Thinking about becoming an Instrumentation Technician?? Watch this
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- Quick video discussing what it is like to work in the Instrumentation field
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I read this textbook cover to cover as a supplement to my education before I got my first job and it just covers so much about instrumentation. It's an easy read and it's just packed of useful information. If you're considering the career I would suggest either buying this book or renting the ebook just get an idea of what the job is really like
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tags
Instrumentation I&C control controls engineer technician process electrical I&e electronics field service instrument calibration calibrator plc vfd telemetry i & c i & e
add me on LinkedIn Gregory Roche Cleveland ohio
Are most jobs in instrumentation 8 or 12 hour shifts? Also how many hours are you working outside compared to being in the air condition shop?
Varies by job as far as enviornment, shift is typically 8 some 10s out there, very few 12s. As far as lab vs heavy industrial/ outside I would expect about 50/50
Generally you are going to have 20% of your time doing paperwork, then a pretty even split between PMs lab calibrations and emergency maintenance. Different jobs offer different proportions
That's definitely something I don't like about the job one of the biggest cons is the 8-hour shift I've very seldom found better shifts than that also if you're working first shift you usually have to start at like 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning which is kind of annoying I work 2nd shift right now. One of the best parts about the job is the variety I mean it it will take anywhere from 9 months to 2 or 3 years until you work on every piece of equipment wherever you're at so there's always something different
I'm on 8s in an AC injection molding facility. Great gig with a nice variety of equipment to maintain.
I'm an industrial maintenance technician which is different. I fix everything and anything that breaks. Not a lot of paper work for me. All hands on wrenching.
This was what I needed to hear. Thanks man!
Thanks for share your experience
thanks so much, this sounds right up my ally.
Check it out its a challenging career!
This is something I’m looking forward to doing. Thank you for this video it helped me with opening my eyes to more opportunities.
Thanks for the comment... It is a nice career I wish you the best
Thanks, very helpful
Hi guys,
This video is picking up a bit of traction, & I have a bit over 100 subscribers now. I know in the TH-camr world that's nothing, but for me it is really amazing. I can spread the word about a great career that most people never even heard of, and get closer to people with questions. I am always willing to help you guys by sharing my experiences in my career, even though I am only a few steps ahead of you.
Just wanted to say thank! Feel free to share or comment.
P.S. I WILL publish a new video this week. I am considering: What is the difference between instrumentation,controls, electronics, and electrican, or maybe "How my expectations of being a new tech were way off in the real world", or I can just run through an example of an I&E job that comes up, maybe "troubleshooting an instrumentation & control loop"
Any input much appreciated
Respect from 1 instrumentation tech to another b safe brotha
You too bro what do you do? Im in engine/ oil testing
Great video!
Hi Greg I loved the video you basically explain a lot in 7 minutes....I'll be doing my Process Instrumentation and calibration degree from September so thumbs up 👍 fro that..cheers
Congrats I'm sure it'll go great. Thanks for the comment
Nice Video ,,retired instrument / electrical tech. worked over 35 yrs in oil refinery / pipeline industry for one major player ...... Loved / enjoyed my job ...good work Greg
Thank you
Thanks for putting out this video!
Thx dogg
@@gregroche7323 which state/city would you say benefits the MOST (pay) in this trade degree???
I am not entirely sure.. i know texas can oay super high, worth looking into. Look at Nevada and California too, keep in mind cost of living
@@gregroche7323 yeah I was looking at Texas but if cost of living is high and pay is high, it cancels each other out. So making 100k a year is more like 55k in a low cost of living state. But hey keep the vids up! I appreciate the info
@@ObamaSaidHeLikesMe ya for sure... Move to cleveland great city low cost of living
Thank you
I'm retired after 45 years in this field. I worked for a large bank, a very large controls and automation company, 2 large semiconductor manufacturers, and a large state university over the years. My least favorite job was with the controls company. Technicians were vastly undervalued and unappreciated compared to salesmen and engineers. Among my other jobs, the work was much more varied and interesting. Management had a huge influence on my job satisfaction more than any other working conditions (as in most jobs!) A micromanager type with limited actual hands-on I&C experience could make life miserable, while a manager who trusted you to do your job with minimal direction could make it a joy to be at work.
I agree with the last part of your comment being allowed to push yourself and have a say in the decisions makes a huge difference. I had one job where I was essentially a calibration pencil Pusher and it wasn't for me. My first full-time job in the job & the one Im at now are/ were nothing like that. they're really pushing me to grow and I love it. The first one I didn't have anyone to Mentor me or really show me the ropes other than my peers. Now I find myself at a large company but a small operation with some very talented people guiding me, building my PLC skillset & asking me for input on important projects. I think it will take some time to figure out the politics of the place but as far as job satisfaction it's definitely there. Also they're putting me in a good position to take on a lot of responsibility in the coming years. On the flip side of that on certain days it's very high pressure and a little bit overwhelming so I find myself being exhausted at times but it kind of Ebbs and flows
It sounds like you had a really strong career. What are your thoughts on taking the next steps to be an engineer or just trying to be a top level technician
I'd say that it depends mostly on your preference and goals in life. When I had the opportunity to engineer a couple of small installations I found it interesting and challenging. But I also realized that I didn't want to do it full time. I enjoyed the hands-on in the field'; commissioning, troubleshooting, etc. My dad was a mechanic and avid DIYer and I inherited that joy of working with my hands AND my brain. Other techs I knew progressed into engineering and found personal and professional success there. Engineers who come from the tech world, imho, are far more competent than those who are straight from the classroom and lack real-world savvy. Either path can be a win. Which one will be the most personally fullfilling for you? Answer that question honestly and proceed accordingly. You want to spend your days enjoying what you do, not suffering through them for the sake of making a few extra bucks!
Thank you for the wisdom, i really appreciate it. If I'm being honest I like what I do and I like engineering sometimes I don't know if it would be for me full time. There's just the wage Factor.. yeah the wage of a tech and an engineer are relatively similar but Engineers have a way higher cap. Nothing I'm going to need to figure out today but I appreciate the insight. I've been toying with the idea of going back and getting my bachelor's but right now it's not the time anyways
@@superdave1949 There is almost nothing in your Original Post, or your follow up reply that I didn't agree with.
I have been having that same perspective on this field for the small 10 years that I have been in it, in all different capacities and "titles".
But the 3 comments that I would want others to understand the most are: "When I had the opportunity to engineer a couple of small installations I found it interesting and challenging. But I also realized that I didn't want to do it full time." I used to have a saying - Everyone wants to play Engineer until they have to start using numbers (I get it, we are Men and want to create & solve; but as soon as the numbers, calculations, & brain melting start to come into play everyone folds); AND " Engineers who come from the tech world, imho, are far more competent than those who are straight from the classroom and lack real-world savvy. " I can't tell you how many times I had Degreed and even almost Doctorate "Engineers" come to LITTLE me for support or even LEADERSHIP on/in certain projects and tasks because they honestly had no clue what they were doing without some instruction (either from Human or Software Program) holding their hand; I was truly baffled sometimes. The last one is " You want to spend your days enjoying what you do, not suffering through them for the sake of making a few extra bucks!" I am now at the point where I finally understand that when I die, I don't want to see " I wish I did just one more project or OT hour! " on my Tombstone.
I always love hearing from the Engineer/Technician Veterans, the REAL ones; because they've LIVED & BREATHED the REALITY of the job e.g. the underpay overwork company, long work schedules, company ignorance of the mass amount of $$$ saved by your design/repair, the safety hazards that need to be juggled everyday just "get it done", the penny pinching budget bureaucracy, the constant restart with management/leadership turnover.
You guys have seen it all.
Hope you set yourself up with a good nest egg & plan into your retirement, can't count how many guys I've seen come back because they secretly can't handle it.
Take care sir.
I'm going to school for I&e and I'm very excited
Good for you. Electrical/ control tech is more fun IMO ( all part of I& E) . Good luck
Come to the Texas oilfields you’ll hit 50
Im going to school for this. I work in a very industrial area and we have a shortage on people that do this kind of work. Seems like an awesome career to get into. Thank you for this. Pretty much secured everything and Im so excited
Yea buddy... Make sure you get into an entry level position or internship while you are in school, experience is everything yo get that good job
Any updates on your career did you land a job yet my friend
Are you going to a vocation/tech school or is this a bachelor’s degree
@@gregroche7323 Yes sir. I recently relocated to Ohio and Ive been working. Probably the best decision I ever made.
@@brianlocal3 I went to tech school
Thanks for the video...there are not so many videos about Instrumentation
Yea i want to make more just need to get around to it
@@gregroche7323 can i have your whatsapp number if u don't mind...i would need help on applying for a job
Add me on Facebook gregory roche and we can chat thru there
@@gregroche7323 there are many gregory roche i tried finding u....so may u please sent me a friend request my account name is Troder Hore
Going back to school next month for an instrumentation degree. Was selling cars for the last 12 years but covid really made me realize I needed an education. I couldn't make it every month on commission. I'm 40 and had gone to college out of high-school but screwed around. There are 3 different plants within 40 miles of my house. And I have a cousin ar each one. Two are process technicians and one is an instrumentation technician. I've talked to all three and instrumentation sounds more interesting to me. Thanks for the video!
