PLC Distance Education Course (please help!)

Hi.

I'm interested in learning PLC programming and getting a certificate if possible to put on my resume. The course that I'm interested in is here:

http://www.etcourse.com/plc/plc_cont.html

The cost for this course is about $1400 CND total (~$1000US). Is it worth it? Are there other courses out there that you guys would recommend?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Hi Krazy,

I am taking that course, or rather, I ordered the CD and the first test. It is an interesting course but I think if you have little or no background in electrical then you will have a problem. (I have a husband who is a journeyman electrician and have used his help extensively.) It doesn't seem to give as much background as is needed. One thing I will suggest is do the whole course first before writing any of the tests. Some of the questions on test 1 for module 1 were not addressed until module 2 and 3.

I haven't ordered any of the other tests as I am going to wait until I am through the whole cd first and then see if I really want to go through all the tests.

I would be really interested in seeing what someone else had to say about the course. My husband has said that a lot of it is beyond what I will need for my application, and some of it is even beyond his scope, but I don't think that the level of difficulty necessarily detracts from the course.

Darian

Thanks for the info Darian.

I do have an electrical background so I don't think that'll be a problem. I'm a bit worried about the cost though. $1400 seems kind of steep. Maybe I'll just order the CD by itself and work through the modules and not do the exams. $300 CND for the CD seems reasonable.

There's another similar cd based tutorial that I'm looking at called PLC Trainer:

http://www.koldwater.com/

The CD is about the same price, does anybody have any info on the quality of this tutorial?

Have you gone through the PLC course here? I took it and started programming. I am not an expert by any means but I do have an electrical background, a computer programming backgrand, as well as CNC programming. The course started me and if I don't understand something, I go back and read the course again. I have also ordered the book, which is at a very good price.

Krazy,

I'm not sure what kind of job you are currently in the market for, but in addition to your PLC programming certificate, you might want to quantify (or qualify?) other experience you have by checking out ISA's CCST (Certified Control System Technician) Program here:

http://www.isa.org/Content/Navigati...s/Certification/CCST_Program/CCST_Program.htm

A certification such as this will really stand out to prospective employers. It may not be feasible for you in the short term, but perhaps a future career goal.

Good Luck,
Jeff

Have you gone through the PLC course here? I took it and started programming. I am not an expert by any means but I do have an electrical background, a computer programming backgrand, as well as CNC programming. The course started me and if I don't understand something, I go back and read the course again. I have also ordered the book, which is at a very good price.

Click to expand...

I'm going over the tutorial here right now but I'd perfer to get something more formal because I think it would look better on a resume.

Krazy,

I'm not sure what kind of job you are currently in the market for, but in addition to your PLC programming certificate, you might want to quantify (or qualify?) other experience you have by checking out ISA's CCST (Certified Control System Technician) Program here:

http://www.isa.org/Content/Navigati...CST_Program.htm

A certification such as this will really stand out to prospective employers. It may not be feasible for you in the short term, but perhaps a future career goal.

Good Luck,
Jeff

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

I recently graduated with BASc (EE) but I've had a really tough time finding a job so I'm looking to upgrade my skillset. The CCST & CSE sound interesting but I live in Canada so I'm not sure how beneficial those designations would be for me.

For reviews of The PLCTrainer from Koldwater Technologies, LLC see this link http://www.mrplc.com/sites/moreinfo.cgi?237