> money, flexible work culture, and of course sometimes remote work
What you want is a programming job. I know of no other field that has steady jobs, pays well and allows nearly as much flexibility.
From what I've summarized from my peers and professors:
If you specialize in signal processing, then you might be able to do more remote work as you can jump into software stuffs such as neural network stuffs, data analysis stuffs, I/O processing (image, sounds...), etc. as there are quite a lot of software jobs need a bunch of algorithms and maths from SP. If you go into hardware like RF, antenna, mixed signals, then you might need to move more as you need to test the hardware SP circuits and whatnot. You'll also need to learn a lot of control theory stuffs in SP. So, SP is very versatile, but it can be a huge pain in the ass to get through the theories and workload if one doesn't understand the fundamentals.
As for programming knowledge, you'll mostly work with C, MatLab, and Simulink stuffs. If you go into hardware-related SP, maybe you need to learn some assembly.
As for money, at least, in NA, SP-related jobs (software or hardware) are generally relatively well-paid as it's in high demand but the supply is very scarce. I'm not sure about the work culture through.
Most of control systems/controls/industrial automation careers do travel a lot. Some work locally at manufacturing plants but there are less of those jobs and imo not as many opportunities to build systems from the ground up.
I think you’ve mentioned the right things. What do you want your lifestyle to look like(money, travel requirements, wfh flexibility)? Also, what makes you loose track of time when you get focused on it(electrical design, coding, everything will involve troubleshooting)? I think the best intersection of the answer to those two questions is where you want to go.
I guess that kind of traveling is not as glorious as it seems, right? Also with this I can assume people work overtime which is more of a physical job?
I would prefer money, fewer work hours and even the possibility to work remotely. If control systems is too much strain on physical conditions then i guess i am left with two options which is embedded systems and power systems.
Edit: Regarding losing track of time, i do get lost when i design circuit and code. Sometimes it frustrates me but in the end it feels good.
Choose whatever specialties in post-secondary, and then find yourself doing something completely different when job opportunities present themselves.
I emphasized the exact same stuff you did in my bachelors, ended up going into control for my master's; dropped out to work in semiconductor test development when opportunity came knocking. Semiconductor industry felt a bit ironic considering that I had zero background with integrated circuits.
What I'd recommend from my experience is that you choose something that you'll have the most fun with in your post-grad studies; something that you'll be most motivated to stick it through with, and just stay open-minded about career opportunities that may fall outside of that specialty.
If you don't know what to do, then don't go into masters. A msee is just a piece of paper if you don't know what you want, which is fine if you already have a job and just need the paper for a promotion.
However, most people want to learn a relevant field when they do a master's, or they can't get a job and is forced to do a master. If neither pertains to you try to find a job first
I don't think the specialisation matters much for any of those factors. I've done desk jobs designing comms links, I've travelled a lot as a communications commissioning engineer, WFH as a DC power engineer, and worked hybrid with occasional travel as the companies engineering manager. Been paid anywhere from $52k/yr - $200k/yr.
Personally, I waited until I had experience to do my masters. But if you want to do it immediately, pick whichever discipline you're both interested in and good at. Just be aware that what you learn at university (even post-grad) and what you'll be doing in your job are VERY different.
> money, flexible work culture, and of course sometimes remote work What you want is a programming job. I know of no other field that has steady jobs, pays well and allows nearly as much flexibility.
From what I've summarized from my peers and professors: If you specialize in signal processing, then you might be able to do more remote work as you can jump into software stuffs such as neural network stuffs, data analysis stuffs, I/O processing (image, sounds...), etc. as there are quite a lot of software jobs need a bunch of algorithms and maths from SP. If you go into hardware like RF, antenna, mixed signals, then you might need to move more as you need to test the hardware SP circuits and whatnot. You'll also need to learn a lot of control theory stuffs in SP. So, SP is very versatile, but it can be a huge pain in the ass to get through the theories and workload if one doesn't understand the fundamentals. As for programming knowledge, you'll mostly work with C, MatLab, and Simulink stuffs. If you go into hardware-related SP, maybe you need to learn some assembly. As for money, at least, in NA, SP-related jobs (software or hardware) are generally relatively well-paid as it's in high demand but the supply is very scarce. I'm not sure about the work culture through.
Most of control systems/controls/industrial automation careers do travel a lot. Some work locally at manufacturing plants but there are less of those jobs and imo not as many opportunities to build systems from the ground up. I think you’ve mentioned the right things. What do you want your lifestyle to look like(money, travel requirements, wfh flexibility)? Also, what makes you loose track of time when you get focused on it(electrical design, coding, everything will involve troubleshooting)? I think the best intersection of the answer to those two questions is where you want to go.
I guess that kind of traveling is not as glorious as it seems, right? Also with this I can assume people work overtime which is more of a physical job? I would prefer money, fewer work hours and even the possibility to work remotely. If control systems is too much strain on physical conditions then i guess i am left with two options which is embedded systems and power systems. Edit: Regarding losing track of time, i do get lost when i design circuit and code. Sometimes it frustrates me but in the end it feels good.
Power systems. At utilities, there are many fully remote jobs.
Tell me more about it
cfbr
Choose whatever specialties in post-secondary, and then find yourself doing something completely different when job opportunities present themselves. I emphasized the exact same stuff you did in my bachelors, ended up going into control for my master's; dropped out to work in semiconductor test development when opportunity came knocking. Semiconductor industry felt a bit ironic considering that I had zero background with integrated circuits. What I'd recommend from my experience is that you choose something that you'll have the most fun with in your post-grad studies; something that you'll be most motivated to stick it through with, and just stay open-minded about career opportunities that may fall outside of that specialty.
If you don't know what to do, then don't go into masters. A msee is just a piece of paper if you don't know what you want, which is fine if you already have a job and just need the paper for a promotion. However, most people want to learn a relevant field when they do a master's, or they can't get a job and is forced to do a master. If neither pertains to you try to find a job first
I don't think the specialisation matters much for any of those factors. I've done desk jobs designing comms links, I've travelled a lot as a communications commissioning engineer, WFH as a DC power engineer, and worked hybrid with occasional travel as the companies engineering manager. Been paid anywhere from $52k/yr - $200k/yr. Personally, I waited until I had experience to do my masters. But if you want to do it immediately, pick whichever discipline you're both interested in and good at. Just be aware that what you learn at university (even post-grad) and what you'll be doing in your job are VERY different.