More stirring of the engineering can of worms!

I see that there are more letters on the subject of what qualifies somebody to use the title of ‘engineer’, which, though working under that umbrella for nearly 40 years, I can say is – to put it mildly – a real can of worms!

My job title was that of a mechanical fitter but I achieved the qualification of HNC by the time I was 20 years old, back in the 1980s (non-computer days). It did come in handy during my career on the tools, but usually more so when working on things for myself or with bosses who had also come through the mill due to the level of mutual trust when working through problems.

This situation was generally not so much the case with the many graduate engineers, who would later choose to use those letters after their names. From this experience we regularly gained high levels of overtime, being very much appreciated at times in our lives when it was most needed, due to their regular cock-ups, often worsened along the way by their unwillingness to listen to those on the shop floor who were perhaps tired of having to do the same jobs twice.

In my particular job, there were also line mechanics employed who usually had a background from the motor trade. Our brief, however, for many years was quite simply, if they couldn’t fix the problem within a set time, if something failed or misbehaved, it then became our problem to sort out because we had those extra skills, along with access to a machine shop. Basically, we took over when guys who were qualified motor mechanics were not able to fix it. I rest my case. Thanks for such a good read.