<p>The EET career fascinates me and I feel as though I would love it. I have done a lot of research and the more I read about what a full on Engineer actually does, the more I am discouraged. </p>
<p>I could easily just get an associates degree in EET but I know this would limit me from any sort of advancement.. So if I end up hating it, i'd have to go back to school. I am wondering if it is possible for me to go for a BS in Electrical Engineering and just end up doing EET work after college? Then, if I feel as though I am unhappy and want to move up, I can.</p>
<p>Think of Nurse/Doctor. A good EE may be very lacking in technician skills; in fact often is. They are really two different things, in concept. I have met some EE’s who are pretty good at the bench; and EE does have a great career path for people like that- mostly in smaller companies, on their own, or in “skunkworks”. Make no mistake, though, the education and the skill set are very different between engineers and technicians. Some EE’s pick up the technician skills by doing projects on their own. But it is very much like a Doctor trying to be a Nurse. There is a “touch” and a certain cultivated patience that not everyone has.</p>
<p>If you apply as and work as an EET, that is what you are. Your degree and skill set in EE will atrophy with misuse and not really matter. Best to learn technician skills, theory (i.e. EE degree), use of CAD/CAM tools, and then find a great workplace where you can exercise all of your skills.</p>
<p>One is not really, in general, a subset of the other.</p>