I also had another story for when I manufactured shielded rooms and buildings. I would say that every company needed an RF shielded room for their IT operations so that some cab driver in the parking lot didn't key his microphone and crash the payroll computer. Maybe not quite as cute, but everybody wants to keep THAT computer online!
Ed Price WB6WSN Chula Vista, CA USA From: Pawson, James [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 12:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] Job titles When explaining to my (non-technical) friends what I do (EMC Engineer), I usually say something along the lines of: "You know when you put your mobile next to your speakers and it goes da-da-da-da-daaaaaaa-da-da? My job is to stop that happening to the things we make. We can't interfere with mobile phones and they can't interfere with our stuff." Simples. (Nearly) everyone has a mobile these days so bringing the effect of what you do into a frame of reference that they understand is the first step. Ed's plane analogy is good - you are the person that stops them plummeting out of the sky and dying! You are a HERO! Best of luck with the job hunting James From: Ed Price [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 01 October 2013 03:34 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] Job titles Doug: You can be modest for all eternity, but if you want to be effective in marketing yourself, you have to grab their attention and reach their mind in just a few seconds; you have to put on a show. Obviously, this speech would be tailored to suite your audience, but you could start with a smile, calmly but confidently saying that: I'm an engineer who, while understanding the technical aspects of your product, can also smooth your way into new markets, minimize your development costs, protect you and your company from legal attack and give your customers a reason for them to buy your next product. And then, as they recover from the shock of meeting either a blowhard or the guy they should really hire, you move in just a bit, smile and shrug a tiny bit, and ask which of those areas he finds interesting and would like to talk about in some detail. You put the lead in his hands, and let him tell you what to say next. I think that's a great approach. BTW, did I mention that I'm not employed now? Seriously, engineers usually are not adept salesmen, so whenever you get a chance, watch how good salesmen make a pitch and close a deal. Volunteer to do a field trip with your company's best salesman and observe how he does things; ask him about strategy and tactics. You might not think you are a salesman, but you are always selling yourself, always. When I would be asked what I did, I would generally say that I was an EMC engineer, and I worked to make sure that electronic gadgets worked happily with other electronic gadgets. I would go on to say that, for instance, as a pilot gets ready to take off, he might dial in 15 degrees of wing flaps, and little electric motors in the airplane would move the wing flaps. And I was the one who made sure those motors didn't confuse the other circuits in the plane and accidently erase the navigation computer or command the wheels to fold up. That was about the limit of average citizen's attention span, so you need to learn when to stop and change the subject, like asking them how they polish bowling balls or something. Ed Price WB6WSN Chula Vista, CA USA From: Doug Powell [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 30, 2013 6:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [PSES] Job titles All, Of all the people on this forum I'm certain we all share to some extent the same quandary. I am currently searching for work either as full time or as contract. Part of the coaching I received is to develop a 30 second elevator speech to describe myself to almost anyone. One of the difficulties I face is confusion about the general term Compliance Engineer. Often I see people confuse this with a compliance officer in banking or a medical professional of some kind. A third possibility is some sort of a field auditor. My question is, how do any of you express what you do to the uninitiated, whether in a job title or even to family and friends? Thanks, - doug Douglas Powell http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougp01 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) <http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html> List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) <http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html> List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) <http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html> List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
