Starting Engineer Guidance?

Having the benefit of electronics training and mechanical engineering training, I think I know what your supervisor is telling you. Book learning is great. Until you actually start working with the "real deal," you don't know nearly as much as you think you do. When I worked for my brother's business, I was rather surprised at how little a mechanical engineer he had hired (4-year degree) knows. When it came to hobby electronics, I got good advice from both technicians and those with the 4-year degrees. The college experience is over. Real learning now begins. One of my brother's first jobs (graduate with AA in electronics) was assisting engineers. The engineers would design something. The techs (like my brother) would build and test and fix the design flaws. My brother was a good engineer in his own right. He built a solid state motor controller for my electric VW Beetle. It worked great and, as motor controllers at that time were about 1000 dollars, saved me a huge chunk of change. My brother went on to become Chief Engineer of various TV stations.

ECHO

ECHO here too

One can not over-emphasize the value of interfacing with the technicians that have the hands-on experience for furthering your career. What you can learn from someone who has been working hands-on in the field can not be found in books or universities. This is true the world over, and for whatever discipline with which you are involved...

You should join a big establishment for good training and exposure after graduation. Later you can switch jobs.

This is exactly parallel to my experience in the Air Force. Sure I was a commissioned officer from College Militaire Royale, but I was not aware of the myriad details of the real work. The non commissioned officers, sergeants, corporals et al knew it all better than I.

So become friendly with the techs, they can teach you lots that is not in the book.

They may not become your bosom buddies but if you are unable to work with them you may never develop as an engineer because you will miss too much

Four year degree course gives theoretical knowledge and gives license to practice engineering profession. Real life starts when one starts work. At the beginning of carrier hands on experience with technicians and other co-workers will assist remarkably to lead a successful engineering profession.

what the books do not teach you will be thought by the shop personnel due to their varied and vast practical experience in the field. They may not have a degree like yours, but their experience on the shop-floor has given them much more maturity and will help fresher like you (from design point also) in future if not today. We all gained a lot in similar way.

sridhar

Please do try as much as possible to be friendly for learning with the Techs; you have a lot to gain from that. And I will say, you have nothing to loose for doing that. The best time to do that is at the beginning of a career (when fresh from school). It's more difficult at the later phase of career and can be embarrassing for an 'adult/old' Engr not to know some practical aspects of her/his job (which he would have learned from the Techs). cheers!

Pick as many brains as you can. You get the theory in college, but there's always more to learn on the practical side.

ALL experience is good! Working with people well, is a skill to be learned by doing, not from books. OJT is always worth the effort. Learn as much as you can from as many as you can.

Now that you have completed your schooling the real education shall begin.. Your supervisor is intelligent and if you follow his suggestion you will benefit to a high degree. Not to mention some valuable contacts and networking as many technicians get about more than others. Luck comes with effort and this will bring benefits not imagined.

Nicely put mate.

Here's the thing...your degree has merely opened a door for you, not made you a competent engineer. You are now actually an Engineer-in-Training. It is a well-known fact in almost any workplace that a graduate without the requisite practical experience is no huge asset. Make the most of your time with the Techs while you can.....

You will become a better engineer, a bigger earner and a better person in the long run....

To put some of the above advice in perspective: At this point in your carreer the worst thing the Techs can do is exactly what you tell them to do. Work with them and they will give you the necessary feedback to help keep you from creating your own troubles.

Engineering is putting into practice what you think, where else can you see how it is put into practice.

I have learnt the same way too. You have been advised correctly and I think you should take it. I have learnt from foremen, shop floor supervisors, mechanics, boiler operators, fitters, turners and look at it the other way too. Learning is a continuous experience. It adds to your knowledge and makes you more efficient in terms of real world problem solving. That is exactly why we have practicals in college along with theory.

The day you stop learing, that is the start of your downfall. I push all the newbies joining my firm to get hands on experience first then get into the market.

Take the advice in all seriousness and oh yes, when you become some one, share the knowledge you have gained with the newbies. They will remember you well.

A new 2nd Lieutenant walked into the colonels office. The colonel said "Welcome aboard! I think we will give you 2nd platoon in B company". The lieutenant replied "Uh... I have never done this before. Who do I go to when I have questions? The company commander"? "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!" exclaimed the colonel. "You go to your platoon sergeant. That man has 20 years experience in the army, and he will never lead you wrong!"

I have a small company which I call "Bills Teenee Weenee Antenna Companee" not really but I do everything from market research to sales to product design to purchasing to manufacturing to taking out the garbage. I got an associate degree in 1969, and my first engineering position in 1976 (without a degree). I am currently 65 and having a great time. There is no way I could do all this without having interfaced with the people around me and learning their skills too.

Just because you have a degree does not mean you are done learning. You will be learning for your entire career. Electronics is a very dynamic business and is constantly changing.

Bill