FIRST AUTOMATION JOB
Automation Training for Fresh Engineering Graduates: From Degree to First Job
The gap between an engineering degree and a first automation job, the entry-level roles worth aiming at, what to learn in what order, and how to show it.
Automation training for fresh graduates in engineering should close one gap: your degree taught the theory, and employers want to see you use industrial tools. Learn one PLC platform in a simulator, add motor control, an HMI and one network, build two projects you can demonstrate, and apply to system integrators and machine builders, who hire and train graduates.
The gap between the degree and the job
An engineering degree gives you circuits, control theory and maths. It rarely gives you an afternoon in TIA Portal or Studio 5000, a wiring diagram to follow, or a machine that will not start. None of that is hard, but employers cannot assume you have it, so the graduate who can show it gets the interview.
The good news is that the gap is narrow and mostly practical. It can be closed in a few months of steady work, without buying hardware.
In this lesson by Instrumentation Tools, industrial automation is introduced for beginners. If your degree touched on control theory but not on plants, watch it first for the big picture, then use the plan below.
Where graduates start
System integrators build control systems for other companies' plants. They take on graduates, give them a variety of projects, and teach quickly. Machine builders (OEMs) make the same kinds of machine repeatedly, so you learn one product deeply and commission it on customers' sites. End users, the factories themselves, hire into maintenance and engineering teams, where the work is keeping lines running and improving them. Distributors and vendors hire service and application engineers.
Commissioning roles involve a lot of travel and are one of the fastest ways to learn. Controls design roles are more office-based. Either is a good start.
Automation training for fresh graduates: what to learn, in what order
- Motor control and wiring. Contactors, overloads, start-stop circuits, 24 V DC control and reading a schematic. The free Industrial Motor Control course covers this before PLCs, which is the right order.
- One PLC platform. Choose the one employers near you use. Siemens TIA Portal or Allen-Bradley Studio 5000 are the usual choices. Siemens also publishes free learning documents and student trial software through its SCE programme for trainees and students, and Rockwell's free Connected Components Workbench Standard Edition programs its Micro800 controllers. Cover contacts and coils, timers, counters, comparisons, analog scaling and function blocks.
- A machine project. A conveyor with sorting, a filling station, or a small sequence with faults and a manual mode. Archive the project and record it running.
- An HMI and a network. Add screens and alarms to your project, and learn one network well. Industrial Communication covers serial, Modbus, PROFINET and OPC UA.
- A direction. After the foundations, go deeper in one area: SCADA, robotics, drives, process control or industrial data and AI.
For a detailed week-by-week version, see A Free Industrial Automation Course With Certificate: A 12-Week Curriculum, and for a shortlist of courses, the best free PLC courses with certificate. For software, Free PLC Simulators Compared lists what you can use without a licence purchase.
Build a portfolio an interviewer can check
For each project, keep:
- the project archive, so an interviewer can open it;
- a short video or screenshots of it running in the simulator;
- a one-page summary: what the machine does, the I/O list, the sequence, the faults you handle, and how you tested it;
- one thing you would do differently.
Two solid projects beat ten half-finished tutorials. The best ones include something that went wrong and how you found it, because fault-finding is most of the job.
Applying
Target the employers most likely to train graduates: integrators and machine builders first. Look for titles such as graduate controls engineer, junior automation engineer, commissioning engineer or graduate engineer trainee, and search beyond your home country if you can relocate; automation jobs by country shows how. Fully remote roles are rare at graduate level; remote PLC programming jobs explains why most are hybrid. Graduate and degree-level apprenticeship schemes are another door in some countries, for example through the UK's apprenticeships service or the US Department of Labor's Apprenticeship.gov. In the application, put your projects near the top, with a line on each; our ATS-friendly CV guide covers the wording. If you have a certificate, list it with its verification code and describe it accurately, for example "Certificate of Completion, Siemens TIA Portal (EDWartens)".
Interviews
Expect three kinds of question: fundamentals (scan cycle, NO and NC contacts, timers, sinking and sourcing), a practical task (write a rung, read a drawing, find a fault), and your projects. Our PLC Interview Questions and Answers covers the first kind with model answers. For the third, practise explaining your program out loud to a friend who does not know PLCs; if they follow it, an interviewer will.
Mistakes graduates make
- Collecting courses instead of finishing projects. Ten certificates with no project behind them are weaker than one project you can open and explain.
- Learning three platforms at once. Learn one well; the second is quick once the concepts are solid.
- Skipping the electrical side. Employers want engineers who can read a schematic and understand what the PLC is switching.
- Only applying to large, well-known companies. Integrators and machine builders often hire more graduates and give broader experience sooner.
- Describing a certificate as more than it is. A certificate of completion is not a vendor certification. Say exactly what it is; an interviewer who checks will respect that.
If the first job is not in automation
Not every graduate lands a controls role straight away. Electrical technician, maintenance, test and field service jobs put you next to PLCs and drives every day, and many controls engineers started there. Take one, keep building projects in the evenings, volunteer for anything involving the control system, and apply again in six to twelve months with real plant experience on your CV.
Your first six months in the job
Ask to shadow commissioning. Read the existing code before you write new code. Keep a notebook of every fault you see and what caused it. Learn your employer's standards for naming, structure and documentation, and follow them even when you think you know better. Most of all, never force an output or bypass an interlock without the permission and procedure your site requires.
Start free
Every course named above is free in full on edwartens.com, with notes, practice tasks and a final assessment, and runs in vendor trial software with simulators. The PLC foundations path groups the first four. Create a free account to save your progress.
The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion is a small one-off fee, US$8.99 for a beginner course. Anyone can check it at edwartens.com/verification. It is not a vendor certification or an accredited qualification.
Take the free course
Questions
Can a fresh graduate get an automation job without experience?
Yes, especially with system integrators and machine builders who train graduates. What helps most is evidence: one or two PLC projects you built and can explain.
Which PLC should a fresh graduate learn first?
Learn the platform most used by employers near you; Siemens and Allen-Bradley are the usual choices. The concepts transfer, so the second platform takes far less time.
Do I need to buy a PLC to practise?
No. Vendor trial software and simulators such as PLCSIM let you write and test programs on a laptop. Hardware helps later for wiring practice but is not needed to learn programming.
Is a certificate enough to get hired?
Rarely on its own. A certificate shows you completed a course; employers hire on what you can do, so bring the project behind it and be ready to talk through it.
What should I study after PLCs?
An HMI, one industrial network such as PROFINET or Modbus, and drives. After that, pick a direction: SCADA, robotics, process control or industrial data and AI.
Sources
- Siemens SCE: offers for trainees and students
- Rockwell Automation: design and configuration software (Connected Components Workbench)
- US Department of Labor: Apprenticeship.gov
- UK government: Apprenticeships
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
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