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As long as it's an accredited engineering program and not actually something like a degree in engineering technology then it's as good as any other engineering degree, in terms of getting you picked out by recruiters.
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Mar 9, 2016 15:08
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There will definitely be a stigma, I'm sure you're aware. You will probably have to work harder than your co-workers to prove yourself in your first job.
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Mar 9, 2016 15:31
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Mar 9, 2016 17:02
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Thanks for all the replies. It's a full on BSEE, you just do your labs at home by buying some sort of electrical hobby kit or something. The program and degree name doesn't specifically mention online anywhere. The closest school offering engineering is FIT and UCF, but FIT is crazy expensive and UCF is some serious commuting. Would grabbing a PE help kill the stigma, or will it always be there? My thought is that it's a state college with a good program; it's not like it's some for-profit degree mill.
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Mar 9, 2016 17:13
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Take the FE when you are eligible. PE is way down the road.
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Mar 9, 2016 17:32
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Yeah by the time your eligible to sit the PE exam you should have already comfortably proved your worth.
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Mar 9, 2016 19:38
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notZaar posted:There will definitely be a stigma, I'm sure you're aware. You will probably have to work harder than your co-workers to prove yourself in your first job. Personally, I think the stigma would come from being an HPV U graduate, but that's just me. Hamlet442 posted:Thanks for all the replies. It's a full on BSEE, you just do your labs at home by buying some sort of electrical hobby kit or something. The program and degree name doesn't specifically mention online anywhere. The closest school offering engineering is FIT and UCF, but FIT is crazy expensive and UCF is some serious commuting. Would grabbing a PE help kill the stigma, or will it always be there? My thought is that it's a state college with a good program; it's not like it's some for-profit degree mill. If you can pull off an internship / co-op while getting that degree, that will be a huge boost as well.
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Mar 9, 2016 20:11
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Hamlet442 posted:Thanks for all the replies. It's a full on BSEE, you just do your labs at home by buying some sort of electrical hobby kit or something. The program and degree name doesn't specifically mention online anywhere. The closest school offering engineering is FIT and UCF, but FIT is crazy expensive and UCF is some serious commuting. Would grabbing a PE help kill the stigma, or will it always be there? My thought is that it's a state college with a good program; it's not like it's some for-profit degree mill. Stream of conscious rambling: I'll be honest with you: Some people will always think less of online degrees. Some people don't care. I don't think people that believe one way will change their minds to the other. Personally, I think that fundamentals (undergraduate) should be taught in a traditional setting required for proctored tests, collaborative group-work, and the one-on-one instruction from professor office hours. I think that by the time you get to grad school, you should probably know enough to be able to figure it out on your own... I just can't imagine effectively teaching myself electromagnetics or electromechanics without that. Now that I'm pretty comfortable reading text books and picking out important bits, I think I get a lot more out of teaching myself than I did when I first started undergrad. I'm a little skeptical that someone just watching videos is getting the same value as someone sitting in a classroom asking and answering questions. My wife is doing a semi-distance grad school class right now and she has regular class hours where they do live WebEx/Skype. That seems to work fairly well. Her labwork is done either in person or recorded via video camera and uploaded to the professor. Since it doesn't sound like you have any good options available, be prepared for a response to "How did you do your labs?" if that comes up. I think most EEs know that ASU/UND + not living in Arizona or North Dakota = online BSEE so it's not hard to figure that one out. Some people are going to react poorly. Some people won't care. Some people might view it as a plus that you stuck with an online program and worked while doing it. I am imagining that you're going to buy an Analog Discovery kit which is what our freshmen and sophomores used before they start the actual full lab classes using lab gear. If you can, maybe you could take electromechanics/lab at a traditional school so you can at least do motor/generator/transformer labs? Can't really simulate that.. Anyway once you get a job your college stuff becomes much less relevant like others have said.
