Ali Alqaraghuli - What Every Electrical Engineering Student Must Know: Find Your Area of Focus, Build Your Network, and Design Your Career

H ELLO! If you're reading this, you probably are considering or are enrolled in an electrical/computer engineering program of some sort. Maybe you belong to another major or profession, or maybe youre just curious. A few years ago, I was in your shoes, and what came next was so bizarre that I felt the need to write this short book. My first two years of college were stressful. I would wake up every day thinking "today I need to figure out what I want to major in, I need to figure out the rest of my life". This frenzied feeling pushed me to go ahead and figure out my future. I began my program in Mechanical Engineering, then switched to Aerospace, then to Biomedical, and then finally decided to try Electrical Engineering (EE). I took a few pre-med classes and even looked at law school. Ill talk more later about how my roller-coaster of switching majors has made me a better engineer, and why I think you should experiment with taking courses from different engineering disciplines. Eventually, I did get my B.S. and M.S. in EE, but before I go over any of that, let me introduce myself.

My name is Ali Alqaraghuli, I'm a Ph.D. student at Northeastern University, and I am 23 years old. I attended high school in suburban upstate New York, then attended University at Buffalo having no clue what I wanted to do with my life. During my first year, I almost failed my first physics and calculus exams. I considered dropping out of college, but thankfully my father talked me out of it. Ever since then, I (somehow) went on to work as an intern for NASA, twice! I also got to work for a private company, work for a small company, work for a big company, work in an undergraduate research lab, work in a graduate research lab, work as a tutor, teaching assistant, research assistant, study abroad, win many scholarships and fellowships, teach English abroad, and eventually met a phenomenal professor and joined a Ph.D. program. I also represented my university in state and federal education programs, mentored undergrads and high-schoolers, and most importantly, I figured out what I want to do with my life. Im here to tell you how I did it and what Ive learned in the process. More importantly, I want to show you how you can do it too, without much of the hassle I had to go through.

I would like to emphasize that I am your normal everyday guy. My goal is to help you realize we are not different; I just figured out a system that works. Like you, I am a somewhat social person and have other interests beyond engineering. I don't have perfect grades. My grades suffered many times because I chose to do fun things (or take care of serious responsibilities) over studying, but it was worth it (I still got my work done, eventually). During my undergraduate four years, I was still able to play soccer regularly, travel to 10+ countries, spend time with my family, make many amazing friends, attend school events, play chess, produce music and release an album, and spend countless hours chilling or playing video games. So how did all of this happen? How can one accomplish so much in such a little time while trying to figure out what to do with their life? I'll thoroughly answer these questions through the principles Ive established in the next chapters. We have a lot of challenges in our world. It is, therefore, more efficient if you can figure out what type of electrical engineer (and person) you want to be so you can excel at that, and live a well-accomplished enjoyable life.

In this book, I will break down how to design your career and achieve your goals with ease, alongside tips and tricks for how to get the internship or job you want amongst other opportunities. Ill also reveal some secrets on how to succeed in the workforce whether you are in research or industry, and how to even choose between a job and grad school. To help you build your network, I will highlight the value of mentorship I received, and the people who helped me along the way so you can find similar people. You can consider me a mentor. We already have two shared interests (engineering and desire to self-improve), that's why you're reading this book. My email is listed on my website (www.alialqaraghuli.com) so you can reach out to me with questions regarding career advice or any engineering-related material matters. I am here for you!

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK: I've written this book as a combination of what I've done in engineering school and the real world, and what I think you should do in engineering school and the real world. As a result, this book is a mixture of sharing experience and summarizing what I've learned in the form of strategic instructions and suggestions to get the career you want. Towards the end, I will offer some advice to help you work smarter, and that will help your career and personal life expand.

Feel free to skip around to the chapter of your interest based on what youre looking for. However, I recommend you read all the chapters in order so you can get the complete picture. I made this as short as I could so you can read it in one sitting. Ready? let's dive in!