Career Question: Industrial Electronics VS Electrical ??

[theaustindixon]

My local Technical College has two programs that I'm interested in: "Industrial Electronics" and "Electrical Technology". I am trying to decide which path to take and could use some advice.

Both programs start with the same electronics and motor control courses. Later on, the Industrial Electronics program starts teaching PLC Programming and Robotics. It's intended to prepare students for working as a Maintenance Technician or PLC Programmer in a factory, keeping the robots working. On the other hand, the Electrical Technology program prepares students to become Electricians. (For what it's worth, I can also take some electives, including a class in RF and one in Security/Fire Alarms).

I am very interested in Robotics, but I've been told that the Maintenance Tech jobs usually work long hours and graveyard shifts. Similarly, that PLC Programmers often work 60-80 hour weeks and spend months on the road. I would like to see my family sometimes, so this doesn't sound too appealing. Maybe I could use the degree in an unintended way, and get an electronics tech job in medical or something similar? Not sure. I am more interested in electronics than wiring, but I think it might be easier to find reasonable hours as an electrician (or possibly working in alarms) and I'd still be working with my hands and herding electrons.

Can anyone working in these fields chime in and give me an idea what your industry is like, and if you have any work-life balance? Thanks.

EDIT: I'm going to move this discussion to the Mechanical & Automation Engineering forum.

[Gregg]

Carefully consider all of the ways AI may interact with your chosen career path.
Industrial power and controls will always need human feet on the ground and human hands, minds and expertise to repair the increasingly complicated industrial equipment.  Upsides include learning about the wide and diverse array of everything that makes industry operate; job opportunities almost anywhere you might want to go; you’d be less likely to be employed in a sea of cubicles.  Downsides are late night work at times; high power and moving parts that can be dangerous; probably a lot of travel to various sites.

[Stray Electron]

  Are these just two year degrees? To be frank, you're not going to get very far with just a 2 year degree. You can maybe make enough money to live on but that's about it.  I'm speaking from experience here!  You need to get a four year BS degree if you want to make a descent living.  Even with 10 years experience and four years of MIL electronics, I ran into that salary ceiling and I finally went back to college and got a real engineering degree.

   I don't know what part of the country you're in or what kind of industries are in your area, but if you want to stay local then you probably should take a look and find out what their needs are. 

  And yes, it sounds like their electrical program is designed to teach you how to install home AC systems.  In my experience, those people don't know beans about electronics, they're just taught to follow the NEC.  Most of the work in that field will be drudge work and installing wiring in new homes. Maybe if you're very good you can later get a job with a better company that does industrial electrical work but either way, those jobs usually involve a lot of daily travel in your own time to and from the job site.

   The two BEST things that I ever did, career wise, was to go into the USAF and get some formal electronics training and work experience and then later go back to college and get a four year engineering degree. 

[voltsandjolts]

Both programs start with the same electronics and motor control courses. Later on...

IME you don't really have to make the choice until later, when you've had some exposure to both in the early common classes. Worth asking.

[theaustindixon]

it sounds like their electrical program is designed to teach you how to install home AC systems.

No AC classes. The program covers residential, commercial, and industrial wiring mostly. Installing panels and the like. Also, related things like conduit bending, NEC codes, ect. 

[audiotubes]

If you learn a trade and you're good at it, you'll never go hungry.

[tooki]

My local Technical College has two programs that I'm interested in: "Industrial Electronics" and "Electrical Technology". I am trying to decide which path to take and could use some advice.

Both programs start with the same electronics and motor control courses. Later on, the Industrial Electronics program starts teaching PLC Programming and Robotics. It's intended to prepare students for working as a Maintenance Technician or PLC Programmer in a factory, keeping the robots working. On the other hand, the Electrical Technology program prepares students to become Electricians. (For what it's worth, I can also take some electives, including a class in RF and one in Security/Fire Alarms).

