What is your job title and what do you actually do? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Tris20
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2014, 10:17:56 pm
content: The more I look for jobs the more confused I'm getting. Searching for "electronic engineer" gives me a decent return, but there's so many other jobs which are require a reasonably similar skill-set but have such a wide range of names. Just going to Texas Instrument's website you get: Applications Engineer, Quality Engineer, Product Engineer, Technical sales engineer (wtf?), Manufacturing engineer, System Engineer, Design engineer. Is there any need for all these different titles? As someone who's coming up for graduation this is extremely confusing and wastes a hell of a lot of time.So that brings me to my question: What is your job title and what do you actually do?

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2014, 10:22:20 pm
content: Retired, nothing if possible.

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2014, 11:31:24 pm
content: I think you might want to consider why all those titles exist. Sometimes they exist because people just arbitrarily came up with titles but generally they are an attempt to convey somewhat similar but different responsibilities. Understanding the distinctions could be very helpful to you in planning and developing your career.Think of business as a continuum from production to distribution plotted on a scale of 1-100. Over toward 1 is pure Research and Development (nearly science for the sake of discovery with relatively little immediate commercial use in mind). Further along is Engineering (where things are designed such as hardware, firmware, software, etc.) with the notion that something specific will eventually be sold to someone for some business reason. Further along might be Manufacturing (where the things we designed actually get built in some volume). Further along might be Quality (Control or Assurance) - where we make sure things that are manufactured work with some level of quality and reliability. All of this might be considered "production". Without production there will be nothing for the company to sell. (And without revenue from sales there will be no funds to pay anyone to do any work).Over on the other side (past 50 on our scale moving toward 100) is "distribution"; this includes among other things Marketing and Sales. On the production side of the continuum people are very focused on science, engineering, technology (electricity, bits, bytes, etc.). Over on the distribution side people get very focused on business ($).In the middle (around 50 on our scale) are people who are responsible for finding the intersection between production and distribution. These people tend to have titles like Product Engineer, Product Manager, Product Line Manager, Product Marketing, etc. These roles are very important in helping find the intersection between theory and reality (what could be vs what is for both technology and business, ie for both production and distribution).So with all that in mind, here are a few guesses at what those titles might mean (not quite in the order you listed, but along the continuum from production to distribution):Design Engineer - farther to the right than Research and Development (R&D is close to 1 on our scale) the Design Engineer "designs" (figures out how to build something that meets some specification - might be hardware, firmware; could be for a chip, or a board, or a system, or something else).Manufacturing Engineer - probably works with Design Engineers to make sure that after the basic design is figured out (so that it can function according to the basic specs) it can actually be built/manufactured at the targeted cost in the required volumes.Quality Engineer - probably works with the Manufacturing Engineer and maybe the Design Engineer to make sure that not only does the product functionally meet the spec and do so at the targeted cost but it will also work reliably. If a product provides the required function and can be built for the target cost but it fails within the warranty period it will cost the company more than the targeted cost. So we need to design for quality and reliability and serviceability as well as functionality and cost.Product Engineer – Products are units of value. A product could be a chip, a board, a chassis full of boards, or a piece of software. The definition of a product varies with each industry and often each company in an industry. (A car can be a product as could a refrigerator or DSP or RAM chip.) The Product Engineer might have a team of Design Engineers (and other people) working on designing the product. Generally, the term “Product” means there is a customer somewhere who thinks in terms of the same unit as being a viable solution to a problem. So the term Product Engineer generally means that the person with this title is thinking about designing something with a particular type of customer in mind. This moves this role somewhat further along the continuum from production toward distribution, whereas the Design Engineer might be given a design target with relatively little or no regard for who the customer might be; the DE might just be designing to meet specs; the PE generally knows a fair amount about what type of business or consumer will use the Product. Having said all this, in some companies the title Design Engineer could be used interchangeably with Product Engineer.System Engineer - Systems are supersets of subsets (smaller things); chips go on boards, boards go in a chassis, a chassis might go in a rack, a rack of hardware might need software, etc. Systems Engineers make sure lots of things fit together (like hardware and software) and play well as a "system." A System Engineer might or might not go down to