I got my start in Maintenance. I went in knowing next to nothing about PLCs (just that I really wanted to work with them and had been trying on and off for several years to do so), and came out knowing, well, a lot more than I did. Enough to get a job with a Systems Integrator at least.
..............And yeah, maybe they'll call me, and if I'm available, I'll help them out. But I am becoming very strict about my time and I generally only go out on service calls when it HAS to be me looking at it or if I don't have anything super pressing to do. One of the things that annoys me the most is if you're in the office working on a project, sometimes people tend to see that work as optional or just time-filler until you get a service call. And like I said, if I'm ahead of schedule on the project, I'll duck out for a service call here and there, but if I'm down to the wire on a deadline and I need every minute I have, I'm going to say no. If I'm available I'm available, if I'm not I'm not. And those times when I'm not teach them in a hurry that they eventually have to take ownership of the equipment.
