Low Wages

[x9200]

Soon a cleaning auntie will be detergent-water mixtures executive for flat surfaces.

Did you know that some mechanics here give away their business cards stating their titles as "automobile specialist"?

If he uses a hammer he could also call himself a kinetic impulser specialist. Sounds better and carries less responsibility.

[ecureilx]

Well, the sanitation and maintenance engineer just asked us not to drop crumbs on the carpet.

sounds Like the time Nasa developed a Multi Million $ ' energy efficient Extra Vehicular Waste disposal system' - in essence a Space Loo

Or my former colleague who joined a Environmental, Waste Management and energy re-use' company - essentially a recycling plant that uses waste to generate power at the same time ..

[offshoreoildude]

"Engineer" is really a load of crap. Those of us that have obtained ABET certified engineering degrees are engineers. A code monkey calling himself a "software engineer" implies that he knows something besides coding... you know, like advanced mathematics, and one or more engineering specialties from one of the branches.

I don't know who the hosehead was that decided code monkeys should be called "engineer" but it is one of the most egregious examples of title inflation.

You can code programs. You can design programs for coders. You can specify GUI's and DB's for coders and DBA's. You can specify business rules and logistics for program designers. None of this remotely makes one an engineer.

I am a former code grunt, application designer, systems analyst and manager of a large applications programming shop. And... an electrical engineer with specialties in robotics, digital communications processing, and image and sound processing.

But... are you a member of a relevant professional or chartered engineering group? In Australia at least there is a push to stop people who are not chartered or members of IEAust allowing themselves to be called an engineer. I myself have an engineering qualification and agree that there is massive misuse of the title - I try not to use it but be more specific in the titles I assign people.

In the US, one must become a certified "professional engineer" PE, and it is nearly impossible to get hired as a "practicing" engineer in the chemical, structural, and civil fields without a PE, which takes 5 years of work experience to obtain. The reasons are obvious: Safety of projects.

With electrical and mechanical engineers, the field is much more wide open. Designing an "unsafe" computer chip or mousetrap doesn't present nearly the problems of an unsafe bridge or building, and hence, PE is not generally required, and many organizations that hire electrical engineers don't even have PE certification programs in place.

While I hold an engineering degree, I don't call myself an engineer except in the academic sense of the word, because I don't do engineering related work... I manage large infrastructure projects... hey... maybe I should be a Project Engineer!

In Australia there is a real mess for electrical engineers. Essentially I can design a HV system, but I cannot work on it unless I have a A Class Electricians ticket - which has to be obtained by a time served apprenticeship basis. Seems crazy but I guess there's some logic to it.

[nakatago]

Well, the sanitation and maintenance engineer just asked us not to drop crumbs on the carpet.

sounds Like the time Nasa developed a Multi Million $ ' energy efficient Extra Vehicular Waste disposal system' - in essence a Space Loo.

Floating fecal matter in zero gravity is no laughing matter! Show some respect for space plumbers!

[ecureilx]

Well, the sanitation and maintenance engineer just asked us not to drop crumbs on the carpet.

sounds Like the time Nasa developed a Multi Million $ ' energy efficient Extra Vehicular Waste disposal system' - in essence a Space Loo.

Floating fecal matter in zero gravity is no laughing matter! Show some respect for space plumbers!

and here I was, thinking that space-men don't poop ..

OOD: A little lesson in 'why things matter', when it comes to learnign things the proper way

Years ago, I was seconded to an RF Transmission station, to monitor things, and despite the double lock door, with the external dusty conditions, sometimes the transmission power drops, and the remote end used to report higher errors.

So, one day, when the link was powered off, being curious, me and my colleague opened up the Transmitter, and noticed a lot of dust. So we did what we could do best .. took out a clean piece of clothe and dusted it off, and the transmission power was back to near full power

So a few months later, during the annual service, the engineer from Harris comes over, and sets up his service kit, including earthing himself, and then puts on some gloves .. me was wondering what the crazy engineer was upto .. and once he did his cleaning, and checking with the oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, I casually asked him what the consequences were of, if somebody touches the tube bare hand ..

The guy went "well, for a start, the wee bit of moisture in your hand can cause a catastrophic failure of the transmitter, and if not earthed, the whole thing can get fried. if you properly get trained and certiified you will know all that .. "

And well, a few months later , when I was relocated for another project, another colleague of mine had done what everybody had thought as norm - cleaned the tube - and for his luck, when the transmitter was powered up, the whole thing had gone up in smokes - a loss - just short of 350,000 US$

.. and that was just one of my brushes with stuff, apart from the time I was going to radiate myself in front of a 1 mega watt transmitter, not knowing that being on the side of the panels too have a massive 'hair raising effect' due to leaks .. even when powered down, it was hair raising .. not that we noticed it ..

That was one of the many times I was reminded, that, when somebody is trained properly, and becomes an Engineer, when it comes to matters Engineering, they know more than what is written in the INCG ! or User guides

[v4jr4]

Well, the sanitation and maintenance engineer just asked us not to drop crumbs on the carpet.

sounds Like the time Nasa developed a Multi Million $ ' energy efficient Extra Vehicular Waste disposal system' - in essence a Space Loo.

Floating fecal matter in zero gravity is no laughing matter! Show some respect for space plumbers!

Join the dark side. Death Star needs plumbers.

[beppi]

Consultant suggests expertise in a given field, available to work to solve specific problems.

Hahahahahahaha, that was a good one!!!!!!
You never worked with business consultants, right?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, the sanitation and maintenance engineer just asked us not to drop crumbs on the carpet.

sounds Like the time Nasa developed a Multi Million $ ' energy efficient Extra Vehicular Waste disposal system' - in essence a Space Loo.

Floating fecal matter in zero gravity is no laughing matter! Show some respect for space plumbers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCpnwJQhoYY

[Strong Eagle]

Consultant suggests expertise in a given field, available to work to solve specific problems.

Hahahahahahaha, that was a good one!!!!!!
You never worked with business consultants, right?

I have been/am a business consultant. The difference is that I have 40 years of experience in varied environments. I started as a technician but educated myself in financials, business process design, technology implementation and change management, risk management, portfolio management, and other related disciplines.

I've see the schmucks from Accenture and the like... fresh meat out of grad school, with 6 weeks of training on how to make really good power point decks. Several of my projects rescued failed attempts by "business consultants". So, I appreciate your comments.

On the other hand, I'm exactly the guy an American SME needs when thinking about expanding into Asia... either for manufacturing or for sales of products. Or, to rescue a failed project. Or, to design and implement business process that actually incorporates business strategy... which I have been party to.

Cheers.