I am very interested in Robotics, but I've been told that the Maintenance Tech jobs usually work long hours and graveyard shifts. Similarly, that PLC Programmers often work 60-80 hour weeks and spend months on the road. I would like to see my family sometimes, so this doesn't sound too appealing. Maybe I could use the degree in an unintended way, and get an electronics tech job in medical or something similar? Not sure. I am more interested in electronics than wiring, but I think it might be easier to find reasonable hours as an electrician (or possibly working in alarms) and I'd still be working with my hands and herding electrons.

Can anyone working in these fields chime in and give me an idea what your industry is like, and if you have any work-life balance? Thanks.

EDIT: I'm going to move this discussion to the Mechanical & Automation Engineering forum.

Look around for industrial electrician jobs in your area to get a feel for it. Yes, a maintenance technician might be on duty at all hours. But not at a company that doesn’t run overnight shifts — not all companies do that. And there’s need for industrial electricians outside of plants; the companies that make the machines and robots don’t necessarily work all night either. (Their onsite service techs might, of course.)

I’m just thinking of an example I’ve been dealing with at work right now: interfacing with the fume hoods. The chemistry department where I work has hundreds of them, and there’s a company that builds and configures them. The company has a team of industrial electricians who do the wiring and programming of these things at their factory, and then service techs who come out to install and maintain them (and do whatever configuration cannot be done remotely).

Me, I’d definitely do industrial electrician over electrician, because I like small fiddly stuff. I actually had originally intended on training as an industrial electrician, but after trying out both, ended up going with electronics technician instead (even smaller and fiddlier :p). Maybe ask an electrician and an industrial electrician if you can tag along with them for a day or two and see what their job is really like.

And for sure, there’s more overlap between industrial electrician and electronics technician than there is between electrician and electronics technician, but if you really want to be doing electronics, learn electronics. I’m a trained electronics technician, but right now I’ve got two projects that are quite a learning curve for me because they’re really more the purview of industrial electricians.

[EPAIII]

I spent my career, well most of it, in electronics as a TV engineer. Yes, there were some night and overnight shifts. But when they found that I was good at it, that was minimized and then I worked mostly days or sometimes the evening shift.

As for why I went that route instead of as an electrician, first I did have the education for it. I was probably over-qualified for the jobs I started with. I have a BS in physics. But there were layoffs when I got out of the Army so I had to take what I could find.

Another thing I remember considering is I wanted indoor work. I was in in the deep south at the time and it was HOT outside or in somebody's attic. I did wind up doing some things out of doors. Couldn't completely avoid it. But it was minimized. And I kind of enjoyed some of it. Great views on top of tall buildings and on towers. Not that I climbed much.  I moved a bit and some of my jobs were in the north. Summer heat in Miami is not as bad as below -20F in the north. I will take the summer heat any day. I am spending my retirement in SE Texas and love it.

You mention a family. Be sure your wife understands and agrees with whatever you decide. Don't do it alone. These days she may have a job and hours too. So talk it over.

One more thing. They recommend putting around 15% away for retirement. DO IT! At the very least, 10%! That's more important than which route you take.

[Black Phoenix]

Well I am a Industrial Electronics Technician, exactly the same course you are asking for.

I have training in both Residential and Industrial installations, plus PCB diagnostics and repair, hydraulic and pneumatic installation and troubleshooting and mechanical basis, together with PLC programming (ladder logic)

It was a very comprehensive course that I graduated back in 2007 (in Portugal). Most of the work I've done has been industrial machine installations, repair and retrofitting.

So I could tell you to follow such route. Even if you don't have a lot of industrial work, the basis of electrical installations can net you a ton of residential work, from new installs to troubleshooting of exiting ones, so basically learning a trade that currently is lacking a ton of "boots on the ground" in most of the developed countries in the world. Not only that, you will learn a ton of new concepts and areas that you can then later deepen with extra courses (machine automation and floor automation with robots and unmanned devices is a big market for example).

I don't think with such course you will lack work, more like you will need more hours per day to futfill the requests you will have in your mail inbox.

[tszaboo]

I'm getting job offers regularly for electrical work, probably people can't read or don't know what's the difference between the two.
So there is plenty of work for that. "Eplan" seems to be the buzzword for it.