As all young and enthusiastic engineers-to-be, I started off with high hopes and the notion that I knew something about maths. It took no more than 5 gruesome days of full classes to understand two things:
- I know nothing. About literally, anything, at all (This notion did not change, since).
- I really don’t understand what any of this has to do with what I thought.
engineering was.
As time got by, another problem came up: I am running out of my previously hard-earned cash and fast. I’m a first year student, as said before, I know nothing yet (previously a combat soldier, a cook and a waiter. No electronics\computers proven experience whatsoever). So I went back to the kitchen to earn tomorrows Beer.
Time is ruthless though. As hard as it was, the second year passed by and by that time interning positions are becoming viable jobs for me and my kind. Again, the road is full of obstacles:
1. This university is relatively young. Yes, BGU is in the list of top-50-under-50 (years old) Universities. On it’s own, this isn’t an issue. But it does reside in a developing city. Meaning, nearby there are very little places to work. This has changed greatly in the few years that passed since I left, but still.
2. I did not want to work as a software developer. Anywhere, this reduces the amount of viable positions significantly.
3. Still, at this point, I have no experience in Electronics or computers. Although this is not a necessity, there are candidates with prior experience from their army service. This can be overcome with charm and professionalism while interviewing, but:
4. I’m a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad interviewee. I mean ridiculously bad. I twitch and fumble with my fingers and sweat…
5. It’s hard to say I was a complete failure, but I definitely wasn’t an honour student. So the GPA did have its effect on my CV.
Contrary to all of this, I was (and still am) an ideologist. I believed that the practical aspect of the job is significantly quicker to learn than the horrors of theoretical science and high level maths. This is probably where a lot of you will rise on your hind legs and protest. So first of all, this is my opinion. As usual, there is a high probability of me being wrong, but still, it is my own. Secondly, I am writing this after being employed as a practical, full time job, engineer. This still doesn’t make me right but it did encourage me to write this.

Believe me, I had my breakdowns. My wife will testify for me in sayings like “I’ll probably remain a cook for the rest of my life” and what not, but all the while I still held the firm belief that if I’ll understand (and apply) the theoretical aspect well enough, and apply the principals I learned from it, I’ll be fine in the end. I failed more job interviews than I can remember, yet I still remember each one with varying levels of humiliation. The years advanced and I still wasn’t accepted into any of the intern positions. I was afraid to get into the I cant get a job because I don’t have experience loop .

Although some of you (new job seekers) may think this is the important part, this isn’t. I got my first job offer in a very regular fashion, passing 3 interviews at a large corporate. My immediate response was chickening out and starting a masters degree. Although this was one of the worst financial decisions of my life up, to this day (this is local economy related more than anything, but still). I did it, Or at least I believed so at that time, for the right reasons. Consider the facts: At that point I am 27 years old, moving on 28. This is fairly common in my country. In the area of expertise I wanted to develop in, I had zero proven practical experience. So instead of trying to put my foot through the door somewhere, I went through two more years of a masters degree in the Academia.
Silly as it sounds, I believed still, that the practical parts are the fastest to learn. After finishing, starting my first job, the beginning was harsh. Long days, working weekends and what not. But still, in the end the ideology caught on. My theoretical background proved useful more than enough times and still does, to this day. Surprisingly enough, some of the maths courses come in handy once in a while. Linear algebra – all the time. Fourier analysis – of course. Complex functions – Surprisingly, yes! Not to mention the professional courses taken in the Masters, which are very Electromagnetic specific.
To sum up, I’m not saying that practical experience doesn’t count, or doesn’t matter. I am standing my ground in saying that in most cases, a strong theoretical background and a methodical approach can overcome such deficiencies fast enough. I’m not here to preach to interviewers, but more to give hope to those that were\are in my position back then.
Having said that, there are some steps, some of them are genuinely fun, to take in order to give yourself that extra edge. These, however, I will discuss in another post.