First time ever posting here, but this offended me beyond belief. I've been repairing consumer electronics for the last 9 years. More often than not, I am diagnosing circuits which I know nothing about under a microscope, and looking for faults with absolutely zero technical documentation. As a result, I've developed what I like to call “Geordi la Forge” vision. I may not precisely understand the engineering and science behind a boost converter, but I understand that if you arrange specific components in a very particular configuration, it make little voltage go big, and I know the situations in which you may want something like this, how it will behave if it isn't working right, or if something connected to it isn't working right.
In other words, I don't really have to know the exact science behind how all of these circuits work in order to fix them. I just have to develop an understanding of what they are meant to do for the larger whole. I achieve this through reverse engineering. Many of the devices I've repaired are extremely complicated, with very complex circuit hierarchies. In order to find faults, I commonly have to reverse engineer, build my own schematics and documentation, and develop troubleshooting workflows from that. I mean, I can't exactly call Sony and say “hey, how does Southbridge work in the PS5?” I gotta figure that out myself. Bit by bit, repair by repair. The first time I changed an HDMI port on a PS5, I knew next to nothing about them. Fast forward to current-day, and I just recently restored a PS5 with a 12v rail short, 8 missing power rails, a dead SSD controller, and a failed Southbridge. And I was able to figure out all of this by building up knowledge of the circuits.
So, I had been looking for new work for awhile now. I've spoken to my boss in great depth about getting paid more, but the harsh reality is the store truly does not see enough business to afford a higher wage. I've seen the books, I see exactly how much the place makes, and it's not at all like my boss is lying to me. There just aren't enough repairs, and the ones that we do get, they're not exactly the variety we can charge a lot of money for because we're located in a poor part of town. The kind of work I do is worth way more than charging someone $100 or $150, but if we made it more expensive, people would just say no, ya know? Some business and getting the wage I have now is way better than no business and being homeless.
A friend of mine recently took up an engineering position at an electronics manufacturer, and he heard they were looking for someone to fill some kind of quality control position that would involve repairing defective products. This sounded like it was EXACTLY my kind of thing, and my friend instantly thought of me and put in a good word. The company reached out to me. The very first thing I asked was how much would it pay. They told me the position would be in the ballpark of $47k to $54k. This truthfully sounded low for what the work involves, but I figured with my experience, I could negotiate for something closer to $55k or possibly more. And truth be told, I feel I am absolutely worth more than even that, but hey, I won't complain about an extra $1k a month after tax, that would help me greatly.
Anyway, we eventually hit the point of the interview. The interview itself was one of the longest I've ever had in my life, way longer than even my current job which I've had for the last 9 years. I spoke to three different people, and after about an hour and a half, plus a really cool tour of their entire facility, I was told they would be in touch. I felt I made a very good impression. I presented a portfolio of the work I've done to show proof that my hand soldering is up to industry standards, and I explained the whole troubleshooting process, the kinds of things I see and how I approach fixing them, the way I reverse engineer, etc.
The next day, I got an e-mail from HR telling me they are extending a job offer. I was fully prepared to see something in the ballpark they first told me, and was ready to try negotiating for more and use my experience as the bargaining chip. And what the hell did I see when I opened the PDF? An $18/hr rate. I was fucking livid. I replied back, and asked if the wage was perhaps an error, or if I maybe received the wrong documentation, as I was under the impression this was a much higher paying position based on what I was told. They have not gotten back to me, and it has been at least two business days. The deadline for the offer was 7 hours ago. I figured I'd at least hear something a few hours before the deadline, but I haven't heard a peep.
Even if they do get back to me and they tell me it was an error, I find all of that very hard to believe. Communication has been effortless and prompt, right up until I asked about the wage. The impression this gives me is this particular company doesn't at all value or respect their employees. I just can't believe that the offer was even that low. I understand maybe giving me something at the lower end of the range that was specified, but come on! The stuff I've been repairing is vastly more complicated than anything they even manufacture, and I figure it out with no documentation! Many of the generously paid engineers I'm friends with don't even know where to begin to diagnose and repair the things they designed, much less how to reball a BGA by hand, and they make the damn schematics! And nearly 10 years of that experience was only worth $18/hr to them? Ridiculous.