If you’re thinking about your future career or want to take your current career to the next level, engineering might be an option that you have given some thought to. Maybe you are a high school graduate ready to take on the next step in your education and are planning for the future, or perhaps you’ve been working for a while and are looking for a career change. Perhaps you are already an engineering professional but want to get into a different engineering discipline while boosting your knowledge and improving your skills.
Whatever situation fits yours best, you may already be aware that engineering is a career choice with lots of different disciplines to consider getting into. This amount of choice can sometimes make it difficult for students to make the right decision when it comes to picking something that interests them, but also offers good career prospects. Electrical engineering is an option worth considering. This field will provide you with endless career opportunities as a graduate, along with the opportunity to overlap into different types of engineering such as computer, electronics, or mechanical engineering.
Electrical engineering is concerned with the study of electronic systems, circuits, devices, and anything else that involves the use of electricity. As you can imagine, professionals in this field are in high demand and it is an extremely instrumental and necessary field when it comes to how today’s world works. In fact, most of us would probably struggle to imagine what the world might be like without it. There are lots of great reasons why students decide to pursue a degree in this field. Some of the main reasons to consider getting a degree in electrical engineering include:
High Demand
Compared to many other industries, electrical engineering graduates enjoy high demand in the workforce, and getting your first job is likely to be easier in comparison with other industries. When you qualify as an electrical engineer, you’ll immediately be able to find roles that are suitable for you and there is a much lower risk of being without work or having to take on unpaid roles to get experience for months after graduating as is often the case with many other college degree majors. Qualified electrical engineers are in demand all around the world, and many employers are happy to hire graduates straight out of college since this allows them to train them in the company ways from the beginning.
Work with Other Specialist Areas
One of the most exciting things about electrical engineering is that it can be applied to many other specialist areas in this field. Once you have your bachelor’s in electrical engineering, you can go on to learn more about other engineering areas or even get a master’s qualification such as this masters in electrical and computer engineering online from Kettering University, which is designed to build on your current knowledge and apply what you know to computer engineering in particular.
Mechanical engineering is another area where electrical engineering skills are becoming more highly sought after, and as electrical systems become more and more necessary in almost every industry, you may be able to find work in the fields of aerospace, marine, and mechanical engineering. Along with this, you can choose from a wide range of electrical engineering sub-sectors including photonics, radio-frequency processing, signal processing, microelectronics, power engineering, control systems and more.
Work Around the World
If the ability to move around and find work in diverse places around the world is something that is important to you, a degree in electrical engineering can be an ideal choice. Engineering is certainly a very worldwide and global career, with electrical engineers needed in every country that you can think of. Around the world, the main components of engineering such as the laws of maths, electricity and physics are consistent, so there are very few distance barriers when it comes to finding the right role for you no matter where you go.
Study at a Top University
Electrical engineering is a broad and very popular field, and because of this, there should be no problem for you when it comes to finding a reputable college to study your chosen major. Whether you want to study abroad, attend a highly-rated school or find a good online degree program that you can fit around your current commitments, electrical engineering is a popular program that you should be able to find at any school offering a STEM department.
Study Further and Advance Your Career
Once you have gained a degree in electrical engineering, your options for further study and career advancement will be endless. There are countless options on offer when it comes to what you want to do with your future career and how you want to build on the foundation that you have created. If you are interested in going back to school as a graduate, there are plenty of graduate programs on offer that allows you to advance your knowledge further and focus on a certain aspect of electrical engineering, get into engineering management, or build on your current skills to learn a different engineering discipline.
Many engineers are also interested in getting a business qualification; if you are interested in a management position or setting up your own engineering company in the future, an MBA might be a program worthwhile considering, too.
Enjoy Increasing Demand
Over the past few years, the world has seen a hugely increased use of technology, that is beginning to spread even to some of the remotest areas in the world. Every day, new and innovative technologies are introduced, and it can often be hard to keep up with the latest technological advances that are just around the corner.
Electrical engineers are often some of the key professionals behind many of the modern technologies that the world has come used to as a regular part of life. Due to the rapid growth of tech and the high demand for new technologies to be available all the time, it’s no surprise that the demand for good electrical engineers to work on these advancements is also growing steadily.
