Thinking About Being an Instrumentation Technician.. Watch This (Part 2)
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Thinking about being an instrumentation and electrical technician mark this is the video for you. This video I discussed the pros and cons about getting into a career in industrial automation and engineering technology. I discuss job outlook, standard pay and answer questions about jobs satisfaction.
Electrical technicians and instrument technicians work in manufacturing, food, processing utilities and for calibration labs . I have a RUclips channel dedicated to this topic.
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The issue I see is places want senior level techs. Everyone wants the people that already have the knowledge, but no one wants to train. It’s the same with the unions. Everyone is “starved for workers”, but no one wants to train.
I’m a fabrication service tech working for a small service company. The reason they don’t want to train is it takes a year before the company can make a profit. The last 5 guys we hired with no experience cost the company far more than we made and then they leave.
@@dangerousdan7607 sounds like that’s the cost of doing business. Maybe your place should create an apprentice program or join an organization that has a steady stream of qualified workers.
Yeah honestly as far as the supply of qualified technicians go . It's kind of a mess. You meet young people that have a good well rounded knowledge and skill set but it's really few and far between
hell yeah ur badass man.
I don't know if this is the same in the US, but in Canada if you have two years of experience for example as an electrical engineer, you can transfer to become a electrical technician or a electrical engineering technologists by taking a few tests to get the certifications (Without needing to take an apprenticeship). So essentially, those who graduate from engineering degrees(This applies to all engineering degrees I know of) could transform and work as a technician or technologist. But you can't do the same in reverse. So, I think that's why a lot of people do engineering degrees instead of Apprenticeships.
Yeah we have totally different system in the US. There's no apprenticeships here for instrumentation and electrical technicians there are however apprenticeships for journeyman electricians but it's just a different job
And to expand on that a little bit.. engineers in the United States don't need any certifications. Generally they just get a four-year bachelor's degree in engineering. You can however decide to get your professional engineering license which gives you a little bit more power to modify systems they don't know exactly how that works. I believe you have more authority to design systems on your own if you have an engineering license.
Electricians go through a four-year apprenticeship where they work while they take some classes and that will give them a journeyman's license. After that license they can go for their master electrician license and then again that gives them the ability to design electrical systems and sign off on stuff.
Instrumentation and electrical technicians basically don't have any certifications and pretty much just work for other companies generally speaking. Some instrumentation and electrical technicians are journeyman electricians... The hiring process for these jobs is pretty much just based off education and experience.. if you can do the job then you can get the job
You should do a video on your tool load out.
Hell yeah I'm down I appreciate the tip I'll make one in the next few weeks
Thanks for the info! I'm curious about jobs requiring secret clearances. Do many of the jobs you've seen require one?
No not really at all... Standard background check policies usually apply. This is a blue collar type job so on some cases there could be a bit of leniency but less than construction jobs
Hi Greg, Thanks for your informative videos. Your video "Thinking about becoming an Instrumentation Technician". helped my decision to start Instrumentation and Control Engineering Tech course about a year ago. I have completed my first year, now I have to move to another city. Unfortunately, there is no ICET in the college there. The only option closest to ICET is Electrical Engineering Tech. I am just wondering how related is ICET & EE? What prospect does these two offers? I am fascinated with ICET already! Any tips to maximize both experiences?
It's an interesting question... The thing about instrumentation and electrical is that different places call it different things. My degree is actually electrical power technology in the engineering technology program. That being said when you look at the description of the program says that the program focuses on instrumentation and controls so I'm not exactly sure why they call it that. Usually any electronics or electrical engineering technology degree is going to be pretty similar with varying levels of focus on sensors and automation. I would assume that degree is going to get you to where want to be but I would suggest looking at the course load or if you want you can tell me which school it is and I'll take a look for you and give you my opinion.
Most likely it's going to be fine. Sometimes when you're out in the field engineering technician jobs are more based on circuit boards but that's not always the case. There are a lot less of those types of jobs as compared to electrical instrumentation or automation technician jobs. I'm pretty confident that that will be just fine based off the little information that I have.
so yeah just let me know which school it's at and I'll take a look for you. Most important thing is trying to get placed with a company while you're in school even if it's part time so I would suggest asking about that. I would also suggest setting up a LinkedIn account now and filling out all the skills and what not and just casually apply for jobs that are related to instrumentation and electrical while you're in school. If you just spend like 10 minutes a week browsing you'll probably find some a decent number of technician jobs that are that pay a little low that they're having trouble filling. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you got one of those jobs while you're still in school I think in the long run that will pay off big time because if you have the degree plus a little bit of experience you will have no problem getting placed in higher paying jobs.
