Career advice?

[screwball]

Hello,

I'm currently studying as an electrical and electronic engineer (NVQ Level 3). I am a little unsure of what I want to do after completing the NVQ L3 in electrical and electronic engineering so thought someone on here could possibly help?

Basically, I want to know what i should do after completing the NVQ L3, should i try for a specialist area for example electronic design or should i apply to different companies and see what is offered?

A quick about me;
Im currently in the UK, willing to travel anywhere at companies expense or at my own expense providing it is reasonable.
I like pretty much anything to do with electronics/electrical practically,
Not to be big headed but im very good at maths and the principles side of electronics & work that requires logic
Im currently learning (in spare time) assembly coding for PICs (and soon looking at learning C coding also)
I'm willing to do what it takes to get a good career doing what i want on a semi decent salary

Any idea what path i should go down? I quite like the idea of programming microcontrollers etc but due to its nature im under the impression that i wouldnt be doing much practical work (would i be right to say this?)

Any help would be very much appreciated

 

[Raven Luni]

I'm not sure what the academic equivalent of NVQs are (should be about HNC level if I remember?)

The only career advice I can really offer is if you have a particular area you are gifted in go for it hard and fast. I dont envy you the heartache of sending your CV to countless employers and not hearing a word back. Get yourself a reputation among your peers, then theyll remember you when they are in a position to help you get a job (thats how I got my first job).

But you were asking about career paths. If its microcontrollers youre interested in, I'd say telecomms is a fairly stable area with alot of innovation going on.

 

[screwball]

I'm not sure what the academic equivalent of NVQs are (should be about HNC level if I remember?)

The only career advice I can really offer is if you have a particular area you are gifted in go for it hard and fast. I dont envy you the heartache of sending your CV to countless employers and not hearing a word back. Get yourself a reputation among your peers, then theyll remember you when they are in a position to help you get a job (thats how I got my first job).

But you were asking about career paths. If its microcontrollers youre interested in, I'd say telecomms is a fairly stable area with alot of innovation going on.

there are many levels of NVQ, a HNC is the equivalent of an NVQ level 4 so basically im doing 1 level below a HNC.

So a company like Sky or BT? Doing electronic telecomms? along them lines?

If you dont mind me asking, what do you do? what qualifications do you need/experience and your approximate salary? Dont need to be specific, just an idea kind of thing

Cheers

 

[Raven Luni]

I'd avoid the big ones - go for the specialised / corporate market.

Me - I'm a software engineer and I currently work on hosted VOIP systems, got the degree and all the rest of it but pieces of paper only really matter to people who do nothing but 'manage' and have no knowledge of the field they are working in (I speak from experience). I have the good fortune of working with my best friend who is every bit as good as I am but has no formal qualifications. Discipline is a fine thing but without the raw skill its a big fat waste of time.

I could go on all day with my cynical ramblings but we dont want to derail the topic. This is about giving you some ideas. I can only really speak from a software perspective. I know that alot of software applications are becoming more specialised and condensed into hardware. Then there is the networking side of it - so many levels there from basic cabling to routing and signal processing. The technology is advancing fast and will be for the forseeable future. Its a good field to get into.

 

[screwball]

they sound like wise words to me Haha

I guess programming chips is like software design in a way?
what would programming chips actually be called? hardware design and programming?
do you know what chip programmers would do practically?