Actually the thread is all about studying RF and Analog. As for jobs, a lot of the digital, firmware etc. get good pay, I never challenge that. I don't know their pay scale, I never hire a software person. People that I hired HAS to be able to do both, I don't hire anyone that is only in one side.
The whole thread to me is about paying the piper and you'll have option in the future be it that your interest is in digital firmware. As long as you get good foundation, you can pick it up.
All advanced books are written in Calculus, if you don't have good calculus background like me before, Those books quickly become gibberish...to me all these years. That is the reason after I retired, I button up and make up all the calculus to PDE and really study the EM theory. I might come out strong in this subject, but this is my own life experience. I went very far with the little knowledge I had, but I always felt there is a hole that I cannot jump over. That's why at my old age, I determine to overcome this. 4 years! 6 days a week, three hours a day. My wife think I am crazy.
If I can change the mind of one student, I think I accomplished something. Don't take the easy way out. Take the time and understand the basic Calculus and circuit theory. Even I gone through one and half semester of calculus, I was getting C, that really don't help. I started on page ONE of the calculus book this time! After Antenna, my next goal is Complex Analysis, preparing to climbing my Mt. Everest...JD Jackson Classical Electrodynamics.