Computer engenering career

B

Blu-Flames

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Feb 11, 2007
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Hello everyone,
I am sorry if this is in the wrong section. i am a senior in high school and i am looking forward to getting my master in computer engineering. I need someone that has got their degree in computer engineer to help me out in what i need to do to be ahead and ready to work for a company like IBM, Intel, AMD. So if you can explain on what to do to help me succeed and be ahead on what to do so when i go to colleges i wont waste time. Thank you.
 
take a few English classes first. ;)

Its not that easy its ALOT of math, mostly all math, and then alot of companies arent desperate to hire, so they can take their pick. They like people with experience too.
 
It's going to be tough for the reasons 86 5.0L pointed out, plus the fact that all of those companies can also take their pick from China, India, etc, so you're not just competing with Americans.

CE will feel like an engineering degree and a computer science degree, so you better be good with math, again, as 86 5.0L mentioned.
 
I graduated with that degree back in 2008.

Aside from gen-ed, it's basically 40% math, 20% EE, 20% CS, 10% physics, 10% electives. And actually, in the non-math courses, you use math at least half of the time too. Signals and systems (EE) was by far the hardest class I've ever taken. This is why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform#Tables_of_important_Fourier_transforms

Even people at the top of their game have problems with this major... 120 started in my major freshman year, 14 graduated from it. The workload is second to none. That said, you'll understand computers, not even just the binary level, but to the circuit level. I chose not to do it as a career for some good reasons, but AMD/Intel will be begging for you to join, even with just a bachelors. Hell, even Cisco will.. but to develop their products instead of fixing their customers networks. The degree carries a lot of prestige from these companies.

To prepare for this major know calc like the back of your hand. At the time, I didn't... and it was a real pain in the ass doing all types of it while balancing all the other work. These are the calc courses you'll be exposed to:
Calc I (derivatives)
Calc II (integrals)
Differential Equations
Multivariable Calc

No matter what field you go into after, you'll be able to dissect a problem better than most, see the big picture easily, and learn new technology extremely fast since you studied their fundamentals for 4 years (or in your case, 6).
 
Try to remember that digital is just a special case of analog.

Anyone in their sleep can write good Verilog code logic, but it takes real brains to understand the physics of the transistors themselves and how that effects gate level probigation and swittching speed to make that logic a reality, so don't downplay your EE classes thinking all you need to know is 1s and 0s.

That being said, I'm kinda going to contractict myself and say you should start trying to learn Verilog on your own if you can, and use it to get a summer internship at those companies you mentioned. For me it didn't come up in class until the second half of my Junior year, and I definatly missed out on a good internship because it wasn't in my belt at the time.

And yea Fourier and Laplace transforms definaly weed out the math lightweights, but if you understand whats going on and how they relate to signals, you can start to understand tons of stuff in how things like MP3s, JPEG picts, and just about every lossy video compression format works.
 
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Heck, I wish I had started in computer engineering. Instead, I screwed up hard and chose CIS. Biggest mistake of my life. At least its almost over.
 
Speaking from experience, going the CE route was the most challenging thing ive done.

The classes were hard, as just2cool said my class was around 170ish and I was one of 4 who made it. Not easy stuff, but it is very fun and very challenging.

There is tons of opportunity out there and its not all sticking with hardware, there is a very heavy software component as well, I haven't developed a single platform yet that assembly / low level C was not a major part of.

If you like code and love the hardware behind it, CE is for you.
If not, then I would look for something similar, maybe a computer science degree (WAY easier) in most areas.
 
Hmm you guys got me thinking, I am good at math but i dislike it lol. Well how about computer software engineer? And also with a computer science degree, it is for careers like Network systems and data communications analysts?
 
If you dont like math, look at something other than Computer Science. CS is not programing its the study of the theory of computation and how to apply those concepts in comptuers. You will be doing ALOT of high end logic and theory work. You definitely need to have the mind set for it, but it is one of those things where you wont know if you do util you try it.

Unless you go into a more business oriented computer degree, all real computer oriented degrees from any 4 year college will heavily be based on mathematics.
 
Yeah, I think CS is actually even a bit more math intensive than CE. They do a little more with discrete math theory... another class I didn't care for haha.

Personally, I chose CE just because I wanted a challenge and already knew enough about IT. I argue, why pay 30-50k+ if you'll hardly learn anything? My roommate dropped out of CE and went into an IT major. His 15+ hour work days turned into 15+ hour xbok days. It depends on what you want.

