What is your current job title?

[73project]

   The business that I work for is a large multinational medical device company, and we regularly post ads for employment trying to attract PLC programmers. The controls group at my company have a title of Engineering Technician. We advertise this title, but usually get people that are more mechanic than they are PLC programmers. To me, this title brings up an image of some sort of engineering helper, not a programmer. Out of curiosity, what are some of the forum member job titles at their place of business?

[Joe E.]

My title is "Electrical Engineer".  PLC programming is a large part of what I do, but not all.  I'm also responsible for machine moves and the plant electrical distribution system.  We have open positions right now for "Electrical Engineering Technicians" who are more of a middle step between engineers and electricians.  They do a lot of diagnostics and some PLC programming.

You might try looking for a "Controls Engineer", "Automation Engineer", or "Automation Specialist". 

[73project]

Thanks for your input Joe! Your responsibilities look to be spanning a lot of job skills!

[Inntele]

@Joe E.
IMHO: If you need to find an engineering person, who has not to tight screws in electrical cabinets, but has to develop PLC programs, just name the position like 'PLC Programmer'. Because the above mentioned terms has a wide mean, for which the PLC program development is not a main (a profile) working duty. 

[kaare_t]

I don't know how "Engineer" is interpreted in the U.S. but in Norway it's a very wide description, basically everyone who has ever finished a school of engineering (which there are a lot of). We've got everything from Electronics Engineer, to Building Engineer, to Mechanics Engineer. In Norway, people often refer to our line of work as "PLC Developer" or "PLC Programmer".

Again, I'm not sure how it works in the U.S., but maybe you could have the title of the ad like "PLC Developer" or "PLC Programmer", and then in the middle or end of the ad, refer to the job title itself?

[73project]

Thanks Inntele and kaare_t! Those are some good ideas that I think that I can use when writing a new job description.

[machineshopohio]

On 4/28/2017 at 0:01 AM, kaare_t said:

I don't know how "Engineer" is interpreted in the U.S. but in Norway it's a very wide description, basically everyone who has ever finished a school of engineering (which there are a lot of). We've got everything from Electronics Engineer, to Building Engineer, to Mechanics Engineer. In Norway, people often refer to our line of work as "PLC Developer" or "PLC Programmer".

Again, I'm not sure how it works in the U.S., but maybe you could have the title of the ad like "PLC Developer" or "PLC Programmer", and then in the middle or end of the ad, refer to the job title itself?

Good info.

[DataSurfer]

Controls Engineer is the title we use in the American manufacturing industry most often.

[73project]

Thanks for your input DataSurfer!

[Park.CTRL]

I'm just getting into this field and when I search I'm looking for "plc", "controls", "automation", "plc program", "wiring", "panel wiring" with a few token variations on those. I read ads with "Engineer" mentioned, but they usually entail more education than I have.