Finding a Correct Job Title 1

[klewis10367]

I am not sure this is the correct forum, but i am trying to find a suitable job title for the duties that i am responsible for..at our company job Title is everything. My responsibilites include:

1) Computer Applications - handle all financial software(Great Plains, FRx Reporter, FRx Forecaster)
2) DBA for Company but not certified
3) Create and automate Reports...Crystal, FRx, Excel, SSRS
4) Datawharehousing
5) SQL Server Maintenance
6) Time and Attendance Support and Implementation
7) Provide all backend data for Accounting and other user groups based on need.
...I have 9 years experience within these responsibilties but no college degree.

My current title is Computer Application Specialist..My boss thought Financial System Analyst would be suitable.

 

[gbaughma]

I guess that I wouldn't consider myself an "engineer", even though I have both hardware and software skills, and have developed software over the years that has been talked about, published and so forth.

The challenge when I got into programming back in the late 70's was to make the computer do something that it has never done before. Back then, that was an achievable goal. Even through the 80's, it was still an achievable goal.

While I still try to embrace the "flavor" of that, I've realized that most software has already been written. Sure, there will be enhancements, but there's very little out there that is truly "original".

I remember reading Rainbow magazine back in the 80's, and every month they would have the "one liner" contest. A complete working program that did something useful or entertaining, written in a single line of BASIC. I saw amazing things, from games to calculators to graphic displays. Some of the programmers were so sharp that they depended on the tokenizing of the basic commands to "squeeze in the last few bytes" into the line.

I remember hacking the disk BIOS on my Radio Shack COCO to improve performance of the 160k disk drives. I had a good understanding of assembly language back then, and since quite often the machines that would be running your software only had 32K of RAM, the smaller and more efficient your code was, the better.

I remember doing hardware modifications, etching my own circuit boards and building my own interfaces.

I still don't consider myself an engineer.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[FredWagner]

Back in the day... I've never been deep into hardware (does setting up a hard drive by kicking off the ROM formatting program on the controller card using DEBUG count?), but my first programming job was writing a personnel management database - for 500+ people, with 43 locations, and a variety of experience codes - on Tektronix 4050 series, with 32K and later 55K RAM, with Tektronix basic, with 26 variables, A-Z. to make it more interesting, we were in the Air Force, and my wife got to be the data entry operator. You don't want to go home with someone who's had a frustrating time with a computer at the office, so you write it to be very friendly and intuitive!

Fred Wagner

 

[lionelhill]

You are both too modest...

gbaughma, they were magic days.

 

[cdogg]

Chiming in late here, but thought I'd throw my 2¢ out there...

Unless you are being paid from the Finance department's budget, I would drop the "Financial" and just go with Systems Analyst. Based on those responsibilities alone, you are well beyond the classification of "Specialist" and need to be referred to as Analyst, Administrator, or Architect. Specialist sounds more like an entry-level position similar to Support Representative.

To others on the outside looking in, a title is just a title. That may be true. However, I would be careful underestimating the effect it can have on your reputation within the organization. It is more important than you may think, especially in larger companies exhibiting a lot of growth potential. You never know when a reorganization down the road may work more to your advantage by having a better title.

Carl

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test
a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln
[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[MasterRacker]

Adding to cdogg: your official title can make a difference in where you end up after an acquisition or merger as well.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[strongm]

>the good ol' days, an engineer was a highly-skilled person, with a degree or equivalent, who made/repaired/developed things that worked

I think genuine (chartered and professional) engineers might argue with this definition. It is significantly more than that, and generally involves external accreditationand/or exams to a professional body, and often a minima number of years practical experience. Professional engineers normnally have an ehtical code. The perception that engineers are simply skilled or semi skilled maintenance workers in various fields (given that in may countries there is no legal regulation of use of the title) is a relatively new one - and probably derives from job title inflation (sanitary engineer sounds so much nicer than refuse collector).

Real engineers tend to be held responsible for what they design and/or build - unlike the sord of softweare devcelopment that tends to be assocaited with EULAs that deny any responsibility for anything.

 

[DonQuichote]

I have heard that the term also has a "national" bias. An engineer in the USA would be more of a designer, whereas an engineer in the UK would be an engine operator (which sounds logical from the term).

+++ Despite being wrong in every important aspect, that is a very good analogy +++
Hex (in Darwin's Watch)

 

[tcsbiz]

And lets not forget about locomotive engineers. They are not engineers in the scientific or technological sense.

They drive train engines. It makes sense to call them engineers.

 

[hjgoldstein]

In the UK an engineer can be:

Civil Engineer - designs and builds things like bridges, skyscraper structures etc (not an architect, but the guy who advises on technical issues)
Military Engineer (Royal Engineers) who were the original engineers going back hundreds of years, that being the reason that Civil Engineers are called "Civil[lian]"
Structural Engineers who, among other things, advise on the viability of structures after certain incidents, such as the recent scrapyard fire under the M1 motorway. Structural Engineers would have examined the motorway and advised the authorities on the extent of damage and the remedial works required.
An operator of an engine would be described as an "engine operator" or, in the example of tcsbiz, a "Train Driver"

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

 

[MasterRacker]

I was out with a group of engineers once and learned that:

Mechanical and Electrical Engineers build weapons
whereas
Civil Engineers build ... targets.

;-)

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[KenCunningham]

There are also Automotive (of which my son is one) and Marine Engineers. Strongm makes a good case for recognising the professionalism of 'engineers' as a breed, as opposed to 'developers' in the IT field.

The internet - allowing those who don't know what they're talking about to have their say.

 

[lionelhill]

... and there was me thinking that engineers were classified as civil, uncivil, or down-right rude.

Strongm, yes, I should have mentioned membership of a professional body.

Chartered engineers are accredited by their professional body with in order to maintain standards. I get the feeling IT skills are accredited by numerous bodies in order to generate income for those bodies. Chartered engineers are universally proud of their exams. IT professionals seem to bicker a lot about whether their exams mean anything or not. Not a good spectacle from outside.

 

[KE407122]

I always thought of it this way.

The engineer sees a train, points and says, "Look, a train!"
The technologist sees a train, points and says, "Choo-choo."
The technician sees a train, throws the switch, watches the train leave the tracks and says, "Nice sound."




KE407122
'Who is this guy named Lo Cel and why does he keep paging me?'