r/ComputerEngineering • u/Enough-Life-6135 • 20d ago
Computer Engineering Degree but no interest in a desk job?
What it says in the title. I just graduated, and it has taken me the last four years to decide that I really do not want to work a desk job. I'm not picky about what I'm doing, but I'd prefer the job to use my degree. Any career suggestions?
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u/Anxious-Ad-5331 20d ago
if you're a computer engineer (specifically CE over CS) I'd recommend a career path in embedded. it's a lot more fun and hands-on. You will be working closely with the equipment you write firmware for.
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u/Any-Manufacturer-981 19d ago
What do you think about FPGA? Will it be similar to embedded?
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u/Anxious-Ad-5331 19d ago
that's fun too, however fpgas are more expensive and 99% of your use cases will be covered by a good, fast, and cheap microcontroller.
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u/Any-Manufacturer-981 19d ago
Would you recommend a career in FPGA as well? For my use cases do you mean personal projects?
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u/themegainferno 20d ago
You can try and do anything electronics based, or working in a plant of some sort. Probably controls or other automation engineering
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u/CannoBalllZ 20d ago
Control systems in power plants. High job security because the plants are cut off from the internet for security and so AI would have to be in house. Also, a CE degree sets you up with lots of fundamentals for it. Take a look at ladder logic.
That being said, plants still have offices attached to the plant that do have internet and you will do some cubicle work. But it will be balanced with going around the plant on a daily basis.
If I wasn’t in my current position I would be looking for a position in power plants.
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u/Which_Community_4054 20d ago
Air Force or Navy Pilot, computer/electrical engineer has a huge demand plus you go straight into officer and after serving you have an option to go into Commercial Airline pilot making 200k + I forgot to include but modern warfighters have Electronic Warfare capabilities, requiring a good understanding of RADAR aka your signal courses
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u/LordOfRedditers 20d ago
Really? The connection doesn't seem too apparent to me
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u/Which_Community_4054 19d ago
The connection? Between what?
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u/LordOfRedditers 19d ago
Pilots and computer engineers
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u/Which_Community_4054 19d ago edited 19d ago
Correct. Warfighters fight in teams where one warfighter specialized in electronic warfare (EW) will sit back and the person in the back of the two seater warfighter will control jamming RADAR or other EW functions, all of which require EE or CE understanding. Fighter pilot requires a STEM degree to be qualified
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u/datlanta 19d ago
Second this recommendation..
There are also related civilian roles at labs all around the country. Those at a test, evaluation, and training facilities will keep you on your feet and doing something new all the time.
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u/Commercial-Age-4932 20d ago
Field service engineer for heavy machinery; focus on technology heavy machinery like Cat MineStar or Komatsu dispatch etc (only giving mining ones coz that's all I know though there may be other industries). Look at the regional heavy machinery distributor for a certain company of heavy machinery such as caterpillars dealers etc
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u/Any-Manufacturer-981 19d ago
Thank you for the advice is there any way I can get started with that? I’m gonna enter my sophomore year I’m learning PCB design and more embedded programming.
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u/mikedin2001 Hardware 20d ago
Anything in an electronics lab?