Why Melanie, WHY???

[Anonymous]

Why did you have to go and create the salary survey that shows I am
getting paid 18k less than others in my region for my job?

Now you've gone and got me all depressed...lol

[Anonymous]

I'd definitely ask for the job description to be 'redefined'.
Maybe something like CAD Coordinator (sort of like one step below CAD
Manager, because it sounds like you're customizing not necessarily managing
the other users).

I've had my job description here rewritten a couple of times as my skills
expanded, and my pay range has moved up 3 or 4 notches in the past 7 years
(not necessarily meaning I'm making A LOT more money with each grade bump
since they overlap, I'm in the bottom 1/4 of the current pay grade instead
of the top 5% for the original one).

Luckily for me, management understood that what I was doing wasn't something
that had been done here before and rewarded me for educating myself.

good luck to you, definitely

(you might also want to look at Robert Green's CAD Manager survey through
CADalyst.com if you haven't already)

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454415@discussion.autodesk.com...
Years ago as I sat in an Avatech training facility working on a lesson, I
watched the instructor begin to build a macro for one of there customers. I
said to myself.wow I got learn how to do that!! Since then I have taken it
upon myself to learn as much as I could. I originally came up with macro
driven masters for my company. The result over the last two years has been
in excess of 2.6 million dollars generated from the macro's (and yes the
macro logs each user, job valu
e and qty into an access database just for this purpose).
For two consecutive years I ask for such increases that will put me into the
range of salary as shown here: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151031.htm
. My employer informs me that I am not an "Application Engineer". That would
be someone who sells Autodesk software. Is this true? I believe there must
be some middle ground for a designer who writes his/her own macros for the
benefit of the company. In answer to
your questions:

How much of that are you asked by your employer to do?

None.they clueless as to how to automate drawings or BOM's.

And when you were hired (or anywhere along the way with this employer) was
there any reference given to this type situation? As in - If you see this
type of need, are you able to help us fulfill it?

Only as of late are they starting to see the light, and asking, "Can you do
this?"

I am grateful for the overt
ime they let me work, however if I made more $$ per hr, perhaps I could work
less. Also Application Engineer sounds better than Cad operator. I guess in
short I'm looking for money and recognition. Am I nuts or what??

[Anonymous]

Thanks Melanie, good advice. I will definitely check out the other survey! Thanks Again!
Wayne

[Anonymous]

Not a problem, I'll be happy if I've managed to help. 🙂

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454437@discussion.autodesk.com...
Thanks Melanie, good advice. I will definitely check out the other survey!
Thanks Again!
Wayne

[Anonymous]

As I'm sure Melanie is about to tell you Wayne, "You're not nuts!"

Your firm is beginning to see the value you provide, and I'm hopeful that
they are thinking along the lines of - "Can we afford to be without him?"

So it may be time to broach the subject once again to them, but you may need
to have the ability to say that - "Well then the DAY of MONTH will be my
last day." The ability I mentioned would need to be handled through an
interview with other firms in your area. No decision needs to be made by any
folks in these interviews, but you can at least tell by that if you have a
"marketable commodity".

HTH

--
Don Reichle
"The only thing worse than training your staff, and having them leave is -
not training your staff, and having them stay." 😮
A reminder taken from Graphics Solution Providers' Calendar page
--------------------------------------------------------------------
!! Please discuss whatever we tell you with your SysMgr !!
!! They appreciate staying in the loop 🙂 !!

CivilSeries-2K4
Intel Xeon 3.2GHz 2GB RAM
XPPro 32bit SP2
Nvidia Quadro NVS 285 256MB

"The only Constant is Change".


wrote in message news:5454415@discussion.autodesk.com...
Years ago as I sat in an Avatech training facility working on a lesson, I
watched the instructor begin to build a macro for one of there customers. I
said to myself.wow I got learn how to do that!! Since then I have taken it
upon myself to learn as much as I could. I originally came up with macro
driven masters for my company. The result over the last two years has been
in excess of 2.6 million dollars generated from the macro's (and yes the
macro logs each user, job valu
e and qty into an access database just for this purpose).
For two consecutive years I ask for such increases that will put me into the
range of salary as shown here: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151031.htm
. My employer informs me that I am not an "Application Engineer". That would
be someone who sells Autodesk software. Is this true? I believe there must
be some middle ground for a designer who writes his/her own macros for the
benefit of the company. In answer to
your questions:

How much of that are you asked by your employer to do?

None.they clueless as to how to automate drawings or BOM's.

And when you were hired (or anywhere along the way with this employer) was
there any reference given to this type situation? As in - If you see this
type of need, are you able to help us fulfill it?

