Career prospects with either EE or CompSci

[trollcast]

Whats the career outlook for both these degrees with regard to both chances of gaining employment and the variety of different job opportunities availible?

I'm always hearing that engineering and especially EE is a very good field for jobs, however is this trend likely to continue in the future? Also are all these jobs design based or are there lots of machine minding jobs bolstering the figures?

If I was to do maths and computer science what would my prospects be like compared to doing an EE degree? I can't really decide between the 2 and I think that the career outlook of the 2 degrees could be an important factor in my decision.

Thanks.

 

[Simon Bridge]

In NZ you can combine computational and electrical engineering and the field is usually associated with smart robots. It appears to be emerging right now. There is no way to know if it will continue to do so.

As to your actual question - it is too broad. Some parts of EE (for eg.) are trending and some declining at any time (though, a degree would take about 4 years and, in that time, it is anybodies guess.)

If you like both - I'd say find an engineering school that does a lot of programming as well.

 

[trollcast]

In NZ you can combine computational and electrical engineering and the field is usually associated with smart robots. It appears to be emerging right now. There is no way to know if it will continue to do so.

As far as I can tell there are no combined Comp sci and EE degrees here in the UK but most if not all universities let you mix and match your classes to a certain amount. Eg. you could focus on power engineering and control engineering or take more classes on signals and microcircuits.

As to your actual question - it is too broad. Some parts of EE (for eg.) are trending and some declining at any time (though, a degree would take about 4 years and, in that time, it is anybodies guess.)

If you like both - I'd say find an engineering school that does a lot of programming as well.

Well what would leave me more open to a greater spectrum of careers and fields?

EE or Computer science or does it depend on the level of programming involved?

 

[Simon Bridge]

Well what would leave me more open to a greater spectrum of careers and fields?

The trend seems to be to increasing specialization - a jack of all trades is often unemployable even though he is technically open to a very wide range of fields. Someone with a degree in "job name" will usually beat them at the interview.

If you want to hedge your bets, then you want to keep your junior undergrad years as general as you can and keep an eye on the sorts of marketplaces you would like to enter. That way you can change tack as the trends shift. It's hard work though, and, initially, you won't be well connected.

Anyway - if you are good enough to do that, then you are probably good enough to get somewhere is any chosen field. Go to a halfway decent University and you will not find your degree irrelevant. Merely getting work is not usually the problem - it is getting work that you like doing that is key.

The way to do very well is to get yourself into a position where you are one of a few people with an in-demand skillset. The way to do that is to exploit the areas in which you are talented - you can tell what they are because you enjoy doing them a lot, they seem quite easy, and other people think they are hard. This means you will easily become very good in a particular area ... whether that area becomes "in demand" is a lottery I'm afraid. Both chosen paths are vocational though - it's not as if you are trying to become a rock star or an actor.

 

[trollcast]

The trend seems to be to increasing specialization - a jack of all trades is often unemployable even though he is technically open to a very wide range of fields. Someone with a degree in "job name" will usually beat them at the interview.

If you want to hedge your bets, then you want to keep your junior undergrad years as general as you can and keep an eye on the sorts of marketplaces you would like to enter. That way you can change tack as the trends shift. It's hard work though, and, initially, you won't be well connected.

Anyway - if you are good enough to do that, then you are probably good enough to get somewhere is any chosen field. Go to a halfway decent University and you will not find your degree irrelevant. Merely getting work is not usually the problem - it is getting work that you like doing that is key.

The way to do very well is to get yourself into a position where you are one of a few people with an in-demand skillset. The way to do that is to exploit the areas in which you are talented - you can tell what they are because you enjoy doing them a lot, they seem quite easy, and other people think they are hard. This means you will easily become very good in a particular area ... whether that area becomes "in demand" is a lottery I'm afraid. Both chosen paths are vocational though - it's not as if you are trying to become a rock star or an actor.