the same level of detail as a Product Engineer or a Design Engineer. A System Engineer is generally looking at how a collection of products fit together in a somewhat broader perspectiveApplications Engineer - we are probably now crossing the midline (about 50 on the continuum) from production into distribution. The AE might work with sales people (who identify and qualify possible new customers) to help encourage the customer to buy the products. We are now less focused on “producing” the product and more focused on “distributing” the product. (Remember: no sales, no revenue, no money to pay for anyone's job). So the AE works with the sales people after the sales people find potential new customers to help the sales person and the customer determine if the product will do what the particular customer expects. The AE determines if the "application" of the product to the intended use is a good fit. The AE might configure the product (if it is configurable with software, etc.) but the AE probably doesn't design the product. The AE has to make the product work within some design parameters for the particular customer need. The AE might give feedback to the Design Engineers and the System Engineers (or the Product Engineers or Product Marketing) about market requirements, but mostly the AE is likely to help the sales people sell the products for an appropriate use. Sometimes the AE might have a different role, it depends on the particular company, industry, etc.Next as we move further from production into distribution we get to Sales. Sales people are supposed to find and "sell" products to customers. In some engineering oriented companies Sales people are called Sales Engineers so that customers don't think they are being sold by pure sales people who know little about the technical details of the product. This is especially true when the product is sold to customer decision-makers who are themselves engineers by training. Engineers often want to buy from other engineers who can explain in detail how the product works. To avoid putting the term "Sales" on a sales person, some companies try to soften the negative connotations by calling their sales people Sales Engineers. At the end of the day, these people (the SEs) are responsible for persuading customers to purchase products (like any sales person) but in some companies the SEs might actually be degreed engineers. In this case the engineers are not designing the chip or board or chassis or rack or system, they are helping a customer "design" or at least select a business solution. The key here is that we have now moved to focusing as much or more on the customer’s business requirements as their technical requirements.My suggestion is that you continue pursuing your questions – ie, survey what various people and companies are doing in industry, learn about the various job functions, and give some thought to where in the continuum you want to work - both initially, and long term. You might not be able to get your long term job right out of school, but if you think about where you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years you can make better choices about what jobs will put you on the path to your preferred career.(It is a little surprising/disappointing that our University training gives our soon to be graduates so little visibility into what is coming after all the academics. Seems like a business course on how industries and companies organize to earn profits might be a worthwhile thing to add to a curriculum, just sayin’.)I think if you think in terms of the continuum of production to distribution you will see how the various jobs fit together; after that it's just a matter of realizing that some companies use different terms so you might have to ask questions to learn what each company (or each person) means when they use a particular job title.An important consideration is how much time do you want to spend working with machines vs. people. Almost everyone one of these jobs will require some of each but some jobs will keep you interacting primarily with technology and some will keep you more heavily interacting with people. Likewise some will keep you primarily thinking about technology issues and some will keep you thinking primarily about business issues. In the middle are hybrid positions which can be great opportunities to surface latent value for customers and your company, and possibly for yourself as well if you do a good job for the customers and your company.Back to your original questions about the titles, think of it like this. If you didn't know with some clarity the difference between a wide receiver and a defensive lineman (and all the rest of the names of the positions in American football, as just an example, it would be hard to develop a strategy either for your team or your career as a football player). You can't tell the players without a roster and you need to know the position titles and meanings in order to figure out a winning game plan. Keeping asking your questions and get the answers so you can develop your game plan.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2014, 11:59:09 pm
content: Unfortunately many position titles these days are absolute rubbish, I have always been of the opinion that I'd prefer a wage increase rather than the new title.Anyway here's one I heard recently -- transparent wall maintenance engineer <--- window cleaner

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 12:11:25 am
content: The best I've heard is a Waste Disposal Vehicle Technician.(A "garbage man".)I would just call myself an Electronics Design Engineer (when I graduate of course...)I could specialise it for example Power Electronics Design Engineer, RF Design Engineer, Analog Design Engineer, or just mention particular subject areas in a CV.

