How do I become one?
34 replies (most recent on top)
Take tea in the parlor at 2, and sip it with their pinkies raised.
The great ones get patents and create products that give you a job.
@nj RadiaA PerlmanN would be one of fellows - check if you know her and check if you ever used results of her work - if you older than 40 - you very likely did
@qs you gotta do a lot more than licking it to be at that level, you got to take it down your throat and swallow it
I work with few 'distinguished engineers' and couple 'fellows'. Usually DE/F hold few patents , have been very long in the industry and adopt quickly to what company ask them to do
Other than that - it's Director and Sr.Director equivalent branch/salary - with about no risk of layoffs.
What they do - example is represent DELL on different boards of industry specification bodies ( IEE , SNIA , FC , NVMExpress etc, AI ) and ensure position of Engineering is attainable in 3-5 development years of product and convergent into specification produced or predicted to be target one.
You can find bunch searching RFCs
do you people even work here?????
@xc
Distinguished Engineer is something completely different to Domain Engineer. It’s on the EE side and is an IC role at i10/i11
Never heard anyone call it 'distinguished engineer' (former DE).
DE is Domain Engineer. Most have a primary skillset. We internally referred these skillsets as 'domains'. VMware DE, Linux DE, SysMan DE, Platform DE (PowerEdge HW). Many have secondary skillsets they may take internal cases for.
Domain Engineers are also sometimes coded as Senior Engineer, Principle Engineer, and Senior Principle Engineers, but anything Senior or above is considered a Domain Engineer. Maybe the EMC side of the house is different, but this was how L-Dell did it.
@re 20%?? What will the severance pkg look like?
The big 20 percent April WFR is going to exceed their 20 % quota. Title = opex opportunity
@az ok kiss a.. lol
Just one way and only one way.. LICK it.. .
Everything else is BS..
It's like dell-dollars. Only good within dell and no where else
@q4 I meant to say that the deferred comp was NOT guaranteed.
@OP Generally you need to go above and beyond. I made it to Technical Staff after turning down invites to be on the technical leadership team. Being a DE essentially you take on special projects and mentorships. The only real advantage over being Technical Staff was a deferred comp plan that your deferred comp was guaranteed. I was about to retire and my manager got me a package. I'm happily enjoying life.
This is true. a lot of dirs and managers at dell get downsized in title when they move out of dell.
Where dell could not make up in compensation it made up in a bloated pretentious title.
A distinguished engineer at dell might as well be the most distinguished ant: it's not worth a $1 outside of dell.
@fh Yes, but how many are biological women vs dudes who like to play make believe?
Name one Dell DE you would put up over a DE at say Google, or Microsoft, or Apple? Name one.
I initially read that as 'disgruntled engineer' lol
I currently work with one from IT. He is very good. He knows an amazing amount about how our systems actually work, and he takes ownership of problems.
@ff You are aware that Dell has women DEs, right?
You should have sonorous voice, imposing posture, a beard and bushy eyebrows. Those are must-haves.
@ea they promote YESMAN type in both manager and IC career path.
I've literally met some DE's that are d-mb as rocks. I'm just a Principal Lab Engineer having to teach a DE how to patch their ESXi. I thought they knew more than us. The title is a f'n joke.
if you're asking 'how to get there'... on a 'layoff forum'... I can tell you right now confidently, you're not going to get there... unfortunately... but please use my reaction as the drive to prove me wrong, good luck. 😉
I have worked with one. He was extremely exceptional. He was technical and had business acumen. This is not to say that there may be Principal Engineers that can do the same thing. But, this person was fantastic.
@b0 Not sure if they have to like boots. Usually it’s sneakers or casual shoes.
Not a damn thing!
At Dell they dont do Jack Sh----a except like boots. Sorry, but that's the truth.
You have to make significant contributions to the companies technology. I am privileged to have worked with two people who attained this title. Trust me, they still make serious contributions, mentor younger engineers, advise management (Management does not often listen.)
For many years, companies thought they would reward senior engineers but many engineers don’t want to be managers. So if they wanted to make more money they would leave.
Companies came up with the title, or a similar one, as a way to retain talent and their institutional memory.
They deserve respect, more than most of our c-suite employees.
File patents.
Sorry to be rude but you’re not becoming one if posting here.
absolutely nothing, it's the senior and principals that do all the work.