How much do you know about these electronic specific roles? As Im job searching - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2010, 06:47:39 pm
content: How much do you know about these electronic specific roles? As Im job searchingHi everyone, sorry I didnt post much I dont have a computer yet still looking, Hope all is well, okay so you may all know im job hunting and have a little electronic knowledge, I was looking for jobs that require fault finding and soldering and testing components as Im fairly comfortable with these. On my job searches on some descriptions I came across the following and wondered if you guys know what these mean and what level they are, i.e. if you can learn them yourself. So let me paste you some requirements on the jobs I foundseeking a creative engineer to take a leading position in the roll-out of its ground-breaking digital printing technology. The role will involve the engineering and detailed design of print heads and systems, for industrial and commercial applications• A strong personality• System level electronic design• Complex FPGA development (VHDL / Altera preferred)• High speed digital board design• PC bus architectures, especially PCI and PCI Express• Getting boards manufactured and tested• DC-DC converter development• Mixed-signal circuit designSo as you can see these are the details I came across and would like information on a few of these on how advance they are, considering these posts were required to have a degree at least 2:1 in MeEn but surley you can learn this from books and self taught ways?I am so passionate about learning more and surley you dont need a degree to know the above, they have to be a way s to learn this stuff guys? I cannot afford college fees

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 11:35:12 am
content: I think your dreaming

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 01:36:21 pm
content: Yes, all of those skills can be self taught, you don't need a degree. But they are all pretty much advanced topics and you'd need maybe a decade of real world experience to get a lead engineering position like they are looking for.If all you have is fault finding, soldering and testing, then a technician job is about all you are going to get at the moment until you learn some basic level design skills.Dave.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 06:39:26 pm
content: Right your in the UK right ? now as it is electronics is not a great industry aas it is all in china so either you start up on your own (as I'm thinking of doing) and find your niche or your damn good and get that high level job that everyone wants. if you don't want to go the degree way then start at the bottom on an assembly line or as high up as you can get in and work your way up. I'm a quality inspector but i started in the company as a simple tester (labourer) I feel a great lack of formal training in quality but I'm picking things up as i go and now i've even shown one of the engineers that I'm knowledgeable in electronics (by taking a supplyers product to bits and point out all the childish mistakes) and he told me today that I was good at electronics (small compliment from one knowing nothing and easily baffled but still) it may lead to something.

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 07:00:09 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on April 21, 2010, 01:36:21 pmHi Dave, thanks for the reply, yes im just a beginner in electronics, but they is not a hurry its all challenging and I enjoy learning also. Can you recommend me some basic level design skills resources that you may feel would be suitable for me to begin? Also if you have any good resources to pass onto me to gain more knowledge in testing, fault finding and soldering I would be very very grateful

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 07:02:49 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on April 21, 2010, 06:39:26 pmHi, yes Im in the UK and your correct about Chinawhen you say find your niche what you mean? at the moment my niche is only fault finding, soldering and basic checks on circuit. Nothing advanced. You made a good point start at the bottom on an assembly and still try and increase knowledge in the mean time

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 07:12:42 pm
content: Quote from: VladKEasternTiger on April 21, 2010, 07:02:49 pmthat is not a niche, basic checks and soldering are essential skills we all should have, fault finding is not normally very useful for design as Dave explained in one of his video's, of course if you want to be a repair technician fine but that is not what you said in your original post.By niche i mean a certain type of product, for example at work we deal with a supplier that makes water pumps for air conditioning units and he custom designs the electronics to control the pumps, ok I discovered that his products can't work and he is probably the worlds worse designer but thats not the issue at hand here.I myself have a firend that works for a vintage car restoration company and is a vintage car enthusiast so my first port of call is a design he asked me to do for his car and if successful to sell to his boss (if we prove it is bullet, bomb and everything proof and thats some time off), after that i can look at other devices that may be useful on vintage cars in particular, especially to replace but mimic original devices that can no longer be obtained or have crap replacements because they are made in india or china.so you could find that you are very good at say preamplifiers and like it and so specialize in that niche market for example

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 07:41:13 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on April 21, 2010, 07:12:42 pmOh I get you, as Dave said to be a technician, I want to learn more on circuit fault finding, soldering and test but having said that what and who gets these jobs? from what I see its cheaper to replace electronic devices rather than repairing them

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 07:51:44 pm
content: if you want to do design you will have nothing to do with repairing and faultfinding anything but your own designs, are you looking to repair/faultfind or design ?

author: djsb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 09:33:25 pm
content: Hi,I have been doing electronics for over 30 years and started as a teenager taking radio's apart. I also started by building things from magazines and inventing/designing my own projects. I did a formal course (HND Electronic Engineering) as a mature student.I find it best to learn by following what you are enthusiastic about. In my case I love music so I build my own Hi-Fi gear. Also I aim to solve problems in my everyday life by building stuff. So for instance if I need a tool (electronic) that solves a particular problem I will make it myself. Curiosity is also important and the willingness to keep on learning.I disagree about the fault finding. I find that you need to have a strategy for when a circuit you have designed and prototyped does not work first time. In order to fault find you need just as much knowledge of how a system works. I am just beginning to get the confidence to design more serious circuits.I have also been employed full time for the last 6 years as a university technician (made redundant last year). There are stories about this I could tell, but here is probably not the best place. Suffice it to say I'm not a big fan of the way Electronics is taught in UK universities.David.

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 09:54:27 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on April 21, 2010, 07:51:44 pmI want to do everything, I spoke to someone in India he is an Electronic engineer working in London and he does design and also fault finding and soldering jobs

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 10:02:04 pm
content: Quote from: djsb on April 21, 2010, 09:33:25 pmHi David, thanks its always nice to read your comments, I agree most people that I speak to who are good at Electronics or even mechnical are just curious and learnt tehnical skills by taking things apart. I want to know how old you were when you did your HND in Electronic? Im 25 and already did HND in Business Studys and have no money for more college expenses. I also want to know David what speficic things you have built other than the HI FI. Your right about the circuits, ive been told anyone can circuit test and its layman work but im sure its not.Dave feel free to send me a PM, Im interested in what you have to say about electronics in the uk on how its taughtI love talking to you guys, this forum is awesome

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2010, 10:54:53 pm
content: First of all realize that with any job you need to have a bit of luck but still better you need to have a lot of passion/interest.And realize there are actually few company's in Europe who do their own design (compared to the amount of "service" jobs) but they do exist.If you want to have a job in electronics then don't ask what you need to know to get a job, know stuff first and then try to get a job.Do your daily work and at home mess around, start building stuff, start designing stuff.Go dumpster diving in a business park where there is a electronics repair facility and dragg stuff in the house and take it apart, try to figure out what it is, how it's made, what you can do with those components.Pass there during the day and ask kindly to someone who doesn't wear tie if he works in the repair section and if so if you can get some stuff they throw away.Start small, buy a decent multimeter, decent set of screwdrivers, make your self a good powersupply (or assemble a kit), get a breadboard and make bunch of 555 stuff. Or "old" 4000 /74xxxx circuits. Buy "the art of electronics". Play around in emulators like SPICE and muck around in general (watch out for mains...). Watch eevblog...Design yourself stuff like an Arduino board PCB from scratch just to see if you can. Fail to do so. Cheat by looking how they did it (it's opensource). try again.Don't be foolish and expect this to happen overnight. It will take 1 year, 2 years... more.Participate in/read/follow opensource hardware things like the beagleboard and nanonote.Read. Ask. Read again. Screw up. Blow stuff up. Try again. Don't forget to have fun.THEN after that try to figure out if there are any jobs on the market you might actually like.And if you don't have a degree in electronics (or even if you do) then reference/experience is everything.But the only way to get experience is to know stuff so that if something comes along you can say "Hey I can do that..." without flatout lying and getting kicked out by a dave asking you basic stuff.Don't lie where you come from, autodidacts are one of the rear breads of "engineers" who have one big advantage, they already show they comprehend stuff unlike a lot of people who have a degree but have no real clue what they talk about.If the compay you are soliciting does not get that then it basically means you don't want to work there.Greetz and Godspeed(and yes I'm an autodidact myself - now working as a product specialist in one of the biggest software company's in the world. Electronics is now my "hobby".. and who knows, one day...)