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 12:43:32 am
content: Electro Fan has a great explanation there, but there's one aspect that's missing, which is that if a company is to be successful in the long run there needs to be give and take between the two ends of the spectrum. It's not just a one-way flow from the developers who come up with an idea through to the sales department that figures out how to sell it--sales also needs to be able to identify what customers want and feed this information back through manufacturing, design, and even R & D to ensure that the company continues to produce something they can sell.This is where a true technical sales engineer (ie, not just a euphemistically named salesman) can be invaluable, and the position itself quite interesting. In true technical sales you're working with customers to handle technical inquiries and identify solutions to customer problems (hopefully using your company's products wherever possible!), and a good TSE will have enough insight into both the sales and the technical sides to be able to spot potential market opportunities, or shortcomings in the product line that a pure sales or engineering type might miss. It's also a position that bridges the traditional sales/technical divide that's so often a source of tension in technical companies, and if properly supported can greatly contribute to the healthy function of a company.

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 01:04:35 am
content: ajb, you are 100% correct - a successful company definitely needs to be able to have the give and take between the two ends of the spectrum and throughout the spectrum. My reply was focused primarily on "what's the difference between the titles" but if there was a conclusion to be further drawn it's just as you say - it's not a one-way flow of information or a one-sided discussion. The people that are formally/directly tasked to operate in the middle have a golden opportunity to add value but in a good company the technologists understand the business perspective and the business people understand the technology to a significant level. This is especially true in early stage companies and in early markets (during the early adoption of new technology) but it's always healthy for a business to have a strong two-way flow of information along the continuum. It helps ensure the company is meaningfully connected to it's customers and the marketplace.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 03:55:48 am
content: My job title is Senior Electronics Engineer. Design hardware and develop embedded software and also am manager of a small team. So the title and the work are fairly well aligned.A friend who is also an electronics engineer (but a single man) NEVER says he is an engineer to a chick at a party. He says it is like painting "LOSER" on your forehead. He tells her instead he is a designer, and they are instantly interested. He tested the theory several times. I have heard similar comments from others.Attraction: I am a designer (or a lawyer).Repellant: I am an engineer.Repulsion: I just got out of jail but will start looking for work when I get around to it.Attraction: I resolved a major issue in a design today.Repellant: I found a high frequency problem in a circuit today and cured it.Repulsion: I found a high frequency problem in an circuit today, and I fixed it using a 47K resistor and a 2.2 nanofarad capacitor as a low-pass filter.Attraction: I like Gone With The Wind.Repellant: I like Star Trek.Repulsion: I like Lost in Space.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 04:11:47 am
content: Quote from: ajb on April 06, 2014, 12:43:32 amAnother name for this role can be technical sales consultant. It's a good fit for people of a more extrovert nature who like getting out and meeting people and who like the challenge of figuring out how to solve the varied problems that customers come up with.

author: Rigby
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 04:31:15 am
content: IT Research Analyst.I research new technologies and work out if they will be of use to my employer. I also hack together hardware and software to create new things that are of use to my employer.Pretty great job.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 07:25:25 am
content: For years my job title was "Hardware Engineer". I designed new pieces of hardware, oddly enough. Sometimes I'd fix or upgrade old ones too.Then I became "Senior Hardware Engineer", and my business cards required a little more ink to print them.A few years ago I then decided to start doing consultancy work as well, so I've variously been called "Consulting Engineer", "Design Consultant", "Contractor", "the electronics guy", and "Oi!".

author: nihilism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 09:37:25 am
content: Commissioning TechnicianI design systems to perform functions outlined by a specification in order to complete jobs that have already been quoted for (without being designed first), and try to keep the costs below the figure quoted.I then finish off the jobs which were started by other people who generally don't know what they're doing or just don't care. Which means i fix up all their fuckups, poor workmanship and do all the parts of the job that were "too hard".When the job is complete it's then time for me to produce as constructed drawings and user manuals and provide training to the end user. At which point I usually discover that the consultant who wrote the specification never actually asked the end user what they wanted.I love work.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 06, 2014, 09:48:06 am
content: Quote from: pickle9000 on April 05, 2014, 10:22:20 pm.