Only as of late are they starting to see the light, and asking, "Can you do
this?"

I am grateful for the overt
ime they let me work, however if I made more $$ per hr, perhaps I could work
less. Also Application Engineer sounds better than Cad operator. I guess in
short I'm looking for money and recognition. Am I nuts or what??

[Anonymous]

Well said Mrs. Perry.

I can say the same.

--
Don Reichle
"The only thing worse than training your staff, and having them leave is -
not training your staff, and having them stay." 😮
A reminder taken from Graphics Solution Providers' Calendar page
--------------------------------------------------------------------
!! Please discuss whatever we tell you with your SysMgr !!
!! They appreciate staying in the loop 🙂 !!

CivilSeries-2K4
Intel Xeon 3.2GHz 2GB RAM
XPPro 32bit SP2
Nvidia Quadro NVS 285 256MB

"The only Constant is Change".


"melanie stone" wrote in message
news:5454483@discussion.autodesk.com...
Not a problem, I'll be happy if I've managed to help. 🙂

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454437@discussion.autodesk.com...
Thanks Melanie, good advice. I will definitely check out the other survey!
Thanks Again!
Wayne

[C3D_RickGraham]

The fascinating thing I see from the survey is that no matter how much a
person complains about the money - the percentage of happiness with current
employer seems to be a lot higher than normal. So I think that factors into
this equation. If I was paid 10X my current rate and dreaded each day coming
into work vs. a person who LOVES their job but isn't getting paid alot I'd
rather be paid a little less for my own sanity. Conclusion - sometimes money
ISN'T everything.

Rick

"melanie stone" wrote in message
news:5454483@discussion.autodesk.com...
Not a problem, I'll be happy if I've managed to help. 🙂

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454437@discussion.autodesk.com...
Thanks Melanie, good advice. I will definitely check out the other survey!
Thanks Again!
Wayne

[Anonymous]

You never want to give them an ultimatum. Some bosses may take it the wrong
way and think you are questioning their power and say fine and good luck to
you on your new adventure. Just show them why you are a value to them with
what you have done and can do and the data that shows you should make from
x - y amount for doing that job. Or keep making what you are but have them
sign a contract that states your programming designs are your property if
and when you leave the company. This way you can sale them to other
companies and kind of do programming on a side for extra money.

"Don Reichle" wrote in message
news:5454494@discussion.autodesk.com...
As I'm sure Melanie is about to tell you Wayne, "You're not nuts!"

Your firm is beginning to see the value you provide, and I'm hopeful that
they are thinking along the lines of - "Can we afford to be without him?"

So it may be time to broach the subject once again to them, but you may need
to have the ability to say that - "Well then the DAY of MONTH will be my
last day." The ability I mentioned would need to be handled through an
interview with other firms in your area. No decision needs to be made by any
folks in these interviews, but you can at least tell by that if you have a
"marketable commodity".

HTH

--
Don Reichle
"The only thing worse than training your staff, and having them leave is -
not training your staff, and having them stay." 😮
A reminder taken from Graphics Solution Providers' Calendar page
--------------------------------------------------------------------
!! Please discuss whatever we tell you with your SysMgr !!
!! They appreciate staying in the loop 🙂 !!

CivilSeries-2K4
Intel Xeon 3.2GHz 2GB RAM
XPPro 32bit SP2
Nvidia Quadro NVS 285 256MB

"The only Constant is Change".


wrote in message news:5454415@discussion.autodesk.com...
Years ago as I sat in an Avatech training facility working on a lesson, I
watched the instructor begin to build a macro for one of there customers. I
said to myself.wow I got learn how to do that!! Since then I have taken it
upon myself to learn as much as I could. I originally came up with macro
driven masters for my company. The result over the last two years has been
in excess of 2.6 million dollars generated from the macro's (and yes the
macro logs each user, job valu
e and qty into an access database just for this purpose).
For two consecutive years I ask for such increases that will put me into the
range of salary as shown here: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151031.htm
. My employer informs me that I am not an "Application Engineer". That would
be someone who sells Autodesk software. Is this true? I believe there must
be some middle ground for a designer who writes his/her own macros for the
benefit of the company. In answer to
your questions:

How much of that are you asked by your employer to do?

None.they clueless as to how to automate drawings or BOM's.

And when you were hired (or anywhere along the way with this employer) was
there any reference given to this type situation? As in - If you see this
type of need, are you able to help us fulfill it?

Only as of late are they starting to see the light, and asking, "Can you do
this?"

I am grateful for the overt
ime they let me work, however if I made more $$ per hr, perhaps I could work
less. Also Application Engineer sounds better than Cad operator. I guess in
short I'm looking for money and recognition. Am I nuts or what??

