A new barrier to growth

[This is the submitted form of my regular Union column that was published in the newspaper’s 11feb12 print and online editions.]

George Rebane

“Engineers in the European Union are free to work anywhere in the 27 member states, but recognition of their professional qualifications is often a stumbling block.”  So starts ‘Passport to Engineering’ in the February 2012 IEEE Spectrum, the prestigious flagship periodical of the world’s premier professional organization for engineers.  Europe’s engineers are about to be carded with a little piece of plastic – the new “engineerING card” - that is supposed to help them find engineering jobs all over the EU.

The card, developed by the European Federation of National Engineering Associations, will contain information about its holder’s education and “professional qualifications in accord with internationally recognized standards.”  The cards will be issued by the engineer’s country of origin.  Supposedly, with this card it will be easier for a Spanish engineer to get a job in Sweden.

The problem is that each country has its own standards for what is put on the card, and also what kind of government agency or bureau issues the card.  Some of these organizations don’t know jack squat about engineering.  Nevertheless, everyone is talking about Brussels making these cards into a legal gateway for engineering employment in the EU on the basis that it would facilitate cross-border hiring of technical types.  I’m not so sure.

Before looking at the ‘oops side’ of this bureaucratic brainchild, let’s back up and consider what the historical open market in engineering talent has brought to our civilization.  In free capitalist countries anyone who could do engineering could call himself and engineer – even correctly spelling it was optional.  People with ideas, maybe with some education, and maybe with some experience would get in their proverbial garages and come up with all kinds of stuff ranging from telephones, airplanes, automobile assembly lines, and on and on.  Would you believe that even the most successful and long-lived Sidewinder air-to-air missile came out of a garage in Ridgecrest, California?

Here I am only talking about the bleeding edge kind of engineering where things never done before are the work product.  The more staid and perhaps larger side of engineering, sometimes called ‘cookbook engineering’, is nevertheless important and required to operate and maintain society’s complex systems and processes such as power plants and factory assembly lines.  But that is not generally the side of engineering from which come the new and exciting things that we celebrate and which change our lives.

One of the advantages that engineers and most other technologists have over other professions is that they can be quickly vetted by hiring managers who are also competent in the jobs they are trying to fill.  When engineers and scientists meet, be it in a conference room, at a little league game, or cocktail party, somewhere in their conversation they give what may be called a ‘technical handshake’.  This consists of casual questions and answers about projects, experience, and/or possible solutions to a problem that gives each an overview of the other’s technical knowledge.  More importantly, it lets each know whether digging deeper is warranted.

Let me be clear, during an interview the technical hiring manager will quickly plumb the depths of the engineering applicant.  And the basis for hiring will depend least on the kind of formal credentials the applicant has.  (Full disclosure, I am a lifelong registered professional engineer with a bunch of degrees and decades of experience in hiring technical staff.)  More often than not, some of the most brilliant and creative engineers have very modest credentials or no formal credentials at all.  They just studied on their own, and started doing the technical work because the only barriers to entry into the field was their own lack of knowledge and gumption.  It wasn’t what you had on a card or piece of paper.

Examples of large companies started by our credentially challenged engineers is too long to list, we all know their names.  My concern about the EU’s ‘engineerING card’ becoming law in Europe is that it will have the predictable result of restricting creative and talented technicians entering and being mobile in its technology job markets.  That itself may not be a big deal in Europe, where almost no garage start-ups grow to be industry giants.  But it will be a big deal if this is another European folly that America wants to mimic here.  On these shores imposing an ‘engineerING card’ between a qualified worker and an engineering job would be devastating to both the pace and substance of our economic growth.

George Rebane is an entrepreneur and a retired systems scientist in Nevada County who regularly expands these and other themes on KVMR and Rebane’s Ruminations (www.georgerebane.com).

Comments

[David King]

Very well said George.

George said:

"That itself may not be a big deal in Europe, where almost no garage start-ups grow to be industry giants."

We now mimic this with our new patent laws.

[Douglas Keachie]

You have used a very tall "n" in important. ;)

[Douglas Keachie]

Job hunting at Google: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2012%2F02%2F10%2Fbusinessinsiderwhy-this-programmer-.DTL

[Michael Kesti]

George, you have here provided yet another example of a government solution that can be characterized as one-size-fits-none.

[Gregory]

Western Europe is just bringing back Letters Patent with the EU issuing the paper rather than the king du jour.

George is basically right, what you know and what you can do is well summarized by a resume/CV and the folks able to probe the fit to the job at hand are those who will do the interviewing, though most who claim judgement as keen as George has are not quite as good at it as they think.

[Paul Emery]

I fail to see the connection as to why this is our problem.

