A Dirty Little Secret, and a Confession

You know, I have been working as an engineer since 1989, that’s 20 years. I've designed control systems for ships, lighting control panels for large office buildings, and even dabbled in the trucking industry. Most positions I hold have "Senior" as a prefix, as in Senior Systems Engineer, or Senior Hardware Engineer, etc, etc. My employers and clients have been universally satisfied with my work. I have references that say things like "the best" and "one of the best", etc. But I have a dirty little secret. I don't have a degree.

Has it hurt? A little bit. It's the rare company who needs me that won't overlook the lack of wallpaper, but it has happened. My first job was at minimum wage, $1.85/hour back then. Still, I'm dangerously close to lifetime earnings of $1,500,000. Yes, there is probably $300,000 - $500,000 I've left on the table because of the lack of a degree, but for the most part, I'd rather not work for a company who puts credentials ahead of credibility.

I mean after all, will you really feel better knowing that the idiot who designed the defective widget that destroyed your life had a 3.7 GPA from an Ivy league college? I am use to designing, installing and using what I design. I'll never forget the day I had finished installing a systems on a vessel, the port engineer asked me if I was sure everything worked. I said "Of Course." His response was "I hope you're right, because otherwise your the lead story on the national nightly news tonight." Yes, I've worked on systems that critical.

The job market is such right now that employers have their pick of the litter, so HR needs a few filters to help qualify candidates. So do they pick experience, capabilities, flexibility, etc? No, they are looking for wallpaper. A typical ad: "BSEE +5 -7 years experience, or MSEE +3 years’ experience, or PhD." Think about that, they are trading 2 -4 years of experience for 2 years of college, or all the experience for nothing but college. Do you want the brakes in your car designed by someone who has never designed a real world product before? Yes, I know there is some real world experience as you go up the wallpaper chain, but face it, it’s a course. If you screw up, it cost you 3 credits. In the real world, it cost lives, careers, or companies.

I can always order a degree from any one of the dozens of “colleges” who give degrees for life experience, or outright lie, but I respect the value of a formal secondary education, and will not disparage it. I just feel that after a number of years, or a number of projects, it just shouldn’t matter. I was trained in vacuum tubes and other electronics that weighed tons. Last year, I designed a wide input range (85VAC – 265VAC) 6W off-line switching power supply that fit in 1.4 cubic inches, two control boards for an elevator system, a navigation display, several communication gateways for Class 8 trucks, and some products for the utility and medical industry. None of those products had a vacuum tube in it.

I want one of two things. Either loosen up the degree requirements for a job after 10 or 15 years of experience, or provide a way to earn a degree that doesn’t require me to sit through, and pay for, course after course of psychology, sociology, etc. And before you tell me I need them, I know who Stanley Milgram is, do you? I’ve read De Tocqueville, have you? Do you know what the Magna Carta is? I’m sure I missed out on something, depending upon where you got your wallpaper from, but I’ll put myself against any graduate with majors in engineering for “balance” or being “well rounded.” I mean, when did you start following the Uyghur crisis in China? Bet I beat you by a month. How about East Timor, or the Tamil Tigers?

Back to the point. We need to worry more about those who can, and those who they know how to do. In a recession more than any other time, it’s more important to make product than to design product. Only stock traders buy designs, customers buy products. If you don’t know the difference, thank you for proving my point.

And go ahead; find a typo….is it true the dumber you are the more you nitpick? And the bigger your wallpaper?