Gaining experience without the given opportunity?

So im running into a little bit of a road block when it comes to the job field.
The majority of my experience has been with Allen Bradley and Automation Direct. I’ve become extremely proficient with programming these brands of controllers, but I want to expand my skill set. I recently have taken some certification classes for Siemens (at my own expense), worked with Simatic Manager, Step 7, and when I was in college I worked with TIA Portal v13 and WinCC.
When I explain my experience to recruiters, I get immediately dismissed if it’s a Siemens role. Even junior level positions. The same goes for other types of equipment. I’ve worked with kuka and staubli, but I want to learn ABB and Fanuc too. I’ve worked with keyence cameras, but I want to learn cognex.

So my questions to you guys is how do you market yourself in the job field when trying to expand your skillets for different equipment without given previous industrial opportunity? It seems that lab/certification/college experience isn’t enough without industrial experience (or at least in my situation it seems). So how to you get the industrial experience without having the previous opportunity to work with certain systems?

Seeing your from South Carolina.... you could do like the rest of them and lie, but I do feel your pain.

You will need to try saying I have PLC experience, then once you get in for a interview you can explain, I have done a lot of interviewing and I could tell if you would be a good fit in the first 5 min, I did not care if you had Allen Bradley experience but if you had the drive to figure it out, I can teach anyone how to program but there are only a few that can troubleshoot (good) if your looking on the wrong side of the machine you will never see the issue

market yourself

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Have a couple resumes and market yourself different in them, that way you can target the specific job you are looking at.... that said what kind of job are you looking for?

I’m currently an automation and controls specialist. I do everything from quoting and specing parts, designing panels, mounting components, wiring the panels, writing the program, and then installing it in the enclosure. It’s just me and one other engineer right now, so we work together building a product from scratch. Right now, I’m doing most of the programming and refining projects, adding new features, and researching and implementing new solutions for our equipment such as remote connectivity and SCADA solutions. Right now we just use AD controllers. I’ve been looking for a Siemens programming role because I really want to become proficient in it because it’s very different from AB and I just enjoy programming and learning new things too.

Perhaps it's your interviewing technique.
You seem to have plenty experience and have taken steps (7) to broaden your horizons.
On paper, you would be a prime candidate.
Siemens programmers do not grow on tree so what's going wrong?

Ronnie Sullivan said:

Perhaps it's your interviewing technique.
You seem to have plenty experience and have taken steps (7) to broaden your horizons.
On paper, you would be a prime candidate.
Siemens programmers do not grow on tree so what's going wrong?

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Haha I see what you did there. And from what I’ve been told, it’s because I don’t have industrial experience with Siemens. They’re all impressed by my resume, but when it comes to “how much experience do you have with PLCs and programming?” I go over my experience and show a bit from my portfolio of projects. When they ask about Siemens, I go over my certs, my college experience, and then allow them to know it’s the direction I want to take my career, but then the interview grows cold.
I’m unsure if it’s the market and there’s just that many other programmers with Siemens experience, or if they see that my last four years have been with Mr. Bradley.

I would keep trying, there has to be place that got both AB and Siemens. At the same time, I'm a bit befuddled on why you want to learn Siemens so much, after all, it doesn't have that much of a market share in the US. There's so many systems I learned in the past that I now lost touch with. Easy come, easy go.. even though I still leave those on my resume I'm honest about how proficient I'm with those.

I’ve been looking for a Siemens programming role because I really want to become proficient in it because it’s very different from AB and I just enjoy programming and learning new things too.

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Where are you in SC? Have you talked to your Siemens reps? we have some of the best in the World right here in SC (thats called sucking up)

harryting said:

I would keep trying, there has to be place that got both AB and Siemens. At the same time, I'm a bit befuddled on why you want to learn Siemens so much, after all, it doesn't have that much of a market share in the US. There's so many systems I learned in the past that I now lost touch with. Easy come, easy go.. even though I still leave those on my resume I'm honest about how proficient I'm with those.