[George Rebane]

Failure to see the connection of the European problems to ours is commonplace. It will not be seen until after our government imposes new draconian laws on who may and may not practice engineering. Aping Europe is the progressives theme song. Along with nationalized healthcare, we'll rue the day we carded our engineers.

[Paul Emery]

So what you're concerned about is a theory that may or may not happen the future. By any reasonable comparison European health care is far superior to ours so that's a comparison that does not spur me to action.

[Michael Anderson]

George,

Would this new card prevent engineers mixing "in a conference room, at a Little League game, or cocktail party"?

It seems that you are suggesting the gov't will vet engineers, preventing businesses from hiring and firing at will. I don't see that in the proposal whatsoever.

It's just another tool in the toolbox. I hear what you are saying, in the IT world folks w/ certs come in 2 flavors: those who know and also have certs and those who went to boot camp hoping to get a free ride. I can tell in about 2 minutes which is which.

I like more info. rather than less. This proposal seems to add to the info. stream, not obfuscate. But I am willing to be further educated.

Michael A.

[George Rebane]

MichaelA 734pm - Engineering is one, if not THE last bastion, of merit based occupations left that has given civilization an abundance of its fruits. That has been its power and glory, and the reason that government has not been able to lay its cold hand on it yet. As you sense, the guile is 'more info not less' for carding engineers. Soon will come a law that says if your product fails and causes subsequent loss in the marketplace, AND it was developed by any uncarded engineers, your company is prima facie guilty of harming the plaintiff in particular, and the public in general. But starting with such cards, there are many other ways to also bring the technological glory road to its knees.

The creep starts innocently enough, and often with a claimed public benefit. We don't have to look long or far to see how in countless areas we the people have been screwed by a government that shows neither signs of remorse nor evidence of slowing its malignancy.

[Michael Anderson]

You are pointing to tort reform again, which I support BTW. The cards will be fine, as long as "not having a card" cannot be used as prima facie evidence in a civil or criminal case. I suspect this caveat will develop over time, with some bumps in the road as you suggest.

I am really glad you are bringing up these issues, George. I think you make people think about difficult things. I love robots as much as the next person, but I wouldn't want to marry one.

[Douglas Keachie]

Anytime you need to go get an engineer's stamp on a project around your house, be it just an inspection, or a full set of expensive plans, you already have government intervention on the part of the Engineer's Unions, who have a vested interest in making sure every move you make is a certified "scary" one, and requires expensive oversight.

Engineers have secret signs, too:

For an interesting look at which colleges are really successful, you might want to glance at this.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/14/3910618/see-california-schools-were-students.html

[billy T]

I can go along with each European County having its own standards for professional licensing. If fact, any country can have its own standards, which gives credence to the phrase "sovereign state". I also agree that diplomas collecting dust on the wall are not an accurate measure of one's abilities, practical knowledge of their field, ability to adapt, take initiative, think outside the box, ability to learn new techniques and excel. Reminds me of one of Dr. Dean's favorite jokes. "What do you call someone who failed the medical exam 9 times before passing it?" Answer: "Doctor." Plague on wall does not always tell the full story. Dr. Rebane's article does explore what many have felt for years, i.e., a bureaucratic creeping into every aspect of our lives for "our health and safety". Micro managing the nation in all its aspects is a recipe for failure. We should indeed keep a close eye on our European allies and keep our radars on high alert because we seem to be following in their footsteps. I have started hearing a phrase in the media lately that has me alarmed. The phrase is "Greece and California". First time was amusing, fourth time is a trend. Is this Greece or Oakland?? http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7398466n&tag=re1.channel

[Paul Emery]

This is the silliest conversation ever presented on this blog. It is hypothetical beyond redemption. Show me where there is a proposal to do this in THIS country.

[David King]

Here you go Paul.

Please follow the link for much more info!

Aim

"The aim of the ENGCARD concept/ pilot project which is practically consisting in a European Professional Mobility Pass for Engineers defined as a new EUROPASS document where the content is certified by a third party’s, is definitively designed to attenuate or remove that major obstacles for mobility highlighted before.

Thanks to ENGCARD, the obstacle related to recognition/description of professional qualifications will be attenuated or waved and consequently, the geographical, occupational or virtual mobility of engineers in EU and worldwide

http://www.eurocadres.org/spip.php?article248will be facilitated."

[David King]

Sorry, stepped on the link.

Here it is again.

http://www.eurocadres.org/spip.php?article248

[George Rebane]

"... hypothetical beyond redemption ..." All states provide engineering licensures, and require it for the practice of a growing number of jobs in engineering work. You can't build a concrete block wall or remove a buried tank without a licensed engineer signing off on it, or even put new electric lights in your kitchen ceiling. And those are jobs that the layman understands. The others are countless and growing.

On the contrary PaulE, this may be one of the more important conversations had on RR.