Hell ya bro get that stuff. Its worth it. Get some experience under your belt and you will be unstoppable. Process control is just as interesting, probably more interesting imo, just my 2 cents. They both overlap though and in some circles mean the same thing. Best of luck
Fyi the average age of ppl in my degree was late 20's early 30's, mostly people redoing college
@@gregroche7323 Quick question. I already have the new iPad pro 11 2021. From your experience with the classes you took could you have used it or did you really need a full window's or Mac OS laptop? I'm getting grants and student loans and am currently trying to figure out what all I'm going to need money for. Thanks!
I guess it depends on the school, for my degree I definitely didn't need anything more than that. I spent time at school studying and using their computers. I bet you will be fine. Our books weren't expensive either it was really geared towards working adults. That was at Palm Beach state in fl. No way to know for sure but I bet it will be easy/not really expensive
@@gregroche7323 Yeah I know compatibility would be a concern. But if that's not a problem just wanted to know if it would be good enough. So far from what I've seen my school has an IOS option for everything I've seen. So I don't think compatibility will be a problem. It's just been almost 20 years since I taken any college classes and didn't know as far as this degree goes if I would need a full OS laptop. I currently still owe like $5k in student loans so I don't want to borrow more than I absolutely need. I went to Texas State Technical College right out of high-school in 2000 for biomedical technology then after a semester switched to computer networking, because Dell in Austin at the time was hiring people straight put of that school and starting pay was $100k a year. I screwed around too much and didn't take it seriously. Wish I had now of course lol. But I know for sure this time I will and can't wait to get started in the fall. I've never been this excited about going to school. Thanks for the info! Take care!
i live here in south africa, and i saw not many people know about instrumentation ,my dad said i should take it due to job opportunity's,thanks for the insightful video
I wish you the best of luck. I had never heard of it before I started school
As an instrument mechanician in South Africa, I'm finding it hard to find work, however there are lots of jobs in the middle east.
My father suggested this as a potential career so I’m looking into it
My dad suggested this career to me a few years ago. I now work at a Nuclear Power Plant as an Electrical-Control Technician.
Great video! Im located in Texas on the gulf coast. Plenty of manufacturing/refinery jobs out here and VERY high paying. Starting salary here is around $35/hr and usually tops out around $50/hr.
Yea i've actually heard that before... That's crazy man good for you.
What college did you attend? If you don’t mind me asking.
@@pedrog5846 sorry for the late response.. palm beach state college Electrical Power Technology A.S.
Is it a who you know industry for example in a High school teacher here in Texas I also have AS in Process Tech from HCC and its fucking impossible to get a operator job I would like to try a different career and do industrial electrician at HCC will it be difficult to find a job at a refinery???
Where are these jobs at Chris im a instrument technician in Houston looking for a better paying job
Hey man awesome video been really thinking about I&E more on the power plant side. Just wondering how long school was and around how much tuition was just to get an idea.
2 year associate's degree.. I went to Palm Beach State College which was more like a community college rather than a university. It was cheap, 99$ a credit hour 67 credits so $6500 or so in total. I got grants and stuff so for me it was basically free.
I would suggest researching the program you are looking into & getting a feel for how successful their students are. My program had a 100% career placement rate & there were many different opportunities for paid internships while in school... That is very important.
I would also suggest trying to make some contacts with your local powerplant.. get creative go on linked in talk to the maintenance manager or some of the techs there. I know its a long response but thats my 2 cents. It is a great career, especially if you like critical thinking and problem solving. Good luck to you and I am always willing to share experience just post a comment any time
Thank you so much you don’t know how much I appreciate it!
This is so true alot of persons dont do I and C and this job is easy to find a job and as he said once you are able to get a internship before you leave college you can get a job easily. I love the field the more you learn on the job the more the salary increases in the next job and it pays very well. It a very broad field and you get to work across alot of discipline as electrical technician and a good field that will let you learn mechanical engineering on the job. Most employers employ I and c guys to work also as electromechanical maintenance technician. As said it's a great field which will make you become a very multidiscipline engineer or technician and easy to get jobs....
Hell ya. Learning some engineering at my newest role. Very exciting stuff
Once you do it for a few years I feel like the next logical step is controls engineer. It's possible to get those jobs once n a while with a 2 year degree but I feel like getting the 4 yr degree opens a million doors.you learn most of the skills on the job but 80% of the doors are closed with 2 year degree.
That being said 6 figures is obtainable as I &c tech, after years of experience if you are ambitious, a bit lucky find the right opportunity and good at your job. I don't think that is super common though. A 4 yr degree would boost income maybe 20%, but it opens doors to move into management roles which could pay off huge in the long term
Thinking about going back to school for this. I was in Hvac and I enjoy trouble shooting, now that I have a idea of what I want to do this is on my mind.
There you go HVAC is very good experience to get a first job
@@gregroche7323well classes start Monday. I’m doing it
@@gregroche7323I passed all my classes for the 1st semester and already signed up for the next with the best teachers, but I have a question how often do you get high in the air? And if so how high is it usually?
@@CaptainCookie18 me personally I haven't had to go up in the air very often.. I would say I've been 60 ft up five times in my career I've been up 30 ft probably 20 times it really depends where you work though they should just close that in your interview if you're trying to avoid that it shouldn't be an issue
Update Update didn't take the job with amazon, recently started at another job solely focused on I&C
What is I and C
@@arashebadtabrizi1301 instrumentation and controls.
The IBEW offers instrumentation certs to their members and you get payed to take the classes in my area
(northwest Ohio.). Also our base pay here is $41 and change. Plus cost of living is very low! So if anyone is interested you can do an inside wireman apprenticeship and then get payed to become an instrumentation tech!
Oh wow I live in NE ohio
I'm wondering is there any overlap between instrumentation and PTEC (process technician or operator). The school I'm considering has both programs so I'm trying to gauge which would be a better fit for me. Currently I'm leaning towards PTEC but instrumentation also seems like a great career.
Also, did you work nights as an instrumentation tech? I'm an aircraft mechanic and I'll be stuck on nights for the next 15 years which is why I want to make a career change. Thanks for the video you got a new subscriber
Awesome glad to hear it. What industry are you talking about? There are a lot of different titles that mean a lot of different things in different industries. In my limited experience there's usually a lot more operators than instrumentation technicians in industrial settings, so you'll often find operators working all three shifts in a 24/7 operation and a lot of places will only have day shift instrumentation technicians. That would be on a smaller operation something that's huge is going to have them all shifts. I don't know if that answers your question or not.
I prefer the math/ problem solving in instrumentation but depending on what you end up doing your aircraft mechanic skill set might put you way ahead of other people as a process tech or operator. Also depending on which industry and which company an operator position can be extremely demanding or pretty slow. I don't know if I really answered your question but I give you some things to look at.
Hey thanks for the insight on I&C. I'm currently going to school for it in ND. How would you go about finding an internship?
I went through my school, the guy who ran the program had industry contacts. I got on his good side and was working quickly. If you cannot find any thru school I would suggest some sort of networking
Hello my name is David I work as a technical recruiter for Flextronics.
We have job Vacancies for Automation technicians at Flextronics, Austin TEXAS.
send a dm if you have 4years+ experience in the field.
Military personnel with PLC technical training are encouraged to apply. Associate Degree in related field is a plus.
Staffing for over 40 positions - both contract and full time
Relocation assistance available for full time positions.
Shoot here in Middle Ga, 35-45 an hour is pretty standard for I&C techs and cost of living is pretty low
At Robins AFB?
@@jamesodell4453 not on base itself, I'm not sure what the payscales are out there. Sheet metal pays good and electronics pays good though
Hey thanks for the vid, I’m halfway through my first semester in my instrumentation degree. I’m only 19 yrs old. I’m currently looking into internships/apprenticeships right now but besides that, what is some other general advice that you could give me going in to the field?
Find that interview asap. Thats really the only thing that is super important. You get that first one, the rest of your career will be a breeze. If you can't find one start contacting manufacturers and water plants, get creative.
A really cool thing i forgot to mention in the video is this job prepares you for electrical engineering so if you decide to go back to school it is easy to get those jobs as it is closely related.
Just keep doing what you are doing bro. Be involved in school and try to overacheive in all your lab classes. Pay attention in physics bc physics is very important in this field. If you have any other specific questions I am happy to answer them.
Hello my name is David I work as a technical recruiter for Flextronics.
We have job Vacancies for Automation technicians at Flextronics, Austin TEXAS.
send a dm if you have 4years+ experience in the field.
Military personnel with PLC technical training are encouraged to apply. Associate Degree in related field is a plus.
Staffing for over 40 positions - both contract and full time
Relocation assistance available for full time positions.
