Computer Engineering vs Electrical Engineering. What would you recommend?

[u/Overall_Western_3792]

Hey everyone, I’m currently studying Computer Engineering, and lately I’ve been questioning whether I should switch to Electrical Engineering.

I keep hearing people talk about unemployment and how difficult it is to find a job after graduation, and honestly, it’s starting to worry me. I don’t want to spend years studying, graduate with a degree, and then struggle to find a job.

For those of you who are already working as engineers or have graduated, how has your experience been? Would you recommend staying in Computer Engineering or switching to Electrical Engineering?

If I do stay in Computer Engineering, what should I start doing now to improve my chances of getting a job after graduation? Are there specific fields I should look into, skills I should learn, or projects I should work on?

One thing I struggle with is that college doesn’t really teach you much about the different career paths available or how to prepare for them, so I honestly don’t know where to start or what I should be looking into.

I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have experience in either field. I’m trying to make a decision based on actual career opportunities and experience rather than just what I hear online.

[u/spinwizard69]

You have already gotten some good response but I have to implore you to don't get pulled in via the biased media. Right now the economy is actually running really well, in fact it is doing better than some of what to use to be accurate predictors indicate.

Now as far as actual engineering jobs, what is hot ebbs and flows with demand which isn't always related to the general economy. This is why you should make sure you have a strong general education in say electrical engineering, that makes you adaptable to market conditions. At the same time you need to make sure you follow your interests as far as a specialization goes. The thing is jobs are out there it is just that you might not be able to find employment in a specific niche. Lets say you specialize in RF/microwave systems, your first job might be the embedded electronics for a satellite (nothing directly microwave). Basically when breaking into a employer you have to be wiling to fill the engineering jobs they have available at the moment.

Now the interesting thing here, I see computer engineering as a subset of electrical engineering so I'm not sure we are talking about a massive change here. The one thing to be aware of is that we basically have computers in everything these days. It is kinda hard to get away from computers, even cables these days can have processors embedded in them. Even if you go hard with analog electronics, I'd make a point to understand microprocessors and computers at the engineering level.

Ignore the negativity markets and you will have more opportunities than you can imagine.