Career advice; stepping on to the ladder

[scottmacwinters]

Excuse then punn, but i would appreciate any advice people would have about 'breaking in' to programming PLC's.

Following an instrument apprenticeship (including basic PLC programming courses), I progressed onto a Masters degree in Control Systems engineering, and now 3 years post graduation find myself pushing paperclips in a technical consultancy!

The job turned out to be less technically orientated than i had been led to believe, and with only 6 months PLC/SCADA experience under my belt in that period, I am struggling to break back into 'proper engineering' !!!

I am currently looking for another job, however most positions want exensive experience with specific vendors kit (with my own only covering some mitsubishi- back in college and more recently Allen bradley).

Excluding siemens (which i have read some of your mixed postings on!), i am feel confident that programming and PLC is fairly generic- however, convincing a prospective employer of that is not so easy.

Is it too late for me? am i doomed to write reports and manage projects rather than enjoy the buzz of proper engineering? ........ any tips would be greatfully recieved.

 

[Steve Etter]

Hey Scott,

First of all, let me express my condolences. You certainly have your name on some impressive papers, but I can certainly see where you might have some trouble landing a hands-on type of job. My first instinct after reading your post was "this guy is over-qualified". I suspect a lot of potential employers will think likewise.

Here are a couple of thoughts for you though.

1) If you are truly interested in more "hands-on" work, make sure you say so in your cover letter when applying for a position. Don't be afraid to point out that you may appear to be over-qualified because of you education, but that you are clearly aware you need to develop you technical skills at this stage in your career. If you can address their concerns in your letter, the more likely they are to consider you.

2) When you do find an available position you would really like to get, PUSH, PUSH, PUSH. The guy who stays in the front the interviewer's mind has the upper hand. Of course you need to maintain a level of professionalism while doing this, but persistency certainly pays off.

3) Consider developing your experience on your off-hours. Buy a PLC and software and learn to use it yourself. You can often get good stuff on-line and for reasonable prices. Should you do this, make sure you include this self-initiated training on you cover letter AND resume.

In the end, I think your most important efforts will be those during face-to-face interviews. Convince that guy that you ARE wanting to be a techie and that you ARE willing to pay your dues. You KNOW you can't expect a corner office or the high salary (yet). Your education only trained you how to think but the fact that you have it DEMONSTRATES your ability to go the distance with long-term and difficult challenges.

If you point out your weaknesses as well as you strengths and then explain how you intend to turn them BOTH to the employer's advantage, I think you might find something.

IMHO

Steve

 

[Peter Nachtwey]

There may not be enough 'challenge' at any one location

I would look for a consulting firm or system integrating firm and not a factory. There are not many of these but I find that this is where all the best people are. As stated above the plant management does not want to pay full time for an over qualified engineer, but they will hire a system integrator temporarily when they have problems. This kind of job can be interesting because the programming is usually not the problem. How the problem was approached that is the problem. In your case you should see a PLC as a tool like a hammer and you are an architect, not a framer.

Cruise this website for a while. Many of the questions really have nothing to do with PLC programming, they are about how to approach problems. Interfacing PLCs, networking, fieldbuses, PID control, physics and montion control is often the bigger problems rather than whether a coil is 'latched' as in AB or 'set' as in Siemens. Employers that can't see this are stupid and you wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

 

[rogerhollingsworth]

Don't go to India.

 

[Mike Williams]

Good one Roger. 75% of problems solved is about the approach.
It seems you cannot teach approach.