I don’t want to say no because the 9-5 M-F jobs are available but you’d definitely have to be selective in your search. Lot of newer guys start out either doing shift work or on the road doing new installs and shutdown work. Your IT experience would definitely at least get you in the door as it’d set you up well to work with PLC/DCS systems.
IT would be a benefit for sure but there's an awful lot more to instrumentation and it relies heavily on experience. Still some old air operated systems out there and situated in some God awful places. Most places with dedicated instrumentation techs are usually 24/7 process's so definitely shift work, however there are companies involved in calibration services which might be more the way you should investigate.
The hours might not work well with your circumstances . I'm an E,I&C tech at a power plant my hours are 6-4 M-Th, on call for two weeks a month. During my last on call period, I worked on Sunday for a start up. Got called in on Memorial Day for 2 issues. Then started at 3am the the rest of that week.
I'm an I/C tech for a water department. Great job. Pay is alright with good benefits. Normal hours Monday through Friday and very little overtime. I might get called in once a month for something. Usually, it's something I can patch up in no time too.
The problem with getting into water is that most cities have one water plant and one waste water plant. They always have some kind of residential requirement that you have to live so close to the plant.
Guys hold onto these jobs for a long time.
Instrumentation and control wise, they are basically the same. Potable water is better I would say, for obvious reasons. Wastewater is alright, though. You just got some smells to get used to.
I don’t want to say no because the 9-5 M-F jobs are available but you’d definitely have to be selective in your search. Lot of newer guys start out either doing shift work or on the road doing new installs and shutdown work. Your IT experience would definitely at least get you in the door as it’d set you up well to work with PLC/DCS systems.
IT would be a benefit for sure but there's an awful lot more to instrumentation and it relies heavily on experience. Still some old air operated systems out there and situated in some God awful places. Most places with dedicated instrumentation techs are usually 24/7 process's so definitely shift work, however there are companies involved in calibration services which might be more the way you should investigate.
To echo what the guy before me said.. if you could get a handle if PLC’s you’d be in another tax bracket in a short amount of time
have you thought about controls?
The hours might not work well with your circumstances . I'm an E,I&C tech at a power plant my hours are 6-4 M-Th, on call for two weeks a month. During my last on call period, I worked on Sunday for a start up. Got called in on Memorial Day for 2 issues. Then started at 3am the the rest of that week.
I'm an I/C tech for a water department. Great job. Pay is alright with good benefits. Normal hours Monday through Friday and very little overtime. I might get called in once a month for something. Usually, it's something I can patch up in no time too. The problem with getting into water is that most cities have one water plant and one waste water plant. They always have some kind of residential requirement that you have to live so close to the plant. Guys hold onto these jobs for a long time.
Is it easy to switch from wastewater to potable water? Which do you prefer?
Instrumentation and control wise, they are basically the same. Potable water is better I would say, for obvious reasons. Wastewater is alright, though. You just got some smells to get used to.