I'm looking for some advice. I graduated from a technical institute a few years ago with an AS in computer electronics engineering technology. I ended up relocating to CA but haven't really nailed down anything concrete, just a few contracts here and there. As of the past few years I have been working retail. I went back to my school but the career services there really won't help. I've already given them my resume and contact info, and after numerous visits I gave up on them. I'm debating taking some refresher courses in a school and meanwhile looking for an entry-level job, preferably in AZ or somewhere close to there. Has anyone else been in this sort of situation before career-wise? Thanks.
My suggestion is if you can go back to university and take a degree course do it
How you do this I don’t know but you want to possibly take these days an IT course related to industrial electronics Your wasting your time with the commercial environment , i.e tv , dvd, audio etc give up on this
Unless you going to move along these lines This is interesting
The Ip controlled microwave oven operated from 12 volts Possible uses a switch mode power supply with hv to the magnetron no longer done by mains transformer , could food for thought
If your moving into vehicles look at smart cars and that technology Don’t rush out and spend tons of money in fast executive cars
Car mechanics will be solving problems across gsm modems atteched to the central brains of your car they wont be comming out except to possibly tow you back to a garage
This will soon be done in realtime across RF networks in fact they are already doing this via bluetooth just shows you didnt take them long to work that one out did it
Their days are numbered already People wont be traveling meetings will be held over the net So Think offices out homes in
Even if you moved into mechanical engineering that’s all software robot orientated
Just look at what’s happened in the banking industry Self tellers
In big places like Tesco’s for example its all self tellers no people scanning your shopping in anymore Those days are coming to a grinding halt
Security now is IP addressed surveillance means software , web technologies
Lighting Its moving into low voltage applications so if you thinking commercial think design end Think Ip controlled Think smart phone apps to do this
Entry systems all embedded soon access granted by smartphone , Android market , linux market Windows media phones
Round the corner is fiber optic so you know where that’s going as well
Audio market fibre optic Bluetooth wifi controlled DSP There you are
Id cards soon Know its comming , so java card technology , java ring technology This is the future now
You want industrial control applications , even power , switch mode supplies alternative energy sources , mobile phone technologies , touch screens , tft , signaling , web technologies but intergrated into automation , robotics
You want to be able to write your own guis , interface with all types of world technologies
Gone are the days when you pulled out a test meter and solved problems on pcb’s etc to complicated
Now what you do is send packet messages isolating one pcb from another blowing chips in real time , analyzing faults across the cloud, remote administration switching other circuits in via messaging changing the functionality of a machine on the FLY
The subjects that people used to put you in asylums for thinking you were mad to even suggest this
That’s your up and coming market now Comercial side is gone to be honest with you Even heavy current would be better than comercial now
You want software skills , with networking skills , both hardware and programming with embedded environments in other words comm’s or if you like communications and make sure you get the math’s tuition with this don’t let them cheat you out of this its so important
Forget what your doing Go back if you can its all moving this way now
These days we have radio controlled flying saucers for crowed controll I dare say it wont be long before the sods fire tear gas at you from above whilst taking your photo's
Im just waiting for some tiny green men to decend from above with miniture radios saying beam me up scotty about the size of toys whilst squirting you with the dreaded green splurge to help identify rioting suspects glow in the dark radio active drops
What with raspery pi's usb missile launcher all possible