Thanks for the comment
The reason I believe LinkedIn is so important is you will have recruiters reach out to you to try to fill positions that they're having trouble filling. Recruiters are a great resource because they get paid when they fill the position so they will be trying just as hard as you to get you in there
Hi Greg! Very informative video! Thank you! And I want to know if the trade equivalency assessment is hard or not for a guy who used to be an instrument tech back in 2008-2016?
I've never taken that test but honestly nothing's really changed other than people use studio 5000 now out in the field it's not even that common really I don't know if that would be on the test or not other than that nothing has changed
You don't mind me asking why did you change careers
@@gregroche7323 I was back in China at the time and the wage is low. I should’ve come to North America.
@@mchotdograp when did the Ramsey exam for automation and electrical maintenance. I did very well on that, if you have field experience you should be good
Hi Greg!
I live in Alberta, Canada. Haven't worked since I got a BSc degree then was a homemaker until now, age 42. As a female, no background experience/knowledge and my age, is it worth going into this field? My research has led me here...
I read other comments of yours about the female part 😊
@@xaven199 I guess the determining Factor would be the job market in your area... I believe a lot of Canadians go through an apprenticeship program so I would suggest figuring out how that works and talking to some of the people involved to find out how easy it is to get in to a job. There is no reason a female wouldn't be able to do I&E, some women might not be interested in doing this type of work but others would really enjoy it, depends on your personality. There is currently a large shortage in my region and a lot of the jobs are unfilled at this time... Just make sure that is the case in your area and go for it, that's my vote
@@xaven199 oh by the way I just reread your comment and saw that you already have a science degree. I would make a profile on a job board right now and start applying. That's the next step
@gregroche7323 Really? Nice that's motivating. I've been looking at you videos and reading comments. It's nice that you take time to reply and help people. Thank you 🎉
@@xaven199 no problem... Which degree do you have? Also this isn't a big RUclips channel it's medium small I would say, I usually get about one comment a day and I'm just a regular guy so I enjoy it
super difficult to get even an interview, im a recent grad.
Try applying for panel builder maintenance technician & lower paying electrical technician jobs
If you want, you can find me on LinkedIn I’m happy to help.
@@gregroche7323 yeah can’t even get maintenance tech positions to look at me. Ok I’ll search you on LinkedIn.
@@gregroche7323 says you are outside of my network can’t add you
I have a written exam for Electrical & Instrumentation Technician any suggestions on a study guide?
A good place to start is the electrical maintenance technician Ramsey practice test. The test covers troubleshooting but doesn't really cover calibrations that much. The rule of thumb is get a little bit of knowledge about a wide variety of topics. I'll give you some more ideas when I'm a little bit more awake later in the day... Short answer there's not really a good study guide that I'm aware of but it's not that hard you just need to touch up a wide variety of topics. I can tell you right now that the questions probably won't be that hard it'll be somewhat simple but they will just cover a lot of different topics
Okay topics to consider are understanding basic electrical schematics, know the different types of voltage for example you got 480 volt 3 phase 240phase 120 AC 24 DC. It could be helpful to do a very brief touch up on different types of communication protocols at least understand what they mean. You're going to want to understand the basic plc symbols such as xio it also may be helpful to look at how a timer works in a PLC. You definitely need to understand the difference between an RTD and a thermocouple. Understand scaling for analog outputs for example if a 4 to 20 milliamp pressure transducer is operating operating at 25% of the full span what is the milliamp output to the analog input on the plc. This will most definitely come up understand what a vfd is do a brief touch up on how they work. Very brief understanding of servo motors. Looking to have proportional integral and derivative gain AKA a PID controller at a very basic level. You're going to want to understand some very basic types of sensors for example what's a pressure transducer what is an encoder what is a photo eye etc. I would suggest watching my video on a simple motor start circuit if this comment is on that video my bad LOL. It's possible that logic gates will come up in your test. I've seen setting a torque wrench or reading a micrometer come up on most technical tests I've ever taken I don't know why LOL. Look into motor overloads. Make sure you have an understanding of like fuses contactors circuit breakers power supplies things like that. They may ask you the difference between sourcing and simulating a 4 to 20 milliamp signal. They may ask you about instrumentation that transduces the output to a 3 to 15 psi air signal or valves that are controlled by 3 to 15 psi control that might come up. Just get it basic understanding of hand tools. Make sure you understand what amperage is and why it's important ( hint it heats stuff up, that's what you base fuses and wire thickness off of). Small gauge wire is actually thicker than high gauge wire (16awg is way smaller than 8 awg)
I might be helpful to understand what full load amp rating on a nameplate on a motor is AKA fla rating and how you would set your overloads. I would strongly suggest to watch a quick video on megging a motor. Remember you were supposed to have mega ohms of resistance between the phases to ground but very little and equal resistance from phase to phase inside the motor. A lot of three phase AC motors can be wired either for 240 or 480 you just have to change the way you connect the wires and the pecker head maybe look into that real quick. Google the definition of the word transmitter and transducer. Definitely understand what an analog input is when an analog output is what a discrete input is what a discrete output is and what a relay is. It is extremely important to understand the difference between normally open and normally closed also understand fail open and fail closed valves and how that works.
