Take a minute and consider just how wide-ranging the impact of electronics technology is on everyone's life today. For example, in the last week have you:
- watched television?
- operated a computer?
- used a portable or desktop calculator?
- driven or ridden in an automobile?
- used a microwave oven?
- watched a videotape?
- used an automatic teller machine?
- listened to radio or compact disc player?
- checked the time with a digital watch or clock?
Think about how you spend the first few hours of an ordinary day. You get up at a preset time, thanks to a clock-radio that offers a variety of electronic functions. You may prepare breakfast with a microwave oven, watch the morning news on television, and then ride to school or work in an automobile or bus that depends on computerized controls to start the engine and keep it running. During the morning, you may use a computer yourself or interact with someone else who does. If you visit a store or restaurant, the checkout process probably will depend on an electronic cash register and same is the case with any banking activities. Any information you receive--whether from radio, television, newspapers, or textbooks--will have been transmitted, printed, or processed with electronic equipment. At any time, day or night, your life is enhanced by the practical applications of electronics.
Electronic devices don't just provide convenience. They also promote health, safety, and other serious matters. For example, hospitals use a variety of electronic devices in helping patients by diagnosing and treating illnesses. The military services, as has been so vividly demonstrated in televised reports of modern warfare, have been revolutionized by "smart" bombs, cruise missiles that can travel hundreds of miles with pinpoint precision, and other weapons based on advanced electronics.
Thanks to the growing role that electronic devices play in virtually all aspects of modern society, careers in electronics represent one of the most promising of all areas of employment. The ability to work with electronics is a valuable skill.
Persons who can design, build, install, or repair electronic devices or components hold a wide range of interesting jobs.
A career in electronics can entail anything from working in an assembly line or making simple electronic components to helping design a complex piece of high-tech equipment. In many instances, the work performed will be the repair of existing items rather than the development of new ones.
Whatever the tasks involved, working with electronics requires special knowledge and skills. As a result, women and men who have acquired these capabilities often find themselves in an advantageous position when it comes to seeking good jobs and pursuing challenging careers.
Electronics versus Electricity
Before reviewing the subject of electronics further, it is important to make a distinction between careers in electricity and those in electronics. These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are usually some basic differences.
Both deal with electric current, and of course there could be no electronic devices without the power provided by electricity. But from a technical and career viewpoint, the two fields deal with the use of electric current in different ways.
Electricians and related workers generally handle equipment that is based on the flow of current, while persons working in electronics concentrate on devices based on short pulses of electricity. An electron device changes the current's direction or frequency to make it function as a signal that represents sounds, images, numbers, or other information. This basic difference separates many kinds of electrical and electronic items.
Electricians, for example, tend to work with electric motors, transformers, electric lighting, and so forth. A typical job performed by an electrician might be installing the wiring in a new house or office building or rewiring a large motor used in an industrial setting.
Technicians and others involved in electronics tend to deal with devices such as microprocessors and other equipment using integrated circuits. For example, a career in electronics may involve working with computers, tape recorders, or broadcasting equipment.
A basic understanding of electricity is needed by anyone who works in electronics, and the distinction between the two concepts is not uniformly observed. But in choosing educational programs, applying for jobs, or other activities, it is important to be aware of the general boundaries of each field.
Development of Electronics
The development of electronics is a recent part of human history. Although the existence of electricity has been recognized (if not fully understood) for hundreds of years, the rise of electronics has occurred only in about the last century.
The invention of gas-discharge tubes in the late 1800s, and the later development of vacuum tubes, contributed to the growth of electronics. The first widespread application of tubes began in the 1920s in radio, which helped usher in the modern world. Vacuum tubes were also instrumental in the development of television and early computers.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the development of solid-state technology greatly accelerated the growth of electronics. Solid-state devices, in which a signal passes through a solid material instead of through a vacuum, represented a great improvement over technology based on vacuum tubes. Even more revolutionary was the invention in the early 1960s of integrated circuits, in which tiny chips of silicon or some other semiconductor material could do the same work as a bulky transistor. This technology led to the development of microprocessors and the advanced electronic devices we enjoy today.
Over the last three decades, the growth of electronics technology has expanded tremendously, and more and more sophisticated electronic items have begun to play a part in everyday life.