author: Tris20
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 11:42:28 am
content: Firstly a big thanks to Electro Fan for the in depth description of different sub categories of electronic engineer. I was aware of applications engineer but the others seemed a bit sketchy to me. Is it more common to be referred to as hardware engineer or something in the US and Canada by any chance? Unless I'm doing something stupid or just using the wrong website I find it pretty hard to find graduate jobs listed under electronic engineer in places like seattle/vancouver.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 12:41:40 pm
content: "Hardware engineer" is probably more common than "electronic engineer", because most companies making electronics are developing a mixture of hardware and software, and the title is there to distinguish between the two. They have hardware engineers, software engineers, mechanical engineers, and all kinds of supporting staff who are not engineers at all but may still have the word "engineer" in their job titles, for reasons I've ranted about on enough occasions already.Calling someone an "electronic engineer" would be, in that context, a bit vague. The fact that the company is designing electronics is a given, so the title would be superfluous.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 02:28:44 pm
content: Sometimes I think that my job title is universal soldier.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 03:12:03 pm
content: Quote from: Tris20 on April 13, 2014, 11:42:28 amThere are often different grades for engineer as well. Where I work (UK defence/comms) there are various grades.egEngineerIntermediate EngineerSenior EngineerPrincipal EngineerAssistant Chief EngineerChief EngineerIt doesn't matter if the main skillset is in software or hardware or RF or DSP etc, the job titles are all the same. i.e. we don't have job titles like 'senior RF engineer' even though someone could be a senior engineer who only does RF design work. This has always seemed a bit odd to me but that's the way it has always been.Away from the design labs there are other job titles that use engineer, eg in manufacturing or test and these tend to be a bit more descriptive about what the person does.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 05:17:54 pm
content: Quote from: Tris20 on April 13, 2014, 11:42:28 amHave you tried "electrical engineer" rather than "electronic engineer"? In the UK at least, electrical engineer is the broad category for someone working in the electrical branch of engineering (branches: electrical/mechanical/civil/chemical/etc.)

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 05:25:10 pm
content: "Electrical engineer" tends to imply power generation and distribution. If you're interested in motors, transformers and building infrastructure then it's a good search term to use. If you'd rather design PCBs, then you're likely to turn up search results that aren't a good fit.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 05:46:57 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on April 13, 2014, 05:25:10 pmMakes sense. There does seem to be a lot of activity in the UK in terms of building and infrastructure projects right now, so it could be a good area to look for jobs in.For the electronics area, "electronic systems engineer" or "system electronic engineer" both seem like valid search terms.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 06:48:36 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on April 06, 2014, 12:11:25 amwaste extractrion engineer : someone who unclogs plugged pipes...

