Career in Industrial IT/OT

[mraysways]

Hey Everybody,

I resigned from teaching, to pursue an IT career, and my original objective was to prepare for and pass a few entry level certs and start applying to entry-level IT jobs. I passed the A+, Security+, and mostly recently the CCNA. Along the way, by way of podcasts, I learned about industrial security, which opened up the idea of a controls career, or somewhere in the IT/OT convergence. I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn PLC programming... I live in a relatively small town in western Kentucky, where there aren't many IT jobs, but there are a number of industrial sites nearby (i.e. factories & utilities). So, my question is, what jobs do you suggest I look for, or what should I study at home to prepare me for an OT role, or, do I need to go back to school and enroll in an electrical program or automation program? I'm not really sure what to do to broaden my scope of possible opportunities. Thanks!

 

[hill831017]

If an IT could have OT background or alternatively. And all that knowledge could solve the real-world problems. From my point of view this needs a long career accumulation and self-study. And would be the best to start from OT - easy to start with the real-world then jump to the digit.

 

[A_G]

Welcome to the forum! I would consider taking some PLC training classes to see if this is something you want to do. Actually this site (PLC Talk) offers some training. Years ago I got the book from this site and it was very helpful. Here is a list of resources I put together at one of my old jobs and maybe it will be helpful for you:

Forum, Training:
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/

Forum:
https://www.mrplc.com/

Forum (Siemens only):
https://support.industry.siemens.com/forum/ww/en/conf/13/

Training, articles:
https://www.solisplc.com/

Training, articles:
https://twcontrols.com/

Articles:
http://www.plcdev.com/

Articles:
http://www.contactandcoil.com/

Purchase hardware:
https://www.ebay.com/

Purchase hardware:
https://www.plccable.com/

Purchase hardware and/or software, access training:
https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/home/home

Training:
https://www.plcdojo.com/

Training, articles:
https://www.controleng.com/

 

[cmaag02]

Some training courses that helped me were The Automation School's PVP Basics course (https://theautomationschool.com/courses/pvp-basics-course/) and their PAC Basics course (https://theautomationschool.com/courses/pac-basics/), although my company already owned these. Looking at their pricing for the courses plus the need for hardware and programming software, it doesn't seem very realistic to individually purchase.

 

[dummy_bit]

... or somewhere in the IT/OT convergence...

This is the biggest mistake ever in the realm of cybersecurity. Work somewhere where they are still physically separate if you want to avoid all the headaches.