Hi all, Hi Kirk
I'm a recent graduate from
the University of Waterloo's EE program. I've spent
a great deal of time in upper year deciding whether
to go into RF or Software. Though I have a great
deal of passion for both fields, after much deliberation
(not wanting to give up on EE), I've decided that
RF is the right
career path for me
Unfortunately
my co-op experiences (6 terms in total, 2 years
worth) are largely in software. This is partially
because serious RF courses didn't start until fourth
year (when you've got all the basics). and I felt
cheated out of my degree because just as I was starting
to learn something interesting they gave me a piece
of paper. I worked at QUALCOMM as an applications
engineer for my last workterm. It was still software,
and though they offered me a job I declined because
i knew if i took it I'll be stuck in software/app
eng forever. QUALCOMM was a great company, and my
dream job would be QUALCOMM's RFIC designer
As a result I've decided to go for masters and
I'm applying for them right now, giving me a year
of free time to do something about my career
I know how difficult to it is to get that first
job in the RF design, and without practical experience
even with a master it'd be VERY difficult. I dont
want to be stuck in the same place, without relevent
experience, after my master.
So I propose
the following 3 possible things I can do during
my year of free time.
1. Go back to taiwan
(where I immigrated from), and try to get a design
job (still unlikely) in RF, OR try to get a testing
job in RF (very likely given my foreign degree).
I know the hours will be very bad because they always
work you like a horse. Work/Life balance is non-existent
there. Therefore if I have a testing job I will
not have any chance to read up on RF textbook, do
problems, or play around with ADS/Momemtum, Cadence,
or any design tool. However I'll have something
to show on my resume, and learn about RF testing
(IP3, 1-db compression, s parameters measurement
and the likes, which i imagine would get boring
quickly, please tell me if this helps future career
path as designer)
2. Use the year to familiarize
myself with the design tools. Read up a lot of RF
(do problems in Pozar, and other RF books), tutorials
at
www.rfic.co.uk etc. and review digital/analog
circuit theory, etc etc. Basically try to teach
myself design. I'd put personal projects on resume.
I dont know how much this will count since I'm not
really working for anyone and just playing around.
I imagine I'd learn a lot this way. But is it advisable?
Is it better to start in testing?
3. Try
to contact a prof@waterloo and work for them if
possible. This could be a mix of design/testing.
But this also is uncertain and may not be possible.
However I'd have someone to mentor me and answer
my questions. Unlike option 2 where I might get
stuck or go off in a tangent
Please advise
me on what you would do, looking back at your career.
I'm 22 right now and I know RF is not an easy field.
I love it for the challenge, the engineering, the
math, the thrill of understanding. I love how it
has communication, control, circuits, software,
all embedded
Thank you and I greatly appreciate
you time and advice.
David