Certified Automation Professional VS AAS Electronic Engineering Tech

ISA's Certified Automation Professional VS AAS Electronic Engineering Tech

In everyones opinion, What would be the best route to take? for future employment. I know the best answer is both, but I don't have time for that right now.

CAP:
Advantages include
1. Faster to get
2. highly regarded
3. Fairly cheap (>$500)

Disadvantages include
1. Renewal every 3 years
2. Not a Degree




AAS EET
Advantages include
1. It's forever
2. Most jobs care more about degrees

Disadvantages include
1. Its not ABET, its DETC
2. It takes awhile to complete
3. Costs way more



Please let me know your opinion.


Thanks

I think the answer to this is very dependent on where you hope to get a job. You may want to try calling a few places you are interested in getting on with and see what their opinions are. Personally, with my company, I am more interested in what you have done and what you can do; however, I understand that there are many places where the right piece of paper is all important.

Bump

I think either one is a waste of time and money if you already have experience. If you dont have any experience maybe something like this might get you in the door. I personally have never met someone with either of these certs.

diat150 said:

I think either one is a waste of time and money if you already have experience. If you dont have any experience maybe something like this might get you in the door. I personally have never met someone with either of these certs.

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Thanks for the reply. I have found this to be true. I just want to add to future compensation and possibly not getting overlooked.

The AAS EET is an associate of applied science degree. I forgot to put what aas stood for.

I have an associates degree in electronics technology. I guess it gave me a good electrical theory base, but we didnt cover anything related to plc's. This is back in the late 90's so maybe all of the trade/vocational colleges offer plc training now.

I guess what matters is where are you at in your career right now? are you a high school kid looking to get into automation? are you a seasoned electrician looking to move into an automation role?

diat150 said:

I have an associates degree in electronics technology. I guess it gave me a good electrical theory base, but we didnt cover anything related to plc's. This is back in the late 90's so maybe all of the trade/vocational colleges offer plc training now.

I guess what matters is where are you at in your career right now? are you a high school kid looking to get into automation? are you a seasoned electrician looking to move into an automation role?

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Well i'm the lead electrical ,automation, and robotics guy at my plant. I guess you can say i'm good where I am. I just want something to lock in place what I do now. Possibly obtain a controls engineer job or something similar (specialist, engineer, tech, programmer) if needed. I just wish I knew what was more important for a controls/automation guy to have. Degree vs certification.

Timeismoney08 said:

Well i'm the lead electrical ,automation, and robotics guy at my plant. I guess you can say i'm good where I am. I just want something to lock in place what I do now. Possibly obtain a controls engineer job or something similar (specialist, engineer, tech, programmer) if needed. I just wish I knew what was more important for a controls/automation guy to have. Degree vs certification.

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It seems like most job postings I've seen want either an EE degree or five plus years of experience.

One other thing worth knowing how to do is how to create things from scratch. One thing I learned the last time I interviewed is that a lot of people applying for jobs only have experience making edits, not creating new.

keshik said:

It seems like most job postings I've seen want either an EE degree or five plus years of experience.

One other thing worth knowing how to do is how to create things from scratch. One thing I learned the last time I interviewed is that a lot of people applying for jobs only have experience making edits, not creating new.

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I agree with that. I make it a point to buy whatever platform I'm learning on and start from scratch. I don't think you can fully understand a system unless you do it from the beginning.

Timeismoney08 said:

Well i'm the lead electrical ,automation, and robotics guy at my plant. I guess you can say i'm good where I am. I just want something to lock in place what I do now. Possibly obtain a controls engineer job or something similar (specialist, engineer, tech, programmer) if needed. I just wish I knew what was more important for a controls/automation guy to have. Degree vs certification.

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In that case I just dont see where you are going to gain anything with either of the 2 things you proposed. Only thing I see upgrading your resume is getting an engineering degree. If that isnt an option then I would say some specialized training, an example would be PID's, would do much more for you than either of those 2.

diat150 said:

In that case I just dont see where you are going to gain anything with either of the 2 things you proposed. Only thing I see upgrading your resume is getting an engineering degree. If that isnt an option then I would say some specialized training, an example would be PID's, would do much more for you than either of those 2.

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Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to keep looking into the degree. I can Continue on for the BS in electronics engineering technology, but then it's still not abet, so it might not matter that much.

Timeismoney08 said:

Well i'm the lead electrical ,automation, and robotics guy at my plant. I guess you can say i'm good where I am. I just want something to lock in place what I do now. Possibly obtain a controls engineer job or something similar (specialist, engineer, tech, programmer) if needed. I just wish I knew what was more important for a controls/automation guy to have. Degree vs certification.

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All depends on where you think you might want an engineer job. Corporate places generally require a 4 year degree unless they already know you. I can't recall an unknown being hired in without one.

Smaller outfits with tech savvy management ain't likely to be impressed with worthless pieces of paper. Experience on the resume and proving you didn't overstate it in the interview is what counts there IME.

Somewhere like my current gig where I am THE engineer, and management have no clue what I do, either piece of paper might help somewhat. The boss was somewhat impressed with my college but hired me because I knew more way more than he did about everything he showed me on the walk around the mill interview.

To be honest I doubt either option will add much to your employability.