As I mentioned, I'm not in that field for my career. Instead, I work on architecting a carrier class global network. What I'm trying to say is... you can easily do IT after too if you want.

You have a bunch of stuff to think over... I don't envy you cause I know exactly what that felt like haha.
 
I'm currently a Sophomore doing Computer Engineering and this thread reads like doing CE is some sort of horror story.

Yes, there is a lot of math it's in almost everything you work with, but its doable. I did terrible in math in High School, but so far haven't had any trouble with math. Computer Engineering is probably more involved than Computer Science seeing as it tries to bridge the gap between Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. I did it because I wanted a challenged. Pure Electrical Engineering did not interest me, nor did pure Computer Science. IT is basically a joke (I respect IT, just the "degrees" are laughable) good IT isn't something you can be taught, experience is king.

Some schools offer two separate tracks in Computer Engineering. My current school offers Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. I'm transferring this spring to a school that offers Computer Science, Computer Engineering (science track), Computer Engineering (electrical track), and Electrical Engineering. I will be doing the Computer Engineering (science track) as I prefer CS to EE.You may want to look into this as well.

Finally, as with anything, if you actually care about what you are doing, you will succeed.
 
What do you guys think about network system and data communication analyst?
I Want a guaranteed job once i graduate college. So looking at the high demand careers network system and data communication analyst, computer hardware/software engineer are at the top. I am confused lol. I'm thinking on which career field: Computer engineer or IT field?
 
Forget all that noise you keep hearing, it's irrelevant and the fact of the matter is, without having solid experience you won't have a "guaranteed" anything after college.

What is it that you actually want to DO? That should be the basis of planning your future...
 
Almost all the jobs I have looked at in the last two years ask for Bachelors in CS and I am Network Administrator. CS seems to have become the generic name for degree for almost all positions in the IT world. The 2 things that really determine which path you will follow is your experience and certifications.

My advice would be to get a Bachlors in CS as your base and start getting Certifications in the field that you will want to work in.

Administration - A+, Security Certs, MS, Linux certs etc
Networking - Cisco, Citrix, Network+ etc
Programming - Orcale, IBM, Java, ASP etc...

Also try to get as much experience as you can while in college doing Internships, make portfolios of the work you have done, especially with programming. My friend just graduated with his degree in CS and used a website he built during an internship for a portoflio. He was pretty much guaranteed a job once they saw it and his Java cert. I got my job from my Internship.

And hopefully by the time you graduate the economy and job market will have turned around and there will be even more demand. Right now there is just too much competition even with all the jobs that are out there.
 
Blu-Flames said:
What do you guys think about network system and data communication analyst?
I am confused lol. I'm thinking on which career field: Computer engineer or IT field?
Click to expand...

That's what my decision came down to as well. I decided to do computer engineering, since I could do either afterwards (since I already had IT experience). On the flip side, if you major in IT, you won't be hired as a computer engineer... at least you probably shouldn't be given the competition.

Lightworker said:
Forget all that noise you keep hearing, it's irrelevant and the fact of the matter is, without having solid experience you won't have a "guaranteed" anything after college.
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Yeah, this is a good point. Nothing is guaranteed in these times. But back when I graduated before the economic meltdown, it was almost guaranteed.

Also, no offense Bviper, but I'm wondering if you hit discrete math, data algorithms, or signals/systems yet? These are the weeder courses that drive most out of the major. The average on my signals/systems final was 23%, and no one in the class got above 55%.
 
Jutsu said:
Almost all the jobs I have looked at in the last two years ask for Bachelors in CS and I am Network Administrator. CS seems to have become the generic name for degree for almost all positions in the IT world. The 2 things that really determine which path you will follow is your experience and certifications.

My advice would be to get a Bachlors in CS as your base and start getting Certifications in the field that you will want to work in.

Administration - A+, Security Certs, MS, Linux certs etc
Networking - Cisco, Citrix, Network+ etc
Programming - Orcale, IBM, Java, ASP etc...

Also try to get as much experience as you can while in college doing Internships, make portfolios of the work you have done, especially with programming. My friend just graduated with his degree in CS and used a website he built during an internship for a portoflio. He was pretty much guaranteed a job once they saw it and his Java cert. I got my job from my Internship.

And hopefully by the time you graduate the economy and job market will have turned around and there will be even more demand. Right now there is just too much competition even with all the jobs that are out there.
Click to expand...