True, there are few techs out there, but it is also a small market, so you need to be flexible on location. FL wages were always low relative to the cost of living when I lived there. Just wasn't much manufacturing, but I suppose there are always utilities opps.
Yea in my experience the opps in florida are a bit light... Utilities and aerospace are most of the jobs down there and compared to cost of living its a good career but it can be tough to 'get rich". I am in Ohio now the pay is slightly higher if not tue same, cost of living is about 25% less and it seems there are more jobs.
I appreciate you commenting it helps the video reach more people. Happy holidays
Hey, I was wondering how similar are calibration techs and instrumentation techs? Thanks for the video!
Hey that's a really good question and I appreciate you asking it. Instrumentation is essentially calibration. Most instrumentation jobs are a combination of calibrating instruments, troubleshooting automated control systems and just doing general electrical maintenance. That being said there are plenty of instrumentation jobs that solely focus on calibrating. My last job I was an instrumentation and electrical technician at a water plant, so I did calibrations but most of the time I was troubleshooting, modifying or installing control systems (software or "hard wired"). Calibrations only took up maybe 20% of my time. Now I'm at a place where we do higher end calibrations and I do that probably 75% of the time. Calibration technician is just an instrumentation technician that is solely focused on calibrations in my opinion. Instrumentation is a more broad term and the job title can mean a lot of different things. PLC's, relays, electrical circuits, radio telemetry, analog (0-10v or 4-20mA) signals, motor drives, control panels, certified calibrations are all under the umbrella of instrumentation, each Job title is going to focus on them a bit differently.
I appreciate you asking the question and please subscribe if you haven't already. I haven't made a video in a really long time but I'm very active on here and at some point soon I will make another video and I'll put a lot of work into it should be a good one.
Don’t listen at all to Greg. Wtf are higher end calibrations. He wouldn’t know a 4-20 mA loop basics. I guarantee he doesn’t.
Update just got hired at amazon as a Service Tech 3. Good money, will have to work grav yard for a while though
Hey man, THANKS A MILLION FOR THIS VIDEO. I’m currently enrolling at IRSC for this degree coming January. You’ve inspired me to change careers. Great job. Good luck at Amazon champ.
@@dwaynecallender8450 just make sure you ask about internship opportunities while in school.. they are usually paid around 20$ an hour. Makes landing a good job after way easier. Good luck man amd congrats
@@dwaynecallender8450 oh shit man you are at indian river... I hear they have a great program. Still check the internships tho
Look into palm beach state palm beach gardens campus with andric oleg thats where I went its not far
My community college offers both certificate level 2 or degree for Instrumentation & Controls Engineering Technology whats your thoughts and opinion on both and what will be the best route ?
Hi, thanks for the video, I’m studying Instrumenation technician/Diploma in Canada. My question is, do you happend to know if I graduate that I could get a job as an Electrical technician. I’m asking this because you are the only one with right info on youtube.
My first full-time job was electrical and instrumentation technician so the answer is yes but I would suggest trying to figure out a way to get some sort of experience while you're in school. Maybe it's an internship maybe building control panels electrician helper really anything so you can finish school and have a degree and some experience. But the short answer to your question is yes absolutely electrical technician is basically someone with electrician knowledge and the higher tech instrumentation and controls knowledge that you would get in school. The main jobs that I would assume your training for our electrical technician instrumentation technician and controls technician
Do you have recommendations for books to read to become more familiar with various instruments/valves? I sort of fell into instrumentation. Though I enjoy it, I lack a lot of knowledge. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I do actually. I have a great book at home, its a quick read maybe 150 pages & not too dry either. I will update when I get home
Ok so I found the book... Fundamentals of Industrial instrumentation and process control by william dunn... I read this book a few weeks after starting my water plant internship (first i&e job) & it helped me a lot. I had just started school so I had no idea what I was doing at the time. It covers all the topics at an intermediate level. Check it out!
Also, crossword puzzles and TH-cam Russian Dashcam videos. Very integral parts of the job.
Don't forget small talk. It's very helpful if you're a car guy which I am not so I got that working against me
@@gregroche7323 just switch it up. Hunting and guns are big in our shop. And golf. Jesus Christ the golf talk. I just swing it to sports or current events locally.
Hey there! I’m in florida as well. what schools have the instrumentation degree you mentioned? I recently lost my job so figured i’d use my gi bill to get a degree in someone not saturated but pays well.
If you are anywhere near palm beach county go for palm beach state college. The person to talk to is Oleg Andric. Very impressive program there.
I know indeed an river has something too but other than that i dont know
Hey, man. I just graduated with an Instrument degree. Might work on my LNG ceritifcate, but honestly I'm just ready to work. Ready to get started and move forward. Problem is, they halted on internships in my area for most places that I know of. So I ask - generally, how hard is it to find a job in this field without the internship? And also, what are the hours like for you? Can I, or anyone else, expect the same general hours when starting? Thanks!
I honestly dont know how hard it would be... Maybe you will have to take something that isnt the dream job at first more geared at entry level. And.. idk there are all different shifts. Overnight gigs in manufacturing are usually easy to get.
Some elaboration... If you cant get in to a Instrumentation position maybe look for a related field service tech position or maintenance technician that part of the job is controls or instruments. It really depends on which part of the country you are in for the industries and shifts available. I know in Ohio there are a lot of maintenance tech positions that are more on the entry level side in the low 20s or even high teens per hour. That would be a great way to boost the resume, just make sure it is Electrical related... 1st shift is usually 7-3.30
I'm watching this video because I got moved along in the interview process for an instrumentation technician at a refinery and it starts at $44.75/hr. I was trying to find a video that shows what to expect in the interview process. I have no doubt I can do the job, I've been at a robotics integrator for a decade now dealing with a lot of controls and PLC work. Thanks for the video, it was informative.
Awesome glad to hear it it sounds like you're at a higher level than I am but my interview is pretty much them asking me about myself and then discussing different principles of physics and instrumentation and once I show them that I had a foundation it's pretty smooth from there. I really can't speak on what that interview will be like hopefully there one day 😂😂
I'm not going to go back and correct all those grammatical errors I'm doing talk to text
Yo did you get the job?
@@gregroche7323 Unfortunately not. I was in a group with about 15 other people for the job and they were hiring one position. Someone else that was slightly more qualified got it. It was for BP husky refinery in Toledo Ohio.
Interesting I'm in Ohio I don't see a whole lot of jobs posted for over 40 an hour if any really. If you ever looking for a place to work get in touch with me I have a lot of traffic on my LinkedIn I don't know if you're willing to relocate an hour or two to the east
I’m doing rf test technician. High frequency rf signal. How do I get into instrumentation?
Good video bossman I was in school for electrical and instrumentation but I didn’t finish it because I had become a father i have done low voltage cabling and control wiring panel building and a little bit of PLC any advice for me I’m not planning to go back to school? But I want to follow this field?
Yeah man I got a video on how to get your first job I would check that out. You don't necessarily need to go to school, I would set up a LinkedIn profile start looking for people on there that are hiring. Apply for all the instrumentation or electrical technician jobs.. if you don't get anything there apply for all the maintenance tech jobs that have controls work in the job description
One more tip I just thought of, if you do not have success landing a job (I bet you will find something), you may want to resume classes even if it's just one. I got a part time I&E job after 1 semester and my full time gig 1 year after that. A lot of companies will accept people that are working on their degree
Is Automation and Instrumentation the same thing ? Lets say, somebody had an option to be an Industrial Electrician focusing on Control systems, or an Electrical and Instrumenation technician, are these basically the same job ? Can one who has experience in one comfortably apply for work in the other ? Or are these two completely different fields ? Do Instrumentation Techs work with PLCs and Conrtol systems also ?
Sort of. Instrumentation in itself is mostly focused on calibrating sensors. Most jobs are for instrumentation and electrical or instrumentation and control because the sensors and the automation go hand in hand. In my opinion industrial electrician focusing on controls is very similar to instrumentation and electrical technician. The industrial electrician might do more industrial electrician duties such as running conduit and working with higher voltage. The last job I had was an instrumentation and electrical technician, essentially I worked with plc's the radio telemetry calibrated sensors did some light electrician work it's basically the same thing.
There is a lot of overlap between control systems and instrumentation, there are jobs that focus more on the instrumentation and there are jobs that focus more on the controls. I hope that makes sense. Controls typically have more troubleshooting than a solely instrumentation position.
Great video series! Currently looking into this as a possible field of study soon. You stated towards the end of the video "If you like numbers, or if you like math"🤮. What if I hate numbers and math?? How much math do you actually do on the job and what type of math is it?? THANKS FOR THE GREAT CONTENT!!!! You are daintily helping me in a big way, to make an educated decision.👍🏻
I apologize to everyone I've been really bad at replying to comments lately I'm trying to get better anyways it's pretty basic level math. If you're doing controls troubleshooting you don't really have to use math at all, if you're doing calibrations you have to do a little bit of math but it's pretty simple. An example might be this you have a 0 to 500 PSI transmitter with a calibration tolerance of 2%, you take a reading and it's 505 PSI showing on a 500 PSI standard. In that example your transmitter is 5 PSI off which is 1% of the full scale meaning you do not have to align the transmitter.