[Anonymous]

I guess thats very true! Money is not everything. However a little credit where credit is due goes a long way.... and "LOVES their job", I wouldnt say that either. Good job, sure.

[Anonymous]

😉 bingo.

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454515@discussion.autodesk.com...
The fascinating thing I see from the survey is that no matter how much a
person complains about the money - the percentage of happiness with current
employer seems to be a lot higher than normal. So I think that factors into
this equation. If I was paid 10X my current rate and dreaded each day coming
into work vs. a person who LOVES their job but isn't getting paid alot I'd
rather be paid a little less for my own sanity. Conclusion - sometimes money
ISN'T everything.

Rick

"melanie stone" wrote in message
news:5454483@discussion.autodesk.com...
Not a problem, I'll be happy if I've managed to help. 🙂

--
Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
http://mistressofthedorkness.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5454437@discussion.autodesk.com...
Thanks Melanie, good advice. I will definitely check out the other survey!
Thanks Again!
Wayne

[Anonymous]

The ulimatum does not sit well with me either. However, I have considered just pulling the plug on some of these macros and just sit back and listen to the "screams" from around the office, as they go back to doing it the old way!. That might shake them up a little bit :).
Wayne

[Anonymous]

Don,
Just curious, do you work for Graphics Solution Providers?

[Anonymous]

ha-ha sure go on vacation for a week and the night before just pull the
plug. But it also might get you a longer vacation. Sure would get their
attention. It's the same way with IT work. They never notice what you do
when everything is working fine but soon as they can not get email or
something else then they notice.

wrote in message news:5454565@discussion.autodesk.com...
The ulimatum does not sit well with me either. However, I have considered
just pulling the plug on some of these macros and just sit back and listen
to the "screams" from around the office, as they go back to doing it the old
way!. That might shake them up a little bit :).
Wayne

[Anonymous]

wayne_f wrote:
> The ulimatum does not sit well with me either. However, I have considered just pulling the plug on some of these macros and just sit back and listen to the "screams" from around the office, as they go back to doing it the old way!. That might shake them up a little bit :).
> Wayne

Do you have the right or authority to do that? They paid you to create
them. They may not even belong to you anymore. Seems like an ultimatum,
or blackmail.

[Anonymous]

Morally, I could not do it. But one can dream....

[Anonymous]

No - I just wish I did sometimes. 😉

I've always had the same type of mindset, and their slogan says things so
well.

--
Don Reichle
"The only thing worse than training your staff, and having them leave is -
not training your staff, and having them stay." 😮
A reminder taken from Graphics Solution Providers' Calendar page
--------------------------------------------------------------------
!! Please discuss whatever we tell you with your SysMgr !!
!! They appreciate staying in the loop 🙂 !!

CivilSeries-2K4
Intel Xeon 3.2GHz 2GB RAM
XPPro 32bit SP2
Nvidia Quadro NVS 285 256MB

"The only Constant is Change".


wrote in message news:5454568@discussion.autodesk.com...
Don,
Just curious, do you work for Graphics Solution Providers?

[Anonymous]

Drop the colored ink on these pdfs. The use of colors wastes ink when the
use of color serves no functional purpose.

<%= Clinton Gallagher
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/
MAP http://wikimapia.org/#y=43038073&x=-88043838&z=17&l=0&m=h


"kemp" wrote in message news:5453623@discussion.autodesk.com...
Why did you have to go and create the salary survey that shows I am
getting paid 18k less than others in my region for my job?

Now you've gone and got me all depressed...lol

[Anonymous]

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:59:44 +0000, clintonG
wrote:

>Drop the colored ink on these pdfs. The use of colors wastes ink when the
>use of color serves no functional purpose.

You can set color documents to print in B&W at printing time...

Matt
mstachoni@comcast.net
mstachoni@bhhtait.com

[C O Jones]

Hey Clinton do you make all your web sites in B&W?

Welcome to the 21st century Clinton, color is a good thing, many people make use of it now.

[C O Jones]

Ditto, thanks for all your hard work on that. And thanks for the great attitude.

[Anonymous]

can you even buy B&W printers still? 😉

"clintonG" wrote in message
news:5454608@discussion.autodesk.com...
Drop the colored ink on these pdfs. The use of colors wastes ink when the
use of color serves no functional purpose.

<%= Clinton Gallagher
NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com
URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/
MAP http://wikimapia.org/#y=43038073&x=-88043838&z=17&l=0&m=h


"kemp" wrote in message news:5453623@discussion.autodesk.com...
Why did you have to go and create the salary survey that shows I am
getting paid 18k less than others in my region for my job?

Now you've gone and got me all depressed...lol