PLC Jobs

I was just curious on some your backgrounds with PLC's. Mainly I want to know college majors if you have one. Since switching majors and getting into electronics and now taking my PLC class I am loving PLC's, automation, and robotics. My major is Eletronics and Computer Technology and after I finish this I plan to go back to get a A.A.S. in automated manufacturing, where I would learn about robotics, fluid and pneumatic power, and a few other things. I was just curious what your backgrounds where, and maybe if you didn't mind a general idea on how much you make doing PLC work. Oh yeah I also plan to get Certified for my networking which I figure should bump pay up a little more. THanks

Since no one else has answered you I will interject my 2 cents. I have two degrees one in Industrial Electronics and one in Computer Integrated Manufacturing. While working in the field of Industrial Automation I have found that I draw on both of these daily. I also have to deal with the mechanical aspects of the projects so my back ground as a Maintenance Tech has proven valuable there. I also have to be knowable to an extent with IT and Networking. So it helps to have a wide and varying knowledge of several fields. As for the pay it can range from nothing to great. It depends on where you live, who you work for, and the value the company puts on your services. The most important thing is that you like what you are doing, where you work, and the people you work with. If you find a place that can provide you with those then you are truly lucky. beerchug

I have been in the electrical/electronic industry for 18yrs. I was going for a B.S. degree in alternative energies when the bottom dropped out in '82(who needs solar,wind,biomass,geothermal,ect.?) when the utility companies are doing such a good job, anyway.
So, I went to tech school for an EET degree. After graduation everyone wanted you PCs were in and controls were getting easier.

If you ever have a chance to work in R&D take it and enjoy the ride because it will teach you more pyhsics,mathematics,concepts,working enviorments then all your schooling put together (6yrs of R&D). I was more hardware then software.

Now, with PLCs and motion control with embedded intelligence and many sensors for all sensing, the hardware is hardened and I can be more software then hardware.Now with MMI gaining much popularity and DDE/OPC links to PCs for doing number crunching in the PC instead of the PLCs the job is very satisfying, they also pay me with raises every year. I am like a juke box the more coins the more I play. I have been laid off for 1 month in 18yrs.

work history

Hummmmmm, where to start! I have been out of college since 1976. Graduated from VPI in Blacksburg,Va. with a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology(BSET). Worked in several industrial plants over the next 20 years as a project engineer. Got into PLCs back when they were first hitting the scene. Programmed the big black box AB PLC if anyone remembers that one and a few smaller ones including the mini PLC/2 and the Modicon Micro 84. Have been all the way through the AB family up to the new ControlLogix which I have not played with yet. I have been teaching industrial systems at a community college here in North Carolina for the last 6 1/2 years and love every minute of it. I teach PLCs twice a year, in the fall and summer semesters. I figure I am making about what I deserve now and that is in the upper 50's. But we are all lucky to get paid more than we are actually worth most of the time. This is a career path that will have great rewards and many frustrations, but hey, if it was easy anyone could do it and they would not need us.

Hang in there and enjoy the experience of it, do the best you can and the money will take care of itself.

School is great, get all you can. But I will say, you should get a job as a technician in a plant and learn the real world of trouble shooting.
I say this because when you do not have the part, and the boss looks at you and says make it work, you can either choke or make it work!!!!
School tends to show how it works right, I get paid to know how it works wrong.
I think alot of people on this site and in the field will tell you real world problem solving is learned on the job.
I have seen programmers that are awsome and they do not have a troubleshooting bone in their body!
If/when you do get into this field, be prepared to work every holiday and get calls at all hours.(That is if you are THE MAN)
School is very important, to get you in the door.
Just my 2 cents

I agree that the real knowledge comes from working in the field BUT please do yourself a favor and complete the college courses for a degree. That will teach you HOW to think/analyze. It isnt always necessary to know how to troubleshoot depending on the situation but like all knowledge its something that can not do anything but help you.

I curse engineers/management on a daily basis but they need to know/understand more than just what part goes where. Ergonomics, safety, cost, efficiency etc come to mind but isnt all that is needed.

Get the degree then look for a job, hopefully you will find one you enjoy do the work at, it doesnt always happen at first. NEVER stop learning whatever you do.

Here we Go...

Well, I guess I will through in my two cents……I agree with parts of most of the responses I’ve read so far, but not 100% with any of them. YES complete your education. That Degree will open doors for you with HR types and Engineers. A degree implies that you are capable of being taught. It (In my opinion) does not teach you much about how to think. I have worked with so many clueless BS’ers, Masters, and PHD’s that I’ve lost count.

However if you want to be good at the job you need truly understand that writing a good program more then making it work safely. A well written program is one that an average Maintenance Tech can understand and troubleshooting. And I’m not saying that anyone should Dumb down there code for the knuckle draggers. I have great respect for Maintenance Tech’s. I used to be one. Having worked both sides I know that an Engineer can spent months writing the code and modeling it. The Maintenance Tech has 10 min to figure out how it is supposed to work and why it’s not before some production boss it asking “When will it be running?” In my experience, too many of the people that have the degree and no field experience write code that works great in the model, works OK during the startup phase, and then spends needless hours broke down once all the real world forces take over. But by this time they are off to the next project.

If all you learn is from a class that is taught by a professor that couldn’t get a job working in the field he is teaching you about you will still get a job. But you won’t be all you could be.

Just my thought and I know many will take exception to them. But I mean no slight to anyone, just calling them as I see them.

NEVER LET SCHOOL INTERFERE WITH YOUR EDUCATION !

I agree with KMG, I was a maintenance tech (Got my instrument ticket in '81....thats 1981!!!). I then did a three year instrumentation diploma, and sort of drifted into PLC's about 9 years ago. My experience is, when the chips are down after midnight, and the tech starts calling it sh&* code with half of management looking over his shoulder, management thinks it is sh&* code. Do yourself a favour and make it maintenance friendly.