Reading these does make me smile.

It's true that in the UK, qualifications are not as valued as they should be - why, I don't know. When it comes to further development most engineers either stay technical & specialise or disappear into Finance & Management - as I remind the younger placement students - an engineering degree doesn't mean you have to do engineering for the rest of your life but it does prove you have the ability to do difficult stuff. Most recently I spoke with some marketing graduates about engineering and my career to date, failed to use the screen sharing software and end up answering questions using a dry wipe marker on a window. Their feedback was the presentation 'made engineering seem fun'.

A lot of the issues with how engineering is perceived is coming from how it's not a protected title (anyone can call themselves an engineer) because what we do is so wide and varied and it's misunderstood (send for the coffee machine engineer when it breaks rather than a technician, service agent or whatnot).

All I know is, I'll not be bored until the day I exit this world, and until then I'll continue to inspire the next whether they wish to have letter after their name, be the greatest plumber that's ever lived or just want to invent things in a shed. It all adds colour to the tapestry of life.

But what is really needed is a software version of the old T9 keyboards which never needed advanced AI to carry out spelling & grammar checks on phones.

I joined the IEE in 1958 and worked in three countries for multiple high tech companies before retirement. No one ever asked or inquired about my association with an engineering organization. This also includes my membership in the IEEE, which I joined in 1960.  

And I think this is the point, in most cases companies don't really care. Some will provide support and encouragement by either paying your fees. The only time I've been asked was when I've been working on publicly funded projects, and even then, not being registered would not of prevented me from working on the project.

The other groups that are interested in recognition are consultancies. Again they want to show to the prospective client that they have suitably qualified people.

So the status itself doesn't give you much. However going back to Andy's comment its the process of going through registration that can be of value, as that makes you think about yourself and what you want to do.

But for those who do want to achieve professional registration, I'm fully supportive of that and I think we must lift away any unnecessary barriers that prevents the person from achieving that where we find them. But then, I would say that being a PRA for one of my institutions..

I think that companies do care!

All the companies that I have worked for in the past, did not want engineers to join professional organizations because they believed it was the first step towards the formation of an engineering union within the company. Think IBM in New York State as a past example.

Have you ever had to walk through a union picket line? I have and they were not pleasant situations!

I've stood on a union picket line

It probably wasn't the nicest situation for anyone to walk through and we were just standing there not actually blocking anything or shouting abuse (because the next day, those non-members walking past, we would be working with). The only person that came to any grief was the union member that walked through the line (they had to hand in their membership card).

My current employer is very supportive.

But my experience has been that some companies are happy for you to do it but offer no support. When you achieve it, there is no recognition of that fact.

Regarding Unions and strikes - The response to walking through a picket line depends on the organization "behind" the Union.

At one point I was transferred into a Union plant in PA, which was controlled by the Mafia. The local Union representative was the sports and numbers bookie for the plant. Needless to say ther was never a threat of strike 

Florida is a "Right to Work"state meaning one does not have to join a union to work in the State.

Peter Brooks said:

All the companies that I have worked for in the past, did not want engineers to join professional organizations because they believed it was the first step towards the formation of an engineering union within the company.

That's very frustrating that this misunderstanding exists. And from the other side engineers say "why isn't the IET campaigning for higher pay for engineers / more engineering jobs etc etc etc" - well they're not because they are NOT a union! (I have known very anti-union engineers who get cross that the IET isn't campaigning for engineers "status" (by which they mean pay) which does make me bang my head against hard objects in frustration...we have organisations that do that if they want to join them, they're called unions...)

I don't have experience of the US, but I find the situation in Canada very interesting where it does feel as an outsider (rightly or wrongly) that PEng has sometimes been used as excuse for restrictive practices. It's a very difficult one - at what point does mandating a registration for safety become mandating a registration to maintain a closed shop.

That all said, I've never encountered this feeling in the UK, it seems to me to be well understood that being professionally registered is more like having another qualification than being part of a clique - particularly as it's likely to be the senior people in the company anyway who are the professionally registered ones.  

P.S. my father was both very active in his trade union (back to the 1930s!) and a professionally registered engineer. He was very clear that these were two totally different things. And was proud of both for different reasons.

Thanks,

Andy

Regarding the situation in Canada - I assume you are talking about Ontario - where I worked in the late 1950's.

You are correct about the PEng being used to try and form a closed shop.

This was also the location where I was required to cross a union picket line.

At that time that union was associated with the Communist party, as was the previous time (when i had to cross another picket line), this time in the UK .

Regarding the situation in Canada - I assume you are talking about Ontario - where I worked in the late 1950's.

You are correct about the PEng being used to try and form a closed shop.

This was also the location where I was required to cross a union picket line.

At that time that union was associated with the Communist party, as was the previous time (when i had to cross another picket line), this time in the UK .