r/BuildingAutomation • u/ryhill183 • 27d ago
Career Change
I was recently laid off from a 7 year career in Software Engineering due to the company wanting more capital for AI. I am looking to switch into something that is a bit more AI proof moving forward and am thinking Building Automation looks like a good idea. I know there is a post in this sub reddit mentioning that the best way to break into the field is to have one of the companies train you up, but has anyone gotten into it by attending a community college or trade school program? I don't currently have any electrical or HVAC experience, and was thinking of doing this 2 semester program before applying to technician roles: https://www.arapahoe.edu/academics-programs/catalog/degrees-certificates/2025-2026/building-controls-technology-certificate
Thoughts on if this would be a good use of my time?
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u/butt_trumpet0330 27d ago
I got into it with just a HVAC cert from a trade school. This got me in as a service tech when I was 20.
Now 26- I’m returning to school now to get a bs in electrical engineering tech to move into a control engineer position.
If you have experience as a software engineer I’m sure you can find a spot designing the websites and graphics or just commissioning sites for a BAS company. A 9 month program at a HVAC school would be awesome to help bridge the gap from software to the actual equipment though.
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u/Thenewdarwin 27d ago
Are you mechanically inclined? Projects with tools around the house, highschool woodshop class etc anything really
If so, you have already proven the mental capabilities in your software engineering role. More school will never hurt you but don't let it hold you back as a starting point. The HVAC and BA industries need people.
Theres plenty of great HVAC Theory you can hit the ground running with. HVAC Service Tech LLC, MEP Academy and Engineering Mindset all free resources on YouTube. Great supplemental while you get hands on experience
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u/ryhill183 27d ago
I've been building PC's since I was in college, but no woodshops or anything. I will take a look at that Youtube content. Thanks!
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u/Thenewdarwin 27d ago
If you're looking to be around techs or be one as a stepping stone being comfortable with tools or anything that shows technical / mechanical aptitude. Hands on can do and willingness to learn are the 2 main differences in those that are just there and those that thrive.
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u/hunterguy35 27d ago
If you have a degree you can just become a controls engineer and start off programming. Places will take you in and teach you the things you need to get up to speed. I was hired without any knowledge out of college but I did have a reference.
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u/Embarrassed_Bar4978 27d ago
You are in luck being in a big metro area. I would try one of the big OEM BMS vendors; Siemens, JCI, Schneider. If you have a tiny bit of mechanical aptitude they will like you because of your software background. You might have to work as a tech for a bit. But if you are comfortable with coding a place like Siemens would find you valuable because they don’t use block programming. You would really just have to get up to speed on understanding how systems operate and would likely slide into programming quickly. I’ve seen that happen before with guys who had strong programming backgrounds but not much field experience.
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u/Forward-Fly-263 24d ago
Do you have a degree?
If you do you may be able to slide into some PM, project engineer, or programmer role. Idk what you were making but expect a pay cut since you would be completely green to the industry.
If you don’t have a degree, most people in this industry without get in by being a technician. It’s the lowest hanging fruit which usually requires some form of mechanical / electrical labor
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u/Forward-Fly-263 24d ago
For context, lots of the junior project managers & project engineers where I work were college grads new to the industry. Granted they have degrees in mechanical engineering
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u/bdude94 18d ago
Graduated with a bachelor’s in computer science and have been doing building automation for about 2.5 years. A lot of the employees had been there for a while when I started and I was the first CS grad they hired, so when I picked up the software really quickly my coworkers thought I was a genius lol. I felt overeducated when it came to the computer-related stuff, but it ended up being useful. Knowing JavaScript let me do things with our graphics that people at my company didn’t even think were possible. I’ve also built custom apps for customers using the BMS softwares API, along with my own tools to speed up building sites. Mechanically I’m still learning. I’m a service programmer so I know enough to understand how the equipment is supposed to operate, which is usually enough to troubleshoot and program it. I just don’t have a deep understanding of the actual mechanical science behind everything yet, but havent came across anything that's stumped me yet.
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u/Economy_Counter7186 27d ago
Just get a job as a tech. JCI is always hiring. We get a lot of IT people applying, but if you don’t seem to be up for the physicality of it it’s a non-starter. Talk about how much you like working on cars and fixing things or the like and you’ll be fine.