EBME Forums Forums Management Recruitment Trainee EBME Technician Salary?

Hey !! just noticed that if you do 5 more posts Geoff, you will have a total of 6666. That's like an extra big devil number !

I've promised Huw that I'll stop when (or if) I reach 10,000.

To be honest, even I get a bit tired of repeating myself over and over.

Yes you are right, there are very good people out there with degrees -I don't deny that.
I suppose in this day and age where jobs are in short supply for graduates in industry there will be even more.
I have always thought that Degree qualified Engineers should be doing something more in the way of designing rather than fixing as there Degree course goes in depth at a high level into complex mathematical calculations relating to circuitry etc.The words that come to mind are fourier analysis, quadratic equasions, J notation and lots of others.Mind you some of that was HNC level stuff.
I don't know - the debate will go on.
To get back to the subject - Bosses will pay their staff what they can get away with.If your face fits you might get a better deal too.They can always find reasons to give either a good banding or a not so good banding to their staff by either bending the rules or strictly adhering to the rules.There can be a whole host of tricks up their sleeves.
Jordan should perhaps have a good think about his career as someone said he is being paid to do his HNC and it is a good qualification that is universally accepted at technician/field servicing level throughout the industry.My advice to Jordan would be to keep job till the end of his HNC and then he is in a good position to re-negotiate or move on.He does sound like he might have a better long term career than most

All that stuff you mention was HNC level (at least, it was back in 1979).

Meanwhile, composition, spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalisation was something us low-level drones learned in Primary School and the few years that followed.

Then I guess we were lucky in that there were proper engineering apprenticeships available.

Don't get me wrong, I am in no way "against" young folk. Quite the reverse, in fact. But the facts remain that everyone needs to go through the mill, walk before they can run ... and learn from their mentors.

That was the great thing about apprenticeships, and I'm pleased to see such being offered at one or two NHS biomed departments.

As I've mentioned many time before, what I like to see can be summed up in a single word:- namely attitude. Personally, I am able to forgive many a snafu if the willingness (to learn, to improve, to be the best ... whatever) is there, regardless of what is claimed on fancy bits of paper.

The real problem with having people around with degrees is that they're never going to be content with being a mere hands-on technician, are they?

Hi Cyberdog,

I'm on the HNC now and it is just as academic as the degree was, not very "hands on" at all. The qualification might have changed from what it once was, and employers always ask for it but it is really just equivalent to the 2nd year of an honours degree.

You're dead right there. ONC or City & Guilds Electronics Servicing is more than adequate.

Especially (as I say) if they form part of an engineering apprenticeship.

I expect the best you can hope for (as far as practical skills are concerned) is "on the job training" amongst your more experienced colleagues. And (if you're lucky) a couple of weeks at Falfield and the occasional manufacturer's course*.

* Like this one ... £ 700? ... Ye Gods!

Where do I get a managers job where all I'm required to do is as above? There is a great deal more running a department/business than that.

I was on a 'in-house development course' yesterday and we were told that the ability to be flexible in a job role was a necessity in todays work place.

Our job is not just about fixing things. We may have to train equipment users, produce reports/spreadsheets, quality control, attend meetings, risk assess, manage people etc...

My job role is not the same as it was 15 years ago. Come to think of it .. it isn't the same as it was 18 months ago.

My head is not in the sand and my stick is not in the mud...

Cheers
Mark

Sorry to disagree (again) guys ... but I would say that the real job is more or less exactly the same as it was 35 years ago. That is, fixing the kit.

All that other stuff is transient and superfluous. A bit like managers, you might say.

Meanwhile, Ohm's Law, Eindoven's Triangle ... and all the rest still apply as far as I know.

And, by the way, we did have chief techs, senior techs and all that stuff back then, you know. Someone has (had) to be in charge. But, for the life of me, I never found it to be too much of a big deal.

Don't worry Mark. You'll still be there next year. Doing more or less as you're doing today (and indeed, this time last year).

I'm starting to feel mildly insulted here Geoff. Have you ever managed a department? Have you taken that much "weight"? It does not sound like it or you might have a different view. It might look easy but, believe me, it is not.

As to the "it's the same as it was 35 years ago" comment, well again, no. The basis (fix the kit) may be the same but much, much more is expected these days. The world is more complex, industry (even the NHS I imagine) is much more complex and , as a consiquence, the job is much more complex. No more just sitting in the "biomed shed" of your youth fixing "kit", PR skills are required and a quite varied set of skills beyond that. I have been around this industry for a mere 20 odd years and even I can see that things (and the expectation of the function) have changed in that time.

If you think that being a biomed is just about the kit Geoff, then you have lost contact with the reality of the current situation.