Ah... Yes... the dispensable issue... ;)

I remember a cocky manager telling me about how indispensable I was as an
employee... He said smugly to me "it's kind of like sticking your finger in
a bucket of water and pulling it out to see what sort of a hole is left"...
grrrr... That kind of talk can give a guy an inferiority complex...

The thing is... you are more valuable than THEY would like you to think you
are.... but don't get a big head about it... or they will resent you.  The
word "primadonna" comes to mind...

I don't know how many times I had heard someone say "anyone can do your
job... it's just connecting the dots!"  The reality was I was able to pick
this job up pretty easy because I had been working with boards since I was
14 years old... My dad taught me the basics of electronics design and I had
an edge being somewhat artistic and creative, and I really enjoyed the
design puzzle. When I took a design another 'drafter' had done and
redesigned it to hold more parts and have shorter line lengths, and it
worked better and was easier to manufacture... they were a little surprised.

It's funny... I remember guys used to brag about how much tape they could
lay down on the mylar in a day... some collected large grapefruit size balls
of wasted tape to show how many boards they had done.... this was a status
thing... the one with the biggest ball... well you know. I used to throw
mine away... I was a little slower that they were... but the boards I did
were more difficult, and had RF components that had to keep away from noisy
oscillators and high level signals...I was always assigned to work with the
engineers nobody wanted to work with... and I learned a lot from them.

Anyway, don't let them talk you into a 'sheep like' mentality or into self
doubt... You are a rare commodity and they need you, as long as you get the
job done well and they can get producible cost effective product out of you,
they will support you and send you to seminars to get more education and
help you to develop your career because they appreciate what you can do for
them. Even if they tell you... 'you can be replaced'...

The secret to success is self confidence and a strong willingness to work.
All the rest of it will follow.

"Be the Pan... Peter. You can fly..."

Bill Brooks - KG6VVP
PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D.+, C.I.I.
Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510
e-mail:[log in to unmask]
http://www.dtwc.com
http://pcbwizards.com

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