Free electron said:
"... Newly minted doctors go on training under experienced surgeons .."
One of the reasons why I would refuse to work in an environment where a non engineer was a manager.
I do not want to be a doctor managed by a matron.
Self styled techos are just that ... matrons.
This is not being disparaging , simply realistic. Years of experience in a specialised area do not make a techo an engineer.
To wit.. it takes four years of bloody hard work to acquire the qualification .. it takes 5 minutes to recognise the sharp end of a screw driver.
IF the company requires an engineer .. they will get an engineer.
If the company requires someone to repair boards they will get a technician.
Properly trained Technicians have a solid grounding in Electronics Theory---not at the same level as a BE,but,not to be sneezed at,either.
In many cases this is obtained during a formal Training Scheme or an Apprenticeship of around 4-5 years,which includes both Theory & hands-on work.----considerably harder work than "recognising the sharp end of a screwdriver".
In the past,many organisations followed a similar regime with their Engineers,where the "Trainee Engineer"was employed in the field under the mentoring eye of a Senior Engineer.
The great thing about this is the EE student was paid a living wage,& didn't have to "starve in a garret".
He/She,also got a feel for real world problems & solutions.
We now live in a more mean-spirited world,& are the worse for it,as both Techs & EEs are left to their own resources.
Re: Employing a Tech to "repair boards"---this is more the job of a Process Worker.
Techs more usually,find & repair faults in complete assemblies,using their knowledge of Theory & their practical experience----Engineers, in my experience are not so good at fault finding,purely because they don't do as much of it.