Recent EE Grad - Is taking first job as an electronics technician detrimental to career? 1

[xjamesd]

Would I be able to move up into an engineering position within a company after starting off as a technician?

The company I'm looking at is GE. There are not any current electrical engineering positions open, but if I were to get into the company as a technician, would I be able to get into an engineering position without being looked over as a technician?

 

[IRstuff]

That's a question you should be posing to GE's HR people. However, I would assume that if you have a BSEE, then you are technically qualified to apply to any internal engineering job postings. But, that does not mean that you will be notified in any way that all such openings are internally posted. Generally, taking a lower position is a detriment if for no other reason that you are not doing what you went to school for, and you will get rusty; taking such a position should only be done if there are no other opportunities.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[Noway2]

I graduated in 1996, before the age of Internet job applications, and during a nice recessionary time period where many of the job postings had statements to the effect of, "if you don't have a minimum of 5 years experience do not apply". After several months of searching, I finally got a job as a technician, which I worked at for a couple of years. After about a year, I decided that it wasn't what I wanted to do and started attending graduate school to enhance my credentials. Another year later, a position opened up in the company's engineering department and I moved into that.

One thing I can say is that working for a while as a technician will give you a perspective that you won't get as an EE going right into engineering. In many ways, I also think that this perspective and direct understanding of how the paper design process affects things in the trenches has made me a better engineer and also helped me to gain a breadth of knowledge that I have repeatedly been told is quite rare. Ultimately, I don't think the slow start hampered my career any, but it did take me a few moves to get to where I think I should have been salary wise.

 

[zelgar]

Also consider that working as a technician looks better on the resume than working at McDonnalds or not being employed. Anyone who's thinking of employing you should know with your education background, that you'll probably be looking for an engineering position and your time there will be limited. So don't feel too bad of leaving the tech job once something better opens up (but do give proper notice and try to get all your projects finished before you go).

 

[MiketheEngineer]

And you may really learn what happens in the field. Many SE's don't even know that a 2x4 is really 1.5'' x 3.5''.....

Take the job - watch for internal postings (our company makes it mandatory to post there first) and keep you eyes open

Good Luck.

 

[Overvoltage]

The other side of the coin is that they may not hire you as a technician because you're "overqualified". They will know that you will likely want to move to a higher-level position (either internally or externally), so they'll be re-hiring for the position whenever that happens. They may not want to do that, and will therefore hire someone else.

It's a double-edged sword, and it's hard to know how they'll look at things. There are certainly positives for both of you if they offer you the job (you get hands-on experience, they get a technician who knows the "whys" for cheap). However, as with all hiring decisions, the logical thought process doesn't necessarily apply.

 

[Twoballcane]

My first job 8 months after graduation was a “Field Engineer”, which was really a glorified technician job. And then, 9 months later, after intensive job fair networking and interviews, I’ve finally landed a Mechanical Engineer position at a large company. I say take the job and treat it as a stepping stone. Like others have posted, you learn things from a technician’s perspective and that will show in the interview with engineering companies. Weeks later, I’ve asked the interviewers why did they hire me and they said that I had better insight of design and technology that the new grads did not, also, since I was in the field unsupervised and still taking care of business, show some maturity and professionalism than most new grads. The technician job can be the foot in the door, just as long you still keep networking and interviewing for the Engineering position.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”
"People get promoted when they provide value and when they build great relationships"

 

[kagen327]

OP please take a look at GE's entry level Edison Leadership Development program. It's a great program. What you can also do is ask HR if you take that Technician role would you be able to apply to the Edison program. You should be able to do so. I know I work for GE but I'm probably at a different business.

 

[coenzyme]

I am a recent ME Grad and I could not find an entry level ME position so I ended up taking a mechanical engineering technician position. After a short time I had enough experience as a technician that I was able to apply to and get a mechanical engineer position at another firm. I don't know if it would help you at GE but I can't see how the experience would hurt your future job prospects.

 

[HPRifleman]

Entry level engineering candidates can be pretty generic. Most have almost no practical experience and when you look at dozens of their resumes, they all seem the same.

An important part of getting interviews in these situations is standing apart from the other applicants. Practical experience as a technician would go a long way to accomplishing this goal. In my opinion there aren't really any downsides to the tech job and it can be a good way to get your career going.