How would a civilian job see my electrical engineering degree after serving in the military?

Cadet 2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 17 May 2019 23:22:35 -0400

Since Engineering is a pretty technical degree, would employers see the degree as losing its value after 4 years or however long I stay in the military? I love engineering and would very much like to do that after I serve, but don’t want to be less likely to be employed as an actual Electrical Engineer because of my extended time after receiving the degree. Does anyone have any related experience in this?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made May 17 at 2019 11:32 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Fri, 17 May 2019 23:32:49 -0400

Cadet 2LT Private RallyPoint Member are you planning on branching Engineer or something like signal? The key to keeping up is to see what the Engineer Intern/FE requirements are for the state you intend to test for a PE in. Take the FE and pass. Track your experience on their formage. Keep track of your supervisors and anyone that may have a PE. I'm trying to cobble together an application for industrial. I was Civil then branched Ordnance and Logistics Corps. I worked Facilities Maintenance for two years when I got out. I missed the FE by one point in 1993. Never went back to fix it. Now I'm scrambling.

Your degree will be tempered with real world leader and manager experience other people can't touch at your age. Most people think it's a big deal to run a 3 person team. Being an engineer intern by passing the FE will show them you are a serious engineer focused on the future. If you can get the requisite electrical experience, then you can submit your PE application and if accepted, test. The hitch is getting design experience.

If you go the engineer route, aside from horizontal and construction, it's hard to get the experience until you are senior enough to go to USACE. One lunatic's opinion.

Added: Which of th three PE areas do you intend to go after? You need to look at tHe state and NCEES requirements. https://ncees.org

Welcome to NCEES

NCEES is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and surveyors. Learn more.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:51 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:51:08 -0400

