What they don’t tell you in school

[u/WannabeChE]

You will meet people that have worked at the plant you work at that started off as operators 15+ years ago that are miles and miles ahead of you in experience. They will know the process and have a good understanding of what is happening. They will know their system and won’t need to (but can) trace lines. A degree does not make you smarter but it gives you a deep understanding of the physics and science behind something explaining why. It will put you at about the same level as an operator who has worked there for 10-15 years in terms of pay, but learning never ever stops! In my opinion the experience is so much more valuable to the company, but experience and understanding why is gold!

[u/AIChE_Baranky]

When advising my students (many of whom will soon supervise operators with experience that dwarfs their own), I always give them the advice my dad told me when I first learned to ride a horse: "You may be 1000x smarter than your horse. But never forget that your horse can see, hear, and smell 100x better than you can. So you LISTEN to your horse at all times. If your horse starts, it could be a car backfiring from 5 miles away or a rattlesnake behind the next rock. So always take them seriously, if not literally..." In other words, the operator may not be able to explain why something is happening on a McCabe-Thiele diagram, or using the principles of fluids or thermodynamics; but if they tell you something is wrong you must ALWAYS listen, and (hopefully) learn from them.