[BC] State Licensing

[David Reaves]

At a tender age, I took advantage of the FCC Radiotelephone licensing  
program to make myself more valuable to the industry. It was useful  
to me because it set a goal I could reach for, and it forced me to  
develop many skills I would use later. Even so, I'm not convinced  
state licensing as a replacement for the Federal program is a step in  
the right direction. I think ANY thing that means 50 conflicting sets  
of rules is a waste of energy. But that's just my opinion. ;-)

My 'First Phone' was just a start. Many of the detailed aspects of  
the knowledge we as Engineers need can only be learned with on-the- 
job training. My experience was no different.

But in hindsight, what I could have REALLY used to 'top off' my early  
technical knowledge would have been (at least) four things:
   -- Basic bookkeeping;
   -- Basic communication ('people') skills;
   -- Basic project management;
   -- Basic safety procedures.

What do these four things have in common?
  -- They are not technical. While the basic technical aspects of  
Radio were pretty well covered in the FCC exams, the above were not.
  -- All of these skills would prove to me to be useful, if not  
essential, as my career advanced.
  -- Any and all of these subjects could be easily outlined in a  
minimal, possibly just a single-day course (per subject).

These are 'evergreen' subjects that I think every engineer, old and  
new, should have a good feel for. The availability of this  
information should be ongoing with courses held regularly, say, once  
a year, so any new engineer could learn and more the experienced  
among us could 'brush up.'


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Basic bookkeeping would help the engineer to understand the bottom  
line and how to keep track of, and project, expenses. He'd need to  
learn how to set up a spreadsheet and enter data into it, and what  
data is pertinent to the needs of management. He'd learn about  
Capital versus Operating expenses.

Basic communication would show how to get what you want by putting  
your best face forward, how to really listen, what motivates people  
(self and others), how decisions are made, and the art of negotiation  
and compromise. Basic letter, email and telephone skills, including  
vocabulary and grammar.

Basic project management would show how to create and meet realistic  
goals, and how to organize and keep track of all the elements that go  
into meeting those goals, how to determine those aspects of a project  
that will include outside help, and how to find it, how to determine  
costs and measure progress. How to recover when things go awry.

Basic safety procedures would include accident prevention, CPR, and  
First Aid for injuries.

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Whether the SBE should tackle the job of providing this instruction  
is for them to decide, but if I were founding a new organization for  
the betterment of the lives of my fellow engineers, providing  
knowledge of these skills certainly would top my list.

Noting that NONE of these subjects is technical in nature, I feel  
that, categorically, we Engineers put ourselves at a competitive (if  
not career-threatening) disadvantage when we focus only on the  
technical.To advance within our profession (heck, to just hold  
even!), and to advance the image and reputation of our profession, a  
more general set of skills is vital.

Those are just my thoughts. As usual, YMMV.

David P. Reaves, III
TransLanTech Sound, LLC
Home of the Award-winning "Ariane Sequel" Digital Audio Leveler