Anyone else still in school?

[Falcon]

I'm not sure about the CS side of things but for ECE majors if you want anything to do with hardware design you need at least a masters. After I graduated with my BS the only job offers I got were programming jobs which I wasn't interested in. Now that I'm taking grad level classes I can see why, undergrad classes only teach the basics and don't go into any detail. Most circuit design jobs require you to understand things such as timing modelling/analysis, floorplanning, routing, and verification. None of which are taught in undergrad classes.

The job market for PhDs for ECE's are also very specialized, companies like Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, and TI are basically looking for people who has worked on research in an area they are interested in, not just someone who knows a little of everything. A PhD student in my research group who is currently interning with Intel worked on things like stability assurance and design optimization of large power delivery networks with multiple on-chip voltage regulators. I still have no clue what that is but then again I haven't done 3 years of PhD.

If you want to be a software developer then I agree grad school is a complete waste of time, the work experience is much more valuable. But for low level design stuff an undergrad is just not enough.

[nslay]

I've just finished school ...

10 years of school ...

[Rule]

I've just finished school ...

10 years of school ...

Congratulations.  You beat me to it!

[nslay]

I've just finished school ...

10 years of school ...

Congratulations.  You beat me to it!

Don't ever get a job and write your dissertation at the same time. Just a stupid idea! It took me an extra year because I did that.