Does it make sense to study electronics and PC hardware?

Question

Electronics

Girl, 26 years old. There is a crust of open source software "technician on information systems". To be honest, I don’t even know what it is - I studied well, but I don’t know anything and I don’t know how (however, it was easy to study with us, the teachers pulled out even the most stupid ones). Aichi as a field has always been interesting to me, but before that I didn’t really bother to study something in depth. Now I want to take it seriously. In general, at the moment we have the following picture: knowledge of Windows is at a level slightly higher than a confident user. I don't know Linux at all, I'm not even familiar with it. I know iron much better, disassemble / assemble, replace thermal paste, I know the device of the power supply and video cards, I can solder something on the motherboard (I don’t know how to BGA yet, but I’ve already started to learn - I’m taking the first steps, so to speak). Typical user problems associated with the software, I can easily decide. An acquaintance is now offering to go to his service, they say they will teach me a little boy there. In parallel with this, I also study electronics (as a hobby), I can assemble a simple device such as a power supply. The question arose, in which direction to develop further? I'm interested in iron, I like to tinker with a soldering iron (of course, with an understanding of what I'm doing and why). Can this hobby be turned into a profession? From everywhere you can only hear that you can’t earn even a piece of bread with repairs. Everyone advises to quit this business and start studying administration, but this is not my thing at all. For me, all these servers, protocols and databases are pure hell. But as I understand it, now only admins, software / site developers and pentesters earn more or less, the rest are in the span. Does anyone need ironworkers at all? In any case, I will do this - at least just for myself, "for the love of art." But does it have any perspective in terms of professional development?

Answer 1

"Find a job you love and you'll never have to work."
The technique is exceptionally reliable, it is not necessary to solder there, especially with a soldering iron. Everything is soldered on special equipment.
If you like this kind of work, a direct road to the service by laptops or telephones, specialists are needed there. And if this is a girl, then it will be just an adornment of a harsh male company. With smoking soldering irons.
At the expense of money, one smart person advised me: "learn to do something BETTER than everyone else and you will never be without money." And the matter does not matter, you just need to become the best.

Answer 2

Don't go to electronics. As a hobby - yes, as a profession - not worth it.
I have been working as an electronics engineer since 1998, since graduating from university. The job is very interesting, relatively well-paid, but right now the salary cap for a highly qualified (10+ years of experience) developer is approximately equal to the salary of a programmer of lower-middle qualifications (2+ years of experience), the salary of a repairman is even half as much. The vacancy market is small, it is rather problematic to change jobs if something does not suit you.
Consider better such options with relativelylow barrier of entry, like learning Python or front-end development on the JavaScript/React/Redux stack. Even if you do not live in Moscow, after a couple of years of hard practice, you can count on a salary of 120+, working hard at a distance. And with a soldering iron in the evening, for the soul you will work.

Answer 3

I think it's worth agreeing to the offer of a friend. First, in practice, make sure that this is your business. It often happens that some activity is good as a hobby and much less interesting as a permanent, daily, routine job. And secondly, work experience is always a plus. It is also worth paying attention to the vacancies in the region - which are, in principle, what experience is required.

Answer 4

If you like "iron", then you can try to shift from the repair of "household goods" to the repair of industrial electronics. But even there - programming knowledge will be required and, later - for sure, learning specific software.

Answer 5

I'll tell you my experience. At the age of 22, he got a job in the IT field. Before that, he was actively fond of electronics, but he didn’t get to computers, at most - microcontrollers and all sorts of logic (registers, triggers, all that), plus audio and radio engineering (radio amateur pirate). And until about 2007, I just delved into the structure of computers, in practice doing more modular repairs, but little by little I found information and repaired power supplies, monitors, etc. In 2009, a friend strongly pushed me, offering to take motherboards and other hardware for repairs from him (he had his own store, and it was not always possible to return it under warranty on time, so the hardware accumulated). From that time to the present, I have been repairing all this computer goodness, well, all kinds of automation too (industrial blocks, automotive, all sorts of vending machines, etc.). What can I say - for a hobby it's not real. You need to make money on this. But recently, incomes have been steadily falling, people simply do not have money. And fiddling with a laptop, for example, for several hours (or days), without payment - well, so-so occupation. For the client can simply refuse and that's it.
In general, for myself, I decided to change direction, and changed my main job - I switched to server administration, in order to gain experience in this area, and move further towards DevOps, while remote work is now almost everywhere, and salaries are already many times higher, than electronics repair.
If you want to go into electronics, you can start from the site rom.by, remont-aud.net and a few more. For starters, you can just read (there is definitely enough material for a couple of years of study). Well, without practice, it's useless - you either need to take something for repairs yourself and try to do it, or go to the SC at least as an assistant and delve into it (yes, and practically sit without money). If you take it for repairs yourself, you need investments. Equipment, materials, spare parts, etc. To begin with, about 50k, and even if you take on the BGA, then to the IR station is about 150-300k. I never bought it, the city is small, few people want to pay, and now it makes no sense - in laptops, without exception, combines - one chip (percent, hub, and all-in-one), and replacing it is almost always more expensive than buying the same the board with this chip is ready. And when you voice the price of 15k for repairs, people say "no, I'd rather buy a new one."
In a big city, you can, but you can’t pull it alone - you either need to go to the SC, or organize your own, having gathered with like-minded people who also know how and want to.
The topic is vast, it is not possible to fit it in one answer. Read my topic "profitability of repairs ..." on rom.by, for many years it has become like a personal blog almost exactly on this topic.

Answer 6

Electronics is not only picking a dusty motherboard with a soldering iron, or sawing your device on a breadboard in the evenings. Industrial automation and automatic control systems combine the need for applied knowledge in electronics, computer technology, physics, and mechanics. The delta in complexity of tasks is huge, from automating the checkpoint with cards using boxed solutions, to automating 1000 km of hydraulic structures. And people who develop and draw these systems are also in great demand. If there is a task to earn at the same time, then you will have to study day and night, as in other professions, which were said in the answers above that they are well paid. And in principle, in my memory, the APCS specialist has never finished eating without salt.

Answer 7

Work in the SC, see what and how. Decide there.
A good option was advised by industrial equipment.
Well, or then go into the design of robotics ...

Answer 8

An acquaintance is now offering to go to his service, they say they will teach me a little boy there.

If you like "picking iron with a soldering iron" - go of course,
you will always earn money for bread and butter, but to have enough for caviar - you need to learn))
especially if programming and administration are not yours.

Answer 9

On repairs, you will never get a conditional 100 rubles. per month, and in IT this is the average salary.
Well, repair is work with people, every day someone will try to deceive you or say nasty things. Working with people in the service industry is exhausting.