Post a CommentSteady as she goes
A troubled economy hasn't disrupted the careers of most test engineers, according to T&MW's 2008 career and salary survey.
Lawrence D. Maloney, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 8/1/2008
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That's evident from the results of the June 2008 Reed Research Group survey of test engineers, commissioned by Test & Measurement World, as well as from interviews with engineers and career experts. Even so, test engineers continue to face mounting job demands and rising pressures to do more with leaner resources.
It's also getting harder to find qualified engineers to fill vacancies at a time when the test field is growing more challenging as devices get more complex. "Technology is moving almost too fast for us to keep up," said Michael Keller, a senior test engineer at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. "Oftentimes, there is not enough time, money, or manpower to complete the testing process."
Keller, who is also executive director of the American Society of Test Engineers, adds that increased computer power is making test equipment obsolete at a faster pace, requiring engineers to learn new test systems almost on a continuous basis.
Confronting the challenges
As in past years, the Reed survey shows that test engineers face significant time pressures, with 68% of respondents citing that factor when asked to name their biggest challenges. Other time-related issues also rank high on the list of challenges, including: "increased number of projects" (cited by 52%) and "keeping up with new technology" (43%). And among respondents who have been working at the same job for at least three years, 82% said the number of functions that they perform has increased during that time.
"The speed at which we need to get things done keeps increasing, yet we lack sufficient automation tools to accelerate our personal productivity," said Chris Herms, a veteran engineer who tests microcontrollers for automotive applications at Freescale Semiconductor in Texas. "Test also needs to adapt fast to frequent design changes, and sometimes test is treated as an add-on or even an after-thought."
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Portrait of a Test Engineer Source: T&MW's 2008 salary survey. |
Denise Iglesias, senior manager in the group that develops data-acquisition products for Texas-based National Instruments, noted that the increasing complexity of today's products puts a premium on maximum efficiency "so that test doesn't become the bottleneck." Cost also looms large among daily challenges. "When you invest in test equipment, you need to get the most out of it," explained Iglesias. For NI, that often means designing test setups so that they can be used in both R&D and manufacturing settings.
At NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, concerns about expenses have prompted more computer modeling and code work before engineers move on to costly wind-tunnel sessions, according to David Elliott, who tests jet engines. "Over the last couple years, resources have become more limited," he added.
In California, Erik Wilmot's "jack of all trades" duties for Boston Scientific include design for test and development of board-test systems for medical diagnostic equipment. And like many engineers, he must wrestle with how to justify the cost of test to management. "It might cost $30,000 to develop a test platform, but trying to put a dollar figure on the payback can be a nebulous exercise," admitted Wilmot. "So, you fall back on such arguments as test's role in preventing problems in manufacturing and reducing customer complaints."
Tools of the trade
How to get ahead in the face of these obstacles? Whether the task is explaining the test agenda to management or sorting out technical issues among today's far-flung engineering teams, "communications/presentation skills" heads the list of talents that respondents say are most valuable for advancement.
"You've got to be able to sell yourself and your ideas and be able to see the big picture beyond your technical specialty," said Wilmot of Boston Scientific.
Richard House, president of VI Technology, a Texas firm that provides engineering services and test-management software, noted that technical skills, though very important, will help engineers advance only so far. "People also need the soft skills, like taking the time to listen and to understand problems, and being able to resolve conflicts. These can be tough to acquire even for brilliant people," said House. "But as I look around our company, all the engineers who have risen to the top have these soft skills."
Such skills also include "team building," cited as important by 72% of respondents. "My team is in Texas, Germany, China, and India," observed Herms of Freescale Semiconductor, "and you have to be able to get beyond cultural and time differences to describe problems and solve them together. There's no room today for extreme individualists, however talented, who aren't team players."
At National Instruments, Iglesias explained, experienced engineers are charged with mentoring and growing the next generation of engineers, who in turn are expected to sharpen their programming skills in Java, C, and C# as part of their ongoing learning. In fact, she advises ambitious test engineers to add a master's in computer science.
Many test engineers echo that advice. Among technical skills contributing to advancement, computer prowess ranked number 1 among survey respondents. "It goes without saying that you need strong programming skills to be a successful test engineer," said Jim Norvold, a test manager at Sycamore Networks, a Massachusetts firm that makes switching equipment for telecommunications. "Facility with tools like LabView is a must to get a job here."
