US Navy....IT or ET???

Question

Which job would be better for a career, IT or ET?

Answer 1

Electronics (unless you want to be an engineer) is a dead end. The only thing they hire people for in my area under the guise of electronic techs are $7.00 solderers. Almost all , if not all, electronic components are now field replaceable units. It doesn't take great skill to swap out a board or card to fix a problem, and therefore it will NEVER pay very much. Granted, PC components are the same swappable parts, but there is much more to IT then swapping parts.

Answer 2

EG - you are an idiot. Perhaps you don't know squat about electronics. (it is pretty obvious). FRU's account for less than 2% of the entire electronics industry. There is a definite need for skilled electronic techs who know how to troubleshoot to the component level. What you described is an assembler, not a tech.

My opinion: Go for the ET job. It is much more diverse. There is a glut of IT people out there so unless you know a specialty (Unix, etc), then you will have a hard time getting a job on the outside. An ET will provide you with a vast generalized knowledge of electronics. You can also go for Fire Control Tech - nearly the same training but you promote a lot faster. (I know a FCT who got to PO1 in the minimum time).

Good luck.