Offtopic:Needs some career advice !!!

Dear all,

I'm a regular visitor of PLCS.net and have got a lot of useful information from the experts here.

The purpose of this message is to request some advice from you on a major decision that I've to take regarding my career.I apologize for posting this here.

I am 25 years old, engg graduate in Instrumentation with almost 3 years experience in the field of Automation.I started my career as a Labview programmer..then moved on to SCADA projects (HMI only)...I was not much interested in HMI configuration ...bcoz .I felt it is not utilizing my programming skills.But I am very interested to work on PLCs even though I dont have much experience programming the PLCs.I dont have any DCS or process control experience.

My interest is to work on as technical job which will ulitize my intelluctual skills to its maximum.

Now I have an offer from a major DCS vendor as well a PLC manufaturer.In both the companies, my role will be as a Site Engineer working in Control projects.I have some experience in the siemens WInCC and PLCs already.I am confused in choosing the one.Can you kindly advice??

What do you think will be better decision considering the future of PLCs and DCS system?

Thankyou for your time and help.I hope some of the experienced engineers here can help me.

Regards,
Tomsci
email : [email protected]

I'd go with the job offer whose duties/responsibilites you are most unfamiliar with. That additional experience you will keep the rest of your life and make you more marketable in the future.

I agree, HMI configuration is not the most challenging of tasks but its the interface between what you've programmed (underneath) and how your customer will interact with that programming so it deserves a lot of attention. Think of it as the paint on a new car. So matter how techinically superior the car is, the customer still wants a good paint job because thats what he sees everyday. "The eye eats first."

DCS's are usually used in large process type industries. Mixing chemicals, oil processing etc. PLCs are used in all of industry, small and large machines alike. The PLC job would probably expose you to a broader base of applications. Either one would be a valuable experience.

I'm going to agree with jstolaruk...besides making you more marketable, it will keep the job exciting & challenging enough to make it enjoyable!