Career path as a recent graduate
Hello everyone.
I am a recent EE graduate and want to pursue a career in CMOS VLSI design. Unfortunately, I do not have relevant coursework from university, and my undergrad research focused on high-level design rather than the area I want to pursue.
I am an international student, and there are not many digital IC works done in my country. Most openings are in circuit design, PCB, testing, etc.
My long-term goal is to eventually land a strong position at a high-tech company. To get closer to the field and to enter the US ecosystem, I want to do a PhD first. I applied this cycle but have not received any acceptances, so I am treating it as a rejection and starting to improve myself for the next cycle.
Right now, I see two options:
- Pursue a Master’s degree in chip design (probably in Europe)
- Work in industry in my country, the work may not be directly related to the area I ultimately want
People around me (who have only worked in industry) keep telling me that academia does not really teach you how to do things in the real world, and that a Master’s would just delay my life by two more years.
What makes me hesitate is that this industry experience would likely be mostly irrelevant to both the PhD programs I want to apply to and the work I eventually want to do.
I honestly do not have enough experience to judge which path is better, and I do not want to regret my choice later. I would genuinely appreciate any suggestions or ideas from people who have faced or witnessed a similar situation.