I believe things are that way all over. It appears that it is a given that to aquire employment in a technical field you must be qualified. However, being qualified does not assure employment opportunity in your specialty. In the US there are a huge number of unemployed technical people. The economics are that much of the work has gone to foreign countries where the expectations of the work force are lower and less costly than in the US. The result is that many people must work outside their chosen fields. Your education will still serve you well if that is your choice. Less attractive fields always pay better. Field service (rotten hours, poor working conditions, etc.) frequently pay better than the manufacturing side of an enterprise. Also, it is difficult to export service to another country. Service is not a item that can be stock piled or held in inventory. Emerging or growth areas of your countries economy will have the most opportunity and the least stability. In some cases people find very good jobs totally foreign to their chosen fields. Don't expect it to make a lot of sense: It doesn't! John Ferrell 6241 Phillippi Rd Julian NC 27283 Phone: (336)685-9606 johnferrell@earthlink.net Dixie Competition Products NSRCA 479 AMA 4190 W8CCW "My Competition is Not My Enemy" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carlos Marcano" To: Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 11:20 PM Subject: [OT]: EE of the third wolrd... Hi all, I recently finished my studies and I graded as an Electronics Eng. After a 5 complete years of study and hard work I got finished my primary goal. I took all posible classes, made thousands of practices, built tons of circuits (for classes, for personal use and for fun!) and pass all the required tests. Now I have to deal with the working field and I have to say I am somehiw dissapointed. I live in a small South American country called Venezuela. Our country is incredible beautifull, extremely rich (in oil -huge amounts of oil- , aluminun, iron, even gold) but we have had the WORST governments for the last 100 years. These days there is a 25% unemployment rate ( 6.250.000 of 25.000.000 people) and growing. I have been trying to make job contacts TWO years before I finished but everything is useless. I have good grades, lot of developing experience (mostly by myself I admit), I speak two languages (a plus here in my country), I4m a fast learner and I love my career, but the market is pretty bad and I think it will get worse. How were your experiences (for people in non-first world countries)? What do you think about this (for everyone)? What could you advice to me? Sorry for bringing this topic on the list but I really needed to talk about it.... *Carlos* -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads