Appendix A Getting a job
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Studying electronics is a time well-spent. You are learning useful and practical knowledge. Electronics makes the world go around. Whatever it is someone else does in their life, they could not do it without electronics.
It is a sad state of affairs that those in control have let high-tech jobs and high-tech manufacturing to be outsourced. There is no future without highly skilled jobs, people, and positions.
Those readers of this book who put in the effort to study and practice electronics will certainly be ahead of those who claim to have the degree, but have actually done little.
A professional job position in electronics requires a breadth of knowledge and skills. So that there is reference information for the reader, here is a short list of skills which may be required:
Good soldering and de-soldering skills, especially SMD.
Final inspection skills – ability to recognize faults with populated PCBs visually ("Final" means visual inspection)
Schematic analysis
Troubleshooting skills, especially without a schematic
Familiarity with the PC and web concepts and/or programming
Familiarity with electronics software: schematic capture, PCB layout or viewing of such drawings, blueprint reading, IC programmers, Automated Test software such as LabView, in-circuit device testing, etc
Significant skill with test equipment, such as DMMs and oscilloscopes
Grasp of digital logic and microcontroller operation
A bit of programming experience (C language)
Oh, I did not mean to scare you! You learn all of that for fun, not for money!
I also have a separate book on getting a job: Finding a Job with the Help of the Internet (Michael LoneWolf).
Electronics troubleshooting (commercial)
Here are a few quick pointers for successful troubleshooting:
Get friendly with the senior technician. He knows everything.
Refer to the engineering department for help with difficult issues. Why should they get paid the big bucks if they don't help you?
Keep a lab notebook, and use it!
Write down all symptoms. Write down all findings and measurements. Do not start talking and making assumptions until you are sure you understand what the problem is.
Compare to a Known Good unit.
Do a visual inspection before starting to poke at the PCB.
Obtain the schematic.
Use proper test equipment, for example a current-controlled power supply.
Understand the requirement of good Ground in measurements. Use the correct Ground.
If you use your DMM in current measurement mode, make sure to not connect it incorrectly. Disconnect probes when switching to another measurement mode.
Do not stick the oscilloscope GND clip to anywhere but PCB ground. If you need to take a measurement with a reference to a point other than ground, then you should use either two probes in “math” difference mode, or a floating ground with an isolation transformer for the scope.
Learn to be proficient with the scope, especially being able to use triggering for such things as transient or fault levels and level shifts.
If there is a massive power to COM short, then there are few methods available. There's the method of “lowest voltage drop” across the shorting IC. There is also the method of last resort of driving a limited current thru the circuit, and looking for hot spots with a crystal sheet.
