One of my friends has started a new, high-paying, EE job recently. His first high-pay position actually. He’s been there about a month now, and he said that he hasn’t worked on a single project. He told me he is worried that at any moment they will fire him. “They pay me a lot, and I haven’t done a thing that would warrant the money,” he said admitting his root fear. Does he have any reason to be uneasy?
I’ve had many EE jobs where I didn’t do much for quite some time. I started to see that the pay they give you is so you show up and stay there, not necessarily for work performed. We’re looking at it from a professional engineer’s perspective, keep in mind. I can see work performed by say, a factory worker, is the scale at which they are measured. As an Engineer, our worth is measure from potential. We are resources at that point.
Like all of us, we’ve spent a whole day reading on the internet, like posting here on Element14. The next day, we are putting in overtime on a rush design. This is the ideal example of leveraging our potential. I used to feel bad about not doing work all of the time, on the clock, but now I do not. If there is work to be done, they will give it to us?
My friend even goes to his various bosses and asks for things to do, and when they have nothing to give he still worries. I’ve done the same, but now I don’t fret. I try to assuage my friend’s panic, but it’s hard to break the job security strait-jacket we all wear. However, perhaps I shouldn’t be so lackadaisical on the job, but finding what to do is all the work I can find.
Cabe