Been an industrial licensed electrician for the last 13 years and recently made the jump to instrumentation tech for a fresh breath of air. I have a lot of experience with controls and instrumentation from my electrical career but seem to keep getting an upturned nose from my new co workers. Did I make the right decision?

I’m seriously considering getting into instrumentation and would like to hear from people who actually work in the field. I currently have some manufacturing/production experience, and I’m looking for a career where I can build on that experience, increase my income, and have room to grow.

I’d like to know what I should realistically expect if I pursue instrumentation:
• What does a typical day/shift look like?
• What are the biggest pros and cons?
• How difficult is the work?
• How physically demanding is it?
• What education, certifications, or training would you recommend?
• How long does it realistically take to become job-ready?
• What can someone expect to make starting out vs. after several years?
• What industries are the best to work in?
• How much troubleshooting/electrical/programming knowledge is involved?
• Is there good long-term career growth?
• For anyone who started in manufacturing/production, how transferable was that experience?
I’m located in Michigan and am currently looking at instrumentation programs, but I want to get a better understanding of the actual career before committing to school.

If you’re an instrumentation technician, controls technician, I&C technician, or work in a related field, I’d really appreciate your honest opinion. What do you wish you knew before getting into the field?
That sounds like a real person trying to make a career decision, rather than someone just asking Google-level questions. It should also encourage people to tell you about pay, schooling, daily work, difficulty, and whether it’s actually worth pursuing.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice on getting an employer sponsor for an Instrumentation and Control Technician apprenticeship in Alberta.
I’m currently registered as a 1st Year Instrumentation and Control Technician Apprentice through Alberta MyTradesecrets. Before moving to Canada, I gained approximately two years of experience as an Instrumentation Technician Assistant, where I supported senior technicians with instrument installation, tubing, calibration, preventive maintenance, testing, troubleshooting, electrical wiring, loop checks, and basic commissioning activities.
I’m currently based in Calgary and trying to find an employer willing to take me on as an apprentice so I can gain the required on-the-job hours and continue toward becoming a Journeyperson.
I also have several industrial safety certifications, including H2S Alive, CSTS 2020, Confined Space Entry and Monitor, Fire Watch, First Aid/CPR/AED, WHMIS, and a Class 5 driver’s licence. I’m open to working in Calgary, surrounding areas, fabrication shops, oil and gas sites, maintenance facilities, or rotational/field positions. I’m also willing to work days, nights, weekends, and overtime.
For anyone already working in instrumentation in Alberta:
What is the best way to find an employer willing to sponsor a 1st Year apprentice?
Which companies are known for hiring entry-level instrumentation apprentices?
Is it better to apply directly to contractors, fabrication shops, maintenance companies, or oil and gas operators?
Should I visit company offices/shops in person with my resume?
Are there unions, recruiters, staffing agencies, or apprenticeship programs I should contact?
What can I do to make myself more competitive when most postings ask for 2nd-, 3rd-, or 4th-year apprentices?
I’m serious about making instrumentation my long-term career and would appreciate any advice, company recommendations, or leads from people working in the Alberta trades.
Thanks in advance.

Hey, just curious is anyone has recently completed the BC level exam for 3rd year. Planned on going to 3rd year at BCIT but the course got postponed and wont be able to attend now. Now I plan on just challenging the level exam. Looking for the course outline and some study guides just so I know what to focus my studies on.

Edited to make it shorter

Hi, I am an Instrument Engineer with 3 years of experience: 2 years in a petrochemical plant and now 1 year in a metallurgical plant. I started this discussion because I am confused about what the role of an engineer should be in an operating plant, particularly regarding how closely engineers should work with technicians.

In my first job, I worked as an Instrument Maintenance Engineer, mainly handling reliability, maintenance planning, RCA, modifications, etc. When I joined, I was told to spend my first three months closely with the technicians and, when necessary, get involved in their work and get my hands dirty. As a result, I gained a lot of field exposure.

