The problem with soldering the switches in is that the mechanical guide posts are soldered into the ground layer of the board which immediately transports the heat away from the point of contact. You need a powerful soldering station (I use a Weller WS81 for example) and a solder pen that is constructed in a way so that all the heat is actually delivered even with small SMD tips (this is were cheaper soldering solutions usually fail...). Make sure you heat up the area where you want to make the joint before touching it with the tin, but if it takes more than 2-3 seconds then your station and/or pen+tip combination are to weak/wrong. If you do more rework on boards with large ground/supply planes investing in a cheap hotair and preheater station usually does wonders....
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