Will a home electronics lab help me find a job?

[CatalinaWOW]

Putting the theories you learn in school and elsewhere to practical use, learning their limitations and all of the myriad realities of real devices is both important and useful.

and where do you do that ? hint : three letter word ... begins with l , ends with b and has first letter  of alphabet in middle.

A home lab is one option for that lab.   Prior posts have mentioned several others.  In my opinion, the best option is somewhere working on a real product.  Maybe as an intern somewhere.  Maybe as mentioned before latching onto a professor.  Volunteering on a BattleBots team would be great.  There are lots of options, but I think actually doing something is what is important.

[rstofer]

You can read about the exponential charge on an RC circuit, you can even plot the equation.  Until you build it on a breadboard and watch it on a scope, all you have is theory.  I like building small/simple circuits and gaining as much insight as I can.

Were I a student, I would jump all over the Digilent Analog Discovery 2. It is cheaper than the gear it can replace.  Too bad Digilent raised the price so much!

Watch some w2aew videos!  He is constantly building up small circuits on breadboards.

[jasonRF]

In my opinion, the best option is somewhere working on a real product.  Maybe as an intern somewhere.  Maybe as mentioned before latching onto a professor.  Volunteering on a BattleBots team would be great. 

This is great advice.  I am an EE, and although I don't do traditional electronics for my job, I have interviewed many candidates.  Folks that have these kinds of experiences in school have something interesting they can talk about in an interview, and usually get a good reference from practicing engineers or faculty who will have spent enough time with them to actually know them.  Also, these kinds of opportunities only exist while in school - so take advantage of them while you can.  You can still have a home lab if it is fun for you, but you also have the rest of your life to do that, after these other opportunities have vanished. 

[Seekonk]

A fellow EE I worked with told me his guidance counselor told him he should be an engineer and he would make money. He was a really good digital designer. He said he had working men's hours, when it was 5pm he went home. All he owned was an old Simpson 260. When his stereo broke, he took it somewhere.  Chances are your first interview at any company will be someone who has no understanding of electronics and only listens for key words.

I was trapped in a job because they didn't think they could find someone else and were blocking a transfer within the company.  Had a friend getting married and he wasn't having any luck finding a job.  I looked at the resume and could see why.  I rewrote it throwing in all the buzz words appropriate for my position.  He went into the interview not even knowing what his resume said. I got the job I wanted and the old boss told me "it looked like this guy was written for the position."

I've hired a lot of techs.  I ended up making a little test with a transistor driving a LED.  A lot of our products had LED and sometimes they were put in backwards. Test was multiple choice with four answerers, two were totally stupid.  I had people running out the door. Gave partial credit if they didn't pick the two dumbest answers.  I'd hire the guy if he could get over 40%.  A monkey sling poop can do that good.  Whatever happened to techs? In the 70's I conceded techs almost engineers with no degree.

[nctnico]

First time post here so hello all. If this is not a suitable subforum to post my question feel free to move it.

I'm an Electrical Engineering student.

I'm thinking of setting up a home electronics lab. My reasoning is that by doing electronics work and not just theory, I acquire some useful practical experience plus I can gradually create a portfolio of projects that I can show off at job interviews. I also really like it as a hobby. What do you guys think? Should I go for it? Will it have an impact on finding a job or will it just be another hobby?

Tinkering with electronics at home is always a plus when I interview a job applicant for electronics engineering. Having a home lab is more usefull though for improving your skills though and if you like it as a hobby, then just go for it. But keep in mind that there are many excellent electronics engineers that don't tinker with electronics at home at all.

[rdl]

I find it hard to believe that anybody interested in electronics would not already have a home lab. At least of some kind, It's not like it requires a lot of space or money. For over 10 years mine was in a closet.

[fourfathom]

When I was in the hiring loop (as a junior engineer, Director of Engineering, or various places in-between), I always looked for passion, talent, experience, and education -- usually in that order.  If having a lab in the closet or garage, or access to one elsewhere excites you then by all means set it up.  If it doesn't interest you then why are you pursuing an engineering career?  Think long and hard about this.

[LaserSteve]

The poster who suggesting chasing nursing students should see what resides in Mech Eng, Chem Eng, and Biomed these days. Much easier to talk to then nursing majors.  When I was in EE we had one girl in a class of ~100.  The school I work at strives for 50% in recruiting.

Nursing majors work very hard, spend endless time studying, and are horribly busy with practicum experiences. They live on very tight schedules. I have no doubt its a calling,  but a potential  Mr/ Mrs EE is a lot closer to home base these days

Oh to be 20 again.

Steve

[armandine2]

Graduates of hard subjects can get other employment, and may be obliged to start work outside of their preferred career.

 I guess investing in a home lab at least keeps open your preferred career, at some level.

[nctnico]

When I was in the hiring loop (as a junior engineer, Director of Engineering, or various places in-between), I always looked for passion, talent, experience, and education -- usually in that order.  If having a lab in the closet or garage, or access to one elsewhere excites you then by all means set it up.  If it doesn't interest you then why are you pursuing an engineering career?  Think long and hard about this.

True story: at some point my boss came to me telling me there would be an electronics intern for a graduation project for the next couple of months. Nephew from someone he knows. Few days later we hear a car coming into the parking lot. Speakers blasting -oonka-boonka-oonka-boonka-oonka-boonka-. Some young fellow who doesn't seem to be interested in anything walks in and introduces himself as being the new intern. Fast forward: turns out this guy actually is very talented and made an awesome project (very few would be able to develop what he did given the time!) during his internship. Needless to say we made him stick around when he graduated.

The point is: there is a such a thing a raw talent as well. You don't want to miss out on that when hiring people. For that reason I make candidates take a test to see how much they know and go from there.

[fourfathom]

To my mind while a home lab can be useful, it is not required in order to conduct research.

True, at least depending on your definition of "research".

But I don't think the OP's question, or the way I use my own lab, has much to do with research.  When I was an employer I wasn't looking for scientific researchers.  Instead, I was looking for design engineers who weren't afraid to touch a soldering iron or an oscilloscope, and were familiar with real-world practices.  A home lab can help demonstrate that.  More importantly, a home lab suggests that the person has a true enthusiasm and knack for the field -- those are the people I want to work with.

And of course, most of my fellow engineers never picked up a soldering iron at work.  But they could if they had to.

[strawberry]

Theory is about big things
Practice is about small things

one ill component can stop working whole circuit