Undergrad looking for career guidance

Evirua

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Hi all, I'm 25 year old and I live in Canada where I'm working on my engineering degree in automation. I'm currently halfway through my training, and I'm gaining interest in the prospect of a career where working remotely is a possibility.

I wouldn't mind -actually, I would love to- travelling across the world for startups and attending to major issues and whatnot, but an autonomous lifestyle where I make my own hours and don't have to waste a couple hours a day in driving/commuting is definitely something I'm after.

I'm asking for insight from people who have experienced this kind of work; What are the downsides? Advantages? Things to be aware of? Is it preferable/necessary that I first acquire a few years' experience in a "normal" environment before I attempt this lifestyle?

I've noticed throughout my academic and professional experience that I get considerably demotivated after a 2 months period of crunching through the same routine. Could be something I'll eventually break through by force of necessity, could not be, but I'm wondering if self-employment and contracting different jobs would be more fitting for me.
 
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I don't mean to slam you.

you need experience in a plant for several years before attempting what you desire. in the plant, you will gain practical experience in regards to the do's and don'ts of programming .

you need to prove your self and your abilities first.

regards,
james
 
Oh please slam away, I'm under no impression that a sheer degree provides the actual value that companies are looking for.

I was thinking maybe a 5+ years experience in a plant after I graduate should establish a baseline of reputation and proven value.

An autonomous career is more of an end line goal for me than something I expect to be handed to me fresh out of school.
 
Hi all, I'm 25 year old and I live in Canada where I'm working on my engineering degree in automation. I'm currently halfway through my training, and I'm gaining interest in the prospect of a career where working remotely is a possibility.

I wouldn't mind -actually, I would love to- travelling across the world for startups and attending to major issues and whatnot, but an autonomous lifestyle where I make my own hours and don't have to waste a couple hours a day in driving/commuting is definitely something I'm after.

I'm asking for insight from people who have experienced this kind of work; What are the downsides? Advantages? Things to be aware of? Is it preferable/necessary that I first acquire a few years' experience in a "normal" environment before I attempt this lifestyle?

I've noticed throughout my academic and professional experience that I get considerably demotivated after a 2 months period of crunching through the same routine. Could be something I'll eventually break through by force of necessity, could not be, but I'm wondering if self-employment and contracting different jobs would be more fitting for me.

There was someone either here or on another forum saying that he works from home (as a side gig), but he got that after serious hands on experience and the clients that hire him, know him personally and would likely not hire another remote engineer.

The other jobs I've know that work remotely, you still have to go into an office and do it remotely from there into the customers installations.

Trust me, other than city states, no automation work happens in the nice places of the world. It's generally some remote and isolated place and doing start ups is generally pretty hectic and you won't really be in the mood for sightseeing after work.

If you want to work for yourself, my advice is to get experience in normal jobs that work with but do not focus on PLC programming. Anyone under the sun can put together a couple of rungs... the value is to make sure the rungs do what they have and are required to.

you need experience in a plant for several years before attempting what you desire. in the plant, you will gain practical experience in regards to the do's and don'ts of programming .

That's probably the least of it... you also need to understand the systems you'll be working on and basic understanding of safe working practices.
 
I am self-employed and work from home. Doesn't mean that I don't travel to job sites. If you desire to become self-employed, work for someone else for a few years to gain experience and find what segments of the industry appeal to you the most. I really enjoy the freedom of self-employment, but its not for everyone. Some people appreciate a steady paycheck and benefits.
 
I wouldn't mind -actually, I would love to- travelling across the world for startups and attending to major issues and whatnot, but an autonomous lifestyle where I make my own hours and don't have to waste a couple hours a day in driving/commuting is definitely something I'm after..

It's a nice dream. And I suppose that I'm kinda living that dream now. I've been on the road, pretty much straight, for 2 years now. I'm currently in England (I'm American), and have been for the better part of the year. Last year, I spend a lot of time in rural Northeastern PA. As exciting as you'd expect.

BUT.....

I've got a lot of experience, and thus versatility, so my company, a systems integrator(SI), can send me to lots of different places in different industries working on different kinds of hardware & software.

Also, living out of a suitcase gets old after a while (pretty quickly, actually). Packing and unpacking and repacking, trying to figure out how to do laundry; where are the good places to eat, and what's open at this time of night when you FINALLY get out of the plant and you're not sure if you're more tired than hungry.

And whether you work for yourself or someone else, you/they will have a sales base of LOCAL clients. Clients generally want someone local, rather than someone who has to get on a plane to help them out. But "local" means "within a 2 hour drive". And so even living the dream, you still wind up sitting in your car in traffic.

