THIS IS NOT A TIRE

February 10th, 2009

I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing with Michelin, and everything was going very well. I met with three different people throughout the four hour interview (the most grueling to date.) We were all focused on quality, QC, QA and such. To start with, we talked about working on the line, shift work, and training in Greenville, SC. Then the tour was given. Off we went into the bowels of where my father has spent his professional life. The smell immediately took me back to my childhood; you know the memories only remembered because of a smell. This really is where my father worked. Ear plugs and steel toe boots. That day I was lucky, as the plant was not making tires. But I saw enough, enough to know that this is not where I wanted to work. At the end of the tour I smiled, shook hands and headed back to my car. I was told I would hear from them in a week or so…well it was almost two when I got word that they were offering me the position. Much to my surprise it was for a different position than the one we had spent hours interviewing for and talking about. I was being offered the position of Validation Engineer. I pondered…what does a Validation Engineer do? They do employ people to stand and wash tires as they come off a conveyer belt (not kidding…real position.) So really, what does a Validation Engineer do?

In my head a job description for a Validation Engineer looks like this:
• Ensure that all tires being loaded on the truck are in fact tires.
• Inform operators at any given time during the tire making process what they are working on is not a tire.
• Compare an object with a known picture/actual tire and decide if the object truly is a tire.
Skill set required:
• Ability to make decisions on your own.
• Willing to question superiors if needed.
• Visually compare two and some times 3 objects of varying sizes at the same time.

Basically I imagined walking around the plant in my hot pink steel toe boots pointing at things (the many objects, not yet authenticated.) I would be a fool to turn this occupation down! I could have moved through the ranks like crazy! Stand out as no other had before! I would keep a clip board…or even a hand held soft copy version of a clip board, yes…that would be the plan. The interface would have two columns with the following headers: Tire and Not A Tire. I would tally up the numbers at the end of the day and process the data. The Michelin family would notice my cost saving measures, and thank me in person.

I could just picture myself twenty years down the road as “Manger of Validation” or even better “VP of Validation.” A very catchy title, considering that when you are the manager they only come to you with the tough ones. “Joey…this is a pizza, not a tire…how many times do we need to go over this? I know I’ve been working this job for twenty years, and have seen more UFOs (in its truest sense) that could have been passed off as a tire, but you’ll get it one day too. I have total confidence in you!” Other famous quotes “get it out of here…this is an inner tube!” “This is not a tire, it’s a donut.” “Come on, I could use some help over here…I’ve got a wagon wheel… Not a tire.”

Alas, I remain in healthcare, and dream of my success validating tires while following in the foot steps of my father.