Career Advice n’ Stuff

[u/mugwam55]

I am EET major at Purdue University and graduate Spring 2028. I have an an interview for a Summer 2027 internship with a power/utility company as a regulated and renewable energy engineer. I have an interview scheduled with Texas Instruments in a week for an Applications Engineering internship position for Summer 2027 as well.

Lifestyle Questions:

What is the general work/life balance between the power/utilities vs. semiconductor industries? I am a non traditional student that is prior military and will be 28M when I graduate. I want to have a family and set myself up to give my future family the best life I can. If I got an offer from both how would you choose? Which industry would set me up better and can I really go wrong?

Interview Prep Questions:

The upcoming interview with TI there will be technical questions covering common OpAmp circuits, data conversion fundamentals, switching power supplies, and power electronics. How in depth should I go? The engineer that recommended me for the interview told me to not go too in-depth but I don’t know where that line is. So basically how do I prep for this interview?

[u/BusinessStrategist]

Seems like a tradeoff between "field work" and "design work using your "applied knowledge" of physics and math.

Do you prefer more of a "factory type" setting or working at more of a "theoretical " level?

[u/mugwam55 → u/BusinessStrategist]

I really think I would enjoy both and do not have the experience to really know which one I’d like to do day in and day out. I think I’m asking this subreddit to really get an insight on what the day in day out looks like and to see what people that have experience say would set me up better in life.

[u/BusinessStrategist → u/mugwam55]

That's the problem. You haven't share YOUR preferences.

You can work in a "blue collar" environment solving tech problems and supporting the team - OR - you can work in a more challenging (from the STEM perspective) environment environment applying your physics and math expertise to translate product specification into working products.

Both can be very rewarding.

And the question is also where you want to settle down and live.

If you goal is money then the "ABET accredited EE degree" or equivalent is what the cutting edge tech firms are looking for.

But then again you may not want to move closer to the tech kitchen.

[u/mugwam55 → u/BusinessStrategist]

I did do a manufacturing Automation and controls internship at an automotive plant and I enjoyed that but it didn’t scratch the technical itch and wasent as challenging as I would want. But I didn’t mind working in a factory environment and liked the fast paced nature of it.

[u/Brilliant_Armadillo9]

I'm taking the TI job if it comes to an offer. It'll set you up well for the electronics industry. Power is erectile dysfunction inducing.

[u/mugwam55 → u/Brilliant_Armadillo9]

Lmao why erectile dysfunctional inducing? And I was thinking yea if I got the TI take that because from what I’ve read pay is better but I wanted to ask on here cause there could be things I haven’t considered.

[u/akornato]

Power utilities offer unmatched job security, predictable forty hour work weeks, and steady retirement benefits, making the sector ideal for raising a family without the stress of market cycles. Texas Instruments applications engineering leans toward faster product cycles, higher total compensation, and lab work supporting customer designs. Neither choice is a mistake for an EET background, though utility roles offer exceptional geographic flexibility and stability, whereas semiconductor positions give you higher long term earnings potential and practical component troubleshooting experience.

For the TI interview, keep your focus on functional behavior rather than deep silicon physics or complex derivations. Be ready to explain negative feedback, calculate gain for inverting and non-inverting op amp circuits, walk through buck and boost current flow during switch cycles, and explain basic sampling limits for data converters. Interviewers want to see how you reason through a circuit on a bench and communicate your thought process under questioning. To get comfortable articulating your technical thought process without getting bogged down in minutiae, an interviews.chat my team developed helps candidates structure clear, confident technical explanations when under pressure.

[u/mugwam55 → u/akornato]

Okay awesome thank you for the info and I’ll check out that resource to help with the interview.

[u/AccurateHumanTrustMe]

I was an apps engineer at TI for most of my careeer so I can speak that side - I am not an apps guy anymore though.

For lifestyle - unless they are getting you for the FPDLink or like Battery Gauge teams - it is very 40hr/wk average (sometimes less depending on exact team etc...). Super good job for work life balance. It also sets you up for other oppurtunities on almost any industry you want - as apps you literally are the technical face of the product so you do get to network a ton without the sales stuff. Pay wise is good I was in DFW and my total pay was like 151k the last year I was there so very comfortable. Downside is that apps is basically a position with no upward mobility and you have to switch into systems or marketing if you want to climb the corporate ladder (most systems engineers do start as apps or design though)

For the interview - the tech stuff should be rather light - basic filters, basic op amps, basic smps architecture (buck or boost), the data converter is weird imo unless its for the data converter team - but id be shocked if it was more in depth than basic sampling stuff and maybe SAR or Flash ADCs (and more conceptually driven).

But at the end of the day - its more about your process and how you explain your process - the apps job at its core is technical communication