author: Tris20
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 06:51:21 pm
content: Yeah I've actually found that the uk is really good for separating electronic jobs from electrical. It was the US and Canada that seemed to lack this. I think I'll end up in DSP or embeds so searching for that will be a bit easier. It's the more general electronics jobs that seem to suffer from being one of many titles and you seem to need to know what to look for in order to find them.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 06:54:29 pm
content: To add to my previous post, when we try and recruit new engineers we generally ask for the job grade and then the preferred discipline.egVacancy: Senior Engineer (RF)Vacancy: Principal Engineer (SW)Vacancy: Intermediate Engineer (HW)Other companies do it this way:Vacancy: Senior RF EngineerVacancy: Principal Software EngineerVacancy: Intermediate Hardware EngineerYou could try searching for these descriptions to find companies looking for engineers in these disciplines even if you are only starting out as a junior. This is because there may also be junior roles advertised alongside the above?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2014, 07:05:35 pm
content: my title is Senior staff engineer.Staff engineer is a protected 'honorary' title you get after passing the Hay panel with the appropriate amount of points.Every company can tweak the hay panel criteria but most use the default.Staff engineer means : you are supposed to have a broad enough knowledge base and enough experience to handle whatever is shoved to you. there may be unknown area's but those are few.I've done everything from hopping around in bunny-suits, scrubbing plasma reactors and maintaining ion-implanters and lithography machinery, to repairing and upgrading those machines , all the way over chip layout, silicon design , board level design , application level design , testing, burn-in and other aspects of the semiconductor world to understand how a chip is made. I can identify which problems are process related or design related (both silicon and application and board ) , probe inside chips using e-beams, FIB machinery and classical needle stations to successfully get a new device debugged , fully working , designed in and qualified for mas production both in our fab as well as in the customers end product. If customized hardware is required both outside or inside the chip i can write verilog or draw up analog circuitry and am proficient enough to write very low level system code. I may not be a specialist in any specific field but have a broad enough base so i can identify a root cause 'field' and then go drag in a real ic design or layout designer or process engineer or applications programmer for the field-specific know-how i lack without wasting their time. If a chip is misbehaving i am able to find the element at fault. I can go to a designer and tell him : the bandwidth drops over time after power on due to charge accumulation in the gain control loop because this diode here in the design is leaking. How to solve that chip layout wise or diode design wise is not my area of expertise. but i can find the component at fault in the chip. i know vaguely they will need a barrier ring with a bunch of via's to substrate. but the finer details elude me. not my interest anyway.Senior : do this for a minimum of 5 years with a minimum of 10 years prior to that classificationPease was a Senior Staff Scientist. The difference: he messed around designing the silicon , i mess around finding problems with it in an application and telling him what i needed changed in the silicon. the two are complements.Not that i am comparing myself to Pease. Far From. But there is an analogy : His field was 80% in the package , 20% around. mine is 80% around the package , 20% in the package.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2014, 01:58:30 am
content: Unemployed, and I do very little.I was a senior systems design engineer in broadcast, then formed my own company for about 8 years and had my shareholding stolen by business partner. Since then it's been hard getting back in - with short contracts, but nothing meaningful or substantial. Lesson learned

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2014, 02:15:37 am
content: Student: As little as possible to get the "A."

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2014, 02:38:51 am
content: I'm a "Design Engineer" on the business card but because of the size of the company I'm all the titles from the first post at various times (and sometimes many at once). It's one of the blessings and curses of a small company. You get to take a design from start to finish and everything in between but it also stretches you a little thin."Applications Engineer, Quality Engineer, Product Engineer, Technical sales engineer, Manufacturing engineer, System Engineer"Yup. I'd have to add "software/firmware engineer, test engineer, office IT, manager (surprises me too), and coffee machine technician" to fill it out. I'd have to say Technical sales engineer is on the top of the least favorite hats.Apply to everything right out of school. Just don't take it personally if you don't get hired for everything.Also, don't worry too much about taking something like a technician job right out of school at a really small company even if you want to do hardcore design eventually. You probably aren't qualified for the design job right away anyway, and in a small team you have a really good chance of learning quick and taking on whatever responsibility you are ready and willing to take. The biggest step is getting hired to do something, then show them how awesome you are. The smaller the company, the happier they will be to offload some of those job titles. That doesn't really seem to work in huge companies.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2014, 08:04:15 pm
content: I work at a wind tunnel and my my job title is research engineer but I consider it to be more of a technician position. Daily activities include soldering, wiring, mechanical assembly, testing and designing/making basic control/test equipment. I'm a bit overqualified, spend a lot of time soldering cables together and the most complex thing I've designed is a 20mA LM317L constant current source to control an actuator but I'm happy enough and it doesn't bother me.

author: FrankenPC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2014, 08:17:43 pm
content: Senior software development architect.I speak with board members, department leads, business process owners etc. and devise ways to present business intelligence related data using dashboard UI designs. Fun job. Today, I work mostly with ASP.NET MVC/Razor/Entity Framework/SQL for the back end and Siverlight/Jquery UI/Kendo UI for client side UI programming.