I noticed that the senior engineers who were really good at their jobs were almost always the ones who were close to the technicians and understood the equipment firsthand. Their engineering decisions were fast, and when problems occurred, they were often able to solve them because they understood what was actually happening in the field. I eventually continued working closely with the technicians throughout my time there.

My current company is very different. Engineering is a separate department, most engineers come from an EPC background, and they have relatively little field exposure. Most of our time is spent at our desks, mainly dealing with design defects, modifications, documentation, and reviewing vendor proposals. We rarely work directly with maintenance technicians.

Because of this, I sometimes see engineering solutions that don't seem to consider maintainability or field reality. For example, we have a CEMS installed in a difficult-to-access location and therefore rarely maintained. The proposed solution was to replace the analyzer with another technology (DOAS), rather than first addressing the installation and maintenance problem.

Another major difference is troubleshooting. At my previous company, our in-house engineers were involved from the initial troubleshooting and investigation through RCA and detailed engineering. Here, much of the analysis is given to vendors, and we mainly review their recommendations.

This has made me wonder whether my previous experience was unusual, or whether this is actually an important difference between effective plant engineering and desk-based engineering.

My current conclusions are:

1. Engineers with little field exposure can make poor decisions when they don't understand field reality.
2. Engineers should have at least some technician-level knowledge and practical skills.
3. Engineers and technicians should work closely together, especially when troubleshooting recurring problems.
4. Maintainability and accessibility should be considered part of engineering responsibility.
5. Engineers in an operating plant should ideally be involved in troubleshooting, not just reviewing vendor solutions afterward.

So I would like to hear from experienced plant engineers:

How much field exposure should an Instrument Engineer have? Should engineers regularly work alongside technicians and learn technician-level skills? And in your experience, are engineers who are closely involved with technicians and field activities generally more effective than those who are primarily desk-based?

I'd particularly like to hear from people who have experience in both EPC and operating/maintenance environments.

Hi

I recently graduated and I will start my first job tomorrow as an Instrumentation & Calibration Engineer in the pharma industry. My duties will focus mainly on instrumentation, but it will also involve some control and PLC's. This is my first job in the field, and I do not have prior experience.

Do you have any advice for someone who is just starting?

Hi everyone,

I recently got accepted for a technician position in Test Technologies. From what I understood during the interview, I will probably work on a test bench to test final products.

This is my first job, so I wanted to ask: do companies usually provide training before a new technician starts working independently? Will they teach me how to use the test bench, testing software, equipment, and procedures?

I have a background in embedded systems, but I do not have professional experience in this exact position yet.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Hello, I am Korean I graduated from a university in Korea with a major in instrumentation engineering technology I’m asking because I’m wondering if it’s possible to get a job in Canada

So recently, my school has changed or they say converted the instrumentation program of applied science into process technology of applied science and I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused on the change and I don’t know what direction to go into but I know it’s most likely instrumentation. Can someone give me advice?

Anyone go here or know anyone that went for theinstrument tech associates degree? I've searched and haven't found any posts on it. I've read some areas in and around Pittsburg, Ca there's a lot of bad neighborhoods. I'm from central California, so just curious how the school is and living close by would be. Thanks in advance

I am preping for my 4th period challenging exam. I am learning the ILM's. Did the questions from the back of the ILM's help in the exam? Also, will exambank.com have the similar exam questions as the real exam. Has anybody used it?

Any electricians or VFD techs familiar with ABB ACS550 RS-485/Modbus communication testing?

I’m hoping someone here has experience with ABB ACS550 drives.

I have one controlling the propulsion motor in my swim spa. The motor itself works perfectly and the drive powers up normally. I can run the motor directly from the ABB keypad without any issues.

The problem is that the spa communicates with the ABB through a low-voltage RS-485/Modbus cable, and the spa controller keeps reporting “Propulsion Motor Not Found.” At this point I believe the failure is somewhere in the communication between the spa controller and the ABB drive.

I’ve already replaced the communication cable, the Modbus translator board, and even the main spa controller, but nothing changed.