The only way out of that is to work for an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) who makes a machine that is specialized enough that the end-user doesn't expect local support. The engineer ships with the machine, gets it installed and working, and then gets shipped with the next machine.

The same sort of machine; the same issues. Time after time after time. I rarely see an OEM travelling engineer stay with it for more than a few years.

While your academic experience is valuable, you will still need practical experience before you can solo (and it will be solo. No colleagues, no friends, no family. Enjoy eating alone in restaurants). SIs and OEMs are often willing to take on someone with little to no experience and give them just enough training to be able to go out a few times under adult supervision, and then turn them loose.

Just how much you enjoy / can tolerate having not enough documentation, not enough support, and just barely enough knowledge to be able to MAYBE do what everyone expects you to be able to do -- well, that's when you grow from being a "kid" to a full-fledged adult.

Not everyone ever becomes an "adult", by that definition. They still live long, meaningful lives, raise children and grandchildren, and die happy.

It this line of work for you?

Cheers,
õ¿õ¬
 
It's a nice dream. And I suppose that I'm kinda living that dream now. I've been on the road, pretty much straight, for 2 years now. I'm currently in England (I'm American), and have been for the better part of the year. Last year, I spend a lot of time in rural Northeastern PA. As exciting as you'd expect.

BUT.....

I've got a lot of experience, and thus versatility, so my company, a systems integrator(SI), can send me to lots of different places in different industries working on different kinds of hardware & software.

Also, living out of a suitcase gets old after a while (pretty quickly, actually). Packing and unpacking and repacking, trying to figure out how to do laundry; where are the good places to eat, and what's open at this time of night when you FINALLY get out of the plant and you're not sure if you're more tired than hungry.

And whether you work for yourself or someone else, you/they will have a sales base of LOCAL clients. Clients generally want someone local, rather than someone who has to get on a plane to help them out. But "local" means "within a 2 hour drive". And so even living the dream, you still wind up sitting in your car in traffic.

The only way out of that is to work for an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) who makes a machine that is specialized enough that the end-user doesn't expect local support. The engineer ships with the machine, gets it installed and working, and then gets shipped with the next machine.

The same sort of machine; the same issues. Time after time after time. I rarely see an OEM travelling engineer stay with it for more than a few years.

While your academic experience is valuable, you will still need practical experience before you can solo (and it will be solo. No colleagues, no friends, no family. Enjoy eating alone in restaurants). SIs and OEMs are often willing to take on someone with little to no experience and give them just enough training to be able to go out a few times under adult supervision, and then turn them loose.

Just how much you enjoy / can tolerate having not enough documentation, not enough support, and just barely enough knowledge to be able to MAYBE do what everyone expects you to be able to do -- well, that's when you grow from being a "kid" to a full-fledged adult.

Not everyone ever becomes an "adult", by that definition. They still live long, meaningful lives, raise children and grandchildren, and die happy.

It this line of work for you?

Cheers,
õ¿õ¬

This makes me feel lucky to be working locally. I'm on call 365, 24/7 and they use it to the fullest. Sometimes I can fix or work remotely but daily in the office for something. You make travel abroad sound brutal. Probably easily compared to Oil Field Camp Life. UUUGGGHHHH! I couldn't do that for very long either.
 
For what it is worth, I am in the automation field by accident, not choice. So take my info with a grain of salt.

I traveled for a long while as a musician on cruise ships. That lifestyle was pretty awesome when I was young (by young I mean up until 30 or so). I probably would have done it longer if it weren't for my wife (who was the same age). If I married a little younger, travelling wouldn't be a big deal - but kids and a family really make travel tough.

The difference between travel on the cruise ship and Automation - the cruise ship usually went to pretty sweet destinations. Automation is almost always in the middle of nowhere.

My first job in automation was 'local' - but we didn't really have a shop and I pretty much traveled every day 2 hours away.
My day went something like this:
Wake up
Travel 1-2 hours to customer
work 8 hours
travel 1-2 hours home
go to class
come home, sleep, repeat

It was a two-man shop, so I did everything - purchasing, panel building, programming, design, etc. Let me tell you - THIS is the way to learn. You get your toe in everything.

After a few years, I left and took a repair gig that was local only and paid less. It was great to have time home.

An opportunity opened up at a OEM to do design work, so I got back into automation. I was promised a desk-job, no travel. I sat at my desk and did autocad all day for 10 hour days. It worked out that way for about a year and a half until they fired the 'travel guy'. Guess who started doing more programming and travel? I quit shortly after.