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Mar 10, 2016 04:52
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Hamlet442 posted:Thanks for all the replies. It's a full on BSEE, you just do your labs at home by buying some sort of electrical hobby kit or something. The program and degree name doesn't specifically mention online anywhere. The closest school offering engineering is FIT and UCF, but FIT is crazy expensive and UCF is some serious commuting. Would grabbing a PE help kill the stigma, or will it always be there? My thought is that it's a state college with a good program; it's not like it's some for-profit degree mill. I'm guessing you are on the space coast. Whats up space coast (Melbourne?) buddy. Why not just move to Orlando to go to school? This is triple true if you are young and not already working a full time job making 40+k/year. If you're young and/or making significantly less than that my suggestion is to move and dedicate your life to school. On a positive note: Big things happening in this area once you're done: SpaceX, Blue Horizon, NASA, NASA contractors, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, Harris all have MASSIVE engineering projects going on for the foreseeable future. EDIT: Plus being with UCF/FIT/Embry Riddle will likely mean you can find internships at the aforementioned places. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Mar 11, 2016 |
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Mar 11, 2016 04:31
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CarForumPoster posted:I'm guessing you are on the space coast. Whats up space coast (Melbourne?) buddy. Why not just move to Orlando to go to school? This is triple true if you are young and not already working a full time job making 40+k/year. If you're young and/or making significantly less than that my suggestion is to move and dedicate your life to school. Yeah, I live in Melbourne. I've thought about moving to Orlando, but I'm kind of stuck in the military at the moment making a bit more than 40k so far. I'm mostly hammering through my degree so I have a pretty decent career outside of the military, and hoping I can use my military experience to pad a resume.
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Mar 11, 2016 14:12
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All of the aforementioned companies love to hire vets because security clearance and it's their customer. I think it would be very difficult to complete an engineering degree online and FIT is a good school thats up the street from you. A much higher regarded school in this area than ASU...online or not. Won't the GI bill cover most of the degree?
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Mar 11, 2016 19:09
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Hamlet442 posted:Yeah, I live in Melbourne. I've thought about moving to Orlando, but I'm kind of stuck in the military at the moment making a bit more than 40k so far. I'm mostly hammering through my degree so I have a pretty decent career outside of the military, and hoping I can use my military experience to pad a resume. I wouldn't consider the military as just "padding a resume". In general, the vets that I've worked with have been more focused, disciplined and capable of independent work than someone who went HS -> college -> job. If you joined out of high school and are leaving the service 4-6 years later, don't undervalue how much that life experience separates you from an 18 year old. Just FYI, I'm saying this as someone who wasn't in the military...this is purely my experience with co-workers. I don't doubt the military can produce some real asshats, but if you're taking classes while you're in and thinking about your future when you're out, I don't think you're one of them. And I would second using the GI Bill to take classes full time in person, if that's possible for you. It's good to have a group of classmates you move through the curriculum with, because you'll inevitably run into a concept you don't get right away and someone else in the group will.
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Mar 12, 2016 22:22
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I'm a vet that went through engineering school on the GI bill. It can be rough but it's a good way to transition out and redefine yourself as an engineer instead of a swabbie, grunt, or whatever. I found that it put me far ahead of my peers when it came to competing with them.. but I was competing for internships and entry level positions with 23 year olds with minimal work experience. Absolutely work an internship. Military experience will enhance your resume; however, you still need to jump through the hoops. Don't be the guy that's too full of himself to work internships. That's the guy that doesn't have a job lined up after they graduate because they didn't have the humility to start back at the bottom. That being said, being a vet that jumps through the hoops means you'll be pick of the litter once you get your pedigree papers. Since you're older, you're probably more mature and focused. You should have clearly defined plans, goals, and a means to achieve it. Leverage that. You should be able to talk your plan in interviews. You're already putting it to work so you're doing the right thing. Personally, I think you'd be better off to avoid online engineering classes. I've tried to go down that route and it just didn't compare in terms of value to sitting in a chair with a professor teaching me where I could ask questions and get direct, instant feedback. Take your electives and general ed classes online. Don't skimp on math. Feel free to PM me about whatever.
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Mar 13, 2016 05:19
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I've never come across an engineering company (particularly field service) that didn't loooooove vets. Out of the twenty or so field guys in my office, I think maybe a quarter (if that) of us are non-vets.
