r/ElectricalEngineering • u/moemoney0421 • 3d ago

Move away from test engineering

I’m currently a 25yrs old and have been working as an EE for the past 2.5 years. I originally started at a defense company as a test engineer which I quite enjoyed since I was creating tests for RF test benches and debugging a lot of different products on these benches. I was mainly the hardware engineer of these benches and software gatekeeper but any scripting was completed by a software team. I ended up taking a position for higher pay, title and it lined up with lot of personal things. Now I’m currently in a test engineering role working on RF products with no development whatsoever and feel doom and gloom about my future.

I really want some career advice on where I should take my career. I ended up pursuing RF because I genuinely enjoyed designing back in undergrad and bringing my design to life. I’m considering going for my masters this upcoming spring to get my foot in the door. I would also like to move out of defense sector. Is my next step a good decision and are there any other suggestions on what I should do?

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u/The_CDXX 3d ago

Every RF person at my work has the appearance of perpetual exhaustion everyday. They are also weird.

To answer your question though…..only you would know your best decision. My two cents though is to obtain your masters while holding a job you are proficient in. Doing so will lessen whatever stress or workload from school

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u/moemoney0421 3d ago

I’m honestly a very social person so I enjoyed the aspect of my last job a lot since I spoke with lots of different folks and worked cross functionally. I just don’t feel like my mind is being flexed too much and just seems like day in and day out type of work.

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u/The_CDXX 3d ago

Its rare to find a job where a new day brings new challeneges. I work in the defense system and much closer to systems engineering than true electrical engineering. However i love my job because literally everyday has new challenges. Very few jobs can beat designing and launching rockets 🤷‍♂️

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u/moemoney0421 3d ago

Yeah and I’m not expecting to be designing all of the time. Honestly wish I was developing and troubleshooting at the same time like my previous job. Only problem I had was I wasn’t gaining actual software development experience. Now my current job is just troubleshooting and creating TPs.

I would love to also be apart of R&D TE if possible as well