how long did it take you to get a job as an electronics tech, with your A.S.?

not certificate, assuming a fairly determined search

I got a job right out of electronics school with Lucent Technologies which later became Alcatel Lucent. I worked there 10 years as an "radio frequency tester" until they closed the plant and outsourced the work to China and Mexico. When I knew they were closing the plant I immediately began a job search and got hired at a local power plant as a control technician before Alcatel Lucent closed their facility. I am thankful that I went to school, it's worked out well for me. I have made a comfortable living. I think the power plant job will last hopefully until I retire.

i went to school for electronics too. i have an A.S degree. unfortunately, i was never lucky with employment. i went to numerous interviews, was given tests, passed highly, but no job... i was only lucky to find a $12.00 position. its so humiliating that i worked so hard to earn this degree but get so despised at the job market. good luck to anyone going to school for electronics or looking for a job in this sector.

I too only have an AAS in EET. I do regret the choice I made in schools, as ITT Tech is lumped into the "degree mill" category by most. When I graduated, the Omaha campus did not offer a BS, but they do now. The first job market I tried looking in was Denver (which the ITT Tech campus there did offer a Bachelor's). I found out later that was the only reason I was turned down by most of the employers there.

5 years after I graduated I finally got my first job as a test tech with Rockwell Collins in eastern Iowa (seems they are hard up for good techs in the area). They started me out at $14.46/hr, and when I left I was making $16.46/hr. There are several reasons I did not stay on there, but I don't have my tiny violin to accompany the story.

Now, I facing the same problem I did when I graduated...in a town where a BS is available, I only have an AAS. That and it has been 8 years now since I graduated. Honors or not, no one here cares until I have that second piece of paper on the wall.

Anyway, beyond venting here, I'm weighing out my options:

On the one hand, there's a school here that does offer a BS in EET, and they have already accepted my AAS in transfer. I'm one year away from the second piece of paper. Finding a daytime job that pays the bills so I can go to school in the evenings is turning out out be a challenge. (I deliver pizzas in the evenings to make ends meet)

My second option is to leave my kids here with "her" while I return to Texas and use my veteran benefits for school (Hazelwood Exemption - pays tuition but not books and fees). The job market has much more to offer there, and all of "my" family are there. Education-wise, I may be starting over from scratch.

DeVry offers the best program in electronics. Send me an e-mail and I can answer any questions you have bgrey@devry.edu

Forget Devry and ITT. Check your local state universities for baccalaureate degrees, and the community colleges for associates. They're a much better value, and the instructors at most state schools are superior.

Also, if you wish to work as a design technician or technologist, you need to take whichever option in your program that allows you to complete math up through technical calculus, as well as some physics as well, at a MINIMUM.

NinjaServo in Cincinnati, Ohio said: Forget Devry and ITT. Check your local state universities for baccalaureate degrees, and the community colleges for associates. They're a much better value, and the instructors at most state schools are superior.

Also, if you wish to work as a design technician or technologist, you need to take whichever option in your program that allows you to complete math up through technical calculus, as well as some physics as well, at a MINIMUM.

I have worked with some really smart and talented people from both Devry and ITT technical institute.

As a current student at the itt here in aurora i can most certainly tell you its not the school that matters so much as it is of what you get out of it. In todays job market it is just rediculous to just get an associates while i do have many class mates already working in their field making from 60 to 90k a year this includes over time. I have not had any luck so far but im not really looking either there are so many oportunities for electronics students and even more so for those with experience after my bachlors i plan to persue my masters but im not sure in what though. I can not blame the school though they have taught me very well and i would recomend them to anyone who has the option to go.

Excuse my spelling its 6am and i havent slept yet and am very bad at english sorry

Both Devry and ITT tech are better than nothing but don't expect a degree from there to work miracles. It will probably help you get an ENTRY level job somewhere. When I say ENTRY I mean it too. If you really want a job that pays decent money starting out then you are going to have to get your Bachelors from somewhere accredited by your states university system. Yes it will cost more, yes it will be harder... but thats why you get paid more when you get out (don't ask me why I didn't invent the system I just went through it and I know what I'm talking about). I lucked out as a local electronics co-op program has nabbed me a $22/hr job starting out and the more I look around the more I realize... wow, this is pretty good.

