- #1
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I've gotten most of my math, gen ed, and basic physics classes out of the way and this August I am jumping headfirst into engineering classes, either Electrical or Aerospace. Money is not a motive for me, although employability is.
Aerospace design and rocket propulsion just seems so much more intersting to me than electrical design, but I'm trying to be realistic and practical about my decision so I have a few questions I was hoping to get answered:
1) Am I glamourizing the actual work that an AE does? The coursework looks so much more interesting than electrical engineering coursework, but I know that AE's usually don't design new methods of propulsion everyday, play with rockets every day, etc...
2) If I have trouble finding work in the Aerospace sector, is it still very employable elsewhere? I am usually told that I would be pigeonholing myself into a small group of employers. Yet, others tell me that it is still a degree that is very applicable all across industry. I also thought that recent successes by Space-X and others, along with the privatization of the space industry, would open up a lot of jobs, but it seems that is not necessarily the case.
3) As a teenager and in my early 20's I got in trouble a few times. It was small, misdemeanor stuff and I had it all expunged off of my record (meaning it is erased at the local and state level and I can legally say that I never got in trouble). However, in a job that requires a security clearance, that stuff would probably show up in an FBI check. Again, it was a long time ago and I would be truthful about it, so I hope it would not affect me, but it is still something that sits in the back of my head. Do the majority of AE jobs in the Aerospace sector require high-level security clearances?
To reiterate, I am comforable financially and I am open to moving around the country, but I also don't want to earn an AE degree and have trouble finding work in the Aerospace sector. I have many connections in the electrical field ( I was an electrician for 13 years), so I know if I earn an EE degree and strike out in Aerospace I could find work elsewhere. Ofcourse, my whole plan in going back to school was to do something that I really loved...
Thank you for any help.
Aerospace design and rocket propulsion just seems so much more intersting to me than electrical design, but I'm trying to be realistic and practical about my decision so I have a few questions I was hoping to get answered:
1) Am I glamourizing the actual work that an AE does? The coursework looks so much more interesting than electrical engineering coursework, but I know that AE's usually don't design new methods of propulsion everyday, play with rockets every day, etc...
2) If I have trouble finding work in the Aerospace sector, is it still very employable elsewhere? I am usually told that I would be pigeonholing myself into a small group of employers. Yet, others tell me that it is still a degree that is very applicable all across industry. I also thought that recent successes by Space-X and others, along with the privatization of the space industry, would open up a lot of jobs, but it seems that is not necessarily the case.
3) As a teenager and in my early 20's I got in trouble a few times. It was small, misdemeanor stuff and I had it all expunged off of my record (meaning it is erased at the local and state level and I can legally say that I never got in trouble). However, in a job that requires a security clearance, that stuff would probably show up in an FBI check. Again, it was a long time ago and I would be truthful about it, so I hope it would not affect me, but it is still something that sits in the back of my head. Do the majority of AE jobs in the Aerospace sector require high-level security clearances?
To reiterate, I am comforable financially and I am open to moving around the country, but I also don't want to earn an AE degree and have trouble finding work in the Aerospace sector. I have many connections in the electrical field ( I was an electrician for 13 years), so I know if I earn an EE degree and strike out in Aerospace I could find work elsewhere. Ofcourse, my whole plan in going back to school was to do something that I really loved...
Thank you for any help.
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