attached courses. But I can find out very little about what kind of career options there are for electronic technicians. It seems pretty vague. "A wide variety of fields." That kind of thing. Anybody know if there are AAS electronics jobs out there? Not necessarily audio. Just, period?

[eniam rognab]

i just finished getting my two AS degrees in Electronics Technology, Telecommunications and Automated Systems. i am currently hunting for a better job. right now i work on industrial battery chargers, mainly for electric vehicles but also a range of other applications. its alright, but im burned out repairing PCBs and i am relocating from california.

i have found a number of different jobs in different fields looking for my skill set. people that i went to school with are working in Control Systems at municipal water companies, working for the FCC in telecommunications, climbing radio towers, computer technicians, apple production lines, network systems. the list goes on and on. i think its a good field to get into and you can take it where your interests lie.

i am on the fence about continuing into engineering, there seems to be alot of EEs out there, i might get a physics degree to compliment my AS-ET. but this is personal decision. just throwing some ideas out there for you

[pinkphiloyd]

Thanks! That's just the kind of input I'm looking for.

[TUBEDUDE]

The folks I know with associates technology degrees have jobs in the low end of the field. One has a job repairing copiers, another works for the county school system repairing burglar alarms and PA systems etc., and a third works repairing battery chargin systems. All three are frustrated with mediocre pay and little chance.of advancement in a technical field.
You have a great start already, you might consider getting a BSEE. Not as saturated a field as in California I'm sure. Or a related field. I'd recommend a BSBmE. Biomedical Engineers will always be in demand, wether designing medical devices, working in a clinical setting at a hospital, or as a project manager integrating new medical systems in large hopital chains, a variety of options exists.

[Ken Moon]

The hardest part about going from an ASET to a BSEE is that the engineering school probably won't give yyou credit for courses you might have taken like Physics, especially if you took a version that didn't require calculus. So you may find yourself basically starting over.

ETs do more than repair jobs - they have replaced engineers at some firms for the jobs of drawing with AutoCAD, circuit simulation, testing, and preparing technical reports.

Look at thhe bigger employers in your area, and ask for an appointment with HR. Ask them politely and honestly if they hire ETs, and for what jobs. Some of them will blow you off, but a few will be nice and tell you what schools they like and don't like, and if there are certain classes you'll need to work there.

If you're a little more bold, you could find where the EEs go for drinks after work, and if you buy a round or two, you'd be surprised how the actual workers will open up and tell you the real scoop.

As for other sciences, I've found that Chemistry is a great field to know, because there are a lot of jobs with energy companies and environmental companies and government agencies who need chemists.

...or you could study Botany and get a job in Colorado...

[pinkphiloyd]

The hardest part about going from an ASET to a BSEE is that the engineering school probably won't give yyou credit for courses you might have taken like Physics, especially if you took a version that didn't require calculus. So you may find yourself basically starting over.

ETs do more than repair jobs - they have replaced engineers at some firms for the jobs of drawing with AutoCAD, circuit simulation, testing, and preparing technical reports.

Look at thhe bigger employers in your area, and ask for an appointment with HR. Ask them politely and honestly if they hire ETs, and for what jobs. Some of them will blow you off, but a few will be nice and tell you what schools they like and don't like, and if there are certain classes you'll need to work there.

If you're a little more bold, you could find where the EEs go for drinks after work, and if you buy a round or two, you'd be surprised how the actual workers will open up and tell you the real scoop.

As for other sciences, I've found that Chemistry is a great field to know, because there are a lot of jobs with energy companies and environmental companies and government agencies who need chemists.

...or you could study Botany and get a job in Colorado...

So, some conflicting reports. About what I expected. I minored in chemistry and find it fascinating, but electronics is where I wanna be, I think. I'm definitely leaning trying the engineering program.

[Gibsonman63]

I also have an associates in Electronics. It has been 27 years now. My classmates scattered in all directions as far as career paths. Being in Texas, there was a lot of opportunity in Oil and Gas and I have done pretty good for myself. I did have to work my way up through the business and it took quite a while. A couple of things to consider; The jobs available will depend on your location and you may find that other industries do not have the job security of the medical field. That is certainly true for anything related to Oil and Gas. After a while, you learn to live on less than you make and to keep enough stashed away to ride out the next downturn.

[guitarmike2107]

Find what you love and do that, if its electronics great, go for it, but go for the best you can, not the quickest/easiest route.

