Talented PCB Designer Looking for First Jobs!

[shanekent]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Shane and I'm an Electrical Engineer in the Silicon Valley. I'm looking for some side work laying out boards of various complexity so I've started advertising on Fiverr.    I'm having some trouble launching my services and as such I've lowered my prices significantly to help boost some interest. 

I've been working as an EE for a combined 3-years and during that time period I've personally designed over 40 unique PCBs from start to finish.   I have experience designing rigid, flex, and rigid-flex designs with the most complex stack-up being a 12-layer rigid section with an embedded 4-layer flex that utilizes buried and blind vias.

If you think my services would be of any use to you then please consider checking out my job posting here: https://www.fiverr.com/share/KepaNY

I appreciate your time!

-S

[OwO]

I would suggest maybe adding links or images to PCBs you have designed in the past that show off your ability, for example laying out DDR3 on a 4 layer board.

[free_electron]

CAD platform ?

[Berni]

I don't think many people are looking for PCB designers on Fiverr in the first place.

When doing freelance you will typically end up working with repeat costumers the most, so it can be hard to start off when you know nobody but as the word slowly gets out and past costumers keep coming back with more work... it can quickly fill your schedule.

Also what most people find useful is complete electronics engineering solutions rather than just PCB design. If the costumer is not capable of doing the PCB design themselves they likely also are not capable of designing a schematic of the product they want to make, nor have the equipment or expertise to assemble it and test it afterwards.

As mentioned above what CAD software you use can be important. But if you are in silicon valley you should be able to find some technical company that needs a PCB designer.

[shanekent]

These are all great suggestions and comments, so thank you for that!   

I'm going to have to spend some time to locate pictures of boards that I can actually share. Most all of my previous designs have been completed under strict NDAs so it makes sharing a little difficult...

I'm only familiar with the Altium platform and I'm currently running AD19 and AD20. Luckily their files are forward and backward compatible which allows me to work with clients that are still on older versions of Altium.

You're absolutely right about pricing strategy being important - there is no way that I would even remotely consider touching a project as dense as the one you mentioned for close to $150.   That being said, Fiverr allows for custom offers to be generated based on the complexity of a given order so that allows for quite a bit of flexibility.

I'm going to take these suggestions and comments seriously, so thank you very much for the time!
If anyone is interested in my services, then please consider reaching out via my Fiverr gig listed above or to me directly via some other fashion.

-S

[squagle]

I had shanekent build out two small PCBs for me to resolve some SPI transmission distance issues I was having.  Quick turnaround and good price.  Plan to use them again for additional boards.

[austfox]

I had shanekent build out two small PCBs

Thanks mum! 🤫

[jduncan]

get off Fiverr ASAP.. I'm doing PCB design on UpWork and while it's not great it's head and shoulders the best freelancing platform.

[shanekent]

get off Fiverr ASAP.. I'm doing PCB design on UpWork and while it's not great it's head and shoulders the best freelancing platform.

You're so very right.   I was shocked to find out that Fiverr takes a huge 20% cut of each sale....    Luckily I found that out on my initial small value orders.   

When I initially got onto Fiverr I thought that I'd get a lot of small, one-off orders.  I've been pleased to find out that most all of the orders I've received have started small but have worked their way into being larger scale in nature.  I've been able to transition that business from Fiverr to offline after being transparent with the purchaser about the 20% cut.   


If anyone is looking for a hand on a project, then please feel free to reach out to me via Fiverr and mention that you found me here or reach out to me directly through this forum.

-Shane

[angrybird]

You really need to advertise what types of layouts are your specialty that you can at truthfully state (if not able to physically show due to NDA) that you have done X layouts for Y projects which passed Z compliance/certification/etc testing within # revs - For instance, list how many USB 2.0 or 3.0 layouts done and how many revs were required to pass USB-IF/Apple/etc compliance testing?  Or another example, SMPS layout for CISPR 25, achieved certification in X revs (this is a huge one, if you have good layout experience passing CISPR 25 standard you should be able to get lots of work ).  Just make sure all statements are truthful, SJ is a small place and once you burn a local player, it tends to follow you 

Doing layouts is one thing, but being able to demonstrate that you are capable of creating high quality layouts for specific applications is another.  You need to demonstrate your understanding of the specifications that you are advertising for and also show that you can design according to them, with a good understanding of the underlying concepts and/or theories that drive your design choices.  I suppose you could also show that you can be supervised by an expert in an application and design under their supervision, if this is something you're doing?  If you do these things I think this will get you both more, and larger business opportunities.

[shanekent]

That's a fantastic point, angrybird, so thank you for bringing that up.     I can't stand in front of this group of highly talented engineers and state that I have designed to specific certifications other than IEC 60601-1.      My background is in medical devices and as such, most of my experience (on small and large teams) involves designing both the schematics and layouts for PCBs and multi-PCB systems that require electrical testing and ceritification to IEC 60601-1 3rd Ed.

I've designed schematics and PCBs for both handheld Type B medical devices as well as Type BF capital equipment.  Most all of my designs, with help of proper mechanical designs, have passed IEC 60601-1-2 testing after only a single design spin.     

I'm always open to a new challenge and new areas.  If you're willing to work with me, then I bet I'll be willing to work with you!  I know a few folks who have seen this post have already reached out directly and that is greatly appreciated.      If you're interested in some of the designs that I've worked on, then there are some pictures of the designs I can share on my website here: www.shanekent.com

Stay safe and healthy!

-S