Don't worry about certifications, dig into the information on your own time. Do it at night, or in the morning, when everyone else is sleeping. Buy some old, broken or used controls and mess around with automating something in your house.
Once you start taking action that convinces you that the day job you hate is temporary, you'll be shocked at how much more bearable every single thing becomes.
For more context, I work a lot of over-time at my current (US) job. Outside of work, I have a home and family to take care of.
Time is an expensive commodity in my world. Don't get me wrong, I am self-taught in a lot if areas, but there are some areas where structured learning is better, especially when it comes to being endorsed (certs, diplomas, etc).
Money is also an issue. About 80% of my wife's and mine combined income goes to debt (credit cards, loans, kid's schooling, etc) and the rest goes into our gas tanks or bellies. The US economy is not friendly to people who started off lower-income, and sadly, positive vibes don't help change that.
We're realistic, not looking to get rich. But do I have the brains to do better? I believe so. Convincing a potential employer of that is impossible without backing, and if you're at the bottom, getting that backing is MASSIVELY difficult.
Another comment mentioned that networking in the industry is key, and I do need to do more of that. I suppose it is time to reactivate my LinkdIn, something that seamed like another superfluous Facebook back when I first made the account.
Anyway, positivity is important, but it is not a solution. I do my best on that front, but it gets harder as I get older and less marketable.
Don't do any work to achieve your own goals.
It's hard and clearly you don't have the time or money.
Surely, someone will be able to see how useful you might be someday, if only given the chance.
The 'weekend' is not enough time to switch a career.
A university undergrad takes 1460 days.
With 100 weekend days a year it would take 14 years to achieve that. That's assuming you don't take a single day off for 14 years.
You're gaslighting the poor dude.
Sweeping ideas about blanket positivity are not practical solutions, so the previous comment (and, by extension, yours) are pretty unhelpful.
The trick is now rounding out that skill with a proper education on it and being able to show "yes, I did the work."
They probably meant PLC, which OP mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmable_logic_controller
Short answer; not well.
Long answer; I'm currently stuck in a job with an employer that I hate, that is slowly destroying my love of the work, and I can't afford the time it would take to leave, upgrade my skills and get into a better situation.
For context, I am a versatile service tech for industrial machines. I have zero certifications in anything only because I never needed them before since I keep pretty good logs of stuff I work on in my spare time and that typically serves nicely as a portfolio. I'm in my mid-40's and realized I have hit the upper limits of what I can do without certifications and an upgraded skillset.
I'd love to move into the world of PLC programming and cybersecurity in an industrial setting. I've expressed this to my current employer, but it's clear they want me to stay where I am at, so I'm more or less on my own if I want to grow.
I have been quietly looking for a company that offers opportunities for this type of learning and makes an effort to invest in their people. Nothing that comes up are positions I qualify for since I lack said certifications.
I realize this is my fault, of course, and could have been avoided with different decisions in my youth...but now I am panicking because I'm having trouble seeing what my next move is and that is something I've never had to deal with. In the past, I've been blessed enough to interview well and prove my skills, generally landing a new job within two weeks of leaving the old. Now I can't even get recruiters to call me back, with their bars being set historically low.
I'm at the point where I'm open to night school (sacrificing pretty much all personal/family time I have left) but I have no idea what viable institutions are out there, and what's a diploma mill to be avoided.
If anyone works in SCADA, cybersecurity for industrial settimgs, PLC programming, etc, I am open to any direction you can provide. Lord knows I am not getting it from the folks I'm surrounded with in the industry.