That all makes sense.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but what can you do with an EE deree that you couldn't do with Comp Sci or vice versa?

 

[Simon Bridge]

CompSci is mostly about computer programming.
EE is about designing and building electronic/electrical things.

When it comes to electronic devices for computation there is a lot of overlap.
Your question suggests this is where you want to live.

 

[trollcast]

CompSci is mostly about computer programming.
EE is about designing and building electronic/electrical things.

When it comes to electronic devices for computation there is a lot of overlap.
Your question suggests this is where you want to live.

Yeah, I'm not too fussed at the minute (although I'm not in university yet) on what are it is as long as there are jobs that allow innovation and creativity to solve problems and not just pulling up last years design and reusing it with different numbers or machine minding somewhere in a factory or office.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mépris]

I think a lot of what you can boils down to how creative you are willing to get and how many risks you are willing to take.

I heard of someone who graduated from uni at 23, with a degree in English. 7 years later, he had sold a business, bought another, sold a franchise, and was driving his first Porsche.

Or Twofish, and all those other physicists working in oil and gas or finance. Or meanrev and his finance start up.

Or the guy who wrote Beavis and Butt-head.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Mepris is correct - the big business school successes have tended to drop out for eg.
These are long-shots though - as any large return would be a long shot. For every such success story there are millions from the same position who don't get there.

 

[trollcast]

In NZ you can combine computational and electrical engineering and the field is usually associated with smart robots. It appears to be emerging right now. There is no way to know if it will continue to do so.

As to your actual question - it is too broad. Some parts of EE (for eg.) are trending and some declining at any time (though, a degree would take about 4 years and, in that time, it is anybodies guess.)

If you like both - I'd say find an engineering school that does a lot of programming as well.

I actually was wrong there is a degree that combines more computing modules with EE.

http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/StudyatQueens/CourseFinder/UCF2013-14/ElectricalandElectronicEngineering/H605/

Compared to :

http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/StudyatQueens/CourseFinder/UCF2013-14/SoftwareandElectronicSystemsEngineering/GH68/

I'm just going to contact the university on Monday to try and get a more detailed course list for both courses so I can do a bit of a compare and contrast between the 2 of them.

 

[trollcast]

I think a lot of what you can boils down to how creative you are willing to get and how many risks you are willing to take.

I heard of someone who graduated from uni at 23, with a degree in English. 7 years later, he had sold a business, bought another, sold a franchise, and was driving his first Porsche.

Or Twofish, and all those other physicists working in oil and gas or finance. Or meanrev and his finance start up.

Or the guy who wrote Beavis and Butt-head.

Mepris is correct - the big business school successes have tended to drop out for eg.
These are long-shots though - as any large return would be a long shot. For every such success story there are millions from the same position who don't get there.

I'm not interested in becoming a multi-million before I'm 30, although that would be a bonus lol, I'm more interested in what I'd be best doing to help me secure:

a. a job of some description that's not burger flipping at the local greasy spoon
b. a job that's interesting and varied
c. a job that allows creativity and innovation and isn't full of red-tape

 

[dydxforsn]

a. a job of some description that's not burger flipping at the local greasy spoon

heheh, your priorities are correct. It was once that people were debating which majors were better for the pay, now people are simply debating which major actually provides a real job!

Heh, both computer science and electrical engineering are great, and from my experiences in life, they're the best two majors in regards to guaranteed employment at a decent job :)

 

[trollcast]

http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/StudyatQueens/CourseFinder/UCF2013-14/SoftwareandElectronicSystemsEngineering/GH68/

Heh, both computer science and electrical engineering are great, and from my experiences in life, they're the best two majors in regards to guaranteed employment at a decent job :)

What about a course like the one linked in my quote above?

Is it still going to be good for jobs or is it trying to be too broad and covering not enough software engineering or not enough electronics (I've noticed that power engineering is missing from it, but that's not a big loss as I'm not really sure that's the type of field I'd want to work in as there's so much red tape about)?