One for engineers

rockmonkeysc

Normally things are rubbish, but this one is fairly accurate!
Not too sure about engineering being a respected and well paid profession though.

http://m.tickld.com/x/next-time-someone ... -them-this

drlodge

Nice...I have an engineering degree but am now an operational risk manager. It says engineers hate risk but I'm always weighing up the pros and cons and concluding whether the risk is acceptable!

pesky_jones

Engineering is an undervalued and underpaid profession.

It's name has been watered down by washing machine engineersand the like

supersonic

Refuse engineering technician.

Lewis A

I read something recently that said that 5 of the top 10 paid graduate careers are in engineering. That may just mean that everything else is p*ss poor too though...

supersonic

Most graduates studied at Unis that used to be farm or in towns you have never heard of. The University (College) of Twistlethorpeton.

nicklouse

Most people in the UK think an engineer is a mechanic.

Insurance companies were (and still might be) on of the worst.

rockmonkeysc

It annoys me that the sales engineers I work with have the title but no engineering knowledge or formal training at all. All they have to do is talk b*ll*cks and get an order for something which is then designed and built by real engineers.
I believe the title should have some sort of protection and to have the title engineer you should have either a HND, degree or a proper four year apprenticeship. Some people think it should be reserved only for those with an engineering degree but some of the best engineers I have worked with served time as apprentices rather than doing a degree, also some of the graduates I have worked with have been fairly useless.

The Rookie

Many job titles are protected, such as doctor, dentist, vet', even veterinary nurse recently, engineer is not one of them, though it is in many other countries (Germany for example).

A few years back the institute of mechanical engineers did a survey and the best known engineer amongst the great unwashed was 'Kevin Webster' the mechanic on corrie......

I am embarrassingly well paid for an engineer, company don't want to lose me for some reason so decided to price me out the market for anyone wanting to take me off them. I did mechanical engineering when everyone was doing electrical as that was where the money was, supply and demand had it's inevitable effect and most the sparkies I graduated with are on less then me.

thekickingmule

Can someone define what they consider an 'Engineer' then? I'm curious how you describe it for it to then be protected.

Angus Young

Someone who does engineering or a variation there of.

rockmonkeysc

For the title to be protected all engineers would have to have engineering qualifications of a suitable level and possibly chartered.

cooldad

nicklouse wrote:

Most people in the UK think an engineer is a mechanic.

Insurance companies were (and still might be) on of the worst.

I think historically they were - specifically train drivers.

Angus Young

cooldad wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

Most people in the UK think an engineer is a mechanic.

Insurance companies were (and still might be) on of the worst.

I think historically they were - specifically train drivers.

Origin Middle English denoting a designer and constructor of fortifications and weapons.

rockmonkeysc

I have never designed fortifications or weapons.

Angus Young

Give it a try, sounds like fun.

thekickingmule

RockmonkeySC wrote:

For the title to be protected all engineers would have to have engineering qualifications of a suitable level and possibly chartered.

That doesn't define an engineer though. That's just a classification of a qualification. I have a BA(Hons), but I'm not an artist, as it happens, I'm a sound engineer (hence why I'm asking what defines an engineer)

Angus Young

A BA(Hons) never made anyone into an artist.

rockmonkeysc

A BA isn't necessarily in an art based subject though. My friend has a BA in financial services, in no way would she consider herself an artist.
A BA in modern art would qualify you as an artist, jusr like a Bsc in Mechanical Engineering, civil engineering, electronic engineering or similar qualifies you as an engineer. I also think a 4 year apprenticeship should also qualify someone as an engineer (2 year apprenticeships are too short).

Angus Young

You can't 'qualify' as an artist. You either are or you're not.

thekickingmule

Nobody has still defined what an Engineer is. You can't 'protect' something unless you can at first define it. A Doctor, a Vet and a Dentist have very distinct jobs. How do you want to put an Engineer in that, if you don't know what an Engineer does?

Technically, I am a Bachelor of Arts, meaning that I'm an artiste of my specialist knowledge. That's in Music Production, however I see myself as a Sound Engineer, I engineer the sound I want, I don't create it. As for you can't 'qualify as an artist', that is definitely true and not true. I know many people without qualifications that are amazing artists, and I know many very, VERY famous people with the highest qualifications that are rubbish (in my opinion of course, but this is the CC, and my opinion matters most!)

rockmonkeysc

See the link in my first post for a detailed definition of an engineer.

welshkev

my job title is service engineer. I don't have a degree, but I do repair and maintain stuff as well as installing new equipment which necessitates the assessment of the suitability of structures, materials etc. I do have a few qualifications relating to my profession though.

does this make me an engineer? I have no idea

drlodge

welshkev wrote:

my job title is service engineer. I don't have a degree, but I do repair and maintain stuff as well as installing new equipment which necessitates the assessment of the suitability of structures, materials etc. I do have a few qualifications relating to my profession though.

does this make me an engineer? I have no idea

Sounds more like service technician to me, rather than an engineer. Mind you, I have no real idea what a proper Engineering job would like like despite the fact I have a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering :roll:

rockmonkeysc

I would agree, service technician. Although I think a proper 4 year apprenticeship backed up with college qualification should be considered to be on a similar level to a degree.

rickbst170

The engineering council have definitions.

http://www.engc.org.uk/benefits.aspx

Basically an hnd or degree in engineering makes you eligible for the title Incorporated Engineer. An hnc or less gives you, at best, engineering technician status.

I did a 4 year apprenticeship, then 2 year HNC and 4 level 3 nvqs in engineering, but I'm still not eligible for engineer status. Which my dad and brother take great pleasure in reminding me of as they both did mechanical engineering degress, my dad did masters. I need another 7 HND modules (I did 11 for HNC, typically it's 10 for HNC but lecturer hedge his bets someone would fail at least 1 so we all did 11 just in case), and an HND is 18 modules.

Antm81

Angus Young wrote:

Origin Middle English denoting a designer and constructor of fortifications and weapons.

I've built fortifications along with designing a few too, however I can only call myself an engineering technician so far, although one of my other titles sounds a little better.

supersonic

I fix bikes.

bg13

i fix war planes but i'm only a technician!

rockmonkeysc

You can become a member of the institute of me hanical engineers with lower qualifications by taking a series of rather tough exams.

Daz555

"Engineer" - the terms means nothing without a prefix or suffix eg: "Civil Engineer" "Engineering Geologist".

"Engineer" says nowt about nothing.

Technically I have two "rights" to call myself an engineer from two industries.

1. HND in Civil Engineering: "Incorporated Engineer"
2. MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

My company however calls me a "Lead Technician". I have no idea what that means for me. I'm not a technician at all - I work in IT strategy & planning for a large bank. :?