As far as school you're going to be doing multiplication and division a lot. Once you get in here AC theory classes you're going to need to understand trigonometry at a pretty basic level. If you're taking the associates level courses and engineering technology you're going to need to understand algebra and trigonometry and use it all the time but it's not complicated math it's mostly pretty simple. If you have more questions don't hesitate to hit me up on LinkedIn I'm pretty easy to find I'm happy to help
@@gregroche7323 Awesome and very informative reply. Thank you! Just what I needed to know. Unfortunately, what most people consider fairly simple math, is not fairly simple to me. Trigonometry to me, is just "Trig", which for me puts it in the proper category of being a "four letter word" if you catch my drift?!!😆 My brain and numbers just do not get along unfortunately! Definitely sounds like a great field of study/work, but I feel like the math would be a massive roadblock for me.😒🙄
I have to do trigonometry if you decide to get the two-year degree it’s not gonna come up in the field though I would not let that hold me back. It’s really not hurt I promise but it’s just me I guess there’s a lot of different personality, types and different people like different stuff for me. I really enjoy what I do
@@gregroche7323 That does make me rethink it a bit. It sounds like a interesting job. One thing I will say though, is that I'm 44 years old and I'm guessing my age, (just like anywhere) will work against me a bit. Companies are going to want young people who will be around a long time, or older people who have a lot of experience. I'm exploring a possible career change. We shall see! I greatly appreciate the information. I definitely feel better informed, so thank you again for your time and the in-depth information. It is much appreciated!
If you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing before?
Hey Greg, great inputs. Im an electrical engineering graduate here in the Philippines. Plan on studying at Canada for an international degree and work experience. The 2 year program starts as an electrical engineering tech then you can choose to take a path on instrumentation tech or full electrical engineering tech on the second year. Any inputs on what program I should take on the second year? More power to you sir. Cheers!
That's a good question.... When you say Electrical engineer tech I think of working on electronics, maybe with a team of engineers designing or assembling new products (correct me if i am wrong). I guess it really depends on the job availability where you are planning on working. I am in Ohio now, it seems like there are a good number of those jobs, the pay range is 45-60k. I did apply and interview for 1 or 2 of those. They seem fun, sort of a lab/office setting.
The instrumentation jobs are typically more of a maintenance role on industrial equipment so you can plan on getting your hands dirty... I see less "instrumentation Technician" jobs but a whole lot of "Electrical Technician" or "maintenance technician" jobs where the instrumentation knowledge is enough to get a foot in the door. Again, that is a more "dirty" job where engineering tech may be more white collar.
Instrumentation jobs (and Electrical tech) seem to pay slightly higher and there are a bit more of those jobs.
Really depends on what you want to do and which direction you want to take you career. The engineering tech may be a better path to become an EE, depending on the company.
Just be sure to land some experience while in school (anything you can get) as that will make a huge difference on the job search.
Good luck, thanks for commenting and I wish you the best!
@@gregroche7323 thank you for a deatiled response brother. 😃 One more thing, can you consider instru tech a pathway to being fully pledged EE? Or is it better for me to take the EE tech pathway instead?
@@tonimauricealcaraz3439 I don't really know the answer to that... I really like instrumentation and I do believe the technical background would be a huge help in landing a controls engineer or ee job. The problem is for that ee or ce you typically need a 4 year degree and most instrumentation AS degrees arent "accredited" so a lot of the classes need to be retaken even if you know the information and have taken a very similar class... If you get your AS degree at a school that has a 4 year engineering program I am sure it is a much different story... Just something to consider.
I would love to be a controls engineer... I am not sure yet if I will go back to school. I am gonna figure it out later.
As far as an engineering tech that may be a possible route to an engineering position without a bachelor's degree.. but I honestly do not know enough about it to answer the question.
As I move through my career I do not expect to be offered an Engineering job with my background, but again I am not sure. I did see some controls Engineering jobs that dont require a bachelor's, so I guess it is possible. Thanks for commenting.
I am currently an apprentice electrician in the electricians union. I have two years left in my apprenticeship and I’ll be a state certified electrician in CA. I also have my AA degree in instrumentation. What do you think of ISA CCST program? My goal is to branch off from doing new installs and get a job at a water treatment plant or a industrial facility
I think that sounds awesome...
If you finish that apprenticeship and get your CCST 1 you will be extremely hireable.
Imo you are overqualified for water plant jobs as they don't pay super high.
I would suggest looking at power plants. You are like the trifecta, the golden egg. Im jealous of you 😂😂
Also something to consider these types of jobs pay a lot more in texas. If you are willing to relocate I bet you could pull big salary.
Do you have on the job instrumentation experience? If not I would suggest working at a waterplant or something similar for a year or 2 to build up your resume then go for the forever job.
Water plant i&e pays about 60k in fl and ohio so I would expect 70-75k in Cali.
Powerplants are usually 70-80k here so I bet they are 80-90 in cali. If you get that experience as an i&e tech first I bet you could get 6 figures in texas at a refinery or the like
@@gregroche7323 I don’t have any instrumentation experience yet. I have PLC, and motor control..I have taken a instrumentation class and my final year of my apprenticeship we cover instrumentation.
Here in California, there is a organization named, California water environment association (CWEA), that has an E/I certification levels 1-3 that I looked into. I am currently taking water treatment courses to help with the water science
And also in the electricians union, IBEW, they have an instrumentation certificate that looks really good and goes into calibration of equipment and transmitters.
I wouldn’t mind moving out of state. I know with those two organizations I mentioned, they are accepted in other states.
@@danielunderwood2328 yea sounds like your qualifications are super strong. The actual instrumentation is just one part of it.. let me know what you end up doing
I got a good gig in water treatment ...kinda want to get into instrumentation
Do any of y’all Instrument Techs change valves like we do at our Paper Mill
Yeah definitely.. the job I'm at we have two instrument tech Crews. One crew focuses on process water and building controls and rebuilding valves, the other crew (my crew) focus mostly on calibrations and some control systems troubleshooting, in our research department
I'm very interested in becoming an I&C tech / PLC programmer. I've been a nuclear plant mechanic for 3+ years now. I make pretty good $ but Eventually I wanna stop turning wenches. Any idea what type of schooling programs I should look into or what I should do to hopefully make that transition?
Yes good question. I work with a few guys that were working power plants. First and foremost, there is a good chance that a powerplant mechanic makes more than an I&C tech in manufacturing, or at least close to the same. If you can do I&c at a powerplant, obv you will make a lot more. Look into that first.
2 year degree in electrical engineering technology or electronics should get you there. I would suggest finding a community college in your area with engineering technology (2 year) or electronics tech degrees and set up a 1 on 1 with whoever runs the program. Its a beautiful career. Best of luck
Also, if at all possible stay with your current company see if they will help you make the transition so you can keep your pay high. Im sure they would be delighted
@@gregroche7323 thanks for the input. I appreciate it
Working for a utility company will get you the highest income potential, I currently work for an electrical cooperative and have an hourly rate of 48.39 with union benefits
Yeah I can see that
Electrician is probably a higher paying career than instrumentation technician but it is much different it really depends on what you want to do in my opinion
Hey I was wondering what is the difference between electrical ingineering technologist and instrumentation tech, which one do you is better and more in demand, I am electrician but I want to do more than that. Thank you!
They are basically the same thing, engineering tech might be more involved in tue design process and installation where i & e is generally maintenance. Pure instrumentation is just calibration but when i say instrumentation i mean i & e
Be at long story short they're basically the same thing
I was an installation technician for a Large Canadian ISP and was just hired by Johnson Controls as a Controls Systems Technician 1. I let them know that I have no prior paid experience as a controls tech. I think I was hired based solely on my problem solving abilities, my tech savvy, and my ability to learn.
What would you suggest is a good knowledge base to cultivate while I wait for my start date?
I've already started looking into some stuff, but im honestly going in blind. I know there will be on the job training, but I really wanna maximize my uptime right out the gate.
Hmmm I hear ya. Congrats by the way. EVERY instrumentation tech/ controls tech needs to be trained right out the gate...
Wiring schematics is number one. Learn the symbols, watch videos on troubleshooting, understand how relays work. I would even go as far as getting software to build circuits. Learn 4-20 mA signals and voltage signals. Brush up on basic physics, especially pressure. Pressure comes up a lot in i&c.
You def want to go in there with a basic understanding of ac and dc circuits and how controls and instrumentation work. Its not rocket science, its just different.
You got this.
Do you know specifically what you will be working on?
Also if you want to chat im always up for that you can find me on facebook i live in cleveland ohio
@@gregroche7323 sounds good man. I will def add those topics to my list. I have just shy of 25 days so I think I should be fine.