Good luck all, and don't listen to those recruiters from ITT and Devry... of course they are going to tell you that there school has students employed at this place or that place but every school has a few lucky students. Your best bet is going to be a four year degree.

ya man i agree. getting a job in the electronics field is pretty damn hard. Especially after getting a degree from ITT Tech. I graduated in June of last year and still have not had any success in getting a job in the electronics field. I kind of almost feel like I just wasted 2 years of my life on a degree that doesn't mean anything to companies. Not to mention the fact I have a ridiculous amount of loans I need to pay but can't afford to pay right now.

I worked in College Station, Tx as a repair technician. I quit the industry because I realized that without a degree, that's all I'd ever be. I went into the oilfield as a roughneck. I quit doing that to go back to school. I chose ITT and must say, go to any university you can. Start at Community College. It will help more than ITT. I get jobs now because I have experience in the field. Right now I'm about to graduate from ITT and I work in the electronics industry. A lot of the guys that are making 4.0's at ITT think they should be engineers when they leave but five minutes in a room with a real electrical engineer proves that they just flushed forty grand on an AAS. I'm still there just because I've put so much time in and would be wasting money if I quit. When I finish, I plan on going to university and forgetting I ever went to ITT.

I made the mistake of going to the local college for a electronic program, but I was naive thinking because I was smart, a company would hire me. While it's better then nothing, you have to get a CS/BS/EE to really get on the ladder. I found my two year program helped me a little, but most places look for a 4 year cert and I was lucky to have electronics and programming as hardcore hobby.

I make $30/Hr as a software tester (contractor) for Microsoft in Redmond, WA, but wish I could find a nice paying electronics job. I know tons of people that have degrees in EE, but almost all work in the software field in Western Washington.

Some kind of cert is better then nothing, but not much with so much competition for India whihc MS hires by the boat load. And they all work like mad men to get citizenship. Yeah, that part suck...even worse is working for one them.

(Regular words which are in ALL CAPS below are for emphasis only)

I know of some folks who have gotten their associate degree from ITT Tech and have gone on to work for the federal government, etc, because it is technically a valid degree as far a hiring requirements (block check) go.

ITT Technical Institute is just that, a ‘Technical Institute’. Although it is accredited by the Department of Education, that accreditation is by a National Accreditation agency. What that means is the degree/credits earned ARE NOT GENERALLY accepted by an institution which is Regionally Accredited.

With that being said I know of other FOR-PROFIT institutions (Kaplan University being one) which will accept an associate degree from ITT Technical Institute as credit towards one of their Regionally Accredited bachelor degrees. If an ITT Tech degree was not accepted by an organization, that could be due to the lack of Regional Accreditation, which seems to happen quite a bit.

The reality is very few, if any, of those poor folks get to move up in their careers because of the ITT Tech degree. Rather, the few that do excel do so in spite of having an ITT Tech degree because they were quality applicants to begin with.

Good luck and hang in there.

I just graduated with my Associates degree from ITT-TECH on friday and i have a job at ICBS as an electronics technican also i am going to an interview tuesday for a job at Advance Energy for 17 a hr i make 15 right now and just got hired monday. Just hang in and there have some faith also KEEP YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE! if i had done that i would have my pick of the litter of jobs. I have had so many offers for Repair techs for medical companies but without a license i cant drive anywere so thats not an option for me. Still i enjoyed my time at itt-tech and look forward to furthuring my degree

Jonathan Greene in Denver, Colorado said: I just graduated with my Associates degree from ITT-TECH on friday and i have a job at ICBS as an electronics technican also i am going to an interview tuesday for a job at Advance Energy for 17 a hr i make 15 right now and just got hired monday. Just hang in and there have some faith also KEEP YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE! if i had done that i would have my pick of the litter of jobs. I have had so many offers for Repair techs for medical companies but without a license i cant drive anywere so thats not an option for me. Still i enjoyed my time at itt-tech and look forward to furthuring my degree

Im in ITT Tech student on my 7th quarter with no work experience. Whenever i receive my Associate Degree I kept wondering If i should stay in ITT Tech for my bachelor or try to find a job with only a Associate degree. Any Advice?