My written communication is superb (so I am told!), if I take time to think through my responses. My verbal communication suffers, however . I may not be the worst, but, I am positive I stand out as below average, working with engineers who have it as one of their stronger points.

I finally received an offer, from a reputable corporation. HOW? The interview was with 2 people, via PHONE, due to distance. I was much more comfortable. I was in my element–much less pressure–nailed that sucker.

Even though I may have been at the upper end of my CS graduating class, my below average communicative ability has definitely caused detriment to my career. I have been in the “real world” for over 3 years. Several other engineers have already received promotion after ~2 years.

Much of it is due to my verbal communication, I am sure. BUT, I believe an even greater force is visibility within the workplace. I am one of few Systems Engineers here. Most engineers here (ME/CE) have responsibilities at the surface level—focused toward identifying ways to improve the process, not actually performing the low-level implementation—Managers in training, if you will. Their raw engineering-related tasks are actually quite few. But, their visibility is naturally higher with managers. The majority of my work is behind-the-scenes, or enabling. I do receive not-so-good visibility if anything breaks, of course . I am trying to improve my verbal communication, though nowhere near that of a politician…at least yet!

We work with so many different technologies in our work place. There are infinite opportunities for quality and yield improvement. There is a plethora of data available to use and abuse. Unfortunately, my CE/ME peers have no understanding of converting data into beneficial information, if they even realize data is available. Sometimes, I feel like a salesman, trying to convince our process engineers to “buy in” to my recommendations, in order to improve our process—this alone is extremely difficult.

Bottom line, I may be paid less and promoted more slowly, but, I am not as expendable as my peers. If the equipment I am responsible for, fails, production will be affected. My engineering peers cannot say the same, however. If they depart their position, their position is not typically replaced for several months, if ever at all. Production continues as is, whether they are present or not. It actually provides me with a great feeling of fulfillment. Many managers of larger corporations seem to remain vague during interviews, because they were raised at the surface level of engineering. A great question to ask during the interview might be, “Could you please tell me how engineering actually takes place by others in this position, with an example?”.

JW

So I think R&D is most influential and fuels at least Californias high tech industry as a whole.