author: Methodical
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 07:55:53 am
content: My job title is "Chief Engineer" and it's not really accurate. I'm in broadcasting where the chief is responsible for all the equipment. I know how to use a spectrum analyzer (lots of RF in broadcasting), oscilloscope, etc, but I'm not an EE. I know enough to diagnose problems and fix it if it's easy, and call the experts when it's not. The only items I find myself fixing anymore are power supplies, but even then unless it's a transmitter or proprietary, I'll typically buy a new one and swap it out. Module-based maintenance. If it breaks, swap it out. I'm part of a "new generation" of broadcast engineers that are heavy into IT knowledge, and part of a smaller subgroup that knows IT/networking really well, and electronics decently well. The old school guys are RF and electronics only and seem to be retiring fast as they find themselves either in management, or obsolete.

author: jancumps
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 08:23:49 am
content: Development integration manager. I look after software development for erp projects ( SAP and Oracle) and take care that my team is connected to the real world, for an American company.Typically I'm somewhere in Europe, most recent 2 years in Russia.I like my job.

author: djsb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 09:11:38 am
content: A human being, not a Human doing.David.

author: KarlosVandango
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 11:20:53 am
content: This is a really interesting thread... I'm amazed by how many cool jobs (from my POV) there are out there!I don't classify myself as electronic engineer (as much as I would love nothing more than to feed my perversion) I have those qualifications but my job doesn't call for them... I sit in the electrical engineering fence, which means power distribution systems, motors etc etc... like the chap previously mentioned, but have electronic bias to boot, but seldom ever gets airing. But there again to the eyes of the mechanical eng guys (i.e my Dad) I'm a wire twister (!)But "engineer" used to mean somebody who has a degree, and is above the maintenance/craftsmen position, who takes a problem - creates a solution and hands it down to the craftsmen who then bring it to life.But lately in work, demarcation titles have been replaced by just "one title suits all craftsmen/engineers" by "T1 - Technician". But hey, the logic of those above who don't understand your job, qualifications will dream up all sorts of weird or wonderful names.

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 08:26:24 pm
content: Title is "Senior Research Engineer", at a university R+D lab.Job entails being the electronics/electrical half of the lab's 2-person "instrumentation group" (consisting of myself and a machinist/modelmaker). We design and build custom laboratory and field instrumentation, mostly in support of towing tank tests of scale model marine craft and a coastal oceanography group. Everything from tiny force/pressure/displacement sensors and measurement systems to water samplers, remote sensing, and underwater acoustics stuff. Lots of one-off unusual projects. We also get farmed out to other departments of the university for special projects from time to time, mostly fitting out new laboratory spaces, repairing/modifying various experimental setups, etc.VERY hands-on kinds of work. Lots of napkin-sketch, back of envelope types of engineering/prototyping, often needing a fast turnaround, with no emphasis on quantity production. Far from a documentation-heavy, rigid corporate environment.

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 09:17:29 pm
content: Quote from: N2IXK on April 18, 2014, 08:26:24 pmThat sounds like the type of work environment I'd love. I can't imagine the pay is very good though...

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 10:59:09 pm
content: Pay is a bit less than industry, but it is a pretty secure position (I've been there over 25 years). Very flexible as far as time off, decent benefits, and very laid-back jeans and T-shirt type of environment.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 11:20:02 pm
content: Quote from: N2IXK on April 18, 2014, 10:59:09 pmI used to work at a UNI R&D back in the 90's pay is Way less than industry, at least for programmers. But you get to play with cool toys and companies throw you software and hardware and some fund your research. I'm glad I left UNI even if I miss being able to take a whole month off vacation without a problem. Deadlines are way lax as well. I more than double my salary going to the private sector when I made the jump, and now I get paid more than the head researcher on my old lab.Then again, loved working there specially in spring time if you know what I mean.But I was young and single then, now I would be a creep

author: FrankenPC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 11:34:01 pm
content: My brother-in-law has an interesting job title: nuclear instrumentation designer. He used to manufacture custom instruments for particle accelerators. Now he's working as a manager at Livermore labs on the NIF experiment.

author: Bodmas
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 19, 2014, 12:03:38 pm
content: Calibration EngineerCalibrate RF and EMC test equipment.