That is the most accurate description of most new graduate engineers I think I have ever seen.
I often get 'what are your qualifications?' Response is 'silly old (very relavent) electrical fitter who has learned a lot from falling on his a..e many times.' Comment usually come back 'I am an engineer.' Comment goes back 'does that mean you can calculate voltage drop?'
Not trying to knock good engineers at all - just the, mainly, young ones fresh out of Uni who know eveything.
Old saying 'employ a teenager while they still know everything.'
You should learn physics, math, math algorithms and control theory.
Yes.
Working as at tradesman trouble shooting control circuits in machines and processes, designing and building control systems, even selling controls equipment at a technical level is also good provided you understand control systems in the first place.
I learned a heck of a lot when employed as an applications sales engineer. I had to come up with solutions for peoples control problems - sometimes almost impossible.
You cannot beat experience with control systems so that you understand what you are programming. Many PLC programmers do not - they are just good at writing innapropriate software at times.
The latest one I saw in Ozz was an add for a 'software engineer' with a University degree. I could not help myself - the add was placed by HR of course - had to ring up and ask which University I could attend to obtain a degree in control system design, manufacture, PLC and SCADA programming, commissioning and trouble shooting. Also asked if the course at the University they could suggest would include process control, temperature sensing and control, plumbing, electricians licence, carpentry, painting, sheet metal work, mathematics, physics, chemistry (metals of course) and anything else that a good controls engineer would require.
All I got was 'Huh!'
HR - hopeless retards!