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Mar 13, 2016 07:35
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If I interned in manufacturing, and take a first job in manufacturing, am I doing that for life? I'm trying to decide between a job role I like in an industry I'm neutral on, and a manufacturing position in the industry I'm most interested in. Would a master's degree help me move into something more technical with nothing but manufacturing experience?
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Mar 14, 2016 14:27
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It's more likely than not to stay in your field, but even in manufacturing you can still do technical stuff. Most manufacturing companies should have an R&D team where you can get more science-y.
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Mar 14, 2016 16:33
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The Royal Scrub posted:If I interned in manufacturing, and take a first job in manufacturing, am I doing that for life? No. My background was in CNC machining (manufacturing) during and for 1 year after college at a prestigious company in the tech industry. I moved to a electro-mechanical engineer role (my degree is ME) now that is much more technical at a major Aero/Defense company. The Royal Scrub posted:I'm trying to decide between a job role I like in an industry I'm neutral on, and a manufacturing position in the industry I'm most interested in. Would a master's degree help me move into something more technical with nothing but manufacturing experience? Yes. To make the transition I did I had to study the subjects described in the job description I wanted very intensely for a few months in order to be able to get through a phone interview in a way that impressed my new company. One way to do this is have a Master's degree in the subject. Another is to study and do related projects. In addition to the studying I showed them that I could teach myself popular finite element analysis software and showed the results of the analysis. All I did was the examples that came with the software but it was impressive to them that I did what was needed to have the skills they wanted.
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Mar 14, 2016 22:21
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Thanks for the input. All I heard when asking about the job was work instructions. It's a job at the company I want to work at though, and I guess that could help more than anything to move up and in.
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Mar 15, 2016 13:25
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CarForumPoster posted:All of the aforementioned companies love to hire vets because security clearance and it's their customer. I think it would be very difficult to complete an engineering degree online and FIT is a good school thats up the street from you. A much higher regarded school in this area than ASU...online or not. I was looking into FIT but the cost is 5x more than ASU. The GI Bill combined with the Yellow Ribbon Program would cover most of it, but I can't use that while Active Duty. It's definitely something worth considering though. RogueLemming posted:I wouldn't consider the military as just "padding a resume". In general, the vets that I've worked with have been more focused, disciplined and capable of independent work than someone who went HS -> college -> job. If you joined out of high school and are leaving the service 4-6 years later, don't undervalue how much that life experience separates you from an 18 year old. Just FYI, I'm saying this as someone who wasn't in the military...this is purely my experience with co-workers. I don't doubt the military can produce some real asshats, but if you're taking classes while you're in and thinking about your future when you're out, I don't think you're one of them. I was thinking padding the resume by essentially trading internship with managing projects while I'm in the military. I'm about ten years from getting a pension/healthcare for the rest of my life, but I don't want to keep going if I can't use my military experience in place of the internship. I assume experience carries more weight than internships? KetTarma posted:I'm a vet that went through engineering school on the GI bill. It can be rough but it's a good way to transition out and redefine yourself as an engineer instead of a swabbie, grunt, or whatever. Same question as above comparing experience vs internships. I'm down for either, but just saying that to an employer won't exactly work. My original plan is to complete the degree while I'm in online and use any experience to fill the gap for internships while maintaining my clearance, and hopefully be able to get more than an entry-level job as an engineer once I retire. In your opinion, is that closer to a pipe-dream, or would I have to compete for internships upon retirement since I'll have no experience in a civilian company as an intern?
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Mar 15, 2016 18:01
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Hamlet442 posted:Same question as above comparing experience vs internships. I'm down for either, but just saying that to an employer won't exactly work. My original plan is to complete the degree while I'm in online and use any experience to fill the gap for internships while maintaining my clearance, and hopefully be able to get more than an entry-level job as an engineer once I retire. In your opinion, is that closer to a pipe-dream, or would I have to compete for internships upon retirement since I'll have no experience in a civilian company as an intern? Since I have no idea of your background, I'll instead suggest you consider how you' would answer these questions: quote:Tell me about the most challenging engineering project that you have been involved with during past year.
