the details, getting a component review job?

[Mysteriphys]

I was sitting here reading that one thread that got dug up from 2 years ago and I was wondering, what does a person need to become one of those guys who gets to pick apart hardware components for money? I.E. A+, mcse or can they be the kind of guy who's been messing with computers since he was 10 with the vic20 down in his basement saying "it could use this, but this part is awesome!" (also might help that I'm a writer of sorts, not journalist, but I have made some attempts in bloggery lol.) Anyhow, just a general question. I was going to post up a whole sob story (true mind you) but I figured this would be sufficient. thanks for any time anyone puts into responding to this!

[.Maleficus.]

You're being too vague. "People who pick apart hardware components for money" could be a lot of things. Airbozo has done tons of stuff with hardware for every company imaginable. If you just want to take apart a mobo and poke at stuff, nobody is going to pay you for that. Are you talking hardware development, testing, etc? That kind of stuff you won't be doing in your basement. To do that, you'll need to get a job at the company of the part (Intel, AMD, etc).

Do you mean reviewing stuff? To do that, you need lots of exposure, experience and praise. You need to get noticed, and get a reputation. You need to be known as someone who knows what they are talking about. You need to show expertise in every field of the review. Companies won't send free stuff to, or pay someone, who doesn't A) know what they are talking about, B) have a wide viewer base to get the product out there, and C) have a good reputation as a trustworthy partner. You also need good grammar, writing, and language skills.

For all of this, you should have lots of studies in anything computer related. Having a degree is always a good thing to have when looking for a job.

I hope some of that helped, I'm no tester or reviewer myself, though I'd like to be and I'm trying to figure it out too.

[Mysteriphys]

thanks for the info for sure, +rep even just for being the first to respond and having a great deal of understanding :) with the second part you hit the nail on the head, as much as I'd love to get into engineering/reverse engineering, I don't near enough knowledge to even go to school for it, let alone do it, but back to reviewing, I've got like 2 out of 5-6 so I'll keep looking for my autoshop job :-P. I have lots of knowledge of parts, my father did senior networking admin for a internet based IT training company before they merged and gave him the boot after he messed up his back since they didn't get him the help he asked for, go figure... I'm also a writer and have rave reviews on the chapters I've finished in the book I've been writing. but I don't have a following, and until I came here I don't think anyone knew that I know what I'm talking about... hence the info I gave indybird on his wireless setup. I have a good rep as an ebay buyer though :-D lol, although I don't think a couple zalman fans and a 35 dollar 450W PSU that was already screwed when I got it since it was cheap-o, (kept shorting out randomly and didn't supply the right voltage to the HDD).. anyway, I don't think that counts I guess. you all are really helpful though, and of all the people I'm sure some of you guys are well suited for the job. if you don't have one already lol. Anywho, I'm going to try to get a shot of my setup here soon, and figure out where to post it, gonna have to find a new host for my images I'm sure my good friend isn't too happy his site is hosting the bandwidth fir my pictures atm lol. anyway, this has gone a little, way off topic. thanks again for the info! L8r