Thanks Eng-Tips! 1

[Sparweb]

I have a belated "thank you" for the Eng-Tips forum.

About a year ago, as I was looking for work, I networked a little with old classmates, business people I'd consulted for, and of course there was the Linked-in stuff to do too. I landed at the place I had at the top of my list, so all was well. It happened that a co-worker there was a fellow member of Eng-Tips, but I didn't give it much thought at the time. We addressed each other by forum alias a few times, then the joke got old, and we got on with working together (quite well I should add).

Not long ago I discovered, lost in the wide expanse of the company computer network, a folder with potential new hires, resumes and such stuff. It didn't take long to find my own resume, and then right beside it were a whole bunch of excerpts of Eng-Tips postings that I've made over the years. Knock me over with a feather. While I knew that my Eng-Tips contacts had opened doors or me, I had not realized that my contributions to the forum has been weighed before my job interview.

So, fellow Eng-Tippers, whether you are long-time lurkers or recently-arrived experts, make your contributions count - if you make a name for yourself here it may go a long way out in "the real world". You just never know.


STF

 

[Andries]

This is very interesting Sparweb. I would never have thought that one's Eng-Tips contributions would count with an employer, but why not? hats off to your company too for their insight.

Andries

 

[IRstuff]

Congrats !!

Beats reading another lamentation about how hard it is to find a job. I was at the UCB engineering commencement yesterday, and there is a new, shiny, batch of bright engineers eager to get working.

Obviously, ET gives back what you put in, so the fact that you've been cited is a reflection of you, personally, as a person who has given much to the ET community.

TTFN
faq731-376

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529

 

[zdas04]

Good for them. And good for you for contributing worthwhile information.

This is not an isolated case. Every one of my current clients found me through my signature on eng-tips.com. Liked what I had to say here, went to my web page, liked what was there, and e-mailed. I don't think my experience is unique, and I'd be surprised if SparWeb's is unique (it may be unique that he can look up his own candidate file, HR usually holds those pretty close to the chest, but I would bet that there are other companies that come to eng-tips.com to get work samples from candidates).

If you are a job hunter and you feel like your contribution here would put you in good light, you might want to include your handle on your resume. If you don't get many stars and don't get much discussion of your posts, then you might want to step up your game prior to including your handle.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[JohnRBaker]

Our company hired an outside consulting firm a couple of years ago to examine our presence on the Internet and while they started out looking mostly at the number and types of 'hits' on 'social media' they did do a more general web search and came across Eng-Tips and they included a mention of the large number of our customers who were using the site and that there was a 'Siemens employee' who was very active and that many people seemed to appreciate the help that they were getting at that sight. Now I can't say it's had a big impact on my situation at the company since I've been here for over 33 years and I suspect that I've already 'paid my dues' but it cannot have hurt (note that whenever I've been recognized as the 'MVP of the week' I always forward the email notice to my boss and his boss just in case).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Well, that's good news.

Perhaps one day I shall uncloak my secret identity.

;-)

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[steellion]

Take the mask off! "MikeHalloran" is way too cryptic!

 

[EnergyMix]

Especially with the City and State, Mike -- That makes it so hard to find you among all the hundreds of Mike Halloran's out there! Congrats SparWeb! It only shows that Eng-Tips is a recognized source of engineering knowledge and that regular contributors are valuable engineers that any company would want.

Want to know the do's and don'ts of Eng-Tips? Read FAQ731-376.
English not your native language? Looking for some help in getting your question across to others or understanding their answers? Go to forum1529.

 

[ctopher]

Great story! Thanks!
I landed a side job recently thru here.
He was browsing the forum, then started following my posts. So far so good.
It seems the work will get bigger and more income in addition to my full time salary. ;-)

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 14
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[KENAT]

Interesting SparWeb, it's also a reminder that we should be a little careful what we say sometimes and think twice about anything that might be considered inappropriate (sound of crashing glass as I throw stones in my glass house).

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[ImminentCollapse]

Very good point KENAT, particularly as politics creep into many of these threads.

I'm pretty sure if Exxon is trolling for prospects, rconnor is off their list, and I think zdas04's shot at the NYT chief editor job is out.

IC

 

[Sparweb]

I'm glad the story struck a chord.

For the record, the files were not on a computer used by HR, rather it was one used by Engineering. Although, now that I'm trying to re-trace my steps in the company network, I can't seem to find it any more. Can't find a bunch of things I was looking at just the other day, in fact. The IT department must be playing tricks on me.

Mike Halloran pokes fun at the cryptic handles most of us use on the forum, but underlying the joke is a good point - if I were explicitly trying to boost my cred, I might want to use my own name in my handle. But my experience (and that of others like Zdas04 and ctopher) indicates that it's not strictly necessary. Not that Mike H is trying to do that - but his online personna is much more closely linked to his real-world one, by using his real-world name.


STF

 

[JohnRBaker]

And then there are those of us whose job it is to be a 'public face' for our company and to interface with our customers, and in all honesty, any potential prospects out there as well, providing them help and support in whatever venue THEY may choose to ask for it in. In that role, which is NOT limited to just Eng-Tips or even to the virtual world of the web, I personally felt that I needed to fully disclose who I was and exactly for whom I worked. Besides, after nearly 50 years in my chosen profession and close to 37 years involved with the company for whom I now work, I don't think I really need to "boost my creds" by NOT being anonymous ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[SLTA]

I chose my handle because I was having the darndest time signing up for this site, and while the computer wouldn't accept my registration, it also wouldn't allow me to use the six or seven previous handles I'd tried to register with. Oh well.

I too have gotten projects from eng-tips, and real-world mentoring as well. It really is a great site.

 

[racookpe1978]

20 May 14 15:40
And then there are those of us whose job it is to be a 'public face' for our company and to interface with our customers, and in all honesty, any potential prospects out there as well, providing them help and support in whatever venue THEY may choose to ask for it in. In that role, which is NOT limited to just Eng-Tips or even to the virtual world of the web, I personally felt that I needed to fully disclose who I was and exactly for whom I worked. Besides, after nearly 50 years in my chosen profession and close to 37 years involved with the company for whom I now work, I don't think I really need to "boost my creds" by NOT being anonymous

Well, it's always been a "would I want my boss (and the company owner) reading this in public?" on EVERY public forum I write within the past 18 years. For that, on every fora on every web site, I've always used my name.

Then again, at what level does help to include a company identity and position (for credibility or reputation), and at what level does that become "too much of an "imprimatur" from the named company for design decisions by another firm or person?

 

[JohnRBaker]

For the record, I've been very active for years on a couple of political websites where I use an anonymous 'handle' so I agree with you on the issue of "would I want my boss..." (although my last boss and I had the same political views, I'm not so sure about my current boss but since he lives in the UK it may not make a lot of difference one way or the other).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Congrats Sparweb!

Ooh, I'm afraid Lady Karma wouldn't be so kind to me. I'd get the job shoveling out catch basins and grease traps, curmudgeon that I tend to be.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.