I have been unable to give this the due attention it deserved because of a number of life events occurring all at the same time, thank you.

All of you. 

For stopping and taking the time to give your advice on this clearly layered topic. 

Merry Christmas too, hopefully you are all appreciating the break that we no doubt need.  

I will try and reply to each comment along the thread as written, the advice and in depth discussion will help to no end in trying to formulate an effective 5 year plan. From what I can gather the reality of the situation is that there are a myriad of things to try and all will include hard work, grit and vigilance. Well, that is how I got here in the first place. 

Accreditation, is and will always be the best and easiest way to try and streamline the interview and hiring process, however my main goal is the skills and the knowledge. Open University has been on the cards for good amount of time, but the key is the course and the content.

From the collective comments of you incredibly knowledgeable individuals, finding the correct course will take research of a serious kind. Almost with as much focus as course content perhaps  

Though this the industry at the end of the day. My motivational speaker would say 'Let's raise to the demand not lower the standard'. 

I am happy to travel to education providers and seek career advice from anyone I need to speak too. As far as my current employment commitments allow. 

Working alongside this HNC has been so incredibly hard, in the time of it starting I have developed Type 1 diabetes, moved 5 times in 3 years and faced the death of several people incredibly dear to me. Studying on top of it all has shown me what is possible and what isnt and I know how difficult it is. It has taken me an extra 2 years then intended to get near completion. I will finish the course in April (latest) with 8 modules at distinction. The intention after is to start a Maths A-Level (perhaps also physics AS), this is for no other reason then improving my maths competence and comfort in the subject. With this achieved I might more easily chew through the more tedious and potentially less relevant courses that may come up. 

Doing a degree apprenticeship seems a great route, the reality is the income stream dropping to a lower level as a result. This problem is enhanced even more with a full time degree. But I have ideas of free lance work in essentially component repair and maintenance (where skills and qualls will allow). I am more frequently being asked to help people with broken equipment essentially. 

On another note, Re: automation; I have been suprised at the delivery of my current HNC's contents, especially on PLC's which went into Boolean Algebra, hardware and processing fundamentals and a myriad of useful first principles but used a software package to practice ladder logic assignments that was equivalent to using a PC from 1995 to look after a modern day company server. It was distinctly lacking in context.

At least from my exposure to TIA, AB and B&R. The level of disconnect worried me and this is true of a number of skills that the HNC covered.

Not to mention I was just given the course content and left in the corner to chew my way through it, definitely taught me how to be more of an autodidact but combined with the life stresses previously mentioned, full time work at a fast paced company and managing a potentially deadly life long condition, the stress has been top tier. There is just no way to run through a problem in full through email alone and more often then not you are waiting 1-2 weeks for a single lecturers reply? Literature and YouTube have been a friend here. 

I know that I need an environment where I can quiz knowledgeable people who want to teach, wish to engage and don't see a lack of immediate comprehension as a complete annoyance (as is often the case with some work environments when the heat is on and project work is the priority).

Moreover, access to relevant and concurrent equipment with accompanying software packages? We all know the pains of licenses. Student licenses in the realm of PLCs doesn't seem easy to come by, I can understand educators struggling to afford them, but surely these providers are aware of potential users being students and higher education providers needing the software, perhaps someone could correct me otherwise. 

On a resent 18th Edition wiring regs course I was offered (informally) a role as an instructor in the companies Controls Courses (after asking about the course content for our companies 'up and comming' Controls staff). The company catered far basic automation skills and panel work for 'in industry' engineers and/or technicians. While being very honoured this response confused more then complimented and it has left me unsure of the next step. Especially after talking with the instructors who have their own in depth responses to this topic. 

There is alot to unpack here and I am so grateful for the time and deliberation you have spent in responding to my question, not to mention the points of your peers! It is engaging and a fantastic motivator.

This thread will assist no end. I can only apologise that it has been left with no reply for so long, let me address that from this point on. 

I wish you all the best. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all of you. 

 Gerard O'Neill (88a10928e0f715c5c41e7b957428dc68) Lisa Miles 

 Andy Millar 

 Chris Pearson  Roger Greenwood 11kv 

 AlexH 

 Lee Grierson 

Jack Goodwin said:

The intention after is to start a Maths A-Level (perhaps also physics AS), this is for no other reason then improving my maths competence and comfort in the subject. With this achieved I might more easily chew through the more tedious and potentially less relevant courses that may come up. 

Hi Jack, I would say stretch yourself with what ever degree course you go for!

Doing an A-Level in Maths and AS in Physics will "IMO" based on what I can determine from your acumen not be the best use of your time. 

Jack Goodwin said:

At least from my exposure to TIA, AB and B&R. The level of disconnect worried me and this is true of a number of skills that the HNC covered.

This is the affliction of all Level 6 / 7 courses out there  (degree / masters), there is no alignment what so ever with current products and their associated knowledge, except for maybe Salford Uni with its link to Siemens under the ACET apprenticeship standard.

More fundamentally you need to split your development into two distinct parts, formative and application.

