I teach a course (at various hacking events) titled "Surface mount electronics assembly for terrified beginners" and the thing that basically every participant

I teach a course (at various hacking events) titled "Surface mount electronics assembly for terrified beginners" and the thing that basically every participant reports after is that they expected it to be harder. We go from "never knowingly touched a PCB" down to 0.5mm pitch QFNs and 0402 passives in the space of an hour or so, so what you're saying about novices is absolutely correct. (if you want a course like that near you, contact me)