Also i dont know the exact peripherals but I assume I will be working with HVAC systems a lot. I dont know if that means Siemens or Allen Bradley controllers or whatever. Likewise I have a buddy who is a systems designer for a local UV water treatment manufacturer and he says the main stuff I should know is allen bradley. I guess time will tell, haha.
@@leviotten ya i have worked with allen Bradley a good amount. Their "programing language" is laid out the same as wiring schematics so you kill 2 birds with one stone... Kinda cool
I live in southeast texas, there’s two schools near me that offer instrumentation degrees and other sorts of associates that will get you with the plants around here, im curious on if you think I should pursue the associates of instrumentation, or drafting, what would you say I should pursue to get a good paying job starting out and be able to work my way up to maybe hit or be close to 6 figured a year, should I pursue my bachelors? or would I be okay getting the associates, like I said I am in southeast texas and there are A LOT of plants around here.
I should also note I am turning 20 in july, I was pursuing a bachelors but i’m changing my degree plan this summer so I truly don’t know what to do to set myself up in the future
Well I know for certain instrumentation is higher paying than drafting. Its also way less boring imo thats a no brainer.
If you get your engineering 4 year you will have a great career and later in your career that 4 year degree will open doors that a 2 year won't (i.e. management). You basically have to weigh the pros and cons. Fot me I wanted to make more money quickly. I had to work full time thru college, getting my 4 year would have been a huge pain in the butt. I was making 50+k (texas equivalent 70+k) 15 months after i started.
Can you afford to be in school for 4 years? Will your family support you thru it? Can you take on a large debt? These are all questions to ask. I can't speak on how easy it is to get a foot in the door engineering. I just don't have the experience but I do enjoy being an instrumentation tech. If you get the two year find out if the credits transfer to a 4 year. A lot of people end up getting the 4 year down the road, but i probably wont. You have to understand i&c is basically a blue collar engineer.. it's hands on but the issues are generally complex and challenging. Engineering generally speaking is also complex and challenging with less hands on. Good luck! Let us know what you decide
Side note a 2 year instrumentation degree is more valuable than at least 70% of bachelors degrees, especially in texas. Look up average wage of 4 year grad vs average instrumentation wage
My cousin suggested I get a associates and from my and his experience it's definitely worth it. The cost of the school was around 9k and I started at around 32$, just recently finished school, here in Houston. My cousin makes around 48$ hr so there is definitely room to grow in the chemical plants.
Hey, great video
Question, I'm a wire tech here in south florida. Do you know which schools or tech colleges offers the instrumentation and control course?
Palm beach state has the best program, its called electrical power Technology. Indian river has a program also, where are you in florida?
@@gregroche7323 , thanks for answering! I'm currently in Broward county, but I'll be moving to port saint lucie this year. Do you happened to know the name of the program at Indian River?
@@zazuir I do not... Go on their website and search instrumentation.
The palm beach state program is at the palm beach gardens campus which is only 30 minutes from PSL. I highly recommend it you are guaranteed a paid internship during school... Worth checking out. The guy to speak with there is oleg andric
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Hey whats your opinion on the NCCER certifications? A lot of us are trying to skip the 2 year Associates and going that route instead.
Hey buddy thank you for commenting on the video they really boost my when there's active conversations and I'm trying to get monetized. I actually know nothing about it other than what people have told me I need to research it. I've never even heard anyone mention it in my region of the country (Ohio or Florida).
All I know is this it's a very high demand field I got my first instrumentation job during my second semester of my associates. I made $19 an hour in a training program in exactly one year later I got hired on at a different water plant full-time. I was taking part-time classes so I was only about halfway done with my degree when I got my full-time job.
Other people who watch my videos probably know more about it than me but it's a very high demand field and I would guess that that would be good enough but I don't know
I do have a friend that I made on here down in Texas and he actually had a little bit more trouble getting his first job than I had he went the associates route so that could be a factor. He did get a full-time job during his associates degree around 50 k actually just message me he got a new job over 70k after one year of experience
I know a lot of the 100K plus instrumentation jobs in Texas want you to have that nccer + experience
I worked as an HVAC Tech, found myself in a chemical plant as a chemical Operator. Currently talking to our instrumentation technician about going to get my certification and then degree.
Nice go for it
Operator positions and technicians are usually a lot different are the operators at your plant busy or you guys kind of laid back
It is vastly different but I miss being a tech. I’m only 23 and I’m interested in what our instrumentation tech does. He told me to do DeVry but I hear bad things about them. He wants me to do electrical engineering but I feel like that’s a little extra
Most community colleges have a 2 year Electrical engineering technology mechatronics technology or electronics degree that should be a sufficient. I would not suggest any type of certificate I would get the associates degree while you're in school and start trying to get the job While you're like halfway through the degree you have relevant experience. If you stick in the chemical industry that experience has an operator it's going to pay off as well and you could likely be qualified for very high paying jobs in just a few years
I have a buddy in Florida that was a Power plant operator for some years, got his year 3 years ago and makes 50$ an hour now. I wouldn't expect that but his operator experience paid off big time
Great video gave you a like for sure and I’m currently waiting to take some classes with Prof Andric as well but is there any way I could reach out to you by chance??
Yeah man you already know the area code 889-4306 hit me up
Happy for you man it's freaking awesome
@@gregroche7323 thank you Greg seriously I appreciate this opportunity man.
Also I’m excited to start his classes.
He’s a great Professor to have.
I’ll give you a call on my lunch break my name is Emerson
Feel free to text as well if it's a number I don't know I might or might not answer
@@gregroche7323 okay I’m sending you a message now
Again I really appreciate it thank you Greg
What do you think is the best way to search for schools? Also are certain schools better to attend than others?
That's a pretty good question honestly anything with a 2-year engineering or electronics degree is pretty much going to cover it.. there are schools that make degrees that are only about instrumentation but then again it's pretty much the same thing as an electrical engineering 2-year degree. Just look around at the schools close to you and getting in touch with the department chair or the lead person in that degree program and talk to them on the phone and find out what kind of opportunities there are that's what I would do. Find out if they're placing people in a jobs and find out if people are getting paid internships while they're in school that's the most important thing in my opinion
hey there, where i live in canada they have 2 year diploma programs. are these good too? also, are there lots of other fields than just oil and gas to work in for instrumentation? is this career in demand still during the pandemic?
It appears to be. Water industry is where I started. Also look into power plants manufacturing etc. There are many field service opportunities with travel. I would suggest looking into the degree and find out if they will place you with an internship makes a huge difference. I have a 2 year degree
If you look for "electrical technician" there is a lot of overlap with those jobs
Could a fire sprinkler fitter be good at something like this,I’ve done my apprenticeship and am a journeyman fitter right now.I’ve done this for 16 years but want something more rewarding.Please let me know when you have time,I’m from Texas.
I'm not really sure can you be a little bit more details on what you do it's a more mechanical or do you work on the controls a lot I know the control stuff is pretty similar
For the fire control systems or whatever they're a little bit less complicated than automated systems for manufacturing. Could you maybe give me a little bit more detail about what you do I'm just not familiar
It is rewarding, especially if you are troubleshooting automated controls🧐🧐
Hi Greg! I have question. What to look for in an electrician schooling to see if it e&i oriented?
That's a good question. I know in Ohio the 4 year apprenticeships go over instrumentation in the last year. I believe journeyman electricians here make 36 an hour give or take a few bucks.. could be more not sure. 1st year apprenticeship programs pay something like 18 yr 1 22 yr 2 26 yr 3 32 yr 4 36 when you are done (those are absolute guesses but it's pretty close to that).
So.... journeyman electricians actually make more money than e & I (In most situations). The earning potential on being an electrician is probably higher overall than an e & I tech.
There are negatives to being a journeyman (I've never done it, these are heresy and assumptions)
1. Lay offs. A lot of electricians work new construction or expansion projects on buildings, so they might make 10k plus some months and some months they could be getting unemployment checks
2. The jobs is more physically demanding, you may have to pull wire (not fun) dig ditches run conduit really high on buildings etc.
3. A lot of the job is about making jobs to code and making your work look professional & be rugged. I&E is going to demand more understanding of physics electrical theory and network technology or automation technology
I know that didn't really answer your question but I was saying all that to say this... If you are trained for a job that pays 36 to 40 an hour would would you take a job that pays 28 to 36 an hour?
A lot of the EI jobs prefer add to your technical degree over Electrician schooling. I have had 2 CO workers that had both. I'm pretty sure sure you could get your foot in the door doing e & I with your journeymen But that would be a pretty significant pay decrease these are all things to consider. That being said in the very long term (10 plus years your earning capacity would be outrageous.
That's all I can really say to answer that question because that's all I know my friend thank you for commenting
One of the pros about going into instrumentation is it boost your earning capacity relatively quickly When compared to an engineering program and the pay is isn't really that much different especially at 1st (55-60 vs 65-75)
Going the electrician route would possibly boost the income even quicker (you can make 18 an hour at aldis now tho). Electricians don't get a whole lot of hours in the office tho. EI is basically cross between electrician & controls/electrical engineer
My bad and definitely answer your question I would suggest go to the school and talk to the students or find someone in the staff that doesn't seem like they're lying to you🤣🤣 Same advice I would give to anyone going into any degree program
You missed your Florida calling! Medical instrumentation Moe! Beautiful women!
