After my last article on what error budgets are, I imagine there were plenty of people who thought that calculating error budgets on a complex product would be a pretty tough way to start a job. To the contrary, I found them to be the single best project a junior engineer can be assigned. And no, that's not because it's funny to give the rookie tasks with the most excel work.
First, let's talk about who junior engineers are. The new hire will have been well educated, maintain a high energy level, and will be used to heavy calculations from their recent college education. Heck, some college programs would lead students to expect nothing BUT calculations in the engineering profession! Plus, if the right one was hired he or she will be eager to learn from and impress the senior engineering staff.
On the surface, there are many reasons that a manager would not want to give a rookie the task of leading up an error budget. It is a very difficult task that requires a lot of critical thinking, engineering assumptions, and flawless organization; all daunting requirements for a new engineer. There are also social and professional implications to a rookie telling a seasoned veteran what is wrong with their design, perhaps learning how to confront statements like “There's nothing wrong with that circuit. Check it again, Sport.” And of course the master of the error budget is also expected to deliver bad news to marketing and purchasing like, “We can't hit this spec” and “We need this expensive, long lead time part.” But what better way to get your new employee off to a good start than challenging him or her from day one?!?
To the companies that look past these challenges, go great benefits! The new hire gets the best experience possible: direct access to a senior engineer where lessons on how different circuits work will undoubtedly occur often. This is where the majority of learning and passing of company knowledge happens and should be encouraged at every turn. The junior engineer also gains the opportunity to be the resident expert on a topic by leading a project, all within 6 months of starting work. The manager also has a lot to gain. With the significant challenges listed above, leading an error budget is an extraordinary vetting ground to determine what the rookie is capable of.
Finally, you want to give the error budget to the rookie since no engineer in their right mind would do more than a couple error budgets! It could be a rite of passage into the design team, with each member having their own war stories about the raw endurance it took to find a circuit error – and the $Millions the resulting fix saved!
