Work Experience at ArtElectronics

Getting in

One Thursday after getting home from college, I got a message saying that a local repair shop in Rugby, ArtElectronics, had asked my friend who works there if he knew anyone "smart", and he suggested me.

They wanted me in that same day, and since I had only ever done online virtual work experience and never any physical work experience, I didn't want to miss out, so I walked there that afternoon.

My first day: The laptop

When I arrived, my friend guided me to the back of the shop where I met the owner, who talked me through how things work at the repair shop. He took the battery out of an old training laptop for safety and then told me to "take it apart".

I had never done anything with physical hardware before, so I had to figure it out as I went. I used a screwdriver to open the back of the laptop and kept the screws laid out in order so I would remember where they go when putting it back together.

I then used a spudger to pry off the top shell of the keyboard section until the internal components were visible. From there I unscrewed the components and figured out how to remove the ribbon cables by flipping open the latches on the ZIF connectors and pulling the cables out by the pull tab (usually the blue part), so the delicate cable itself doesn't get damaged.

What I learned

The owner told me that "critical thinking" is a very important skill in the repair shop, as you need to make decisive decisions when working on a device.

I find taking apart and putting back together electronics very intriguing, and it is a very useful skill to have, as it gives me the toolset to work through these kinds of problems.

Next

I'm hoping to keep learning at the shop and will add more to this page as I work on different devices.