As a network administrator what do you do daily? How long have you been working for? What company? I am leaning more on the it field thanks for your information.
 
As you are aiming for a MS degree, I would suggest getting a degree from a Liberal Arts school for your undergraduate work. As you decide what to do for your advanced degree you can make sure you meet any requirements that programs have (math classes, etc.). I would suggest a Liberal Arts program as it will teach you how to communicate and approach problems.

As others have said, there are no guarantees of employment after graduation, but strong communication and problem solving skills are invaluable and will serve you throughout your life and through many careers.

With a solid background in math and possibly some CS thrown in at the undergraduate level, you can then go on to an advanced degree confident and prepared.
 
I think am going to get my bachelors in computer science then from their probably go into the it field? Is this good or should i just get my masters?
 
If you're going for the IT field, either a CS or IT degree will probably work fine. The IT program might be more varied, but those programs tend to be newer and thus not quite as developed.
 
You will compete with people from India and China. I just watched several Fortune 600 companies thin out the domestic IT staff (programmers and the typical help desk crews) and move all the work to India for less than $15 an hour. They keep one or two sharp knives from each camp in the domestic offices but they will setup an office in these countries, train the local staff on system protocalls and company procedures/policies, etc., and then move the work over. One thing to ask before college is will what you undertake have a job market 4 years so you can support yourself/family and/or payback your loans. I would look at those classes/skills that have applicability to more than one field (math is a good example of one you can apply to more than one field) just in case you have to do something other than what you wanted.
 
I think i made up my mind.. Get a BS degree in CS and become a Network systems and data communications analysts. Higest demand career, so most likely guaranteed a job. It looks like a good career.
 
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One thing to remember is that experience > any degree for many of these positions. Get yourself an internship, or find a place to work for free to get the experience. Many colleges have a network department that has non-fulltime positions that pay in peanuts and you have to take courses as well, but get your foot in the door (where I got mine).

Incidentally Network systems and Data Communication Analysts translate to usually a Network Administrator/Network Engineer/Network Analyst, in real world job descriptions, and usually you move up the ranks in that order administrator, then engineer, then analyst. There is also a ton of variation in the terminology. Also for whatever reason, a "network administrator" job can also be a MS related position like a MCSE. Why it is called that I have no idea (it is somewhat a joke) because it's mostly managing systems. Networking is a good career but can be tricky to get your foot in the door, you rarely meet someone in the field that really cares about a degree in CS with relation to the work, everything is experience. They are just recently getting classes that you can take for networking within the last few years. When I was in school there were none. Certain certs are almost mandatory for some jobs over a degree.

A good thing to get your foot in the door is the CCNA. Buy some cisco equipment on craigslist, a study guide, and start cranking away, a couple old routers, switches, and wireshark and you are set. Even though it is vendor based cisco is used everywhere, and it still teaches you core networking concepts which you will use for your entire career. I'd steer clear from things like Network+ and so such, it is much easier to get and doesn't hold alot of weight.

With that said, one extremely booming field is Information Security. There are very few college classes but if you run across one take it. It is EXTREMELY hard to get into the field, but you are set once you do. You also almost have to have a background in networking.

My career path in titles has gone -

Network Technician -> Network QA Tester -> Network Administrator -> Network Engineer -> Business Information Security Officer, Senior Network and Senior Security Engineer -> Senior Security Engineer/Analyst

When I was a Network engineer I was given the opportunity to take over the security position, as well as the BISO position, essentially doing 3 jobs in one, at the same pay of course and on salary. So for 3 years I was pulling 70+ hour workweeks, working weekends/late nights, as well as studying for my CISSP and CCNP. It was worth it in the end though. I find working in the security field extremely rewarding because you have to deal with basically ALL technologies and know many of them quite well, especially if you get into auditing and assessment.

At the start you are basically configuring networking equipment, keeping the lights on, and doing menial tasks. It is a steep learning curve because you need to know so many other technological aspects other than just networking, just to understand how all the pieces fit together. As you step up in career you move to more designing and get to more business related analyst type/architecture things in the end.

I now focus on security but keep up my networking certs as well.

I am a CISSP, CCNA, RSA CSE. Currently taking a course to get my GCIH, and about to take another CCNP exam (I have pased BCSMN) as well as CCNA security.

If you do get interested in infosec, GIAC bootcamps are almost priceless (also literally as they rape your wallet). The other thing that is nice about infosec is almost 0 is outsourced.
 
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