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So you think you could be an electrician?

456 points · 414 comments · zdw

  1. kooi · · focus · HN ↗
    I think the most important aspect of high salary is job demand.

    Perhaps once there was a high demand for good SWE coming out of 4 years of $$ tuition uni.

    Personal anecdote: Got a buddy who dropped out of Bible school, worked at a auto shop while getting his certs. After 2 years about any dealership would hire him.

    He moves, lands a 100k+ job. 2 years later, switches to a dealership in San Jose, earning 150+.

    6 months later, he gets an offer to become foreman at a dealership in gilroy with a $5/h raise + foreman benefits. How it works is techs are paid flat rate: Paid per job, not per hour. So if youre good, you can really rake in the money.

    Its been wild to see his career arc in real time.

    He's highly trained, very handy, Nd he's damn smart at debugging.

    Basically doing CAN bus diagnostics with an oscope and logic analyzer.

    He earns more than me who got a MS in ECE.

    On the flip side, his job is physical and he works more hours than me.

    I get to so R&D, think about cool math, and code. But in another life I'd love do be a tech.

    All that said, there's a lot of demand for good auto techs.

    1. sippingabonedry · · focus · HN ↗
      Nobody in a dealership is using an o-scope and logic analyzer.

      They are using an OEM diagnostic tool and following approved shop procedures.

      1. Shitty-kitty · · focus · HN ↗
        Nobody should be debugging code by hand either but when all the tools fail, its time to get your hands dirty.
        1. sippingabonedry · · focus · HN ↗
          No, when all the tools fail, they buy back the car or you lemon law it. Story over. It would not happen, does not happen, cannot happen.

          I agree with the below poster, this reeks, no one is doing o-scope level debugging on a production vehicle. It's what someone would say that has no idea how cars are designed, built, and serviced in reality.

          1. thedougd · · focus · HN ↗
            Snap-On sells automotive scopes.

            <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.snapon.com&#x2F;EN&#x2F;US&#x2F;Diagnostics&#x2F;Products&#x2F;TRITON-D10" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.snapon.com&#x2F;EN&#x2F;US&#x2F;Diagnostics&#x2F;Products&#x2F;TRITON-D10

            1. sippingabonedry · · focus · HN ↗
              That *scan tool* does not do what you think it does, you&#x27;re not going to well acksually your way out of this.
              1. thedougd · · focus · HN ↗
                Lab Scope &#x2F; Meter 2-channel Bandwidth 3MHz Sample Rate: Up to 6 million samples&#x2F;sec Scale range 0-100mV to 0-400V Sweep rate 50 microseconds to 20 seconds (5 min in GMM mode)

                It’s slow but it’s an oscilloscope. It graphs electrical measurements over time. They sold CRT scopes on carts for years and years.

                Maybe you should move the goalposts and demand FFT or higher bandwidth.

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