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Controls with no travel jobs

9 posts in this topic

Does such thing even exist? Most of the jobs I see require 60% or more. I got my degree and have experience in the industry, but i never thought when I graduate that i would be on the road so much. It gets old quick. I want to spend time with my family and friends and have a balanced life. Not work 80+ hours a week. Maybe get a dog or something. Stuff that like isen't realistic when you are constantly on the road. Does anyone know this feel?

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As long as work for an OEM or an integrator, travel is going to be part of your job description. If you want to do automation without travel, your best bet will be to seek a job with an end user. The drawback is that most of your work will be maintaining or making minor changes to systems designed by others. You won't have many projects where you start with a clean slate.

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A job with a distributor could be a good choice too, as that tends to only include regional travel.

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End user is the way to go. I used to have a job in a plant as the controls engineer and though it is true much of the work is outsourced, I can say I decided what work was sent to an integrator. I chose who/what/where/how, so could keep some projects in house as desired, and brought in help for the rest, with way too much work for me to do by myself. However, you will still be architect/project manager for the outsourced work because maintenance ultimately falls on you, especially at 2am on Sunday morning... However, it's never zero travel - we used to have production lines moves between US / Europe / Asia. Guess who was always on the transfer team? The controls guy. Guess who gets to spend several weeks on site in Asia while the new line is brought up? The controls guy. At least the pain is shared - the process engineers and managers where always there too. 60% is a lot, and if you do that make sure compensation is appropriate. Even 30% with a wife/children is demanding. Some people can do it, but I have seen what a heavy travel schedule can do - your become a guest with your own family when home. Not good. Some free advice from a mid-career engineer (i.e. somewhere between 40 and 50...) - do your traveling while your young. It doesn't get any easier, as I write this from somewhere in western Europe...

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I've worked in automation for 18 years, and never had to travel 60% of the time. I've worked for distributors who also built and designed controls, and for PLC manufacturers. Never had more than about 30% travel.

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However it has put you on the "Edge of Insanity"

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"West MI" I am looking to move to Grand Rapids myself. I see a lot of controls/plc jobs out that way

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For several years I'm closely watching for the labor market overseas. Conclusions are sad. Alas the 'west' still shave with an ax. There is no clear division of labor. The employer loads a highly skilled specialist with work, which could be succesfully made by a student... Automation engineers also has not in the habit to fulfill a 98% of work at their desks. It's like in stone age and it make problem. That's why you are traveling much and spend a lot of time at customer sites. A specialist's bottom has to be glued to a chair!! A program must be written, then throughly tested and adjusted without any hardware (HIL), then the automation system enclosures must be throughly tested. All it without travelling to a customer site and sitting there. A business trip for automation system adjustment and commissioning even for big application should not exceed one week. In this case you'll never have a problem in family, with pets and aquarium fishes. Edited by Inntele

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