You could be right😂😂 I got a good woman at home though, pretty content. I would have enjoyed that path, I just didn't know where to start all my experience is industrial
I'm in 10th grade and plan to do something with the electronics field after graduating HS. What advice can you give me as far as what jobs and where to start? I've looked in to a instrumental technician and it seems like its something I want to do.
Instrumentation tech is closely related to electronics/ electrical engineering. There aren't a huge amount of jobs but there are barely any people going into this field. Employers tend to give you respect and treat you better bc they know it would be a pain in the ass to replace you.
Get on linkedin look up instrumentation tech instrument tech automation tech Electrical tech electronics tech (higher end, not assembly).
Make sure there is a demand. As a 10th grader it is a good time to start planning. The main thing I would suggest is find the schools that offer that program and speak with the person that runs the program (not an advisor). Find the person that is in charge and set up a one on one sit down with them and find out what the career opportunities are and take a tour. I think that would be your first step. That applies to any career really. I would suggest doing the same thing with an engineering program as well, just to see what you like.
The work is fun and interesting, you work with your hands and your brain, which is nice... There are limitations with being a tech rather than an engineer. You are going to want to factor all that in as well. Best of luck.
@@gregroche7323 Thanks man, you helped a lot!
Just wondering how much math, physics or chemistry do you have to learn to become an instrumentation technician? I'm considering this program but haven't studied any science stuff in quite a few years.
That is a good question. First off the level of mathematics is different than engineering, byt in school you will use it a lot. It is algebra (multiplication division some exponents) and trig (sine cosine etc). The trigonometry comes up a lot in physics and AC circuits. In my opinion trig is pretty simple and all of the math is somewhat simple. You will use it a lot though. I took physics my first semester and I had a lot of excitement going on for this degree so I studied a lot and got a very strong foundation and physics which is paid off greatly throughout my career. If you take this a.s degree it is set up so that anyone can take it. If you are really bad at math and problem solving this might not be the career path for you but as long as you are average intelligence are better you should be good. I guess everyone's experience is different but I had a wonderful time in school. All of your different classes will use algebra and trigonometry no high-end math so you just have to master a few skills and then just use those methods on different topics. If you want some one-on-one advice or discussion I'm always happy to help you can find me on LinkedIn I'm in Cleveland Ohio just search my name
And just a little tidbit on the current job climate for this type of work.. I left my last job November of last year, it paid $30 an hour and the job is still posted
I'm in Australia and there's the option to do an apprenticeship through a certificate III in instrumentation and control. Would you know how this differs from the degree you were doing? Thank you
Honestly I wish they did that in the states.
Sounds amazing how long will it take you to get your degree. Any degree + experience is the way to go. Can you tell me more about it I am curious.
My degree is a 2 year college degree. In the states to be an electrical engineer you need a 4 year bachelors degree. Mine is basically a 2 year version of that, I went to school and worked as a "tech intern" making 19 an hour while I was in school
@@gregroche7323 I think the apprenticeship takes 4 years and you will spend 1 day per week in Tafe for 3 years while doing the apprenticeship, so its longer than the degree that you done. Here’s a link to it www.tafensw.edu.au/offering/-/o/o/UEE31211-01V03-21ULT-500/Certificate-III-in-Instrumentation-and-Control
Can you please tell me how math heavy Instrumentation is and the difficulty of the math?
@@sauerkraut4353 that sounds awesome do you know what sort of pay range you would be looking at while you are in school
@@gregroche7323 Sorry I don’t know, it will probably depend based on who you’re doing the apprenticeship with and if you’re a mature age apprentice. Can you please tell me how math heavy Instrumentation is and the difficulty of the math? Also how physically demanding is Instrumentation, I heard electricians switching to it because it put less strain on the body. Thank you.
@@sauerkraut4353 ok that was a 2 part question. As far as physical demands it is not difficult. The only that sucks is pulling wire or installing conduit which is really electrian work, but being the apprentice you might get stuck with it. Instrumentation is mostly calibrating, setting parameters and testing signals and circuits... It does vary depending on where you work. It is not a physical demanding job. It can be mentally demanding. The better you are at solving puzzles and critical thinking problems the better you will be as a Technician. All the math you will use is pretty basic in the field, in school you may want to touch up on trigonometry (not as intimidating as it sounds). If you are naturally good at math the topics do come easier. If you are bad at math you can def still do the trade, but it may take more work to excel (its not rocket science)
I may have already posted this on here but if anyone's looking for a job in Northern Ohio please get in touch with me
There're jobs out there paying over $50/hr right now for I & C guys. Just have to know where to look and be willing to move.
Yeah I hear that. At this time in my life I'm not really even close to that but I'm happy where I'm at. It's good to know that it's out there though. I'm still consistently getting 2 to 5 messages on LinkedIn per week for instrumentation jobs just in my area which is Cleveland Ohio
@@gregroche7323 as long as you’re happy waking up and going to work that’s all that matters! Some of these places have to pay up for the amount of crap (other people) you have to deal with though lol
Is building automation controls technician part of Instrumentation? Also, how about HVAC technician?
Thats a really good question.
I work on industrial automation systems... Siemens allen Bradley etc. Building automation systems and hvac controls are similar & sometimes made by the same companies but oddly enough they are considered different careers, not a whole lot of overlap. Hvac and building automation will have 1 controller, a lot of digital I/O (on and off) and are a bit more user friendly generally speaking. For example, if you work for a building automation company you might be connecting and installing sensors all communicating with one controller. Day in and day out you might be installing the same sensors to the same controller. Those jobs pay a little less and don't typically require schooling.
HVAC is a bit higher end, bit a large portion of that is installing and cleaning ducts. The same people who do that are expected to do the controls stuff. Again, different career but that can be very profitable.
IC techs use general engineering knowledge to adapt to many different types of systems if that makes sense
I just got an offer to work for a company starting at 25$ an hour with zero experience training as an instrumentation technician/ operator. It’s a little further than my drive to work now and my job now for the state gives me free insurance. So I’m in a toss up about what I should do. I’ve also been with my current company for about 4 years. Good and bad days.
I would do that. How far is the drive? It's probably a more laid-back job and you learn some cool stuff. If you're interested in this I would definitely take that opportunity.... Usually you have to be enrolled in a degree to get an opportunity like that. I don't know I guess it's a personal choice but that sounds like a great opportunity to me. 25 is pretty much the floor for this type of work so keep that in mind
Oh I didn't notice you said you get free insurance at your current job... That changes things a little bit. The question is are you passionate about a career change are you happy where you're at that's really all that comes down to the choice is yours. I really like what I do but it's not for everyone
Hi Greg do you recommend any good colleges that offer instrumentation technician certification? Specifically Petroleum instrumentation courses. I'm looking to get into the refinery 👍
No there's probably other people on this forum that know more. I got a 2-year degree and my degree doesn't even have anything to do with instrumentation with the title but when you read the description it's in there. My degree program is electrical power technology in the School of engineering at Palm Beach State in Florida
The only thing I can recommend is look up electrical or electronics or instrumentation or mechatronics or robotics or engineering AS degrees and certificates.
The most important thing is find out if they're helping people get jobs cuz I'm sure there's programs out there that aren't real good with that. Make sure they'll get you your first job or at least an internship because it's kind of hard to get a job without experience but once you get experience and the degree you'll be getting emails from recruiters every single week forever basically. But yeah that's the most important thing find out if they're actually getting people into jobs and like really I would say be pushy on that and try to figure out if they're bullshiting you.
It's such a niche job that there's many names for it that kind of all describe the same thing if that makes sense so you got to keep that in mind when you're searching for degrees and when you're searching for jobs a lot of the jobs aren't called instrumentation and same with the degrees.
Some other keywords to look for automation plc controls electrical engineering electronics technician electrical instrumentation instrumentation and controls I'm sure there's more. Definitely keep all that stuff in mind also bear in mind that if you're looking at the petroleum field and you want to make you know $45 an hour or so I would assume that they're going to want to make sure you kind of know what you're doing so a certificate might not be all you need for that job. I could be wrong but I would think that you would have to work for a few years as maybe a maintenance technician where you're going to have some controls work or maybe an instrumentation and controls technician at a less profitable operation for let's say 26 to 34 an hour. I honestly could be wrong on that it's just something to look into for yourself
I’m in the electrical trade. I always saw these guys until I asked one of them their “job title”. Big money and long hours. Do I need a degree or an certification work as well???
