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So I got Promoted..

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  • So I got Promoted..

    I've been a wireman for about 5yrs now, but I've always wanted to be a programmer. I went on Allen Bradley's website last weekend to see how much their Contollogix programming courses cost. They offer classroom and e-courses, but you have to contact the sales dept to get cost info. Monday I told my boss what I wanted to do. I told him I would pay for the courses, and asked who I needed to talk to to get the ball rolling. He said he'd set up a meeting with the president of the company. Wednesday I got my meeting with the president (he's a nice guy, down to earth, easy to talk to). I told him I want to program Controllogix, I didn't expect the company to foot the bill, and all I wanted was sponsorship, and some guidance from the engineering dept as I navigated through the courses. He was taken aback by my ambition. He said our company could teach me more than Allen Bradley ever could, and he'd set me up with the right people to train with. I told him the sooner the better, and to let me know if I have to pay for anything. 20 minutes after that meeting the HR lady assigned me to phase 2 of a steel mill upgrade (I wired all of the cabinets and panels for phase 1). She said I'll be sitting in on an engineering meeting Thursday morning. I was issued a company laptop with all of the programming software for Controllogix, and the rest is history so to speak.

    I'm working in the engineering dept now with some very good engineers. The group leader for this mill upgrade pulled me aside before the meeting and told me in so many words that I asked about programming at the exact right time. He showed me an email that was sent out to the engineering dept from one of the higher ups stating that our company was having problems with hardware going out in the field with software issues. The guy in charge of software wasn't doing his job (he didn't mention any names but we know who he's talking about), and it was costing our company and our customers time and money. The higher up was concerned about the future of the company if this kept up, and highly recommended bringing in new people to cross train. The group leader said I'm the guinea pig, the first in line to do anything like this. He said the engineering dept needs someone to pass information down to to keep the company going, and to help take the burden off of them so they can focus on other projects in the works.

    I spent all day Thursday and Friday configuring hardware. I'm not an engineer by any stretch, but I built the cabinets for the last phase, and I have a working knowledge of what the parts do and need to do. I asked why I was configuring hardware, and the answer I got was a blank piece of paper slammed down on the table and the following explanation...

    "This is what we have right now, nothing. You can't program because there's nothing there to program. You have to configure the components, get a layout ready for drafting, and wait for drafting to give you something to go by before you can even think about programming. You're going to learn the process from square 1, and by the time the programming portion of this job comes around you'll know exactly what needs done software wise..."

    Basically this is trail by fire, and I'm going to burn while I learn. I was intimidated at first, but not so much now. I know what I have to do, tap every bit of knowledge I have and make something out of nothing. Sorry for the long winded post but I'm very excited to be in the engineering dept now moving towards the career I want. If you would have asked me what I'd be doing 5yrs ago this certainly would not have been the answer!

  • #2
    damn, you'll be moving into a Class A down by the river soon. Congratulations! I hired a kid into my firm - and he's been the best hire ever and he has what you demonstrate, motivation. Rare trait and it will serve you well in the future.
    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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    • #3
      Good to see a company reward ambition, not many do. Congratulations!
      Pt 2010, Long Haul 2011,12,13,14,15,16,17, 18, 19, 23
      If you wait, all that happens is that you get older

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      • #4
        Congratulations!
        Patrick & Tammy
        - Long Haulin' 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014...Addicting isn't it...??

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        • #5
          Good all over you! I'm SO glad I no longer have to "work my way up" but in retirement my boss is a real jerk!

          Dan

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          • #6
            Congrats Man, way to go!
            Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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            • #7
              Congrats.
              best way for programming. learn the hardware. the stack of it all.
              My only encounter with programming triggered my homophobia.. it made me angry later. they know squat about power and under the hood. Took it in as a hobby at home for fun years after disabled.
              I still build my own computers...gave up programming decade(s) ago.
              programming is a mindset all its own.

              its like truck driver who claims he isn't a mechanic, yet knows what to do
              much better worker you know?
              Previously boxer3main
              the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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              • #8
                Congratulations!
                Ed, Mary, & 'Earl'
                HRPT LongHaulers, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.


                Inside every old person is a young person wondering, "what the hell happened?"

                The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there. -Vince Lombardi

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                • #9
                  I really am not surprised, Erich... Really! Always thought you'd go far! Congrats.. Button bursting proud of you!

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                  • #10
                    Congrats ! Time for a celebratory new project vehicle thread !
                    Previously HoosierL98GTA

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the kind words guys, I really appreciate it.

                      When I wired the days would drag on, now that I'm configuring hardware time seem the fly, it's weird how that works.

                      Today I finished marking up 2 out of 3 sets of drawings, and got them ready to go the drafting. I caught and fixed a few Input/Output feedback issues that the engineer I'm working with missed the first time around. He is pretty happy about that, it's all about the details when it comes to this type of work. I'm working on an isolation amplifier cabinet and a RIO (Remote Input/Output) cabinet. The BIG part of this job is configuring the drive cabinet. The 1st phase consisted of 2 field generator drives per cabinet, and individual motor drive cabinets. We have to combine 2 field generator drives and 1 motor drive into 1 cabinet. It'll be interesting to see what we come up with.

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                      • #12
                        Congratulations indeed!

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