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I do not feel insecure in my competency as software/Firmware engineer but i started feeling really insecure about being an engineer , mostly because the way Society in general place us
usually it's like

surgeon > physician > Scientist (or any basic science person) > engineer

i didn't realise this before but recently i noticed and i stopped introducing myself as engineer to the people i meet either from my family or from dating apps. Here is the conversation that usually happens

Person: what do you do ?
Me: I build things
Person: so what do build ?
Me: My work involves building lot of things related to smart phone's wireless capabilities.
Person: oh so you manufacture phones ?
Me: No i work in connectivity part of it like bluetooth , wifi
Person: I don't understand, does it involve staring at computers all day (makes a face )
Me: yes 90% of it , I like building things making something new HW or SW and most of them do require a use of computer , even if I was a mechanical engineer computers would be necessary
Person: Hmm if i was not a surgeon i would be hair dresser , because i can't do anything that involves staring at computers all day.

same conversation happened multiple times.
no matter how good you are at writing code or how important task that code is performing , society consider's Software Engineering as a mundane task of " staring at screen "
if that song Remember the name is written for software engineers it will go like

This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to live in disdain

Comments
  • 5
    Why care tho?

    Last time some dude made a comment about me "staying in front of a screen all day" I politely reminded them of having the capability to work virtually everywhere including my own house wilst enjoying good monetary compensation.

    Not to be a dick to anyone here that hasn't made it, it will happen eventually. But why care about what others that have no influence on our field have an opinion of it?

    LMAO I have been told that what we do is useless while I the person that said it was tapping away on candy crush on her mobile phone.

    Mane just don't even sweat it about it.
  • 1
    Just here to say, that song's name (in its original, non-disdain form) is "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor, for those that didn't know. (A cool song)
  • 0
    @EtherealRage name of song is there in the post
  • 1
    @hardfault oops.... my bad. Read right over it twice.
  • 3
    Different people have different tastes and opinions and each job has pros and cons.

    If you find some happiness if what you are doing then what others say has little importance.
  • 0
    I'd say our cultures are different, engineers are valued highly in my country. I'd just remind them that every fucking thing runs code these days, even the doctors wouldn't be nearly as useful without the tools we engineers made for them. If nothing else like the others said there's always the cash
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