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Mar 15, 2016 19:18
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You will be entry level, might be able to talk yourself up a few grand but you basically will not know anything related to engineering other than your school work.
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Mar 15, 2016 19:28
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Hamlet442 posted:In your opinion, is that closer to a pipe-dream, or would I have to compete for internships upon retirement since I'll have no experience in a civilian company as an intern? If your job now is heavily involved in the technical aspects of a system (or systems) such that you work down at the level of the vendors requirements docs and with their engineers to troubleshoot/field that system then I would guess that you could probably go work for that vendor on that system and have them count at least some of that experience. I would talk to your contacts with the vendor directly about it though. Just being an operator of a system is probably not going to cut it though. e: A military (not commissioned officer) pension sounds nice but I don't know if it's worth giving up 10+ years of higher salary and accrued benefits. I would do the math on that. If you are currently a commissioned officer then that would probably change things, senior line officers can get jobs high up in defense contractors just based on their experience and contacts. For example had you spent 20-30 years working up through the billets to command say, a missile cruiser or submarine you have lots of knowledge that is invaluable. Most of these types in my experience (I have worked with several) already have advanced engineering degrees though so I am guessing that's not your case. Murgos fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Mar 15, 2016 |
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Mar 15, 2016 20:06
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Murgos posted:If your job now is heavily involved in the technical aspects of a system (or systems) such that you work down at the level of the vendors requirements docs and with their engineers to troubleshoot/field that system then I would guess that you could probably go work for that vendor on that system and have them count at least some of that experience. This is very true. As a systems engineer (RF) I've been contacted by many of our subcontractors for positions at their companies.
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Mar 15, 2016 23:02
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mitztronic posted:This is very true. As a systems engineer (RF) I've been contacted by many of our subcontractors for positions at their companies. Don't you hate your job and make terrible pay for where you live? Why arent you taking them?!
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Mar 16, 2016 00:33
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Since I got my degree, I've been trying to get into the field of robotics or something related (or at least something involving design work on complex machines that would build skills applicable towards that). Trouble is, since finishing school I've been stuck with crap (by engineering standards) jobs which did effectively nothing for my credentials in that area. I've been looking into the possibility of doing some personal projects to make my resume less unimpressive. I've recently been looking at one of the following: -Getting a nice drone and getting familiar with the principles of flying autonomously by GPS waypoints -Building a telepresence robot with a stereoscopic camera transmitting to one of the new VR headsets -Building a robot to enter the Robomagellan competition Has anyone here undertaken any sort of hobby type project with the intent of putting it on a resume? Does anyone have any other ideas for projects which could be worthy of a place on a resume?
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Mar 20, 2016 01:06
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Cockmaster posted:Has anyone here undertaken any sort of hobby type project with the intent of putting it on a resume? Does anyone have any other ideas for projects which could be worthy of a place on a resume? Step 1)Go look up 4 or 5 job descriptions for similar jobs you want. 2)Do literally any project using the exact software/analysis techniques/other skills the job requires. 3)Profit no ???? here The projects are as good as the skills they prove you have.
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Mar 21, 2016 02:54
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CarForumPoster posted:Don't you hate your job and make terrible pay for where you live? Why arent you taking them?! Two were out of state (flyover states), one ended up requiring a clearance for working on weapons-related things, and the last was for a company that is somehow even worse than mine for pay and employee happiness, although the last one was a small boost in pay it wasn't worth the extra 40 minutes it would have added to my 60 minute commute. blah blah blah, first world problems...
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Mar 23, 2016 23:24
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What's wrong with a clearance, do you really need to be squeaky clean to get one?
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Mar 24, 2016 03:33
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Maybe he doesn't want to work on weapons?
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Mar 24, 2016 04:15
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Olothreutes posted:Maybe he doesn't want to work on weapons? Ended up requiring a clearance kind of says it caught him off guard. Working on weapons is probably something you'd know going into it.. I was just asking for myself anyways, not to judge him. I have an interview for a position that would require one and I was an idiot less than seven years ago.
