Qualifications required

Qualifications required ?
Can any one advise me as to what PLC courses /training qualification I will need to stand any chance of getting employment as a Maintenance Service Engineer?
My present qualifications are:

I am a qualified Electrician with 20 yrs Experience.
Know Pascal programming to a basic level
Know Cobol Programming to an intermediate level

Any recommended Books, CDs, Courses etc?

Work, work, work!

Some of your mates who frequent this site will probably be able to provide some specific things related to

getting employment as a Maintenance Service Engineer

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more so than I. However, to get a leg up on PLCs you need to do several things.
1. Take the tutorial
2. Get Phil's book
3. Check out LogixPro here

And just put a lot of effort into what ever you do so someone will have a reason to hire you. No substitute for experience so to gain some you may have to accept a job that is a little less than what you want at first. I sounds to me like you are making a career change and that is a tough thing, but worthy of the task. Go for it!

Fitzroy

Originally posted by Fitzroy I am a qualified Electrician with 20 yrs Experience

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I take it from that you mean a 'house bashing' sparky?

What qualifications did you get when you became an electrician, i.e City and Guilds?

Most employers are looking for people with a minimum HNC in electrical engineering when employing people as maintenance technicians (or service engineers as you have called them)

I have seen plenty of jobs advertised for technicians which require the applicant to have a 'knowledge' of PLC's, that doesn't mean being a wizz kid at programming, to give you a good basic knowledge of PLC's refer to Randys answer. Also you might consider buying 'programmable logic controllers' by Bill Bolton (ISBN 026-4136819-7490037).

If this is the way you want to go, then do as Randy stated and go for it! Learn as much as you can along the way, but you will find that PLC's are just a small part of the job, a good knowledge of motors (DC and AC), drives and other control systems will also be required.

If any of your friends are in this business, talk to them and find out what their employer requires as a minimum for a position as a maintenance technician.

One thing to remember is don't let the lack of a bit of paper hold you back, experience counts for a hell of a lot (in my opinion!).

If I had the choice of a 20 year old with a HNC in electrical engineering and a 40 year old with just his City and Guilds, but who has 20 years experience then I know who I would employ!

Good luck!

Paul

PLucas said:

I take it from that you mean a 'house bashing' sparky?

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Never heard that phrase, Paul. Would that be a complimentary or a derogatory statement?...

beerchug

-Eric

I agree with Eric

Guys or Blokes

Us "new world" techs in America don't follow this thread. Is a guild a union electrician? Does the guild have different classes for construction electricians and industrial electricians.

UK engineers have what type of designate?

Please flesh this out for us slow Yanks

Thanks

Steve

Perhaps it's one of those 'spooky' metric terms... utoh

beerchug

-Eric

You might also try a multimedia tutorial. Check out Koldwater Technologies. The tutorial comes with a free copy of LogixPro.

House Bashing/Qualifications required

Hi Americans,

What Paul means by ‘House Bashing’ is that an Electrician who is working on a new construction site which is building houses alone, will go from 1st to last house doing virtually the say job in each house until the completion of the site . After completing his 30thof a possible 100 houses boredom or greed usually sets in and hence his workmanship goes slightly awry. Where a nice little hole in the wall is required a larger version is installed with a big hammer and patched up later. Hence ‘House Bashing’. Re: City & Guilds: This is the Exam body that run Electrical courses throughout the UK (for All types of ‘Sparkies’) which are required over a 4-5year turm, to become a qualified Electrician.
Can you tell me is it true that in the US the Electricians are trained only in a pacific task? like in a house electrician A will do the wiring, Electrician B will do the installation of the sockets etc, and Electrician C will do the Fuse box?
Paul thanks for your message of encouragement.
I have passed all my C&G Exams to Technicians Level I have had a good career in various sections from ‘House Bashing to installation & maintenance of Radar Stations, Hospitals, Government Buildings, Shop fitting & British Rail Hence working with motors Ac & DC would not be a problem.
Thanks ‘Stan’

Fitzroy

Eric Nelson said:

Never heard that phrase, Paul. Would that be a complimentary or a derogatory statement?...

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Eric,

I suspect that some people would take it as a derogatory statement, although it was not meant that way. 'House bashing sparky' is a term used to describe electricians who do domestic wiring and the like, their qualifications are in electrical installation rather than engineering. Does that make sense? I used that term for want of a better phrase, I know that Fitroy would have understood it and not taken it as a derogatory term.

Steve D,

City and Guilds is an examination board, here in the UK.

There are various levels of qualifications you can get in electrical disiplines in the UK,
There are:-

NVQ's (national vocational qualification)
City and Guilds
BTEC ONC
BTEC HNC
BTEC HND
Degree

Most 'house bashing sparks' (the ones that I know anyway!) are qualified up to City and Guilds
Most, if not all, electrical maintenance technicians are qualified up to the infamous HNC (That's where I stopped) or HND.
Those with a degree usually end up in management.

When I went through college NVQ's were not around, so I started at City and Guilds level, I am not sure if NVQ's have replaced City and Guilds as I am a little bit out of touch with the British education system, it has all changed from when 'I woz a lad!'.

I hope that has explained it a little bit for our 'new world' cousins.


Paul

Fitroy (or is it Stan?)

I see you replied while I was typeing!

I have passed all my C&G Exams to Technicians Level I have had a good career in various sections from ‘House Bashing to installation & maintenance of Radar Stations, Hospitals, Government Buildings, Shop fitting & British Rail Hence working with motors Ac & DC would not be a problem.

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So all you really want to know about is PLC's?

For that I would refer to Randy's answer, then if you have any more questions on PLC's or you don't fully understand anything about them, you can always post your questions on this forum, but please don't ask what the difference between unitary, rack and modular PLC's is!

Paul

Re: House Bashing/Qualifications required

Thank's for the clarifications, guys. From your definition, it seems that I would have been considered a "House Bashing Sparky" early in my career. I worked for a residential/commercial/industrial electrician for two years when I finished school. I did a lot of that house to house to house duplication...

I 'thought' that was what I wanted to do for a living... until the second winter arrived. I got an 'indoor' job after that!... :nodi:

Fitzroy said:

Can you tell me is it true that in the US the Electricians are trained only in a pacific task? like in a house electrician A will do the wiring, Electrician B will do the installation of the sockets etc, and Electrician C will do the Fuse box?

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I assume you meant 'specific'. A 'pacific' task could only be performed on the west coast of the US...

To answer your question, no. Most residential electricians do ALL those tasks, but with larger crews, some may concentrate more on one task. I was usually the guy stuck on the top of a ladder all day...

Perhaps you got this impression because we have two inspections here. The 'rough' inspection is done after the boxes and wiring are installed (but before the drywall is installed). The there's a 'final' inspection to make sure the job was completed correctly.

beerchug

-Eric