Honestly this is a pretty long list and I think I might have left out some of the instrumentation stuff but just do some touch up if you already know a decent amount then you're probably good. If you know half the topics that I just mentioned I'm sure you would be fine on the test.
I know that was a super long message but if you have questions hit me up on LinkedIn I'm always willing to help
@@gregroche7323 Thank you for your time! I’m going to study all this! Extremely helpful.
3:19 my first class had 12 people, second class has only 3 people. im hoping this means its easy to get into it since there really isnt that many people graduating and seems less and less people want to work.
Yeah, I have a little bit of experience with the job hunt. I’m happy to help if you find me on LinkedIn. It can be a bit intimidating at first especially if you don’t have any experience, but I’ve never met anyone that wasn’t able to find something talk to quite a few people on here. One took a little while to find his first job, but it was just like two months or something after his degree.
@@gregroche7323 i added you, thank you.
I wish I was making $30 an hour lol. I’m one year into my I&C job and I only make $22 an hour.
Well all I can say is you're qualified now it doesn't hurt to look around. What state are you in?
If you don't have a degree I would suggest sticking at that job for a while longer but if you do have a degree you most likely wouldn't have any trouble finding a much higher paying job in my opinion
@@gregroche7323 I’m in Southwest Florida
@@gregroche7323 I don’t have a degree in instrumentation, but I have one and electronics for biomedical technology. My plan is to get my journeyman license and then my ISA certification before I start exploring options. To better my chances other places
Its all up hill from there....
Hi! Are there many women in this field?
Very few... I actually worked with a female tech once she was cool & very good. To give you an idea my "day in the life of an I&E technician" video user analytics says my viewsl are 100.0% male(out of 21,000). I. Sure there were a few females but it rounded up. Ivehad one female comment out of the few hundred- 1000 that have gotten on my channel. If a woman were to get this field I'm sure she would have no trouble finding a job I just don't think women are interested in doing this work for whatever reason.
@@SeriousHawK195 now it's 2
I’m also wondering about this. Is it a physically demanding job? Requires physical strength? Long hrs standing or contorted in small spaces?
My daughter who’s 19 is looking for a trades job but she’s only 5’2 and not very strong at all. We’re also looking for a good school that isn’t just selling a worthless product.. we’re currently in Pensacola but willing to move to another state
@dmchez kind of a complicated answer. It really depends where you're working and what the actual duties are. There are maintenance technicians then focus on mechanical issues but are also expected to do some electrical troubleshooting, that job is generally pretty physical. Instrumentation / electrical/ automation technician jobs are definitely less physical but will require a decent amount of walking, from time to time crouching and awkward positions and at some times lifting. As far as trades go it's less physical than most but my job for example can be somewhat physically demanding. I do electrical automation work in a big production factory. Technician who work more in a lab setting have less physical work to do but also make a little bit less money.
If your daughter decides to go to school for this it is very important that she finds a program that will help her get some experience while she's in school so she doesn't struggle finding her first job. I went to school in South Florida at Palm Beach State college and they did a very good job of getting me experience while I was in school, you want to find a school that will do that.
One more bit of information sometimes the lines between electrical maintenance technician and industrial electrician can be a little bit blurry. Industrial electricians do have a more physical job think about installing conduits and pulling wire. That job I definitely would not suggest but instrumentation and electrical technician I can say your daughter should be able to handle it if I had to guess it just depends on where she works.
Sorry if that was really confusing have a nice day find me on LinkedIn if you have more questions
Also as far as the issue of being female in this field goes.. there aren't a lot of women in industrial maintenance. In my opinion there's no reason there can't be women in industrial industrial maintenance. As previously stated I worked with a female instrument tech who was an absolute beast at her job I also worked with a few female maintenance technicians who were very skilled and seemed to enjoy it a lot. I may be biased but I'm just a big fan of industrial maintenance in general and I think it's a good option for anyone looking to level up a little bit. I prefer maintenance over other trades just because there is a wide variety of duties and there's always more stuff to learn it takes a long time for your job to get boring when you're fixing machines and trying to understand industrial processes thumbs up
Do you work right now as a tech? And how much do you make
I just switched to a new tech job, make pretty solid income
@@gregroche7323 what do you do there? Calibrations? PLCs?
Controls troubleshooting mostly. Last job was calibrations plc modification & upgrades, electrical/ control circuit troubleshooting. They are all the same job basically on different machines with varying levels of calibrations. Pay in Ohio is usually 32-42/hr