Many UK Electronics engineers are doing nothing at work

[Kjelt]

Having worked for no less than 12 companies this year

What kind of work do you do that you have a different company each month ?
Here the people that do the one person company engineering jobs have difficulty getting three companies a year which is officially required because the companies want to keep you for years on row, project after project.

[bd139]

I do lots of short term IT contract stuff. Two main companies, one product build, lots of small jobs.

Title is "professional turd shoveler" really.

Not an EE (unfortunately) any more. Anyone hiring? 

[coppercone2]

Honestly when you dont have engineering work assigned you should be doing your own r&d and use the time to learn and try to brainstorm ideas for your company. Even if its just sketches and more far out concepts. And revising existing designs. You need to groom that shit like your a cat.

Otherwise its 'fuck you i am mounting a insurrection'.  . Beware though its mad easy for a boss to be an asshole and assign weird work details etc if you are chronically bored and off company directives. I guess it must go down easier at the managment meeting that you are keeping lazy ass peons in line. Unless the entire department is mutinous lol


But come on, pay to learn is great. Try to learn instead of youtube at work.

[In Vacuo Veritas]

Hi,
Many of my Electronics Engineer friends  in UK  are doing nothing whilst at  work they tell me.

Do other people see them too?

[SiliconWizard]

Honestly when you dont have engineering work assigned you should be doing your own r&d and use the time to learn and try to brainstorm ideas for your company. Even if its just sketches and more far out concepts. And revising existing designs. You need to groom that shit like your a cat.

I second that. Feeling useless at work sucks, but then again you can also feel useless while actually doing "engineering" tasks in some companies.
So if you have some time to spare, use it to learn new stuff and work on this idea you've been having for years but have not had time to work on.

[Simon]

Team work works but I think multiple people working in the same field can be pointless. Team work also relies on the generosity of all for the common cause and for people to accept that their particular version of the solution wight not be the one used and that is fine. After a few years my boss has learnt at long last to leave me and our electronics subcontractor (a member of this forum) alone to decide how something will be designed safe in the knowledge that we will not make it over expensive and if he leaves us alone the best result will come out. As a team of 2 we work great, often have similar ideas or the very same but often see things from different angles and after a long chat we come to what we fees is the best combined solution and i am fairly certain that if one of us alone setout the design it would not be as good because sometimes talking about an idea can help you see the pitfalls in your own version of it.

Likewise I am working on a project with a mechanical colleague and that is working out well because i leave him to do the mechanics allowing me to do the electronics and we get a good product from the result of our efforts consulting each other an any aspect that crosses over into the others field of work. I could do the mechanical design myself as that was my primary role when I came to the office until the electronics got in but I think he is better placed than me and it means that we get the job done quicker and again fleshing ideas out with each other helps explore all possible solutions and pick the right one.

[Simon]

I second that. Feeling useless at work sucks, but then again you can also feel useless while actually doing "engineering" tasks in some companies.
So if you have some time to spare, use it to learn new stuff and work on this idea you've been having for years but have not had time to work on.

i third it. I am currently being asked to do something that requires what i feel is an electronics solution to a mechanical problem. But it has to be done. I spent the week before i was asked to start on iteration 3 of this job playing with the new AVR chips because i knew what was coming. I have also got them to buy me most of the Wuth books that I will work through and I also have my HNC course i can do if all else fails.

[Simon]

Getting bored in an engineering environment is hard to achieve, unless you never loved doing what you're doing.

You mean you took engineering because it was the best paid job.

[Simon]

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Thanks again,
RS Components Ltd
 

 
My question on a current sensor replacement recommendation by RS:
which idiot thinks that I may want to use a 72A sensor instead of a 150 one? why do you think they are made in ranges.
And I have not been given an answer.... I wonder which team dreamt this system up.

[coppice]

I second that. Feeling useless at work sucks, but then again you can also feel useless while actually doing "engineering" tasks in some companies.

