Wanted: Industrial Engineering Job

Thanks Jim for visiting bin95.com

Q: Do you think changing careers to a PLC programmer is a good move? What would I look for in the classifieds to see what the demand and salary is for a PLC programmer?

Yes, there is less competition in the PLC job market than their is in the IT job market. I have found the pay to be as good and better. PLC programmers will be on both sides of the fence. Those who work in the manufacturing facility, and those who work for the OEMs selling equipment and services to the manufacturer.

For the classifieds, the position will be "Maintenance Technician" or "Maintenance Engineer" or "Industrial Engineer" or "Manufacturing Engineer".

Tip:

Make sure you have a professional written resume that not only presents the factual education and job history, but also emphasizes your capabilities.

Gilbert Resumes, a premier resume service, directed by the former president of the National Resume Writers' Association.

Maintenance Engineer

The manager doing the hiring will most likely be old school (for the next couple years anyway. He will view the technical person he needs for a manufacturing maintenance position as a "maintenance man". But when he screens the applications/resumes, he will primarily be searching for PLC knowledge and experience. All of the rest is just a plus.

The pay can be very deceiving. The ad will list the bottom dollar, but is always negotiable based on expertise. The wage ranges from around $15 to $20 per hour, even higher for big corporations such as GM, Boeing, Dana, etc. The negotiation comes in to play by the following environment.

Because of the great job quality, a manufacturer only finds them selves looking for a technician with PLC experience about once every 10-15 years. Some are just deciding to hire their first one, the ones who have always relied on the OEM in the past. Once they put the adds out or hire a head hunter, they find there is usually only 1 or 2 candidates to choose from.

This is because 80% of our nation's high schools push 4 year college career advice only, and not technical school. Technical school is were you would find the PLC training. This fact and the fact that the baby boomers are getting ready to retire, will create even greater shortage. The demand will be increasing with the greater shortage, and the increasing awareness of manufacturers to have a PLC qualified person in-house.

The best place to search for job demand is on the Internet. Please visit the USA Jobs Search area we created.

Search each of these:  "Industrial engineer", "maintenance", and "manufacturing", "Controls Engineer", etc..

OEM/IT Engineer

There is not much stability on the Software/Interface/ side of the industrial PLC market job opportunities. (As this career opportunity is relatively new and the fastest growing industrial engineering field.) Combined with the fact that those jobs involve a lot of travel, the market is equivalent to throwing a rock in a pond. But you will see the various job opportunities and starting pay by doing the searches I recommend above.

Also you might consider doing a search for salary surveys and the key words mentioned above. (Just remember these will be the bottom line wages, as a qualified person can always negotiate more, given the industry market conditions.)

Q: Can you give me some advice on preparing for a career change from an IT career into the PLC area?

A: To help secure your options in Industrial Engineering we recommend you join the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. (SME) This organization is predominately made up of members of the machining manufacturing industry. I am suggesting this organization to give you the most versatile resource and at a low cost.

PLCs are the most dominant machine controller, followed by CNC. In the machining industry, lathes/milling machines have both CNC communicating to a PLC. Within SME, I belong to Computer and Automated Systems Association of SME (CASA/SME) With the knowledge and contacts developed with this organization, you will have more options open to you, which ever way you decide to go.

Educational Resources

Bone up on your industrial engineering and maintenance knowledge, download eBooks today!

If you are an IT person wanting to explorer the Industrial Application and PLCs, our 2 day PLC Training Seminar is the perfect solution to introduce you to PLCs and give you hands on experience. This will open new opportunities in your IT job search.

(Yes, a certificate and CEUs too. :>)

Don't have the time or money to get the seminar/workshop level of training today? We also offer a low cost solution, the PLC Training Course Software.

(The training CDs take the average person about 2 weeks to complete and yes, upon completion will print you a certificate. :>)

Even better, cost wise and education wise is to get the automation courses bundle.