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In my area, you won’t believe the amount of hits I get that require Siemens experience. THAT is what baffles me, because you’re correct about the shares. But with that being said, I know that some companies rely on overseas integrators.

geniusintraining said:

Where are you in SC? Have you talked to your Siemens reps? we have some of the best in the World right here in SC (thats called sucking up)

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Rather not be exact, but I’ll tell you I’m a hop, skip, and a jump away from being in Georgia. Where are the reps located? I have not spoke with them. I did have a recruiter come to me with a job AT Siemens, but after a “I’ll get back with you” and multiple emails trying to contact him, the trail went dead. I haven’t heard back.

TL140 said:

It seems that lab/certification/college experience isn’t enough without industrial experience.

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Hate to be blunt but its not. Only putting in the time will get you there.

TL140 said:

So how to you get the industrial experience without having the previous opportunity to work with certain systems?

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You can't.

You're on the right track but experience can't be rushed. You may make a little better dent on the robotics side by taking the courses that Fanuc & ABB offer. Not cheap unless you can get in by the graces of an integrator. But you'll get exposure.

Siemens is not all that different; programming is programming, ladder is ladder. The way Siemens addresses memory is a bit different than A-B but after working with it, it becomes obvious and routine. And the programming s/w difference can trip you up until you do it a while. (that would true if you were migrating from Siemens to A-B too).

Stay the course and continue to rack up experience, you'll get there and/or an employer will take a chance.

Since you don't mind spending some money to learn, consider getting a S7-1200 starter kit. My local distributor occasionally hosts a one day workshop that is free to attend and you can purchase a starter kit at a discounted price if you attend. The kit could be about $300 to $700 depending on the HMI choice. The HMI can be simulated in the development software but I suggest getting at least the small color one if you can.

There are lots of discrete parts suppliers that us Siemens in SC. Maybe you should try a job shop or temp agency for a short term gig to gain some experience "in the field". Along the I-85 corridor, Siemens TIA portal experience is in demand. Since they came out with the FailSafe 1200, many folks are using those for machine guarding applications.

TL140 said:

Rather not be exact, but I’ll tell you I’m a hop, skip, and a jump away from being in Georgia.

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Well... that narrows it down to about 300 miles, are you in the upstate or in the lowcountry ? also you in South Carolina nobody knows where you live even if you told them the city, look at me in im just north of North and west of Due West

Just my take on this, but if these guys see that you paid for Siemens training out of pocket, have been taking the initiative to teach yourself, and want to go somewhere that does more work with their equipment, and they don't want you, then those are NOT the kinds of people I would want to work for. That is narrow minded, and to me, shows a lack of true general knowledge when doing automation.

A PLC is a PLC, period. Ladder is ladder, period. There are definite nuances to any system, and the way certain things are handled does vary a bit. You aren't limiting yourself in your current knowledge, so it seems to me that you are putting yourself forward in a negative light during the interview process, and putting them off somehow, or they are only interested in how much experience with Siemens a candidate has, which boggles my mind.

I would start asking up front, is work experience with Siemens an absolute requirement? Then you can avoid wasting anyone's time, unless you are okay with going to interviews and putting up with the same ****.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I’ll definitely look at my local distributor and see if I can get in on a class and a kit. Having one on standby helps a lot. I’ve got an AB kit that I made from my old job, and a CLICK setup as well. They do help.
I’ll also let you know I’m in the upstate SC
I’m in agreeance with most of you on a PLC being a PLC. Ladder being ladder. But with that being said, instruction list is a whole different animal from function block diagram. And that, I can understand. Hence why I’ve studied both. And I’ve actually worked with FBD and structured text as well.
I will try different interview techniques, but my trouble isn’t the interview because it doesn’t get that far. I’m usually contacted by technical recruiters and headhunters. That may contribute to the case. I usually let them know my experience and answer their questions accordingly but I may need to hold my cards to my chest until the interview. Another possible reason is that I’m pretty young in the field. I just turned 25, so I can see my age being offputting to some, but something great to others.