I found another job doing design work a company for very simple machines, and for the most part I don't travel. I have an occasional day trip or over-night, but the machines are so simple there is never any headache. It is pretty straight 9to5, which I have found is very rare in automation. Most places have 10-hour days or overtime. The job is great for the family, but it does get pretty boring.

I figure in a few more years I'll have the experience to free-lance. I plan to go back into teaching eventually, so I hope to do both part-time.

I worked with many self-employed contractors and the key for all of them was the experience and a special niche. For my area, it seems to be people who can do robots, Siemens, or IEC schematics.
 
I'm on call 365, 24/7 and they use it to the fullest.

And that kind of life sounds like the pits too.

Yeah, long-term travel can suck. Most plants are located in Podunk, on the outskirts of "Where?". There are often only a handful of places to eat, fewer hotels (or God help you, motels), and it doesn't take long before you've pretty much tried everything on the menu, know the hotel staff's names, and they know yours.

There are perks, too, mind you. Airline & hotel points to allow one to go anywhere and stay in luxury (albeit that's something of a busman's holiday). Not having to clean the toilets, vacuum, go grocery shopping, etc. Sometimes there's a "Field Service Bonus" for the hardship of being on the road. But even if not, you're still getting reimbursed for food instead of having to pay for your own meals at home, which adds up.

(One thing that often happens is that, when you return home, the spouse -- who's been stuck at home the whole time -- wants to be taken out to dinner; when what you want is a simple, home-cooked meal. You go out, of course, if you know what's good for you.).

The automation life is not for everyone. Long hours, high pressure (the system is down, and it's YOUR fault that they're not making a million dollars an hour. You didn't cause the problem, but you're the only solution.)

But it's so much FUN to make all those lights blink and motors run. I'm glad of my choice in careers, even if it was entirely by accident.
 
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P.S.

My advice to ALL UNDERGRADS: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A MINOR if you are doing a bachelor's degree!!!

Something like Math or English or whatever.

It gives you a lot of flexibility in job opportunities later in life!
 
I work from home, and travel several trips a year on-site. And I love it.


I used to live in Norway, first job after college. After 5 years, I met my wife and moved to the States, where I got a master's degree. While doing that, I worked part-time for the same company.


After completing the degree, we went from employment to contracting (for tax reasons). And I now work full-time from home. I take about 4-5 trips a year, to the office or to project sites. These are essential to me, working from home can become very tedious.



Travel it self is great, I like to see new places. Do make sure you got a day to explore. I have been to some awesome places without having the time to do anything else then work in the bowels of a trawler. For me, 2 weeks is great, after that, I get home sick.


Working from home, treat it like it is an office job. Set off those hours as busy. It is sometimes very tempting to stay in that lazy chair :)
 
Probably easily compared to Oil Field Camp Life. UUUGGGHHHH!
I've seen pictures of that... no thanks. Offshore is dangerous but at least it's still better than that. This being said, drilling in general is pretty crappy as the pressure gets to everyone. I remember being chased around Johanesburg as a Field Service Engineer of the company that made 30% of the equipment onboard a drilling unit) on Christmas eve because their crew decided to stay at home for Christmas. Luckily, the lady at the hotel reception understood the message and told them I wasn't staying there.

I traveled for a long while as a musician on cruise ships. That lifestyle was pretty awesome when I was young (by young I mean up until 30 or so).
I had a colleague of mine that was a mechanic in cruise ships... his experience was brutal. Something like he wouldn't sit down during the day unless he had a spanner in each hand because he was afraid of falling asleep. Hopefully that is not the standard for maintenance crew.

(One thing that often happens is that, when you return home, the spouse -- who's been stuck at home the whole time -- wants to be taken out to dinner; when what you want is a simple, home-cooked meal. You go out, of course, if you know what's good for you.).

Perhaps because I was locked in a ship or places with little to no choice in food, I always felt like eating out when I came back. What became a sticking point was that I went from always eager to see another country to not even wanting to jump on a plane for 2 hours to see my parents and childhood friends. It's been about 2 years to the day since I stopped travelling and still hate the thought of getting in an airplane or airport.
 
Go to work for a company and save up as much as you can.

when you go the work at home route, you'll have some money to fall back on.
if your married or engaged, you better think twice about working at home.
you need a steady paycheck.

james
 
I dreamt I would be all over the place, Caribbean, Seychelles, Galapagos Islands etc etc.

Seems automation work is in sh!thole places though!
 
All I can say is it is not for everyone. Be very careful, because you could find your way into an unexpected situation you may not be prepared for. It only takes one other to dump the cart all over the road and you may need to clean it up.
 

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