Listen to me, OK? I've been exactly where you are, done all you're training you're doing,.over and over and over again, up, down, left, right, inside out, backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways...I've done it all, seen it all, been it all...I'm Senior Member IEEE, have an inactive PE license, met two Apollo astronauts, one while I was in, one after I got out, worked under the very best research scientists in the world, screwed up more.times than I can count, been called a nincompoop and an outright incompetent...I've stayed up till 3 AM more times than I can remember while on active in my office, stayed in the mainframe room running card decks.and mag.tapes before you were even born, OK? So, lets.start this whole thing over again, and do it the right way, shall we? I don't care if you're Army, Navy, USAF, USMC, USCG, whatever...you're gonna get worked to exhaustion, till you can't even see straight most of the time...you're gonna be under civil service staff as well as active duty, you're gonna need to do your masters.and all your professional mil educ (PME) coursework literally from day one, if you even hope to stay in, and anyone, anyone who tells you differently has zero clue what they're talking about, I assure you...the very last thing you should even be thinking about is what you do "after"...don't even think about it, don't even dream of it...I've done a BSEE, BS(Math), MSEE, MS(Physcis), MS(Math), got.real close.to.a.Doct.or.Arts (D.A., not a PhD) in math, had a recommend from the CO of.my unit for Naval Postgrad School (NPS) for.my masters after nearly working myself into oblivion to get his recommend, blew it.totally,.and had a full-size Vietnam War hero who'd won the DFC and flew over 400 combat missions in O-2s in Vietnam ream me out to.the point I was a limo dishrag, exploring my basic.motivations...I went through 3 yrs Army ROTC,.had to go through USAF OTS twice after losing my Army 3 yr scholarship in my third year of school for.reasons I don't even wanna remember, nearly got sent him from USAF OTS more times than I can count...your sole function, cut and dry, the end, that is it, is to.do the work you're given, keep your ambitions to yourself, and do exactly what you're told...trust me, very definitely been there, done that (BTDT)...I worked at two companies after basically botching my whole time on active as an EE, because, to be blunt, I was.a pluperfect idiot, and didn't know when I was well off or how to go about it at all the right way...one guy I worked under got alternate for the USAF Test Pilot School (GPS flight test engineer (FTE) program, and he was one of the best EEs I ever saw...I've worked doing very serious work for God only knows how many very serious people, had major responsibilities, and still found ways to basically screw the whole thing up, because I couldn't focus on what I was supposed.to be doing, and why I was where I was, and couldn't stop trying to change things I had zero control over...service life takes on a life all its own, you can't plan it, you can't predict it, you can't control it, it controls you, it plans you, promise. The Apollo astronaut I met at USAF OTS actually did land on the Moon, I got to ask him a couple of inane questions because the USAF OTS Commandant and he were personal.friends...I've met colonels, generals, VPs of one major company, helped on very serious industrial projects, and know exactly what I'm talking about, OK? So, what you do "after", right now, means zip, zero, nada, goose.egg...lets focus on the here and now, OK? Tell me your major, grades, GPA, what you want for your masters.and PhD eventually, hobbies, interests, reading tastes, soorts esp martial arts, what branches you want, whether you have flight interests at all,.either pilot or navigator, and let's deal with the concrete, OK? You're gonna need to get your EIT/FE exam done ASAP, then do your PE exam later on, join the various technical groups I'll suggest for you, and focus on your work...you're gonna have addl duties, I had to do the booth for my unit for my installation Winter Carnival, spend a day with my base commander, be the rep for my unit to the Company Grade Officers Council (CGOC), help with charity drives for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), as well as unit disaster preparedness )for which i got my sole certificate from my unit CO for helping get a good IG review), I got tapped to look into a truck getting damaged by a junior airmen in a snowstorm (I found it wasn't his fault), and write a report, went on TDY travel many times, both regular and permissive, had to help write my semiannual performance evals, keep.my work organized, and take grad coursework morning, noon, and night, do Squadron Officers School (SOS) nonresident, I also did USMC Command and Staff nonresident...trust me, the very last thing you're gonna have time for is "what if" stuff when you'd get out...I was.in IEEE continuing-ed seminars every night, when I wasn't freezing from the cold of having to slog through, I kid there not, eight-foot snow drifts all winter, ok? I am an elec engr (EE), I was trained by the best, worked.under the best, have known the best, and, also,.am pretty good myself, I've done it all, signal prrocessing, control systems, antennas, solid state,.analog, digital, comp sci (CS), compilers data structures, serial and parallel digital bus design...I even know how vacuum tubes work, and yeah, you're gonna use those too, and I don't care what you're fed in your undergrad program...magnetrons, traveling wave tubes, all that...I can do it all in my sleep, from memory, calc,.differential equations, linear.algebra,.complex.variables, topology, function theory...you wanna succeed as an EE? That's the rea; thing, not "what if" stuff...now, if.you'd still.wanna yak, after reading all that, I'll help.you plan your career the right way...I've worked with civils, aeros, mechanicals, I've taken classical dynamics, Lagrangian and Hamiltoniian dynamics, chaos theory, catastrophe theory, I'm expert on engineering computer aided design (CAD) software, I can point you to USAF AFIT as well as NPS, though you're gonna have to do at least a couple of tours to have a chance to go full time, from the very day you're commissioned, start your MSEE, immediately, no way is a BSEE enough, I assure you, you're gonna need to study ops research, as part of quantitative management, project engineering, I've done all that, too...I know.even st single major.research lab, i.can point you to where your interests and background would be best suited...I've seen and known labs.in all svcs,.read their work,.studied it, applied it...I wound up doing something I'd never expected to be assigned to, with the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons, and had to.make lemonade out of.my lemons, I just learned how too.late...I'm also clinically trained ed, allied health doctoral, is wanted to go back into the USPHS, I'm well.verses on bioengineering, materials science, which is a major serious field you should very seriously look at as well...so, as I'd said, give me your background, coursework, specifics, not.generalities, interests, whether you've been involved with IEEE as a student, whether you've published at all, done any research, applied for your masters yet, taken the GRE, done the EIT/FE exam for getting your PE.license eventually, and ill help point you in the right direction, OK? I hope that didn't overwhelm you...understand, my object is to help and teach you, and the best way I know to do that is by telling got on all I went through, where I succeeded (which wasn't often), and where I failed (which happened a lot, being entirely honest with you about it, OK? Ill.send you other stuff you'll find useful, as well...honest, my object is to help you...you remind me a good deal of me, honest, lemme know your thoughts, no rush, take your time,.and give.me.enough info to help.you the right way, and stop.worrying about "after"...believe me, you're gonna have more than enough to just worry about "now" once you actually go on active duty, honest, OK?

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:52 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:52:11 -0400

http://www.ausa.org

Join this and go to their conferences if you haven't already, ok?

Association of the United States Army

Voice for the Army – Support for the Soldier

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:53 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:53:29 -0400

http://www.ieee.org

Join this, find your local section, go, and get their transactions in aerospace.electronics,.as.well.as.other transactions, in signal. processing, communications, I can help you pick those....

IEEE - The world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology...

Happy World Telecommunication and Information Society Day! On this day, we recognize all the ways that the Internet and other information and communication #technologies (ICT) can impact societies and economies, as well as bridge the digital divide.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:54 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:54:13 -0400

http://www.aiaa.org

Join this also, trust me,.you're gonna be involved in this, whether you think you're gonna be or not, I assure you....

www.aiaa.org

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:54 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:54:28 -0400

http://www.afcea.org

Join them also....

www.afcea.org

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:54 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:54:48 -0400

http://www.crows.org

And them....

www.crows.org

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:55 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:55:32 -0400

http://www.mors.org

Then too, their journal is quite good, very germane to.all.you'll be involved.with, even though it's ops research, I assure you....

Military Operations Research Society

22-24 October Cyberspace Wargaming & AnalyticsII4-8 NovemberCertificate in Wargaming19-21 NovemberAdvancing Campaign Analytics Special Meeting *

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:56 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:56:11 -0400

http://www.same.org

You'll wanna join them also...find the local chapter by you as well and.go....

www.same.org

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:57 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:57:17 -0400

http://www.nspe.org

Join them, and start your EIT/FE exam prep now if you haven't yet, then get ready for your PE.exam.as.soon as you can document enough exoerience....

