I am thinking of changing careers. I have been in the swimming pool business, and it is not going well right now due to the economy. I have installed many controllers on pools in the last few years, and it seems that there is a wide use of controllers in industry in general.
Recently, I saw an ad for a job. The job is a 70% fit for me, except they also want PLC troubleshooting experience. I heard that the position was put on hold (economic downturn). That works out for me, because it give me time to learn PLC and troubleshooting.
Where did most of you learn controllers? There are no courses here where I live, so I imagine the books and CDs will have to do. What about hands on? How do I actually pull these apart and learn how to trouble shoot them from a book or CD? How many hours of tutorial is recommended so that I can look an potential employer in the eye and say, "Yes, I have a good working knowledge of controllers, what manufacturer do you use?" Would it make sense to go to a manufacturer and ask for training and a job?