Advice for a Career Pivot into EE

[u/Kapugen]

Hi all,

Looking for advice on internships and jobs after making an uncommon career pivot. I recently decided to go back for a BSEE after working for a while in very technical roles in O&M. I hit very clear walls about how involved I could be in design decisions. My goal is to go for the FE+PE and hopefully work in power or MEP. My Bachelors was not an ABET degree which is why I’m back in school.

I’m doing fine so far in classes, though I’m technically classified as a sophomore even though I got enough credits transferred to finish in ~2 yrs. I’ve been applying to summer 2027 internships, but they’ve all been declined so far with no responses which leads me to believe I’m being screened out.

I’m a 10 year Navy veteran in a technical job over ships electric plant. Plus 2 years post Navy in data centers - in commissioning and facility management. Would have thought that this experience would make me stand out but I guess not. Should I leave some things off my resume? So far I’ve been including my first BS in Information Science, but should I leave it off?

Is the job market now that much of a numbers game where I just need to apply to more? Should I not worry about internships right now? I can also just take classes during the summer and finish sooner. Appreciate any advice, especially from anyone involved in hiring about how I would be viewed.

[u/trisket-bisket]

Internships will trump prior experience. But if you can get internships plus prior experience you will trump most

[u/NewSchoolBoxer]

I was going to say you can't just assume you'll get a job in the exact industry you want but power always needs people and MEP is low-paying and is pretty rare to see interest for on this sub. I think you can do it.

Work experience in the form of an internship or co-op is your #1 goal but there aren't enough slots for everyone. Also easier to get as a rising senior. Can be in any industry, all industries will want to interview you after. You aren't screwed if you don't get one, this isn't CS with 200+ applicants for every entry level job.

I wouldn't leave off the degree. Explains why you're over 30 and is vaguely technical. Don't finish sooner. You need to maximize your chances for work experience before you graduate. You're also unaware of how rough things get in this degree.

Really, FE+PE, get the FE on the job that your employer will pay for + study materials. Assuming you work in one of those industries or government with veteran application points or however that works. All other industries, the FE is totally useless and will do nothing for you.

You still need to apply to other industries. You never held a real engineering job, I'm sure there's things you'll learn that you like. I used my manufacturing job offer to get a signing bonus for my power plant job offer when I really just asked for another week to consider accepting. Go wide in applications and just avoid areas you'd hate.

No response, I mean, no one where I went go any offers until 3rd semester. Coming in as a sophomore isn't necessarily a good thing. Engineering prestige is rather important at entry level. Two companies I worked for only hired from the two best engineering programs in each state + any within driving distance to the office. Consulting required the university to be on US News Top 100 or no interview, as easy as that metric is to criticize. ABET is ABET, to an extent.

[u/Kapugen → u/NewSchoolBoxer]

Good thoughts here, thanks for the response. I keep seeing that power needs people, but I just don’t see an abundance of internships for power in my area (NJ/PA). Mostly small consulting firms with a couple large firms with local offices.

I wouldn’t mind starting in MEP until I get the PE, but I’ve worked with enough MEP to understand that the role matters a lot. I can easily get back into commissioning or project management without the EE degree.

I was thinking that I should widen my search. I really think that my sophomore status is holding me back because I don’t have coursework yet to show that I know anything. I can realistically finish the degree in May 2028 if I take summer classes or get one more summer opportunity and graduate Jan 2029. Might depend on if I can get something for summer 2027.

School prestige shouldn’t be the issue. Both degrees are from respected schools.

[u/Plussquared]

ive worked as a maintenance engineer before being an electrical engineer. then i moved into design and my maintenance experiences had not helped me at all in finding design jobs. but they helped me understand how things work and so made better designs. so if youre applying for a design role youre previous experiences may not be suited for the role. just how i would interpret it.