I'm graduating with my B.A.Sc in mechanical engineering this April. Last year I worked at ATI/AMD technologies for 16 months as an electrical/computer engineer doing .

There is a small chance that I can get my job back as a full time employee. My boss just told me they might be hiring in a couple months and that he'd let me know if anything came up.

The pros are good pay and a job that's kinda interesting. The cons are my technical limitations since I'm natively mechanical in an electrical/computer industry as well as the ridiculous working hours and current instability of the company.

This might be a long shot, but is there anyone here that's in the industry that can give me any advice?

From my POV I'm most worried that my technical background will be insufficient to move up and that I'll basically be stuck as a layout engineer forever. Also, if I ever quit or get laid off, my skills won't be transferable to any mechanical jobs and I might have trouble getting back into the computer industry with my mechanical degree.

I have no idea how I got the job in the first place. I beat out a shit load of other electrical/computer engineers at the interview by studying a book on IC the night before.

I wouldnt be worried about the mechanical/electrical label on your degree as far as staying in the computer industry. Companies know that mechanical departments do a lot of electrical work too. Plus your work experience at ATI would be more important than the tag on your degree and should demonstrate your competence if they have doubts. Also, there are a whole slew of jobs in control systems and robotics that fall kinda in between mechanical/electrical. Having some mechanical background would be a plus for those. Your main priority re. the ATI offer should be whether you want to stay in this field for your career. Your first job kinda narrows your options (unless you're willing to start afresh) so consider that.

As far as a ceiling for bachelor's degree holders goes, yeah, it exists. Most large companies have programs that allow you to earn a masters while you're working, so you could look into that. Even otherwise, I think there's a lot of value in working for a year or two before going back for a masters or phd or business school. Leave it open. I've found that planning your career 5 years into the future rarely works. Just work on positioning yourself so all the options you're interested in remain open for as long as possible.

sent you a PM. but I just had my 14 year in the industry at the end of february.


The important thing is performance and capitalizing on your skills. You guys would laugh your asses off if saw me at work resolving conflicts and dealilng with so many different people with different goals to get the right thing done. If you really feel your degree is holding you back, you can always take additional course work, but I doubt that will happen.