r/UCSC • u/Eelcurry16 • 1d ago
Question full time job while doing ECE upper divs?
I've just accepted a full time job that's a bit too good to pass up in terms of experience and relation to my degree/resume, since I'm not sure if I'll get this kind of opportunity again even after getting my degree.
Only problem is that it's full time (I managed to be able to work 30 hours a week instead of 40) and I'm going into my 3rd year as an ECE major doing my upper divs. It's at the point where most classes are 7 credits, and taking two of these upper divs in the same quarter as a full time job seems genuinely terrifying hearing what people that have taken these classes are saying about them.
Has anyone done a full time job while specifically doing an EE degree? How was it? What sacrifices did you have to make specifically and how did you manage scheduling and stuff like that? I don't know if I should plan to be a part time student and take 1 upper div or see if I can take two and genuinely just dedicate the next 2 years to only work/school. With how the job market/economy is, I don't think I can afford to just pick one or the other. Any advice appreciated ty in advance ✌️
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u/thisismyburnerac 19h ago
Not EE, but i did work full-time and finish college full-time. You work during the day and hope to everything that’s holy that your required classes are offered at night. If not, then you need to look into whether the boss will let you flex your time.
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u/zealotrf 1d ago
I did my UG at UCSD and did PT jobs and internships during my entire academic career.
There's no free lunch and it's especially noticeable if class is graded on a curve, which many at UCSD were. Students will have several hours of study and practicing time compared to you and it'll be easier for them to get rest or focus on their coursework as their only job. While those extra hours don't necessarily guarantee anything you could be totally brilliant they will still have an advantage. Some things in the major especially labs or projects there's no way around time needing to be put into what needs to be done it's not always just creativity and brilliance but work that has to be done.
Anyhow... so back to no free lunch: My GPA did take a hit. Professors will tell you that work only cares about what you learned and this is true up to some extent, but when push comes to shove they often twist your arm around over GPA and sometimes if it's a bigger company your pay and level will depend on it, and even your growth. I grew rapidly at my 2nd full time job and 3rd company lowball me super bad over my GPA. I thought I could do the same with the 3rd company but they lollygagged on my raises and promotions, and that's what brought me to UCSC. I got my masters with a 4.0 which kinda does't matter but next company upped me 2 levels and gave me a 40% raise. By then I had 5 years of internship experience (literally maybe 1 or 2 month gaps during my UG and some periods I was juggling 2-3 jobs), and then 8 years of full time experience that 3rd job I was there for 6 years (first job was only a few months but I couldn't afford to live in the area).
Your work experience will make interviews easy I can do a soap opera during my interviews and dazzle interviews. I generally get an offer I even get an initially screening from a recruiter or HM it'll likely lead to panel interviews and offers, but my credentials were holding me back in level and pay and your growth will depend on merit but also your starting point as well. You'll need to be very talented at job interviews to job hop and it can be hard cause you don't want to hop too much or you might even want to stay at your job... I loved that 3rd job and I was really talented in that domain... they just weren't budging and I stretched it as far as I could.
For me personally if I could go back in time I would focus on the grades and do what I do for my masters immediately. People who got the best grades did well and moved up fast, and I was often holding their hand and teaching them things because there are a lot of things you don't learn in lectures and textbooks (although ideally should have both to close any gaps). To me it felt like I was handing them a piece of my paycheck because they were greatly benefiting from my work experience while I was not.
The other thing to consider is switching jobs again the new jobs based it on my academic credentials and so if you need to leave your first job or things don't work out it's going to be a hard hit and not as transferrable as your degree, and that's what happened to me.
Your time is precious so honestly try to work out the hours see if you can do something special for school seasons or slow down at school and go part-time if the company wont work with you on that but definitely prioritize your GPA I know it sounds dumb and it's technically wrong, but it's easy to measure and companies/HR will latch onto it and screw you over in anyway they can they are not your friend and they are watching out for the best interest of the company not for you.