author: MoJo
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 22, 2010, 02:48:11 am
content: As the saying goes, before you can run you have to crawl. School isn't necessary, but without the credentials you won't even step inside an interview unless you have experience gained through working in the field. Ironically enough to even gain experience means you need to find a job that will hire you without the credentials and as said that is plain hard; a modern day ouroboros ... the snake that eats its tail.Now as someone said start small, and do niche. If you are good at something like fault-finding and you need the experience go in and start a repair type of service or join a circuit repair company. While doing this build up the knowledge through experience and self education.Keep in mind that self teaching is easier said than done. There are too many distractions and not enough resources when you don't have a structured education system. What you can do is go to a local University or College on the first weeks of class, and sit in ... try picking up a syllabus for classes relating to your field. Easiest way of achieving all of this is go to school, I am a student who walked the same path as you did a couple of years back I haven't regretted the option ... I understand sometimes school is not an option.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2010, 03:15:24 am
content: Quote from: polossatik on April 21, 2010, 10:54:53 pmI just wanted to repost and second all that great info!Dave.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2010, 06:56:19 am
content: As others have said start by building stuff. I am constantly learning by building and finding new projects it is the best "study structure" i can find. I learnt to use microcontrollers not because I thought they were cool but because I found i needed to to "get the job done".If you have friends get them to ask you for simple designs to solve an everyday problem. I'll tell you a secret: I was rather letargic in electronics for quite a while and not really that into it anymore and only really got back into it when a friend who knew i dabled (but didn't realize that it had gone stale for me) asked if it was possible to design and build a battery monitor circuit for his motorbike because his friend had had £ 3000 of damage done to his while in europe because hi alternator went wrong and he wanted to be able to see his battery voltage and know if it was too high.Very simple project but it got me going and soon I had the idea of a 3 colour led and flashing red for over voltage and the next thing I knew i wanted to use a uC because I realized that I could make it more compact and customizable. My good friend far away in slovakia helped me program my first flashing led in basic over an msn chat conversation and it all progressed from there. I decided to give the project also to another friend who is mad on vintage cars because i wanted him to see for me if it was durable enough to withstand the rough electrical environment of a car and I explained how it worked. he took one look at it and said "I know what you can develop this into: a voltage regulator for my car dynamo", so now I'm designing the dynamo regulator for his car and if it works we may sell it to his boss who restores vintage cars.... and so on.get out there get active take oportunities no matter how small you don't know what they will become. I get ideas for projects from comments people make about how good it would be to have something that can do such and such and start thinking about how I would design such a thing. To you friends you can be the electronics geek they hardly ever see or that is lost in thought over projects or the guy that can make them stuff that solves little every day problems. You will gain experience and knowledge from projects and have something to show a prospective employer, or your future potential customers if you go it alone

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2010, 08:08:47 am
content: Quote from: polossatik on April 21, 2010, 10:54:53 pmHi, super post you really gave me a lot of information that I very needed, thank you so much for this I printed it and put it on the wall

author: VladKEasternTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2010, 08:33:18 am
content: Quote from: Simon on April 22, 2010, 06:56:19 amFantastic story Simon, I would love to see pictures of your Motorcycle battery Monitor Circuit, that looks fabalous.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 01, 2010, 07:59:52 am
content: you really don't understand do you !

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 28, 2010, 06:56:41 am
content: the original poster has not been on here for months, must have given up trying to emulate us all. he was also on another forum I visit from time to time asking dumb ass questions, don't know if he still hangs out there though