If you already have electrical troubleshooting skills now you don't depending on how good you are dot-dot-dot you could probably get away with certificate which is generally like three or four classes or experience. Basically you need an understanding of physics electrical Theory and then plc's and of course instruments and you're good to go
If you only do Residential or industrial new construction electrical work then you'll probably need to go to school honestly also if you're in Texas there is a certificate you need to get to get the high paying jobs. Just like everything in life it seems a lot more complicated than it is
Is it a lot of work on weekends or is it a Monday through Friday thing
Some heavy industrial operations run 24/7 some run 24-5 some only run first shift. That is an issue that sometimes it's easier to find a job on second or third shift weekends not so much. 1st shift jobs are out there but a lot of times people want first shift so if the factory runs 24-5 they will take someone that's working second or third shift and move them to first shift so generally it is easier to find a second or third shift position than a day shift position. Places that run seven days a week aren't as common so I think that's more of an issue than the weekend shift thing. Where there is a will there's a way if you want to work first shift you'll find the job eventually but it's usually not as easy as finding 2nd or 3rd Shift job
I work at a paper mill and they have production employees that can’t pass our Electrical and instrumentation test, after finishing school.
Makes sense
@@gregroche7323 even though they completed a 2 year electrical course ?
@@BRICEN18 idk. Tyere was a very big difference in skill level at my school between the people that just went to school and the people that went to school and work as i&e techs
Got my degree in Industrial maintenance technology going back for I&C while working
Nice that's the way to do it
Keep us on the loop let us know your experience my friend
Should be a pretty easy transition especially if you're already doing industrial maintenance it's very similar
@@gregroche7323hey Greg… I have no experience just Laborer experience but I am in school rn for instrumentation Electrical thinking of just getting Nccer in Instrumentation technician
I’m an instrument technician at a chemical plant we make $45 an hour and usually clear $130,000-$150,000 a year
That's tight buddy getting that OT... it seems like as time goes on the pay for technicians gets closer and closer to engineer pay we're Engineers generally don't get overtime but we do
Wow. I’m a Canadian trained instrument tech. We do four years of school to be qualified. Listening to you talk, damn I wouldn’t let you sweep the floors at my plant. You don’t know a thing.
Thanks bud
So your saying it’s fairly easy to find work after graduation Or dose it depend on the area u live in ?
I'm sure it depends where you live but I was living in South Florida where there wasn't a whole lot of industrial work and I had an easy time finding a job down there. I moved to Ohio and had a pretty easy time here so I feel like as long as you're not in the middle of nowhere it should be pretty easy but it's heavily dependent on if you have experience or not ... No one wants to hire someone in a technical job with no experience so getting that entry level position while you're in school is vital and you can find out if your school has stuff like that
Is this job hard on the body? Is it dangerous? Seems really chill.
These are good questions and it honestly differs from job to job. You got to understand you're doing a couple different things there's electrical controls troubleshooting which typically isn't very dangerous but it is somewhat dangerous you will be exposed to 120 volts and while you're learning how to do it, you may shock yourself from time to time depending on how quickly you learn and how careful you are. If you don't want it to be dangerous it doesn't have to be if that makes sense. It is unlikely that you will be exposed to levels of electricity that will kill you but you can get shocked from time to time. The level of safety precautions is also based on what type of company you work for and there is a possibility that you'll be doing a very small amount of electrical troubleshooting, in that case there's nothing else about the job that would be dangerous as long as you're following lockout tagout procedures.
As far as being hard on the body I would say it's medium but it will vary widely from job to job. At some jobs you will have to walk around a lot upwards of five or six miles on a shift but that you usually only see that in manufacturing and I dont think that is the norm. One aspect of the job that can be really bad is if you have to do scale calibrations and you have heavy calibration weights that you need to move around that can be very hard on the body so that's something to ask about in the interview. I've had a few different jobs now that have ranged from very dangerous to almost no danger and very easy on the body to very hard on the body. So there's a wide range but if I had to generalize it I would say it's a relatively safe job, being that you're not expected to work on any high voltage. Most companies would prefer that you don't even work on 120 volts live. And generally speaking I would say the level of physical activity is not too bad, mostly just walking would be the toughest part. I know that's a vague generalized answer but that's what I got my friend
@@gregroche7323 Wow didn’t expect such a detailed answer. I really appreciate your time in typing this man 🤙🏽. I’ll consider everything you just said and look into it further. Thanks again!
Good video, Don't limit your pay potential. My employer pays our EIS employees $50-52 an hour. That's my next step within the company.
Nice I've been looking around lately and the wages have gone up a bit but not seeing anything in that range in my area I'm in Cleveland also I don't have enough experience to get the top paying positions at this time in my career I'm in the mid-range basically. What is eis?
@@gregroche7323 I'm in Texas, working for an oil major in the Permian. That pay I mentioned is reached within a year. EIS stands for Electronic Instrumentation Specialist.
Oh dang I don't think that I.E technicians in Ohio ever really get over 40 an hour at least I don't see posting for it
Well you'd have to commit to move to Texas 😄
Maybe one day I don't see why not
Hey man it's summer now and I have no school until September. Want to study fiber optic im the summer part time. Does it help with finding better joba later as an instrument tech?
Yes and no if anything I would say network communication could be a better way to spend your time that being said it never hurts to have a specialty. I haven't had much fiber optic experience or exposure but if I knew more about it it would have made a few of the jobs I had to do easier. It doesn't matter what you learn as long as you're learning you're moving forward so take that as you will
I'm at a point now where I'm seeing certain skill sets that I'm lacking and I'm most likely going to have to go back to school in the near future
@@gregroche7323 cheers
I’m 17 and I wanna go for an apprenticeship at Dow for an Instrument Technician when I turn 18 what should I be expecting?
I'm sure it will be easy at first. Don't sweat it. No one is going to push you hard imo.
I am sure you will learn about different industrial equipment, sensors, control systems etc. Sounds fun honestly. Once you get trained up I would expect to be assisting troubleshooting complex automation issues, maintenance on equipment and calibrations. Good luck!
I am a part of the Dow apprenticeship program right now. Its a great gig and I highly recommend it.
Hey there, I'm a broke 24 year old looking to get into a trade and have a few questions. Would I be able to go to night classes or do part time for this degree? Lastly, how heavy is the math in this field?
Good questions I can't answer the college question specifically it depends on where you go. The place I went was made for working adults that being said there were some daytime classes so you're gonna have to figure out a way around that if you're in that situation I ended up getting a job as a tech trainee pretty quickly and I was only working like 25 hours a week doing that and then I just delivered pizzas at night that's how I got around it. So mine wasn't that bad.. I worked full-time and took two or three classes at a time including summer and it took me 3 years to get my degree. I had my first job after 6 months and a year after that I had my full-time instrumentation job. I have my instrumentation job for over a year before I got my degree.
Anyways the math isn't that difficult it's different than going for electronics engineering or something. You can do a little bit of research look into Ohm's law that's mostly what you'll use. If I remember correctly I used trigonometry pretty often but it was basic trigonometry which really is not that complicated. If you are really bad at math it could be challenging but if you are just average at math I wouldn't worry about it. I got a lot of enjoyment out of my classes and building friendships at the school so it's like really not even a bad thing to have to go to school and then get a little bonus at the end you get paid more money that's the way I look at it
@@gregroche7323 Thank you so much for responding sir!
Hey bro curious why you said to pay attention in physics because its very important in instrumentation? can you explain more. Thanks !
Yes absolutely this was something I did not expect but I use my physics fundamentals more than anything. Any industrial process is going to need an understanding of physics to understand how it works for example understanding how pressure is distributed in a closed closed fluid system comes up a lot. To be good at fixing things you need to b3 able to understand how they are supposed to operate. Physics is important not only for instrumentation but really all industrial maintenance jobs including engineering. The people who are really good understand physics
@@gregroche7323 thanks man! how did you go about studying and retaining info you learned in school ? any method. I have a lot of reading to do and I'm in my first year which is electronics and I'm trying to figure out how to remember most of it.
Well I pretty much worked as an instrumentation Tech the whole time I was in college so I knew what I needed to retain and what I didn't based on what I was doing at work. That being said physics was the first semester of school so I wasn't working at that point and I had a lot of energy to burn. My professor was this like 80-year-old retired NASA physicist who was extremely strict and expected us to read a 400 page physics book cover to cover so I did that I studied probably 10 to 20 hours a week for that class. That had a lot to do with retaining the information. The only tip I can give you is you don't have to remember all of the specifics but if you can retain most of the general principles you'll be in good shape. When you start troubleshooting circuits and processes sometimes something will ring a bell and then you can maybe Google it and then you know revisit your education and then at that point I think it's solidified
A good portion of your skill set you're going to learn on the job. When you're educated in principles and Theory though you understand why things work the way they do and it's easier to piece things together than if you don't really understand why things are operating the way they are. Keep that in mind even if you didn't go to school and just got a job as an instrumentation Tech with no experience eventually you would become a pretty good Tech the school is just going to accelerate that process a little bit. Nothing to stress over
@@gregroche7323 hahaha I got a laugh out of that! thanks brother. That really helped and was encouraging.
I live in an area the the gas and oil industry is huge and I’ve got many job listings on linked inn paying experienced positions $40-$50 an hr.