Others, like Keller of ASTE, however, argue that it is not necessary to be a programming guru. Keller explained that good solution-based test modules have been developed for many applications, and the "real skill is knowing how to put test systems together."
"One of the key talents you need on your test team is a very good generalist who understands the entire test flow," said Tom Varna, a product manager for the Diamond family of testers at Credence Systems in California. "In the semiconductor world, it's also critical that test engineers understand the design environment, as well as EDA tools."
Rewards: psychic and otherwise
The new survey shows that respondents who have earned an MS or MBA have an average annual compensation of $103,540, versus $91,106 for those with just a bachelor's degree. Those who have earned a PhD make nearly $140,000, according to the survey.
Among other compensation comparisons reported in the survey, test engineers involved in the R&D function notched the highest annual compensation at $96,113, followed closely by design for test ($95,991). Those whose specialty is incoming inspection earned the least at $83,179. As for the industries most lucrative for test, semiconductors paid the most ($106,787), with computers and software the runner-up at $104,397. Respondents who work in contract manufacturing posted the lowest average annual compensation ($84,083).
And when it comes to compensation increases in this inflationary economy, test engineers are faring better than the general population. The survey showed an average increase of 4.5% in 2007, versus the 2.9% average hike that all private employers gave workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average compensation increase expected for 2008 for engineers in the T&MW survey: 4.8%. On the down side, about 5% of respondents took a pay cut in 2007.
Money, however, ranked only third on the list (following "technical challenge" and "feeling of accomplishment") when engineers were asked to indicate the factors having the greatest impact on job satisfaction. In the 2007 survey, respondents chose salary as the top factor.
In fact, the survey showed a very high level of satisfaction with the test engineering field. A full 90% of respondents reported that they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their careers. And would they recommend the field to a son or daughter? "Yes," noted 72% of respondents, up from 67% in the 2007 survey.
What's the appeal of test? In contrast to design engineers, who often must compromise their ideas with marketing, purchasing, and other functions, test engineers more frequently enjoy total ownership of the test system they develop, observed House of VI Technology. House added that the field also affords faster turnover in projects than does design, as well as a great deal of variety. "In the last few months, we've developed test systems for chips, cellphones, and network systems," he said.
"I love this field," added Gary Boutilier, a veteran test engineering manager at Cirtronics, a New Hampshire contract manufacturer. "It's challenging, fast-paced, and we're constantly exposed to state-of-the-art technology."
The road ahead
Upbeat comments aside, engineers, like most Americans, still fret about the future, even while the general outlook for their careers looks promising. "Job security" ranked highest in the survey among workplace concerns, while health insurance and pension plans were the most prized benefits.
Yet career experts see little reason for the uneasiness over job prospects. "While the employment outlook for many fields is poor, it is very strong for engineers," said John O'Brien of Hire Integrity, an Illinois recruitment firm specializing in technical professionals. "With all the baby boomer retirements, there should be more than enough slots for new engineering grads."
In Florida, Craig Stoldt, a test engineering manager with Manufacturing Technology, said his toughest challenge is recruiting qualified engineers for his company, which specializes in revamping and maintaining automated test equipment platforms for the military. "The job market is very tight, and it can be a hard sell to convince young engineers that the test field can be challenging and satisfying."
Even at National Instruments, which has been named one of Fortune magazine's "Best Companies to Work for" in nine consecutive years, senior engineer Iglesias said that "we are challenged to fill all of our openings."
Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 1% growth in job openings annually for engineers during the 2006-2015 period. The Bureau also forecasts that engineers will account for an increasing share of manufacturing employment because of their role in "modernizing production facilities and keeping products new and technologically current."
Many career experts and engineers now argue that concerns about outsourcing engineering jobs have been exaggerated. "Companies aren't outsourcing their thought leaders," said O'Brien of Hire Integrity. "In fact, companies from countries like Australia are coming to the US to recruit engineers."
Where outsourcing of test does occur, observers say, it tends to be in more routine manufacturing test functions, and even in those instances, development of the test platform often originates in the US. Wilmot of Boston Scientific also pointed to a so-called "boomerang effect," where engineering jobs once outsourced are now returning to the US because of unsatisfactory results abroad.
All this adds up to a solid future for most test engineers, especially those who are proactive in managing their careers. "Take courses, network, join professional organizations," advised Keller of ASTE. "There are huge opportunities in the test field, but you need to have a plan."
