Soldering Job Strut

thedailyhustle

I have 2 and 1/2 years experience fabricating circuit boards from bare panel to finished board ready to be loaded with components, at a PCB mfg'ing shop here in Vacaville. I was laid off a couple months ago. I have an interview coming up for a soldering tech position in Davis, CA, which isnt my first choice but my unemployment insurance is wearing down and I need to get back on my feet. Going to be soldering thru hole and surface mount components to PCBs, i assume for 8+ hours a day. Any of you held a position like this? How was it? Experiences appreciated.

Bambouche

I agree, it sounds like you'll be soldering all day every day.


I worked in a PCB factory for a few years. I "baked" PCBs during the graveyard shift, flattening the boards after they'd been manufactured/plated/coated and before they hit rigid needle testing. One of the worst jobs I've ever had (including working for my dad, shoveling tortellini onto a conveyor belt, brick laying, post hole digging).

This was in the early '90s. My mother, god bless her beating heart, was a manager in the testing department, and besides the two of us (and that one crazy dude in the chemical treatment area), we were the only non-Filipino folks up in there. I was regularly treated to the best lumpia this side of Quezon City by all the loving and caring Filipino moms working their asses off in that shithole. Such a wonderful group of women in such an awful place.

The factory was shut down in the late '90s when the semiconductor industry moved to India. I was already gone, but my mom, who had been there 18 years, was fired without warning or severance. She ricocheted around the semiconductor industry for another two years as companies went bankrupt and fucked her out of back pay before claiming bankruptcy herself and ending up on unemployment. She works at a candy store now.

My uncle owned a semiconductor prober company and just sold it last year to foreign investors as it was impossible to find American clients to buy probers.

I am surprised there are still jobs in this industry. It must be a small company, and I would be careful if I were you. Every company like this, from Santa Clara to Hillsboro, is barely standing.


The IWW warned everyone about this back in 1944 with Ford, Vultee, Allis-Chalmers and Bethlehem. They are all bought up, bankupt or corrupt, and the unions are shot in the foot with red scare/adulteration, so there's not much for salt of the earth types like my mom or you.

My advice: Find another career (realty or finance?), lest you end up working in a candy shop.





Good luck!

p.s. "What I mean is, Take it Easy... But Take It!"

thedailyhustle

I agree, it sounds like you'll be soldering all day every day.


I worked in a PCB factory for a few years. I "baked" PCBs during the graveyard shift, flattening the boards after they'd been manufactured/plated/coated and before they hit rigid needle testing. One of the worst jobs I've ever had (including working for my dad, shoveling tortellini onto a conveyor belt, brick laying, post hole digging).

This was in the early '90s. My mother, god bless her beating heart, was a manager in the testing department, and besides the two of us (and that one crazy dude in the chemical treatment area), we were the only non-Filipino folks up in there. I was regularly treated to the best lumpia this side of Quezon City by all the loving and caring Filipino moms working their asses off in that shithole. Such a wonderful group of women in such an awful place.

The factory was shut down in the late '90s when the semiconductor industry moved to India. I was already gone, but my mom, who had been there 18 years, was fired without warning or severance. She ricocheted around the semiconductor industry for another two years as companies went bankrupt and fucked her out of back pay before claiming bankruptcy herself and ending up on unemployment. She works at a candy store now.

My uncle owned a semiconductor prober company and just sold it last year to foreign investors as it was impossible to find American clients to buy probers.

I am surprised there are still jobs in this industry. It must be a small company, and I would be careful if I were you. Every company like this, from Santa Clara to Hillsboro, is barely standing.


The IWW warned everyone about this back in 1944 with Ford, Vultee, Allis-Chalmers and Bethlehem. They are all bought up, bankupt or corrupt, and the unions are shot in the foot with red scare/adulteration, so there's not much for salt of the earth types like my mom or you.

My advice: Find another career (realty or finance?), lest you end up working in a candy shop.





Good luck!

p.s. "What I mean is, Take it Easy... But Take It!"

thanks for the response bro. The shop i worked at was a learning experience and i gained a lot of experience with electronics. It was barely standing itself. I eventually was a trainee in the CAD/CAM//EDA department setting up gerber data/pcb artwork for the production. I was the photoplotter/darkroom troll previously. Then the lead supervisor for the CAD/CAM department bailed and the company outsourced 5 seats to India. Then i was laid off, and the whole philosphy of the owner was "American Made Products". Hipocracy in my eyes to outsource drafting position to India when all they talked about was how their business was failing because of customers/clients geting boards on the CHEAP from asia/india. But they can get 5 CAMers for the price of one American employee in India, and when the day shift leaves, the Indians are working on the jobs/orders over night. This soldering position is just something to get back on my feet after being unemployed for 3 months. And i have aspirations of going to UC Davis for Electrical Engineering or something of that nature.


The shop i worked at was full of Mexican, Laos, Vietnamese, and Chinese workers. I was the only white kid in there. Because in the factory when I was the photo plotter/ dry film tech besides the Quality Control/Final Inspection department. Reeked of chemicals and such.