[BenAdamson]

Hey, I am in my first year of 6th form (British system, age 16-17) and am looking at the degrees I want to look at for when I go to university. I am really interested in a career in this sector, it's something I am passionate about and I think I may have a chance of having a decent job. I am currently taking the A-levels: Computing, Physics, Maths and 'Systems & Control' (basically electronics). I did my first year of Computing early so I am completing a level computing this year and will complete the other a levels next year.
 
I am stronger with the physics and electronics side of things than maths and computing, how much complex mathematics is needed vs. the slightly less painful stuff in physics?
 
What is the best route into an audiophile career - I think that a degree is the best way to get a highly paid job, but I'm also interested in the prospect of doing an apprenticeship, would that harm my overall salary over the years? If I do go the degree route, which seems to be more likely, what courses should I be looking at? One that seems to be very good is here (BEng/MEng Acoustical Engineering H722). Would this be the correct option, or is a more generic course better, and would you be able to recommend any good universities for this type of course?
 
Thanks,
Ben
 
P.S. if you know of an audiophile-related company that could possibly sponsor my education or give an apprenticeship that would be fantastic (I might even be willing to move to a different country)

 

[BenAdamson]

Nobody? 

 

[liamstrain]

Not sure about the jobs market in any of these but:
 
electrical engineering (probably your best bet)
 
wave physics/acoustics (work can include working with architects to develop concert halls, etc). 
 
audio engineering (recording engineers are still viable as a career)
 
psychology (seriously)
 
 

 

[scompton]

I have no idea how the British university system works, but in the US, you'll use a lot of high level math in any engineering curriculum.  The school I went to classes up to differential equations was the minimum for any engineering.

 

[tvrboy]

I got bad news for you man... getting a job is more about who you know and your personality than what you know. If you really want a job in that field, start making connections. Not in a manipulative way, but in a way that shows you have genuine interest. E-mail various members of the trade and ask some friendly questions about how to get a job. Go to some Hi-Fi companies in the UK and ask what kind of people they are looking for. Send a PM to members of the trade here and ask them what's the best way to get into the hi-fi business. If you have any valuable skills to offer a small MOT or dealer, offer them for free. Go to the local dealers and ask them if you can do any unpaid part-time work. Go to local hi-fi expos and meets, and meet anybody you can in the industry. Be outgoing and friendly. I was able to meet some of the major players in the Head-Fi industry just by going to a meet and and by sending some PMs. Most people are happy to give advice to a young guy who has a real interest in the field. I hate the concept of "networking" as much as any other recent grad but if you do it in a polite and genuine manner, you will meet many people willing to help you. I speak from experience...I got my last 2 jobs by meeting people in bars. That is a kind of networking too 

 

[LFF]

Quote:

I got bad news for you man... getting a job is more about who you know and your personality than what you know. If you really want a job in that field, start making connections. Not in a manipulative way, but in a way that shows you have genuine interest. E-mail various members of the trade and ask some friendly questions about how to get a job. Go to some Hi-Fi companies in the UK and ask what kind of people they are looking for. Send a PM to members of the trade here and ask them what's the best way to get into the hi-fi business. If you have any valuable skills to offer a small MOT or dealer, offer them for free. Go to the local dealers and ask them if you can do any unpaid part-time work. Go to local hi-fi expos and meets, and meet anybody you can in the industry. Be outgoing and friendly. I was able to meet some of the major players in the Head-Fi industry just by going to a meet and and by sending some PMs. Most people are happy to give advice to a young guy who has a real interest in the field. I hate the concept of "networking" as much as any other recent grad but if you do it in a polite and genuine manner, you will meet many people willing to help you. I speak from experience...I got my last 2 jobs by meeting people in bars. That is a kind of networking too 

As a mastering engineer myself...I agree. I highly recommend you have a back-up as well.
 

 

[BenAdamson]

 
Ok, thanks for the networking suggestion. Do you know of any good UK companies I could talk to about what they'd look for in a prospective employee?


 

 

[rroseperry]

Before you start working those nets, you might want to narrow down your career target(s). Audiophile is such a fuzzy concept. Do you want to design stuff, master music, build stuff, critique stuff, or what? Each area (though there is some overlap) calls for a different set of skills and training.

 

[Elysian]

tvrboy has a great point.
 
I'd reach out to the following companies and ask if they'd be open to you doing a visit and/or externship for a day.  If you're polite, well-spoken and well-written, and enthusiastic, I'm sure they'd be happy to take some time aside for you:
 
These are all very well-reputed companies HQed in England.
 
- Cambridge Audio
- dCS
- Musical Fidelity
- Naim Audio
 
There are some of the biggest and top-tier ones.  Try giving them a phone call, find someone there with a specialty you're interested in and find their email address and reach out to them, and even ask your school if they have an industry connection program to help you get in touch with someone.  Another good idea would be to reach out to the company owner and/or President/Managing Director and express your interest and enthusiasm in a professional manner (have someone read over your introduction before you send it out!).
 
It goes without saying that you'll want training in a technical subject.  Most likely, you'll be looking at a combination of computer science, electrical engineering, and physics.  It's going to be a grueling courseload.  Audio is a very specialized field, and you're going to have to work hard to get internships, network, and make connections.

 

[BenAdamson]

I'm interested in the design and build of the products. I'm better with physics and electronics than maths (though I do understand that they do both boil down to maths). Music production etc seems to be an incredibly saturated job market so while interesting and, I'm sure, fulfilling, it's probably not likely that I will manage a career in that field. Critique seems like it could be a fantastic profession but it seems that there are plenty of free community reviewers out there and you'd need to be just as good at writing as actually understanding the product. I'm a reasonably literate person and have done well in English etc. in the past, however it is not a subject I am currently studying.
 