I am similar ages and spent the last 12 years as a design engineer/Engineering Manager for Transport and Oil and Gas sectors, dealing with mechanical and electrical design remits, there was some good stuff along the way, but after 12 years of sitting behind a desk, now with a bad back and general poor fitness I am glad I made a change and am pursuing something I enjoy. on the flip side I am financially worse off and that has its own strains, but I am trusting that is short term as my business grows.

good luck!

[norburybrook]

Find what you love and do that, if its electronics great, go for it, but go for the best you can, not the quickest/easiest route.

I am similar ages and spent the last 12 years as a design engineer/Engineering Manager for Transport and Oil and Gas sectors, dealing with mechanical and electrical design remits, there was some good stuff along the way, but after 12 years of sitting behind a desk, now with a bad back and general poor fitness I am glad I made a change and am pursuing something I enjoy. on the flip side I am financially worse off and that has its own strains, but I am trusting that is short term as my business grows.

good luck!

wise words

I'm 53 by the way so am saying this with the adage of being a generation older

I have never worked a day in my life what I mean by that is I've pursued my dreams and played/produced/written music all my life and when you do that it's not work.

Life's short, my brother in law is currently dying and he's only a bit older than me, so don't wait around....THIS IS NOT A REHEARSAL.....THIS IS IT.

it takes a bit of balls to change things but go for it, whatever it is.


good luck..

Marcus

[pinkphiloyd]

Find what you love and do that, if its electronics great, go for it, but go for the best you can, not the quickest/easiest route.

I am similar ages and spent the last 12 years as a design engineer/Engineering Manager for Transport and Oil and Gas sectors, dealing with mechanical and electrical design remits, there was some good stuff along the way, but after 12 years of sitting behind a desk, now with a bad back and general poor fitness I am glad I made a change and am pursuing something I enjoy. on the flip side I am financially worse off and that has its own strains, but I am trusting that is short term as my business grows.

good luck!

That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'll be the first to admit that, at 38, I still have no idea what I want to do when I grow up, but I've tinkered with electronics as a hobby since high school and have been approaching it much more seriously for the last few years now, so, I don't know. It's worth a shot.

[pinkphiloyd]

Finally got to talk to an advisor at UA. She said all of my core classes would transfer and that all the chem and biology classes I took when obtain my first B.S. would cover most of my electives. She said I could be an EE in 2.5 to 3 years. I think I'm gonna do it. I'm kind of scared out of my balls.

[Ken Moon]

Sounds like a plan!

If all you had was Calc 1 you'll probably need (depending on the school) Calc 2, Calc 3, Diff EQ, and possibly Linear Algebra.

When I went to SUNY years ago, they had an introductory math class for Science/Engineering/Math majors that I took in my Freshman year (prior to any Calculus) called Math Analysis and Proofs. It tied together an overall conceptual & historical look at Calculus with the concept of mathematical proofs.

I've heard that this class has evolved (devolved?) into a high school AP class for students entering math and science programs in college in NY.

I don't think I could have made it through all of the math classes (I had 2 semesters of Diff EQ and 2 semesters of Control Theory, which was basically more diff eq) without this class, so I could stand back and see why, for example, we had to memorize the derivatives of the trig functions in Calc 2.

You may want to look at a similar course online or as a download before jumping right into Calc 2, or consider reviewing Calc 1 using an online course.

I'm sure you'll do fine - just don't skip any homework (like I did, out of laziness), because it makes it hard to keep up if you do.

Cheers, Ken

[boots]

I got my AAS in EET in 1991, with the idea that I wanted to get paid for doing something I enjoyed. As it turns out, doing it professionally kind of ruined electronics as a hobby for quite a while (until I got into building guitar amps!).

At that time, there were lots of crappy low paying jobs for EET's, and very few good jobs. To get one of the good jobs, you had to wait for somebody to retire or die first. Most of the available jobs were in repairs.

FWIW, I should have got a BSEE, because I think it opens more doors for you down the road than an AAS ever could.

Anyway, that was a long time ago, and now I am doing something totally different for a living. I spent about 10 years working as an electronics tech, and the AAS wasn't a waste because I still do occasional repairs and amp builds on the side.

[cbass]

I'm 38 also I envy your courage to go back to school . I wish I would have pursued an education but I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I'm probably a little rough around the edges to be working around "people"

[jazbo8]

I know EE's are paid pretty well, but how much is the starting salary for an AAS these days?