With regards to formative this is where the degree and other short courses come in. Again I would highly recommend ISA self paced learning https://programs.isa.org/free-training 

You can get these cheaper with an ISA membership plus they offer significant discount at special times of the year, one coming up in the new year so check ISA. Self paced is something you should consider. your aim should be CAP based on the AutoBOK but that will be way down the line, probably after Chartered if that is also a goal.

OK self paced doesn't cater for peer interaction as a learning style but you can do that in other spaces like here and other forums , but you get that formative learning in the quickest possible time. 

For Controls as I have said the UK is lacking in this space. the best you'll get is some instrumentation courses with PLC's thrown in at likes of Roxby or TTE but you can cover this easily with ISA. But the formative stuff will never go into the detailed product knowledge, like with Siemens or Rockwell. 

You'll know as well as I do you can get TIA portal on a trial and if you want to keep using it, smash the VM and start again with a virtual controller. Studio 5000 (Rockwell) is not as easy to get as a trial. This is one of a few reasons why I believe Siemens is smashing in the PLC PAC sector. you may have to stump up the cash for a Studio licence with a virtual controller than supports comms to get a holistic overview.

Clearly if you want to get into DCS, ICSS etc space then the only option is to get a job commissioning with one of the big five Siemens, GE, ABB , Emerson , Honeywell. There is no way an SME will get their hands on that software or training but this would be the top in terms of controls engineering.

Also you need to consider those aspects of Tier 5 of the Automation Competency model, Network Infrastructure , Safety And Reliability & Cyber Security. ISA can help with some of those and you are even touching Safety And Reliability with 2382 / (18th Edition). I would definitely recommend 2396 (City and Guilds references) as well, in this space and that would also prepare you for degree type examinations and maintain your project competencies you built up in the HNC. Also don't forget CompEX for explosive atmospheres.  1-4 is the standard but you should cover and maintain Ex12 if possible.

There are plenty of resources out there to guide you on these short courses to top up the formative learning you are embarking on and by completing the research it will develop an important competence under UKSPEC E4.

All the best, I'm sure you'll get the development breaks you need in 2024

Lee   

Jack Goodwin said:

The intention after is to start a Maths A-Level (perhaps also physics AS), this is for no other reason then improving my maths competence and comfort in the subject. With this achieved I might more easily chew through the more tedious and potentially less relevant courses that may come up. 

Hi Jack, I would say stretch yourself with what ever degree course you go for!

Doing an A-Level in Maths and AS in Physics will "IMO" based on what I can determine from your acumen not be the best use of your time. 

Jack Goodwin said:

At least from my exposure to TIA, AB and B&R. The level of disconnect worried me and this is true of a number of skills that the HNC covered.

This is the affliction of all Level 6 / 7 courses out there  (degree / masters), there is no alignment what so ever with current products and their associated knowledge, except for maybe Salford Uni with its link to Siemens under the ACET apprenticeship standard.

More fundamentally you need to split your development into two distinct parts, formative and application.

With regards to formative this is where the degree and other short courses come in. Again I would highly recommend ISA self paced learning https://programs.isa.org/free-training 

You can get these cheaper with an ISA membership plus they offer significant discount at special times of the year, one coming up in the new year so check ISA. Self paced is something you should consider. your aim should be CAP based on the AutoBOK but that will be way down the line, probably after Chartered if that is also a goal.

OK self paced doesn't cater for peer interaction as a learning style but you can do that in other spaces like here and other forums , but you get that formative learning in the quickest possible time. 

For Controls as I have said the UK is lacking in this space. the best you'll get is some instrumentation courses with PLC's thrown in at likes of Roxby or TTE but you can cover this easily with ISA. But the formative stuff will never go into the detailed product knowledge, like with Siemens or Rockwell. 

You'll know as well as I do you can get TIA portal on a trial and if you want to keep using it, smash the VM and start again with a virtual controller. Studio 5000 (Rockwell) is not as easy to get as a trial. This is one of a few reasons why I believe Siemens is smashing in the PLC PAC sector. you may have to stump up the cash for a Studio licence with a virtual controller than supports comms to get a holistic overview.

Clearly if you want to get into DCS, ICSS etc space then the only option is to get a job commissioning with one of the big five Siemens, GE, ABB , Emerson , Honeywell. There is no way an SME will get their hands on that software or training but this would be the top in terms of controls engineering.

Also you need to consider those aspects of Tier 5 of the Automation Competency model, Network Infrastructure , Safety And Reliability & Cyber Security. ISA can help with some of those and you are even touching Safety And Reliability with 2382 / (18th Edition). I would definitely recommend 2396 (City and Guilds references) as well, in this space and that would also prepare you for degree type examinations and maintain your project competencies you built up in the HNC. Also don't forget CompEX for explosive atmospheres.  1-4 is the standard but you should cover and maintain Ex12 if possible.

There are plenty of resources out there to guide you on these short courses to top up the formative learning you are embarking on and by completing the research it will develop an important competence under UKSPEC E4.

All the best, I'm sure you'll get the development breaks you need in 2024

Lee