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Electrical engineering

Ran

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Good day all

I have a few questions regarding the study of electrical engineering, if there are any members that can assist I would be most appreciative.

• I have no experience with electrical engineering or anything related, is there a way for me to get into a company and see what the work entails and what would be expected of me, I work full time so I'm only available on weekends and holidays but I'll work for free and know how to use a broom.

• At what point during studies can someone be considered competent and look for employment, taking a pay cut from one profession to another is expected but I have a family to support and can't do that on intern money.

• Is a place like the engineering academy a good place to study, what other institutes should be considered?

• Will my age make it difficult to find employment, I'm 32.

Thank you.
 
Electrical Engineering is a very broad field of study. Is there any particular area/specialisation that you are perhaps interested in? I'm currently busy with my ND in Electrical Engineering, majoring in Computer Systems, so I may be able to give you some advice.
 
1. I'm in Cape Town, so cannot really help with a company. But can second in saying it is a very very broad field. So the range of jobs differ tremendously.
2. If you do a degree, you typically have to finish that first (4 years). If you do a ND (3 years), they have a practical year iirc, so that you can take in your second year already. If you land at a good company, they might be able to let you study part time to complete the 3rd year over a 2 year period. But that is a big maybe.
3. First time i have heard of Engineering Academy. Just looked at them now, and they only do ND it seems. If you get a B.Eng./B.Tech. your opportunities are greater in general. So maybe go with a place that allows you to upgrade your ND to a B later on. That said, in general if you have paper, that is all that is needed.
4. With a proper B degree, the rest of the world opens up a lot more. But that requires a lot more capital and time. So might not be worth it.

Do you have any other qualifications that could combine? For example one of the guys that studied with me completed his B.Eng. did LLB afterward and is now killing it in a patent firm. Another one did a B.Com. now then did his B.Eng. and is in the property development consulting side.
 
I'm not sure what I'd like to specialize in, is it necessary to figure that out before I start my studies?
If I do a ND will I be able to do a bachelors at a later stage?
 
I'm not sure what I'd like to specialize in, is it necessary to figure that out before I start my studies?
If I do a ND will I be able to do a bachelors at a later stage?

My course started with a broad engineering background and specialization started later.
I know CPUT does a ND to B upgrade. But I do not know if they will accept another places ND. I would imagine yes if that place is properly accredited.
 
I did chemical engineering at Wits, have mates who did Elec Eng at Wits.

You can decide (provided you don't take a bursary) on where you would want to end up in. You can choose heavy/light current when studying. The companies I know where some of my mates ended up are :

Process Automation - like Rockwell/Siemens
Eskom
Entelect
Telkom (was on a bursary)
Banking (yes this is also possible). Both in Finance or Card division.
Mining companies
Sasol
Various specialised consulting companies

Good SA universities for degrees (in my experience/opinion) are Wits, UCT, Tuks, Potch, UKZN. Colleagues are from these institutions and the calibre I've noticed are similar.

Not too clued up on the ND side of things.
 
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I'm not sure what I'd like to specialize in, is it necessary to figure that out before I start my studies?
If I do a ND will I be able to do a bachelors at a later stage?

I study at CPUT, and they are currently phasing out the ND qualification in favour of a BEng-Tech. This is because the standard ND: Electrical Engineering qualification does not contain any physics courses, which is required if you wish to later pursue something along the lines of a BEng or BSc. CPUT offers you the chance to do a BTech after completing your ND, provided that your marks are good enough. This then brings you more in line with the likes of a BEng. The BTech and ND will be redundant though as of 2019, since the BEng-Tech will be a combination of both degrees, and you will then be on par with other tertiary institutions without having to study anything further until Postgrad.

I would suggest doing research in to what area you would like to be in within the field, so that you can map out the best possible path of studies in order to get there. Since the degrees are generally very challenging, it helps to have a sense of direction, in order to avoid feeling completely lost. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience here xD
 
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I graduated with a electrical and electronic engineering degree from the University of Stellenbosch. We started out at about 200 but only 80 candidates made it to final year. Of that I know of 1 guy who got employed in the field. The rest have moved to software engineering, or have moved on to get a masters. To get a semi-decent engineering position a masters degree is required. The country does not have the economy to support decent electrical engineering firms. Eskom, Transnet, Telkom, Sasol etc are all state regulated and terrible to work for. That being said, I don't know what the demand for electrical engineering technicians (BTech) is like. If you have the skillset for engineering, rather make some money in software (in my honest opinion).
 
I graduated with a electrical and electronic engineering degree from the University of Stellenbosch. We started out at about 200 but only 80 candidates made it to final year. Of that I know of 1 guy who got employed in the field. The rest have moved to software engineering, or have moved on to get a masters. To get a semi-decent engineering position a masters degree is required. The country does not have the economy to support decent electrical engineering firms. Eskom, Transnet, Telkom, Sasol etc are all state regulated and terrible to work for. That being said, I don't know what the demand for electrical engineering technicians (BTech) is like. If you have the skillset for engineering, rather make some money in software (in my honest opinion).
Crazy because 4 years later this might still be true.

You went to Stellies, I'm at Tuks. In my 2nd year doing electrical eng, but I've been in uni for quite sometime now. Dudes are going in as Electrical Engineering prospects and coming out not landing in their field of study? It's something I've noticed (more and more vac work options are leaning towards Dev oriented work) and I wanted to know if this is still the case? Are people still going in and landing up in entirely different fields and what can I do to make myself as a graduate more desirable/prepared for what's coming?
 

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