A course in Acoustics seems to be perfect for this type of thing, however it seems like it could be a bit too general. A course in Electronics might be preferable, but for example I would need grades AAA in my A-levels to get on the electronics course in Southampton while I need ABB for the Acoustics course there. The thing that's really making me worried about the course is that there's only a handful of universities around the world who actually offer a degree in Acoustics - is it an unknown course in the industry, would it actually get me any credit when applying for a job? The course itself is actually taught in the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, apparently one of the leading research centres for acoustics in the world - sounds good to me!

 

[Elysian]

Speaking as someone who has spent most of his career in high tech, you want to go after the most rigorous, technical degree possible (in your case, probably EE or EECS).  I've only briefly spoken with audio R&D professionals, but the technical disciplines that come up when I talk with consumer electronics directors and VPs of R&D are: engineering, math, and physics.  Acoustics seems far too specialized, and is probably something you can readily pick up with a more technical foundation under your belt.
 
I've done a lot of career coaching for younger professionals and students.  You can always move into a less technical area, but it's extremely difficult to move up into a more technical area unless you're lucky enough to have natural aptitude in the field.  You want to get as strong a foundation in the core sciences as possible, both in application and theory, and you can use that to learn and specialize however you want.  It's rarely a good idea to have a specialized academic focus, as you've limited yourself for the rest of your career (barring a major life change).

 

[BenAdamson]

Yeah, that's the sort of thing I'm worried about with that degree Elysian. The problem is, I very much doubt that I will be able to get something like AAA in my A-level grades. At best I'm probably likely to get AABB, though I'm not sure if well respected universities even count A-levels that I didn't take in the same year as the others. Is a career in this sector at all likely for me? I'm absolutely enthusiastic about the subject and physics & electronics fascinate me, but I have a horrible feeling that my maths skills will let me down. Should I look for a job in a less demanding area or do I have hope in anything audio-related?

 

[alv4426]

If your math skills aren't that great, Engineering is probably not for you. Math is pretty much all we do as students in every class, and everything is calculus based. Another (still difficult) career would be on the medical side like an audiologist maybe. They still have a lot of math but its algebra based but you get hit with a heavy dose of biology just to make hate your life a little more.

 

[Elysian]

I'm unfamiliar with how University admissions work in the UK, other than a very high-level overview of what I've heard of A-levels.
 
You absolutely have nothing to worry about at your age, as long as you haven't slacked off your entire time pre-high education, and have above average marks (which it sounds like you have).  It's great that you've already found something you're passionate about, and most people spend decades before finding something that gets them out of bed in the morning.
 
There are three ways I'd recommend approaching this:
 
1) Do you have the option of getting into a less competitive University, but still go through an electrical engineering type of program?  Or will your test results restrict what you're able to study?  In the US, a dirty secret a lot of people don't talk about is that it's actually better to get into a cheaper, less competitive University, pursue a challenging major, get great grades, and then go to a top-tier graduate program (Masters, PhD) as needed.
 
2) Start demonstrating your interest through extracurriculars.  The easiest way to begin is getting a book on circuit design and start making amplifiers, working on audio code, or finding some other technical way to just get hands-on and learn through doing.  You don't even need to start designing your own amps yet.  Start by making something easy, but study the circuit and try to understand why each component is placed where it is, and do the math for why (electricity is straightforward, it's just arithmetic and pre-algebra).  There are pros and cons to this type of learning, but pairing extracurricular learning with academics is the best possible way you can really get your head around things.
 
3) Network.  Start attending audio shows, even though everyone there will be 20-50 years older than you.  Reach out to companies and ask if they have a program where you could visit for a half-day or day and see what they do.  The best place to start is learning about the product and engineering, as you'll be able to branch off to any field after you understand the nuts and bolts of the technology.  You can transition from there to whatever you'd like to do, whether it's technical design, journalism, or even management.
 
You don't need to be a pure mathematics major to be an engineer.  Math up to Calculus is about diligence and discipline.  If you care enough about the field, you'll do the study, take summer courses, attend study sessions at your school with other students, and go to office hours with your graduate assistants and professors to make it happen.  Engineering /is/ tough, but a lot of it is willpower and drive.

 

[Asr]

Quote:

tvrboy has a great point.
 
I'd reach out to the following companies and ask if they'd be open to you doing a visit and/or externship for a day.  If you're polite, well-spoken and well-written, and enthusiastic, I'm sure they'd be happy to take some time aside for you:
 
These are all very well-reputed companies HQed in England.
 
- Cambridge Audio
- dCS
- Musical Fidelity
- Naim Audio

I can think of more reputable audio companies based in the UK:
 
- Arcam
- Audio Note
- Avid HiFi
- Creek Audio
- Epos
- Exposure Hi-Fi
- Goldring
- Linn
- Monitor Audio
- Music Hall
- Nordost (edit: not a UK company)
- Pro-Ject (not in UK either)
- Rega
 
Some of these companies make only digital, or analog, or other components like speakers or cables. Depends on what you want to get into. And of course there are lots of other companies based in the UK.
 
With a physics/electronics background, it could make more sense to get into a company that makes digital components, though if you have the interest an analog or speaker company could be an option too.
 
I'd also reiterate the suggestion of attending audio shows. That could be a good way to start networking and looking for job opportunities.