[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: David is seated in front of various equipment on shelves. The NAD logo is at the bottom right corner.

DAVID: When I was growing up, my first dream job was to be a car mechanic. Then I wanted to be an electric company lineman but later realized it might’ve not been a good fit for a deaf person. I switched over to electrical engineering but it didn’t work out. Finally, my dream was set on being an electronics technician. I’ve been working in this field for over 20 years.

Black and white clip of David reading a guide in front of electronic equipment. In the center, a white border surrounding white text “DAVE” underneath, appears in white text “SERVICE ASSOCIATE TECHNICIAN”.

DAVID: I’m David Dahle and I work as a Service Associate.

Black and white clip of David’s hands turning knobs on electrical equipment.

DAVID: The plan was to go to college to become an electrical engineer but things changed. I decided to go to a technical school and enrolled in a two year program to become an electronics technician. After graduating from tech school, I looked for a job in the electronics field and went to work at an electronics manufacturer. I started working here as a production associate, until the production manager heard that I had a background with electronics technology and offered me a transfer into the service area.

Black and white close up clip of David turning knobs on an electrical equipment.

DAVID: My role here is to re-manufacture different electronic circuit boards and assemblies, and to troubleshoot any defects, or perform upgrades. Customers contact us with a problem and we initiate the return merchandise authorization. With that, they can send in the equipment where we can figure out what went wrong. We fix it then we pack it up like new before sending it back to the customer.

Black and white clip of shelving’s view of David working on equipment.

DAVID: The first thing I do when I get to work is to check my email for any internal communications or updates from customers’ status of repairs and such. After checking on the “paperwork,” I go through which products have been here the longest and I work on that next. I review the repair history, grab the testing equipment, and start my assessments. I figure out what parts we need, order them -- and when it arrives, I repair. I test the equipment again to make sure it works. When the repairs are done, I get the PO number from the customer and we pack it to ship.

Black and white clip of David working on electrical equipment.

DAVID: Electronics is a big field to work in. Building legos uses mechanical technology which could lead to robots or building a computer. It’s a big field with many different specialties. If one doesn’t work for you, you can easily look for another one that fits you better.

Black and white clip of David unwinding a machine’s cord.

DAVID: If you’re interested in electronics technology, you must have a good understanding of math. This doesn’t mean Calculus but more like Algebra and Trigonometry. If you like analyzing, figuring out why something is broken or something like that -- it’s a good step towards working in the electronics industry!

Black and white clip of David working on electrical equipment. White text appears at the bottom center, “My one advice is not to be afraid to ask your company for on-the-job training.” Light blue text “- David” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.

DAVID: My job varies on a daily basis, it’s always different. Sometimes it’s a slow day, but sometimes like today -- it’s hectic! There’s never a boring day at work!

Black and white clip of David reading a guide and working on electrical equipment. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of "N-A-D" in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, "National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved".]