Switching from Comp. Sci. to EE?

kedalion asks: "For the past five years, I've had a good job doing perl programming for the same company but I'm starting to worry. With the current trend in the marketplace to send programming jobs overseas, I'm beginning to wonder if my job will be 'exported' in the near future. With the glut of good programmers out of work, hiring salaries will be depressed as well. About a year ago, I started going back to school to finish my computer science degree. Now, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to abandon the CS path, and go into either computer or electrical engineering. As an older student, this choice is made even more difficult because I would need to drop to part-time to take an engineering track. Also, I'm concerned that I would only qualify for an entry-level position if I took an engineering job. Anyone have thoughts/suggestions?"

Comments

Don't Even Think About It!

[saden1]

The EE/Hardware market is in a lot worse shape then the CS/Development market. Hardware guys are out of work because everything is now being done is Korea, Taiwan, and the rest of the South East Asia countries.

I happen to know two EE people, one is changing careers and wants to become a dentist and the other is hopelessly looking for work.

Re:Get a grip!!!

[nelsonal]

What's happening appears to me to be a combination of three things:
First, output is increasing due to productivity, managers are using employee fear to not hire yet, this will probably hold for up March-June if demand for goods stays healthy. This happens every upturn, and will continue until execs get worried about losing market share to others who hire (or spend on capex).
Second, there is a shift in production to India and it will last a long time, but right now it is in a bubble (figure that it's 1998-1999 on that one) it will turn around after a few more notable bad experiences with highly skilled trades (there are only so many good engineers/coders in any place it's likely that just like in the .com boom, lots of less effective people are hopping on the band wagon with the really good ones. There will be a ton of jobs that move over there after the bubble bursts, but look at Japan as an example, it took a lot of production through the 1970s and 1980s and now it buys a lot of other things, we may not export many cars to Japan, but luxury goods, CPUs, and Software sell pretty well over there.
Finally, your last point is very true, and there will be better markets for some things over here. Techs that understand how business works (go take an accounting class or two) and can improve or improvise solutions and explain them to managers in a language that they understand will do very well regardless of markets. There were a ton of stupid projects that were implemented in the late 90s, having someone who understands both that this product works, and will help the business in the following ways will be worth their weight in gold to their employeer (even if it ends up being them).

Re:Space Boom

[Anonymous Coward]

For students such as yourself, my university (and others, possilby) offers a 5-year Masters degree in Computer Engineering, allowing the option of either a M.S. in Computer Science, or an M.S. in Electrical Engineering (VERY, VERY broad field).

Basically, you take graduate-level electives instead of "normal" electives in your undergraduate degree. You're allowed to double-count those graduate-level credits toward your MS.

Ask your potential schools about such programs, and think about getting a minor in C.S. or the like if you feel like programming is in your future. I have a B.S. Computer Engineering, Minor Computer Science, and will have an M.S. Electrical Engineering, all in 5 years of work (excluding summers, including about 24 hours of advanced placement credit). It's worth it, and I like having the option to say "I'm a hardware guy" OR "I'm a software guy" OR "I do both equally well" depending on the employer's needs.

Re:Well, sort of...

[Otter]

People are right to view this as a genuine structural change that has implications for career-related decisions such as a college major. They can do so without being guilty of "panicking" ... and "get a grip" and "stop panicking" aren't very useful answers.

Absolutely -- "get a grip" was intended (as I tried to make clear) as a prelude to thoughtful calculation, not as the last word on the subject.

But for you to set up the strawman that "*every* high-tech job in the US is about to be packed off to India" and knock it down with the assurance that it won't actually be every single one isn't much of an argument.

In 25 years, the US will still be the predominant economy in the world, with a proportionate technology sector. Better? That said, 1998 is not coming back, and 1988 may not be coming back either. I'm not saying there's not a serious issue, but it needs to be viewed in perspective.

And I think your "nasty undertone of racism" remark is bunk. You can always find an example of name-calling when people get frustrated and label an entire argument "racism, racism!", but that's mostly a red herring used to shut people up.

I'm hardly labeling "an entire argument" racism. What I am saying is that the fixation on and demonization of India and Indians is getting increasingly distasteful. (I am not Indian, by the way. I am, however, a member of the group that normally gets blamed for every economic downturn, and the tone in which India is discussed is unsettlingly familiar.) There's no intention to shut anyone up -- but I'm certainly allowed to register my unease with the tone of hysteria and with the finger-pointing, aren't I? As Hillary Clinton demonstrated recently, Indians aren't protected by standards of political correctness and it shows in the way they're referred to.