Some of the most important influences on the development of electronics technologies have included the following:
- the development of radio, television, facsimile (fax) machines, and other means of communicating over distances
- advances in transportation, including air and space travel
- the invention and growing use of computers in virtually all aspects of life
- developments in warfare and military technology, with various sophisticated weapons and weapons systems demanding new and improved uses of electronics
- the growing uses of electronic devices in home entertainment
- the invention of robots and automated manufacturing processes
- changes in design and production of electronic devices, which have made them more affordable and thus more widely available
Advantages of an Electronics Career
A career in electronics offers a number of potential benefits. These advantages include the following:
1. Good salaries and wages. Most people who work in the field of electronics earn salaries or wages that compare quite favorably with other fields. In fact, some jobs in this area bring salaries that are significantly higher than the average for all occupations. Because many of these jobs require special knowledge and skills, employers often will pay excellent salaries or wages to attract employees who possess the necessary background. In some cases, electronics personnel can earn several times the average compensation paid to unskilled workers.
Also, men and women employed in electronics may receive a variety of attractive fringe benefits. Such benefits may include medical insurance, retirement plans, vacation pay, support to pursue additional education, profit sharing, or other benefits.
2. Long-range job potential. It may sound trite to claim that electronics represents the wave of the future, but there is a great deal of truth in such a statement. After all, it would be difficult to pick an area where more potential for the future exists! Recent changes in electronics have been so immense that people often compare today's reality to the vision of some science fiction writer of decades past, and experts predict even more changes in the future. People in all walks of life depend heavily on the work performed by specialists in electronics, and this trend is expected not only to continue, but to grow.
In choosing a career, an important factor should be its potential to survive in a rapidly changing world. Unfortunately for the persons holding them, many jobs disappear forever as they are displaced by changing technology and economic conditions.
Although this is a possibility in any field, it seems less likely in electronics than in many other career areas. To the contrary, this is a field that tends to thrive on change. Many jobs in electronics are close to what some experts call the cutting edge of advancing technology. As a result, electronics is less vulnerable to change than many other career areas.
3. Challenging work assignments. Would you rather design microchips in an electronics lab or bag potato chips in a grocery store? Of course there is a great deal of room between one extreme and the other, and there is nothing wrong with working in a store or performing other respectable work that may require little or no special knowledge or training. However, many workers in unskilled jobs find their work boring and without a sense of challenge, as well as less rewarding in terms of income, benefits, and future potential.
Persons employed in electronics, on the other hand, often find the work itself truly interesting. Designing an electronic device or diagnosing and repairing an equipment problem can provide variety, mental stimulation, and a high degree of job satisfaction.
4. A comfortable work environment. Most work performed by people employed in electronics takes place indoors. This might consist of any of a number of settings including a workroom in a small business, a shop or laboratory in an engineering firm, or various locations within a large manufacturing plant. In some cases, the workplace will be the same each day, while in others, job assignments will involve moving from one location to another. For example, a technician might travel to different businesses or visit people's homes to service or repair electronic equipment. Such an arrangement can be particularly interesting for men and women who enjoy change and variety in their daily routine.
In any instance, working in electronics usually offers the advantage of comfortable environments and relatively low levels of physical exertion compared to highly physical jobs such as construction work, farming, or heavy industrial production.
5. Mobility. Once you obtain skills in electronics, they can serve you virtually anywhere in the civilized world, as well as in your home community. This means that you need not move far away to find a good job, unless you live in a remote rural area where technical jobs opportunities are limited. If you prefer to explore new locations, the chances are excellent of landing a job that will take you to a new city, state, or province of your choice.
After all, most electronic fields represent areas where skilled workers are in high demand. So if you acquire the necessary training and skills, you should be able to find a job nearly anywhere.
6. A wide range of educational choices. Although some type of training probably will be needed, you can choose from a variety of educational options. A bachelor's degree may be needed to pursue a career in electronic engineering, but many technician jobs require far less training. In fact, many educational programs take two years or fewer to complete.
In addition, you can choose formal training in a school or college or another approach such as an apprenticeship or on-the-job training program. The end result is that you can select the type of educational program that best suits your own abilities and preferences.
