Is your job stressful?

If you have any responsibility in any job you end up in there will be some stress until you are confident you know what you are doing and can do the job well. Then if there are issues you will have a good paper trail showing how they came to be and why they are not your fault, so you won't be stressed that the job is over budget, behind schedule, etc as it will be due to a lack of appropriate resources outside of your control and there is no sense worrying about things you can't control.
 
Stress is not an outside force. Stress is within you and can only be allowed by you. If you control your mind and create internal peace within your environment, you can be stress-free regardless of what is going on around you.

Some people are stressed when they have nothing more to worry about than whether their socks match. On the other hand, some people are calm and relaxed while people around them are panicking and screaming at them.

It all depends on the person.

So, now that I'm done philosophizing, the pressures that come with being an automation specialist can be pretty high, but depending on where you are in your career and personal growth, can vary greatly.

For example, as others have already stated, if you're early in your career and find yourself in the field doing start-up on systems with which you are less-than-thoroughly knowledgeable, the pressure can be very high. If, however, you have learned strong troubleshooting skills, proper tools, and have in-depth knowledge of the system on which you are working, the pressure can be significantly less.

Later in your career, when you've reached a more senior level, the pressure can mount again when you become responsible for core design decisions or begin managing others. Again, as you gain experience with those and develop with your people, the pressure can often lower.

Finally, as you get really, really old, you get grumpy and can close the door to your office. People leave you alone. Sometimes they will slide papers under the door and, sometimes, not. This is your goal, the ultimate target. No pressure and no stress unless, of course, your socks don’t match.
 
The other thing that is common is some moron comes up and annoys the hell out of you when you are thinking hard about a problem or destroys 3/4 hour of thought process - really pees me off that one! Then I pretend to do my nana and let them know that they have just destroyed 3/4 hour of thought process and programming and I now have to go right back to the start again and they are responsible for that! They then get the message! Haha.
 
the why:
they call you mr. magic
the head engineer at the oil company says: what is it like being the only engineer at company xyz.
 
Ultimatly it is very rewarding. Comes along with a good compensation, if you value your worth. All the other posts are more than accurate.
With that said the control engineer or automation guy is the one that drives the project home.
We also have the luxury of pushing the project along the way because we know that if it does not stay on schedule in the end we get 50 percent of the time that's needed to complete it.
It is sad actually because people not in this field do not understand what we do. They really don't.
We do our job and do it well, and in the end do 30 percent of the mechanical engineers job and the project managers job.
Many times I have been told this is my project to finish. When clearly there are 4 open mechanical items and the runoff is in a week. Guess what it gets done. But the reality is, and what T's me off the most is, why can't everyone jost do their job. Projects could be perfect.
Lol.
 
This is an interesting thread. In my opinion, I'm used to equipment not working/programming mistakes/long startup times now. What I think is the most stressful is dealing with screaming customers/managers/wife.
 
ewww, yuk


Any is better than the Mexican food they have around here... I grew up in California and they knew what spices were and how to add flavor to food, here in South Carolina the its all way to blan so TB is my go to, even the mexican rice is white rice (what the hell)
 
Any is better than the Mexican food they have around here... I grew up in California and they knew what spices were and how to add flavor to food, here in South Carolina the its all way to blan so TB is my go to, even the mexican rice is white rice (what the hell)

You have my sympathies sir.

And I will extend an offer, if you ever find yourself in this area, I will treat to some of the best authentic traditional Mexican cuisine this side of the boarder.
 
Last edited:
You have my sympathies sir.

And I will extend an offer, if you ever find yourself in this area, I will treat to some of the best authentic traditional Mexican cuisine this side of the boarder.

Done... I will look you up for sure and dont get me wrong im not calling Taco Bell mexican food, that would be an insult to Mexican food but for a fast food I like it, just got tired of burgers
 

Similar Topics

Years ago, when I was an Automation engineer, I relied on this site heavily, for help, with questions I had. Many times, this site saved my...
Replies
2
Views
136
HI all, I have a backup from a Series 7000 Cognex camera. I am trying to restore and see the vision tools used in the job. Can I restore those...
Replies
0
Views
55
hello i'm not good at english, please understand i just found this website from googling, while i was looking for how to use program(from m340)...
Replies
4
Views
508
Hi All, I have a programming background but have never used a PLC. I have what I think is a simple automation project however Im not sure of the...
Replies
19
Views
1,778
It's a sort of 'what would you do' question. 6 years ago, I built a control panel for an existing system that was going to be upgraded. I...
Replies
20
Views
5,563
Back
Top Bottom