National Society of Professional Engineers |

Extreme weather events tied to climate change are increasing. Some are asking whether the standard of care is changing as well.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:57 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:57:35 -0400

http://www.arxiv.org

Learn to use this....

arXiv.org e-Print archive

Please join the Simons Foundation and our generous member organizations in supporting arXiv during our giving campaign. 100% of your contribution will fund improvements and new initiatives to benefit arXiv's global scientific community.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 1:57 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 01:57:52 -0400

http://www.vixra.org

And this....

viXra.org open e-Print archive

ViXra.org is an e-print archive set up as an alternative to the popular arXiv.org service owned by Cornell University. It has been founded by scientists who find they are unable to submit their articles to arXiv.org because of Cornell University's policy of endorsements and moderation designed to filter out e-prints that they consider inappropriate. ViXra.org has no association with arXiv.org or Cornell. ViXra is an open repository for new...

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:00 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:00:24 -0400

I figure all that'll keep.you going for a fair while...when you've digested all that, I can suggest assignments for you at labs.as.well, things you wouldn't think to.look.up or know about, OK?.Also,.have you done any externship or internships yet? If not, ask if you can, at one of the labs,.trust me, it's help you immensely,.I assure you, benefit from some major accumulated anecdotal.wisdom, ok?

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:01 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:01:08 -0400

http://www.asce.org

Look at this also, I know you're EE, it's help to know the civil side, not just aero.also,.OK?

www.asce.org

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:02 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:02:19 -0400

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Institute_of_Technology

Read this, all warrants, commissioned, and senior enlisted in all.svcs.can apply to.go, not just USAF....

Air Force Institute of Technology - Wikipedia

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a graduate school and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces and is part of the United States Air Force. It is located in Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton. AFIT is a component of the Air University and Air Education and Training Command.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:03 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:03:10 -0400

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School

This is the one I had the recommend for I couldn't get....

Naval Postgraduate School - Wikipedia

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It grants master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, and certificates. Established in 1909, the school also offers research fellowship opportunities at the postdoctoral level through the National Academies’ National Research Council research associateship program.[3]

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:03 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:03:56 -0400

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_test_engineer

Read this....

Flight test engineer - Wikipedia

The flight test engineer generally has overall responsibility for the planning of a specific flight test phase, which includes preparing the test plans in conjunction with other analytical and/or systems engineers, overseeing the buildup of the aircraft to the proper configuration, working with the flight test instrumentation engineer to ensure the sensors and recording systems are installed for required data parameters, and preparing the...

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 18 at 2019 2:52 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 18 May 2019 02:52:14 -0400

Sorry for the typos and if I overwhelmed.you, believe me,.I've had more.experience at what you're asking about than I can even remember half the time,.honest,.ok? If you wanna yak, I'm here...as you've no.doubt gleaned by now, I deal.in soecifics, not vague generalities...trust me,.i.can point you where you.need to.look to.do.it.right, I just was trying to make a point by giving you real.soecifics, concrete stuff, you wanna succeed as an elec engr (EE), trust me, that's the only way, honest, ok?

Response by GySgt Kenneth Pepper made May 18 at 2019 11:21 AM

GySgt Kenneth Pepper — Sat, 18 May 2019 11:21:14 -0400

As a retiree I always prefer to hire a veteran, and I believe most good companies do also. The intangibles are priceless. Not too many men and women in their 20s know about honor, courage, commitment, etc,.
If possible pick a field which accentuates your degree with a solid experience base. Their are many highly technical jobs out there. You may want to take a look at some other branches just to see what may be available.
In short, use the 4 years of service to build upon your degree with actual hands on experience. Your knowledge of engineering will definitely be of good use in the right environment.

Response by Maj Walter Kilar made May 18 at 2019 11:25 AM

Maj Walter Kilar — Sat, 18 May 2019 11:25:30 -0400

It depends on what you do while in the military, how long you are in the military, and what you do when you get out of the military. An engineering degree from an ABET-accredited institution does not lose value over time as long as you are doing engineering duties. I can tell you that in the US Air Force, engineers are usually thrown straight into engineering duties straight out of college. The combination of military leadership/supervisory experience plus engineering work led to some very good jobs for me after retiring. Granted, there are some variables you cannot control. I hear that in the US Army, US Navy, and US Marine Corps that engineers do not always work in engineering career fields. My niece commissioned into the US Navy, and she has done very little engineering in her first four years. She would still be marketable on the outside, but my advice to her and those in similar situations is that engineering skills will begin to fade after 4 years. If you plan on staying in the military longer than 4 years and you are not doing engineering duties in those first four years, then I highly recommend going to graduate school. Yes, I know the needs of the military come first, but there are plenty of options to obtain graduate degrees via distance learning.

In summary: For military members wanting to be engineers in the civilian world, 4 years is the maximum amount of time I would recommend serving outside of an engineering career field or not working on a graduate degree. Your mileage may vary.