Is PCB design overrated for professional development?

[TrentonCollier]

I’m a college student and I have a lot of experience designing and assembling PCBs. Doing that seems like the most straightforward way to apply the knowledge from the ECE classes in the “real world”. However, when I look at internship/job postings, very few ECE positions mention PCB design among the responsibilities. Most jobs are in ASIC design, FPGAs, software, electrical testing, simulation, or industry-specific things. Also, at the only internship I worked (position called “EE intern”) I didn’t work on PCBs either: I was mostly doing testing and data analysis, and a little embedded programming on eval boards. This makes me wonder if spending more time on PCB projects is gonna help my career at all. If not, what would be a better use of my time? It’s impossible to get involved in ASIC and FPGA projects as an undergrad, so how am I supposed to get the skills required for these internships/jobs?

[sinkourselves]

I’m a college student and I have a lot of experience designing and assembling PCBs. Doing that seems like the most straightforward way to apply the knowledge from the ECE classes in the “real world”. However, when I look at internship/job postings, very few ECE positions mention PCB design among the responsibilities. Most jobs are in ASIC design, FPGAs, software, electrical testing, simulation, or industry-specific things. Also, at the only internship I worked (position called “EE intern”) I didn’t work on PCBs either: I was mostly doing testing and data analysis, and a little embedded programming on eval boards. This makes me wonder if spending more time on PCB projects is gonna help my career at all. If not, what would be a better use of my time? It’s impossible to get involved in ASIC and FPGA projects as an undergrad, so how am I supposed to get the skills required for these internships/jobs?

PCB skills still help, but they’re rarely the main job. Keep them, just pair them with embedded software, debugging, and system-level projects. Employers mainly want strong fundamentals and hands-on experience, not full ASIC/FPGA work from undergrads.