General > General Technical Chat
Will a home electronics lab help me find a job?
Shock:
Might not help you find a job, but showcasing projects and some evidence of equipment familiarization can lead to a more successful application or interview outcome.
Having a computer system, work space, tools, internet and phone setup is also worthwhile as it highlights you can work remotely if needed with minimal assistance. Just make sure if you include photos it looks clean but shows work being done.
In the corporate world it's not uncommon to work from home or do a few hours in the office then head off if you are feeling unwell (with something not communicable). Most employers are accommodating enough for you to manage your own well being and prefer if you can remote work when able. The alternative is just vanishing and not being contactable.
Stray Electron:
--- Quote from: tszaboo on May 16, 2022, 01:10:49 pm ---You are a student, and you don't make money. The university has electronics lab, and you have access to it.
Just turn to any of the profs that you like (and who teaches electronics, or microcontrollers or anything related), and ask them if they have extra projects for you. They will have or they will forward you to someone who will have projects. You gain access to them in their "free time", they will teach you useful stuff other than the rubbish that is in the textbooks, get to spend time in the lab, and meet other students who are also motivated.
Or you can spend your tiny amount of excess money on some basic tools. Once you earn money, after the first month, you will be able to afford much better ones and it will feel like a waste.
--- End quote ---
This! And try to get a job working in one of the labs or assisting one of the professors. It will look just as good (or better) on a resume and it will put a little bit of money in your pocket instead of costing you money. Real hands on experience in any related capacity is a big plus when job hunting. Also employers are impressed with people that can go to school AND hold a technical job at the same time.
Some of the jobs that I did as a student are still opening doors for me 35 years later.
NiHaoMike:
--- Quote from: voltsandjolts on May 16, 2022, 11:30:48 am ---Focus on your studies, beer and chasing pretty nursing students*.
Get a good grade and socialise, make memories now while you are young.
Electronics hobby you can start anytime. Life, not so much.
--- End quote ---
Skip the beer, Dave Jones and Jim Williams showed that it's not at all necessary.
Back when I was in college, they had a tech club called "Cepheid Variable" (it's actually mostly for software engineering, but hardware engineering is also welcome as long as you bring the tools yourself) that's a great place for engineers to hang out.
Then there are IEEE meetings, I got to be friends with some IEEE models. (I think that's specific to some colleges including Texas A&M.) Pretty girls who like to talk about engineering are a lot more interesting than pretty girls who don't know engineering.
tggzzz:
--- Quote from: Brumby on May 16, 2022, 02:47:20 pm ---
--- Quote from: tszaboo on May 16, 2022, 01:10:49 pm ---Or you can spend your tiny amount of excess money on some basic tools. Once you earn money, after the first month, you will be able to afford much better ones and it will feel like a waste.
--- End quote ---
Buying some basic tools is not really a waste, IMHO .... well, not completely.
By starting with limited capability, you will come to understand those limitations. This will bring you to look at what other features you might like - but, more importantly, why you would invest in them. Buying tools from specifications only runs a risk of looking at numbers but missing out on capabilities. Familiarity and experience are precious in that regard. It's a bit like learning things "from first principles".
However, certainly look at the facilities to which you have access. No point starting to spending money unless you really need to.
--- End quote ---
Agreed.
Add that it looks good to carefully and imaginatively use whatever tool is available to its fullest capabilities. (See the aphorism in my .sig)
That's beneficial in an interesting job where you will be pushing boundaries, e.g. if you are designing the world's fastest oscilloscope, what scope should you buy when testing it?
mansaxel:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on May 16, 2022, 12:29:35 pm ---
But do make sure you get good exam results; you can always do projects later, but you can't re-do poor exam results.
--- End quote ---
Over here the saying is that there are always retries on exams, but there are no retries on parties. :-DD
Engineering students here not seldom flunk a few papers over the course of a year, and then have to study for one of the catch-up exam opportunities to get their results. As long as they maintain a rate of about 75% of the courses completed during the year, the student loans system will pay out for continued studies. I have a few friends who are perhaps 2 papers or tests short of the M.Sc but they're too busy working, and don't want to try writing the Numerical Methods or Mathematical Statistics tests again. And again, and so forth.
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