Affordable Study Options
If rising tuition fees are one of the biggest barriers that you are facing when it comes to getting your electrical engineering degree, the good news is that there are now more options to consider that might help you save money on your journey towards becoming an electrical engineer. Online study, for example, is often cheaper compared to studying on-campus and there is an increasing number of online electrical engineering programs now available for students who want to take this route, with many of the top schools have begun offering distance learning programs.
Although online degree programs may not offer much in terms of tuition cost savings, the other savings can quickly add up for students. The flexibility to work while studying means that the opportunity cost is much lower, and students who are studying at home at times that suit them best don’t have to deal with the often high costs of relocating or commuting to campus.
Improve Your Skills
Getting an electrical engineering degree and working in this field will provide you with a hard skillset that is designed to build a firm foundation for your future engineering career. However, it’s not just these specific job skills that you will benefit from the building. As you study, and when you begin working in the field, you can also boost your soft skills and gain experience in a variety of other areas, widening your skillset even further.
For example, most electronic developments today require excellent computer skills since they are developed using a range of software programs. You will also need to develop good communication skills since the role may often involve explaining complex ideas and concepts to people who do not have the same background or training as yourself.
Enjoy Work That Interests You
If you hate the idea of working in a career where you’re doing the same mundane things in an office from 9-5 every Monday to Friday, then the good news is that electrical engineering might be a better choice of career for you to stimulate your creative side and provide you with a diverse range of tasks to work on. In this role, you may find yourself working on a range of projects that involve designing something new and innovative, and there will be plenty of opportunities to add your own input and bring your creative ideas to the table. Electrical engineers have a huge responsibility to find solutions to problems in society and design them, and in some cases, you could be working on the next big solution to a problem that nobody even knows they have.
Make an Impact on the Future
Electrical engineers often play a key part in developing future technology. In this role, you’re actually responsible for making the future happen in terms of tech and may be involved in coming up with ideas for new technologies that might one day become as widely used as the technology we are used to today such as computers, TVs, smartphones and cars.
Working as an electrical engineer can be hugely rewarding for this reason, and it’s a role where you actually have the chance to not only witness the revolution happening around you but be instrumental in making it happen. Depending on the role you decide to get into and the projects you work on, you may one day be able to look back on your career with a strong sense of accomplishment and pride, knowing that you’ve been able to play a part in developing new products and electrical technologies that improve lives, keep people safe, or even save lives.
What to Consider Before Doing an Electrical Engineering Degree
If you’re sold on the benefits of getting an electrical engineering degree, there are a few important factors that are worth considering before you decide which schools and programs to apply to. Some of the main factors that are worth keeping in mind include:
Online or Campus-Based?
There really is no difference between the final qualification that you will receive whether you study online or on the campus for your electrical engineering degree, so it all comes down to your personal preferences and what is right for you. If you want to save money and prefer the idea of being able to study flexibly from home to fit the degree around other commitments, online study may be ideal. On the other hand, if you prefer a structured approach and want the chance to get involved in a more immersive college experience while meeting your peers in person, opt for a campus-based program.
Future Study Goals
Another main factor to think about when picking the right electrical engineering degree for you is any future study goals that you have in mind. Many engineers don’t stop after their bachelor’s degree and will go on to get a master’s degree in their chosen discipline, another engineering discipline or engineering management. If this is something that you will be interested in doing in the future, carefully consider your degree program now based on how it will help you reach this future study goal.
Alternatives
Finally, it’s always worth weighing up all the options available to you and it’s no different if you have decided to get an electrical engineering degree. While most roles do require you to have a bachelor’s or a master’s degree as a minimum, there are other options to consider such as engineering apprenticeships and other on-the-job learning programs that may be better suited to some people. If you are currently working in a similar role for an engineering company and want to move up the ranks to work as an engineer, it might be worth speaking to your employer about any training programs that they provide.
If you want a diverse, high-demand career that allows you to work on various different projects and take your work to different places, electrical engineering is a great choice to consider.