Yes I would say This career choice is becoming even more of a gold mine as time goes on. Companies are very desperate at this point to find people with electrical and instrumentation engineering skills. Robotics are becoming very common my company is buying a few more robots this year and I think a lot of companies are. In 5 years if you're an established instrumentation in electrical Tech I think that you are going to be able to write your own checks
Right now there are probably 20 jobs that pay 70K plus In my area and if I Applied for all of them I would probably get 80 percent of them. I've also had recruiters reaching out to me for engineering roles even though I don't have a bachelor's degree
And lastly they say they want an experienced person but if you had a bunch of job lifting listings that means there's no people to fill the jobs so they'll settle for someone with a degree in a little bit of experience or maybe even just a degree or even a certificate
@@gregroche7323 in the long run is that good or bad? about writing your own check like as in the robots will replace your job?
@@Fumbiii16 I think it's a good career I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. Instrumentation and controls is a part of robotics and automation I think demand in this field will be high for the duration of our lifetime. In 10 to 20 years I think robotics and Network/ IT skills will become more relevant in addition to the traditional controls and instrumentation skills. I don't know if that answers your question or not but it's a very solid career obviously not super high pain but pretty good pay. If the question is will instrumentation text be replaced by robots the answer is probably not for 50 years
Did you have any previous experience in stuff like this before you got into the field
Hell no😂😂 I actually went to college with the intention of getting into accounting and was persuaded by an advisor to look into instrumentation. Before I did this work I did boat restoration and various warehouse jobs
@@gregroche7323 alright thank you for responding I am going to a technical college this year and going for instrument tech and don’t have any experience in that so I’m glad I can do that with no prior experience
@@gmfcrazy8455 thats awesome. Got a suggestion... Talk to people that run the program and find out if there are internships or if its likely they will help you find a job related to instrumentation. That is key in getting jobs, you almost need some sort of experience to be considered, but once you got the experience you will get offered the job in most interviews ime
My community college offers process technology and electronic technology degree which should I take?
Which college is it all look it up in a little bit let you know. I would suggest talking to the people that run the program and see if they can get you a job before you graduate
Hi there really question , I work in a oil industry and work in pipeline making about 75k in California with no degree . I have literally 0 experience in instrumentation or electrical but my boss is forcing me( to save money) to learn and become I& E tech for another $5 an hour , in your opinion is it even worth it?
I guess it depends if you want to learn how to do it. I personally enjoy the job. I would think a pipeline IE Tech in California would make a lot more than 85,000 could be wrong. But in the long run yes it'll probably be worth it. I would do it.
Realistically that kind of sucks that he's forcing me to do it though. Also without any formal training it could be dangerous.. Thats a thinker
If you have solid mentors there I would say go for it if you don't I'm not so sure
I answered that question while getting a midnight snack at 4:00 in the morning LOL but I think I stand by my answer. If you have the opportunity for real training from people that know what they're doing I think that's something that a lot of people would kill for
@@gregroche7323 I’ll be honest I got bumped up to 85k yesterday but I agree with 0 experience in that field I would hate to be some the reason why someone else died on my watch 🙃
What about an analytical instrumentation technology
That's going to be a little bit different than instrumentation and controls or instrumentation and electrical or instrumentation and automation. My current job is actually not even an instrumentation job I'm an automation technician (based on the terminology I use it's basically the same thing).
Analytical instrumentation is going to be more high-tech focused on sensors and you're going to be looking at higher standards of calibration, higher Tech calibration technologies and learning how to make ultra precise calibrations.
This is my guess of that my head but that's what it sounds like
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is a instrumentation tech solely working in the industrial industry?
That is a good question. Yes, generally speaking it is, but consider this.
Research labs need instrumentation to calibrate their equipment.
Hospitals need techs to calibrate their equipment (i.e ventilators dosing stuff etc.)
Aerospace sensors fall under instrumentation and that is done in a lab.
A lot of the jobs are kind of like a blue collar white collar crossover and the setting could be in a lab
Hi ,,, I'm from South Africa and I'll like to be an instrumentation technician,,, what specifically should I study ?
A lot of the people I work with have 2 year electronics degrees. My degree is called Electrical power Technology it is a 2 year focused on instrumentation and Electrical circuits. Good luck
@@gregroche7323 thank you so much,, I really appreciate it 🙏🏼
@@tyrellechristopher8970 of course I hope it works out. It is a great career
What schools are you looking at?
I’m looking to becoming one after graduation from highschool is it required to get an associates degree ?
Not necessarily but if you are just coming out of highschool I am assuming you don't have any experience.
I would suggest going for a 2 year degree and trying to find a company where you could work as an intern or entry level while in school. You should be able to make decent money (40kish) then get more money as you learn and get thru your degree.
@@gregroche7323 thanks and how is the schedule like
Hi I have done diploma in Instrumentation mechanic in 2008 & having 12 year experience in Instrumentation and control process and looking for job ...pls let me know any openings
Where are you at?
Hopefully more people listen to this and dont go into it. That'll make higher demand and higher pay for me. Nice vid
Hi, I am instrumentation engineer, i have 5 years of experience and i am trying to find a job position in Canada or US
You should get a LinkedIn, most jobs are posted on there, i would suggest making a profile with your resume on it and get in touch with technical recruiters in the area that you're looking at, texas has the best opportunities 📨💪
We're at $48 an hour (Sr. ICE Technician after time steps). I know it's an outlier, but its "market rate" for our industry (power generation; in-house).
Oh trust me I'm aware I have a friend that's right there told me the could get me a job at 48 - 52 but hes in Florida and I don't like Florida😹😹. Up here (Ohio) those rates are Rare but out there. He has been doing instrumentation for about 4 years now and hes already up there but he had previous power plant experience. Refineries and power plants seem to pay a lot better than other manufacturing jobs. It will be a long time before I get to that rate but I'm cool with that, I will most likely get my bachelors for control's engineering at some point. Good for you though the work you do must be very important
@@gregroche7323 I'm also in Ohio.
Well damn🤣🤣
Do you guys work on allot of math??? My uncle went to college for Instrumentation & Controls. Lol he’s telling me he doesn’t do math so I don’t know what to believe but I know I/E Associates degree requires math
@@gregroche7323it’s because as an I/E tech you can get a operator job but as a OPERATOR you can’t do I/E work
What school in Florida they have I/C tech?
I was living in West Palm. Palm Beach state is where i went (Palm beach gardens) the degree is called Electrical Power Technology. If you are in that area let me know ill tell you who to talk to.
I know they have a similar program at Indian River State College which is a bit further north I think. Other than that I don't know.
is there a lot of manual / physical labor in this field.
I only ask because i have done manual labor my hole life and dont want something like that till im 50
That's a good question I would say yes and no... It really depends on the type of instrumentation work you end up doing. My job is mostly instrumentation (calibrations and installing sensors) with a little bit of controls (programming software, troubleshooting control circuits). I would consider my job light physical labor. I never really have to lift anything more than 10 lb but I am moving or standing for a good portion of the day mostly turning screwdrivers setting up calibration equipment stuff like that. My last job I was instrumentation and electrical technician which was basically a hybrid between an electrician and an instrumentation control technician.... There was a bit more physical labor there I had to pull wires sometimes and I would lift things like 30 to 40 lb. Overall I would say if you work as an instrumentation tech you can plan on moving around a lot but not doing any difficult physical labor
If you are planning on going back to school and you need to work to support yourself while you do it and you don't see a four-year degree as a good option I would suggest this career over anything else I can think of... I think it's kind of similar to being a nurse as far as pay and benefits go but a lot less stressful and you're working with electronics rather than people that's how I look at it anyways.
And the last comment I'll make is I actually just enrolled in college I'm planning on going back and getting my engineering degree it's going to take a long time maybe 5 years, but I like what I do and I want to take my career step further. That is a limitation with instrumentation that you're not able to design separate control systems you just modify existing systems so engineering is the next step in an instrumentation career, something to consider
Greg - do you want to be a recruiter??
No... I mean I would😂😂
I just want to spread the word about a career path that is awesome that most people have never heard of
hi
i am 24 years old and an instrumental engineer. I two year of work experience. I have worked on several petrochemical sites and I speak English well. How can I find a job there?
Look on LinkedIn, indeed and glassdoor.
Shouldn't be too difficult for you
@@gregroche7323 i am from Iran. Do you think I have a chance to find a job on LinkedIn? With this resume
@@pooyamehrjoo5801 I am really not sure. Would you he willing to travel for your job (in the U.S.)? Where are you moving to? There seem to be a lot of jobs and I can help you any way you need... I know it is confusing adjusting to a new country
Texas would be your best best in petro field. If your english is good I don't see why it would be an issue
@@gregroche7323 thank you very much. Maybe in the next two years I will work there. I will definitely ask you questions and need your help. Is it possible for me to have your Instagram?
Hello Sir,
I m looking for any online Internship from which I get knowledge about instrumentation and control.
I am Second year Engineering Student from India
Are you trying to come to the U.S.? I have worked with many contractors that were originally from india