Now I really do wish was a forum for career advice...
I’m having a sort of dilemma forming at my job. It has to do with my position and my title. This company is a transportation consulting company; our bread-and-butter specialty has been automated people-movers (those tram trains at bigger airports than go from terminal to terminal). I’ve been with this company for over twelve years. I hired on as a CAD tech – the title I have had is ‘CAD Specialist’. While there are a few engineers who ‘know CAD’, I’m the closest thing the company has to a real, full-time CAD department.
Most of my CAD work has ranges from simple ‘crayon’ conceptual graphics to very technical reference drawings in Civil 3D. The latter are usually plan and profile drawing sets of a train alignment with details – just short of full-blown design drawings.
However, I do a lot more than just CAD monkey work. My education is in construction and I’ve had some experience in that. Here, I’ve been involved with on-site in-the-field observation and supervising testing, inspection and demonstrations, traveling for the company in this. One thing that this company does is represent the client in this – sort of eyes and ears on the construction site. I’ve done some low-level schedule preparation and some engineering-type analysis. In short, yesterday I may have been reviewing standards and specifications, today I may be drawing some serious models, tomorrow I may be flying to another jobsite with my hardhat and boots.
I suggested that we upgrade my title, and everyone concerned agrees. Now we simply want to come up with the actual verbiage. ‘Senior Designer’, ‘Transportation Specialist’, and ‘Senior Transportation Design Specialist’ have each been suggested. I’m still mulling these over, and trying to think of better wording.
I know: I'm rambling a little, and ranting a little...
Any ideas and/or opinions?
TIA