How can you advance your process automation career and network with experts?

You have to pre-hack yourself to get ahead in the automation field. Some of the hard skillsets to learn in the programming side are : plc, robot programming, vision systems, HMI development, electrical wiring. As you build your technical skills you also need to pay attention to the other side of the triangle that involves cultivating your leadership and business acumen skills.

Contd... - Try to be mentor as well for others for giving back to the community. - Consider obtaining relevant certifications to demonstrate your expertise and commitment to the relevant field. - Follow industry news and trends through publications, blogs, podcasts, and social media. Being aware of emerging technologies can help you stay ahead in your career. - Create a portfolio showcasing automation projects and achievements. This can be a valuable asset when seeking new opportunities. - Consistently deliver results and add value in your current role. This can lead to recognition and advancement opportunities. In terms of networking, join online communities, join professional organizations like ISA/IEC, attend conferences & volunteering.

Here are some tips on how to advance your process automation career and network with experts, with emojis: ??Stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies. ??Get certified. ??Join professional organizations. ??Network with other professionals. ????Contribute to the community. Bonus tip: ????Find a mentor. I hope this helps!

1. Need to have a good understanding of drawings. For example P&I, electrical drawings MCC, VFD, plc panel. 2. Read control philosophy, discuss with subject matter experts of operation teams to understand the process first. It will help you to write a basic logic. 3. Aware of communication protocols used in process instruments. It will help you to configure any instruments into different types of controller. 4. Try to use new features in scada using scripts. Operator will enjoy the interactive interface.

Based on recent symposium I learnt in Switzerland, machine or process automation is about elevating performance to augment human competence. Make no mistake is not going to replace the latter. So I'll be focusing on this trait to improve my domain knowledge on this area.

If you're looking into an automation career, like any other career you will have goals and learn about job opportunities along the way. So a good rule of thumb is to get your foot in the door of a good organization, learn, scale and grow. You can as well start out as a trainee, technician, then move up speed to become a plc programmer, HMI/SCADA developer, commissioning/field engineer etc. As you move, set goals to become certified, a good thing about getting a certification is that it gives you a good outlook of the skills you currently have and the skills you need to acquire to become an expert, its a good resource point to scale in the automation field.

It's never about JUST Technology..Technology is incidental. Focus on the problem statement or the business outcome you want accomplish, identify the pro's & con's & then take the informed decision. All the stakeholders need to be onboard on the expected value & thats a key to success & helps in achieving long term goals.

Learn from the scratch. First complete the field activities like commission a site. Then after 2-3 years move to development, try to develop logic, scada, control circuits, power circuits drawing etc. Then after 4-5 years try to manage different projects from a project manager’s perspective. Now you will understand the full project life cycle.

Aligning your career goals is crucial for professional development. Start by writing a list of ten career goals and establish timelines for each. Incorporate these into your development plan, which should be part of your 10-year plan. Identify the courses, certifications, and projects needed to achieve these goals. For example, you might plan for 2 years of internship, 2 years as a junior developer, 4 years as a senior developer, and then aim for a technical lead position. Once you have this timeline, you can link certifications and project goals to the requirements of each role in your career path. Having a plan is the key. Staying flexible, remember you don't have to move up in your career you can move across as well.

There is need to create a path for improvement by seeking mentorship and guidance because no one is an island of his or her own. With Senior colleagues in the profession, what ever difficulties one might experience might have been resolved by someone else one way or the other s sharing with mentors and other senior members in the profession can foster growth and improve professionalism.

Having a mentor or a senior colleague to learn from, is most probably the best way to learn the approach to process automation. Then like for any other job you need to master the right toolset: process mapping, data analysis, programming etc. but process automation is rarely the same, so experience and method play a crucial role.

There is a great community for RPA developers called I Love Automation, which is available as a LinkedIn group, but also as a Discord server, which is highly active. Joining a community like that helps a lot, both in terms of finding help for our day-to-day issues when working with automation, but also as a way of connecting with peers, gaining valuable career advice, as well as showcasing our own skills when we start helping others. Community forums are also a great way to help others and be noticed for that.

There is need to join the Automation body like ISA, whose presence are well online. With ISA many forums are in place that an automation professional can key into for continuous improvement.

ISA organizes different international events that brings together Automation expert; this can aid networking. Boot camps are some avenue to increase knowledge in the industry. There is need to take advantage of these automation boot camps organized by various automation expert.

Automation certification organized by certifying body's like ISA is another way of show casing ones expertise in the automation industry. Certification like Certified Automation Professional (CAPs) and other ISA certification such as Project management in Automation.

You need to demonstrate your ability to integrate different technologies and create robust, reusable solutions. For instance, on my resume, I highlight the projects I've worked on and the skills I've utilized, such as XML, Json, Custome C# code stages, using stored procedures, and process mapping. I also ensure not to disclose any confidential information about my organization. This approach allows me to showcase the value I can bring to any organization without limiting myself to the basic criteria of a certification exam. You should aim to do the same. Your resume is an opportunity for you to proudly share your achievements so far and your current goals. It's not just a document; it's a story of your professional journey.

In today's dynamic, transformative & disruptive business and tech scenario, Process Automation is one of the most versatile area. Here is my personal thought based on my self learning & advancement process. - Keep updated with updated with the latest advancements in process automation by taking courses, attending webinars, and reading industry publications & keeping eyes on benchmarked industries/leaders. - Scenario have changed a lot, many online platforms are available with free access OR on very reasonable prices like Coursera, edX, LinkedIn Learning, YouTube and Udemy etc. take full advantage. - Seek out experienced professionals in your field and ask for mentorship. Learning from someone with industry experience can be invaluable.

Create a personal brand for yourself in the industrial automation circle. Target specific piece of software you want to learn and put your heart out to build capabilities from there. Watch tutorials online that would teach you how use some of those softwares. Get to know about the terminologies used frequently e.g I/Os, HMI,SCADA, PLC. Leverage technology by getting intouch with experts online, attend webinars, join groups, put yourself out there either as a learner, a collaborator or a resource person lending a hand to others in need.

Getting yourself involved, asking questions, adding an opinion on posts, are all simple ways to put your name out in the open and build relationships - at least half of the people I regularly interact with, I’ve never met in person and met purely through digital interactions. It is possible to get so much out, but just putting yourself out there and not being afraid to have an opinion

Once you master the RPA tools and technology, Look beyond technical expertise, Try to understand the larger business goal of a client, Align your automation suggestions accordingly. Try to analyse business and work toward identifying processes which are aligned to business goal. Soon you will find that clients are loving you. Customer are investing in automation for multiple reasons like competitive advantage, Cost optimisation, Revenue growth, CSAT, TAT, etc. understand their pain points and help them to choose correct processes.