So, what is worse? Having no project work to do, or working on a project that requires a lot of sustained hours, produces something really cool, but its something you know from day one will go nowhere - probably straight in the bin when the prototype is complete? Far too many engineers are wasted on the latter.

[SiliconWizard]

I second that. Feeling useless at work sucks, but then again you can also feel useless while actually doing "engineering" tasks in some companies.

So, what is worse? Having no project work to do, or working on a project that requires a lot of sustained hours, produces something really cool, but its something you know from day one will go nowhere - probably straight in the bin when the prototype is complete? Far too many engineers are wasted on the latter.

Both are bad, but at least with the first option you get spare time to do interesting stuff on the side. The second really sucks, but it may still feel better for some people who are unconfortable with the idea of feeling "left out". A lot more people than you may think would prefer sinking together than floating alone, so YMMV.

[ebastler]

My question on a current sensor replacement recommendation by RS:
which idiot thinks that I may want to use a 72A sensor instead of a 150 one? why do you think they are made in ranges.
And I have not been given an answer....

Did you actually expect to be told the name of the idiot? 

[tggzzz]

I second that. Feeling useless at work sucks, but then again you can also feel useless while actually doing "engineering" tasks in some companies.

So, what is worse? Having no project work to do, or working on a project that requires a lot of sustained hours, produces something really cool, but its something you know from day one will go nowhere - probably straight in the bin when the prototype is complete? Far too many engineers are wasted on the latter.

I, and many others, have actively chosen to do just that. We were well rewarded, both financially and technically.

In my case it was in HP Labs, but there were (   ) other such places.

The tradeoffs were obvious before I accepted that job. All jobs have tradeoffs; I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

[bd139]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

[coppice]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

True, but its something that's very time dependent. When the job market is good, its relatively easy to take control of your destiny. When the job market is bad its tough to do much more than use the time you have to prepare yourself for better times to come.

[nfmax]

Many of my Electronics Engineer friends  in UK  are doing nothing whilst at  work they tell me.

It's not the ones doing nothing you should worry about, but the ones making negative progress...

 

[tggzzz]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

True, but its something that's very time dependent. When the job market is good, its relatively easy to take control of your destiny. When the job market is bad its tough to do much more than use the time you have to prepare yourself for better times to come.

You have to be preparing yourself (as best you can) for the future at all times.

Part of that is estimating which few technologies will become important, and not bothering to learn more me-too technologies (e.g. C#, Delphi), nor those with a short half-life (e.g. any web framework, any generic microprocessor family).

Such estimation needs understanding of fundamental (i.e. theoretical) weaknesses of the existing technologies, and understanding how a new technology ameliorates them (most don't, of course, and should be ignored).

[tggzzz]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

In far too many threads

Too many people think their experiences and wishes apply to everybody else.

[Cerebus]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

[Simon]

My question on a current sensor replacement recommendation by RS:
which idiot thinks that I may want to use a 72A sensor instead of a 150 one? why do you think they are made in ranges.
And I have not been given an answer....

Did you actually expect to be told the name of the idiot? 

No, I hoped that they would tell the twat in a suit that write website code that saying: "don't worry about the 150A sensor not being in stock, we have a 72A one that will just fine" that this just sends me other places. As it happened they did not have what I needed and i had to go elsewhere. but I'm sure they have highly qualified managers.... in management!

[nfmax]

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

...which is why, of course, the world is such an unreasonable place

[ebastler]

No, I hoped that they would tell the twat in a suit that write website code that saying: "don't worry about the 150A sensor not being in stock, we have a 72A one that will just fine" that this just sends me other places.

More likely the website code was written by a very hip dude with a well-trimmed beard, who just happened to have no clue of electronics...

At least they did not ban you. 

[Simon]

ban me from what?

[ebastler]

ban me from what?

From the RS website?
Just kidding, Simon, no offense.

[tggzzz]

I worked hard to be able to make the tradeoffs that suited me.

That's the most important sentence in this entire thread 

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Corollary: I am unreasonable, therefore I will make/cause progress.

Not!