Unbearable Lightness of Searching Foreign Engineers
Your
writer has been working in a JV company with a foreign partner in
Turkey in the 1990s. We got a big boiler tender at an important plant along the Black Sea coast. Our US based JV partner
gave us the first 10 major drawings of similar proven ref design that
they had built elsewhere, at a price of US$ 60,000. They advised us
to create detail design in our engineering department.
We
received their Design manuals, approx 1000 detail drawings would be
drawn, moreover we should carry out purchasing, manufacturing and
on-site assembly.
There
was one important clause in the tender document. We were supposed to
have an expatriate preferably an American engineer as construction
site manager.
Having
an expatriate US engineer as our foreign construction site manager
would mean paying US$ 10,000 per month, plus living expenses,
lodging, company car.
In
those days I was having a monthly net salary of 2000 US dollars.
That
was the top salary in our company for engineers.
Anyway,
all design, procurement, manufacturing works have been completed, the
boiler construction project has come to the stage of site assembly.
Our
British expat general manager brought a resume one day.
A
young American graduate living in Kentucky has just finished school.
Whatever happened that summer as he traveled to Europe, on his way he
dropped to Istanbul.
He
has found a Turkish girl, first friendship then marriage. Then he
started to look for a job to stay in Turkey for 1-2 years.
First
he got a list of US companies who were active in Turkey. He reviewed
the list and submitted a CV to each of those that he deemed
appropriate, declaring that he was looking for a job to work.
He
was almost 25 years old, with a mechanical engineering degree from a
Kentucky university. He had no past experience. But he was an
American expatriate.
We
called him. He had an incomprehensible English. But no harm, he was
American, with a valid US passport.
We
renewed his CV, sent him to a barber to have a business style
haircut. We purchased a black business suit on his back. Then We all
went the customer's factory. Of course, we already advised him, "Do
not open your mouth, just say hello, how are you ... Do not say
another word."
We
introduced him. Here's our American construction site chief from the
USA!
The
young US engineer stayed on site for 6-8 months. He got $ 4,000 per
month. We rented a house and the company car. We advised him a crush
course for site management.
He
was at the construction site full time during the day, he wrote
progress reports. Since he was a newcomer, he followed what we asked
to do. He edited the site notes we wrote in English.
He
made recording of the arrival and departure of the workers.
He
was not involved in technical matters. The job was over. Our young
engineer won a ref project to write in his CV.
In
the meantime, his Turkish wife received her United States entry visa,
they both went to the US. We finished the job at site, and received
our completion certificate.
Similar
situations were repeated in two separate assembly sites in Bursa.
This time with an elderly foreign field engineers.
The
first one was a foreign construction engineer, with good contract
experience.
The
other was an old German engineer. He did not even know how to use a
computer. We wrote the site progress reports in English, he signed
it, so it went on.
So
do not insist on having foreign engineers in the field, see how it
works. Because this is Turkey, we have endless solutions.
---
Haluk
Direskeneli, is a graduate of METU Mechanical Engineering department
(1973). He worked in public, private enterprises, USA Turkish JV
companies (B&W, CSWI, AEP), in fabrication, basic and detail
design, marketing, sales and project management of thermal power
plants. He is currently working as freelance consultant/ energy
analyst with thermal power plants basic/ detail design software
expertise for private engineering companies, investors, universities
and research institutions. He is a member of ODTÜ Alumni and Chamber
of Turkish Mechanical Engineers Energy Working Group.
This
article is written for the "EurasiaReview" news web site.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/author/haluk-direskeneli/
Ankara,
3rd May 2017
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