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Mar 24, 2016 04:29
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The Royal Scrub posted:Ended up requiring a clearance kind of says it caught him off guard. Working on weapons is probably something you'd know going into it.. Probably, but maybe not. There are a lot of weird things that end up being weapons related. A guy where I work was an idiot about nine years back and they are giving him hell getting his clearance. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to do anything weapons related, even though that's where all the really cool science gets done. Ethics are weird.
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Mar 24, 2016 04:36
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The Royal Scrub posted:Ended up requiring a clearance kind of says it caught him off guard. Working on weapons is probably something you'd know going into it.. The company actually does both commercial and government contracts, after I interviewed he said "well we want you to work on this instead, you'd be a good fit" which would have been a cool job in embedded systems (something I wanted to get into) but then he dropped the security clearance and I asked more. I told him I wasn't interested in working in weapons and that was the end of that. The original job was working on ground systems equipment. Idk Morally I will not work on anything weapons related. Even communication systems for the government is pushing it. I worked on a UAV communication satellite proposal for a very short time and it made me feel really uneasy.
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Mar 24, 2016 14:41
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mitztronic posted:The company actually does both commercial and government contracts, after I interviewed he said "well we want you to work on this instead, you'd be a good fit" which would have been a cool job in embedded systems (something I wanted to get into) but then he dropped the security clearance and I asked more. I told him I wasn't interested in working in weapons and that was the end of that. The original job was working on ground systems equipment. Idk Hey man, I also avoid weapon stuff in my job searches and it's tougher but it is absolutely possible. I have a great job now. Try applying at foreign corps US branch offices and the like, it is way cleaner and the possibility to get bumped over to a weapon project is near nil.
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Mar 24, 2016 19:56
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That said realize that if you ever publish or patent New things and it works well in weapons they'll just put it in anyway so even if you do your best avoiding it, it happens.
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Mar 24, 2016 19:59
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The Royal Scrub posted:I was just asking for myself anyways, not to judge him. I have an interview for a position that would require one and I was an idiot less than seven years ago. Be honest, you don't have to be squeaky clean. One time offenses are often overlooked and the different granting authorities have their own policies. If you were just an idiot then whatever, they'll ask you about it and move on. One of the major things they are looking for is if you can be blackmailed into betraying secrets. If your offense is out in the open then you obviously can't be blackmailed for it. But if it comes out you lied on the application it won't be pretty. I had a coworker who failed to report a trip to Iran. Yeah, to misquote The Godfather, "You won't be seeming him around here no more..." Or, wait another year, an SF86 for a classified (maybe secret as well?) level clearance only requires 7 years of background reporting.
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Mar 25, 2016 00:28
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The Royal Scrub posted:What's wrong with a clearance, do you really need to be squeaky clean to get one? I got arrested for street racing a few years ago and had a chinese work visa (though had never been to China) and got one. They would not grant me an interim, took about 6 months to get a full. Here are the actual adjudications of people who got denied: http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/doha/industrial/2015.html Be honest. If you have something that is shameful make it clear you're not ashamed of it and that everyone you know knows about it. Read the link above and read the judge's logic. If you did drugs state how you have made total lifestyle changes. etc. etc. lots of excellent advice in the above link.
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Mar 25, 2016 01:39
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Are student loans in excess of $50k grounds for rejection of a clearance?
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Mar 25, 2016 02:18
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Shipon posted:Are student loans in excess of $50k grounds for rejection of a clearance? The total debt is less important than whether you're making steady progress paying them down and not letting them go delinquent. The judges are also much more forgiving of reasonable debts. Having $50,000 in student loan debt looks a lot less questionable than $50,000 in credit card debt or unpaid taxes. The Chairman fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Mar 25, 2016 |
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Mar 25, 2016 12:10
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Mar 25, 2016 12:12
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Shipon posted:Are student loans in excess of $50k grounds for rejection of a clearance? So long to Military-Industrial complex R&D if it were.
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Mar 25, 2016 12:58
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