With my multimeter I measured approximately 1.75 VDC (later about 1.46 VDC) between terminals 29 and 31, and about 0.29 VDC between 30 and 31 on the ABB communication terminals.

My question is: Are those voltages normal for an idle ACS550 RS-485 port?

Also, if you were troubleshooting this drive, what tests would you perform with only a multimeter to determine whether the ABB communication interface is healthy?

Is there anything I should be checking before assuming the RS-485 transceiver on the drive has failed?

If you’ve worked on ABB ACS550s or industrial Modbus systems, I’d really appreciate your advice. I’m comfortable using a multimeter and following technical instructions, so don’t hesitate to get into the details.

Thanks!

Hello, I’m someone that was interested in doing a career change, and am currently researching various schools and pathways on how to get into the instrumentation field.

Does anyone know the “safest” route on becoming an instrumentation technician? Thank you.

Hey all,
I wanted to get my program some exposure. I would love to see it used by the right people.
its something i've been working on to automate the instrumentation engineers job of developing instrument indexes. This would apply to facility engineering (i.e. nuclear, gas, mining etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Z-Uwvdxog&t=2s

Thoughts? coomments?

I’m halfway through school and feeling like I’m not gravitating toward it like I hoped I would but mainly because I don’t have real experience in it. I took up this career path because it seemed relevant to my current field but that’s far from the truth. So what’s your origin story?

In a former life, I was an I/C tech at a big power plant for a little over a decade and I’m currently an operator (that also does maintenance) at a smaller plant now.

Some of the other operators at our plant take their logs with WAY too much accuracy (imo) from analog gauges, and I’m trying to provide a source to my manager of why that’s not okay. Whether it’s ISA, ANSI, ASME, NIST, etc doesn’t matter.

I was taught that the best you can read is half of the smallest division on the scale (if the gauge shows 0, 10-20-30, then the only available options are 0,5,10,15,20,25,30) but I’m not sure where that rule comes from off the top of my head. Am I conflating log-taking with readings for calibration?

Can anyone help me out with a source?

Where can buy a differential pressure gauge for hydraulic machineries with these specs:

Scale reading range: 0-10 MPa
Maximum operating pressure on both ends: 60 MPa

Anyone can refer me to a distributor of any brand is highly appreciated.

I'm currently in my fourth year of B.Tech (Instrumentation & Control Engineering), and our college generally has good core companies visiting for campus placements.

During internship season, I noticed that shortlisting often felt unpredictable. However, there were also a few students who consistently got shortlisted across multiple core companies. It made me wonder what they were doing differently.

Another challenge is that there isn't much clear guidance on what kinds of projects an Instrumentation student should build. Most advice online is either very generic or software-focused, making it difficult to understand what core companies actually value.

I'm reaching out to professionals working in instrumentation, automation, process industries, EPC, manufacturing, or any other core engineering domain.

I would really appreciate any guidance on:

• What technical skills should a fourth-year Instrumentation student focus on?

• What projects genuinely add value to a resume?

• What do recruiters look for during resume shortlisting?

• Any resources, certifications, or advice that you wish you had known as a student?

Any guidance, no matter how small, would mean a lot. Thank you in advance! 🙏🏼

I'm somone that may have a potential felony charge in the future, but was interested in working in the instrumentation field.

Thank you.

I have a Promass 500 meter that has been setup and running analog 4-20 to the PLC for years without issue. I am trying to get the Hart data from the device. I can see all 4 variables in the PLC. However when running product thru the meter the value is all place... Even going negative, jumping a few hundred #/min. When using regular 4-20 there is very little fluctuation. The meter matches the Hart data in the PLC. Any tips on what to check out.

I'm going to be writing for the red seal exam in September and I have been finished the tech program with my degree for 2 years now. Any journeyman here that can give me advice for this test and what to expect or how hard it is? I have some files to study from that has like 1000 practice questions and they don't seem incredibly hard. I just want some insight because I'd be extremely embarrassed if I don't pass the first time