<p>Can anyone tell me the difference in jobs that each would give? Like what would most of the jobs entail generally? Would CE and EE jobs be basically the same due to such closely related majors?</p>
<p>Put it in lame terms please, a very detailed paragraph is only helpful if I understand what it says.</p>
<p>I can tell you that of the job postings I’ve seen, 99-99.5% of the ones that take either CS or CompE will take the other. I remember 1, out of somewhere in the range of 100-200 job postings I looked at. </p>
<p>A large portion of those (I might guess ~80%) also took EE majors. </p>
<p>I didn’t look for any jobs that would have wanted EE majors and not CE or CS majors, so I can’t speak for those.</p>
<p>CS jobs are usually programming types jobs which can range from web programming (web applications, cloud computing) to desktop programming (video games, etc) to systems programming (operating systems, low level driver stuff).</p>
<p>CE jobs are usually systems programming, embedded systems (microcontrollers and FPGAs), and processor architecting (how all the functional blocks of a CPU come together), design (making the functional blocks of the CPU), and validation (making sure the CPU works).</p>
<p>EE jobs are usually radio frequency work (antenna design, RF chip design, other RF stuff), transistor design, power systems, and signal processing.</p>
<p>Explore job websites such as monster or careerbuilder to see what employers in your region are looking for. During my own explorations, I noticed many employers list many related degrees to fill positions while others are specific about what they look for. In some cases, is not the specific degree that gets one a job but a specific skill one may possess.</p>
<p>I know it varies by school, but how practical would a CS CE dual major be to complete in four years without killing myself? And it’s usefulness?</p>
<p>I was going to do EE, and maybe CE if I really wanted to, but the majority of EE jobs spark no interest in me (boring). I was thinking more of developing more modern technology of variety, not primarily radio frequency work…</p>
<p>What is your definition of modern technology?</p>
<p>Television, cell phones, computer/gaming systems, development of AI, application of lasers and such, etc…</p>
<p>Could a CE major get CS jobs if he minor’d/ took enough electives in CS?</p>
<p>A CE major could get CS jobs if he had the right classes.</p>
<p>A lot of modern technology is developed by EE majors: signal processing techniques in cell phones (which is INCREDIBLY complex in modern cell phones), transistor technology (used by all electronics), and lasers (almost solely developed by physicists and EE’s).</p>
<p>I disagree that CS jobs are usually programming jobs. Most of the programming jobs are overseas or going to be overseas in the near future. The CS major should prepare you well for systems management, systems security, technical solutions, database management, overall systems analysis, and business IT analysis. If you’re planning on getting a CS degree to do programming you should consider moving to India or China. </p>
<p>Do the CE degree if you are interested more in the technical aspect of computer technology. Do the CS degree if you are more interested in the business/applications side of computer technology. Personally I’m more interested in the business applications side of it, but everyone’s different.</p>
<p>There are a lot of programming jobs that will stay in the US and those are in the military sector. There are lots of programming jobs where companies prefer domestic employees for a variety of reasons. We continue to hire software engineers locally. I’ve seen programming jobs advertised that are finding few people interviewing.</p>
<p>On the CE degree, the risk you’re taking, if you’re looking for a CS job, is that the HR department screens for CS degrees and doesn’t look at CE majors in their database searches. Ideally, you’d get your job via networking where the major won’t matter as much as what you know.</p>
<p>
Uh… are you sure know what “radio frequency work” is? Hint: it’s not about radios.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>My unconscious ignorance annoys me. Mind explaining?</p>
<p>BCEagle, yea I was certainly using hyperbole there. I have a negative opinion about a programming career based on the BLS predicting a 3% decline in programming jobs over the next decade and from hearing the complaints of programmers who claim they can’t find work because it’s all overseas. However, my opinion is that of a college student and you sound like you actually work in the industry so you would probably know better. It just seems to me that focusing on a computer programming career is fighting a losing battle with the forces of labor supply/demand.</p>
<p>It just seemed strange to me that you exclude RF from “modern technology” and so I thought maybe you’re identifying it with radios or something else old. All it means is stuff dealing with signals in the range 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which is an extremely wide range that almost all modern electronics work in. Today’s cell phones, computers etc.</p>
<p>The outsourcing thing is overstated.
If you’re a software engineering or IT major or at a CC, you’re certainly vulnerable to outsourcing. However, companies have been finding by experience that the quality of offshore code they contract out is pretty terrible, way over schedule, and ends up causing more problems with maintainability than it solves. Jobs for good CS people (startups, MS, goog, etc etc) will always be around. Jobs for tedious programming jobs will be outsourced. Jobs with defense contractors will always be around.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I want to major in CE or EE, and with whichever take as many classes as I can in CS. Can’t really find something solid to differentiate EE and CE to make me like one over the other.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh and thanks for not calling me out on being ignorant, and thanks for your reply.</p>
<p>is it safe to say that computer engineering is a “hybrid” between EE and CS? You learn both hardware and software from what I assumed</p>
<p>And I feel like CS majors and CE majors will be looking for jobs in similar companies - google and microsoft both hire cs/ce students.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a hybrid. A Computer Engineer would receive training in the electrical aspects (hardware) of computer systems with additional training on the programming/logic aspects (software) of said computer systems.</p>
<p>There is plenty of overlap for some jobs and there is little overlap for other jobs.</p>
<p>It makes me think, however, as a computer engineering student myself, I find electrical engineers usually take our jobs away. When we move to graduate school, I usually hear that electrical engineers are more “useful” in hardware industries, because some of them do embedded system design too.</p>