I'm a freshman in college in electrical engineering. I chose this major at random and so far, I hate it. I have no idea what people in my major CAN do, so when I go to job fairs, I look clueless to everyone there. The worst part is that I AM clueless. I've had companies ask me, what can you do for us? and I don't know what to tell them! Please help.
Engineering is all pretty much the same, regardless of what one builds. Consider mechanical engineering. One can either build cars or fix cars. Being able to design engines takes a master's degree at least. Fixing cars can be something done with a trade school Associates degree. This is basically the difference between electricians and electrical engineers. Obviously there are many more jobs for the electricians. There is commercial contracting or residential service or any combination of the two. Of course, you will spend your career wiring circuit breakers and very little else. To get an idea of what an actual electrical design engineer does, take apart anything electrical. All those little chips are entire circuit boards. The little metal legs are power inputs and signal inputs/outputs. Larger circuits are built up from the chips. One has to be able to read the data sheet on the chip and then be able to build a circuit around it. This is far more complicated than replacing blown fuses and explains why design engineers need masters degrees or (preferably) PHD's. If you like building things and are comitted enough to endure the many semesters of math and physics required (besides the electrical engineering itself) then design engineering is going to be both enjoyable and very profitable. Of course, becomming a technician first and then furthering one's education is another route to becomming an actual designer. Remember, besides science, economics is also an issue and education is incredibly expensive in America because people refuse to fund affordable public education with tax increases.
