April 27, 2012 at 9:15 am
analoglife23 (4/27/2012)
Anyway - I'll be leaving this work and changing my career as soon as my debt is paid off. I don't care how much money I make, as long as I'm fulfilled at the end of the day.No negativity meant toward those who love this work - I totally respect that, it's just not for me. Unfortunately, it's taken me a few hard years to realize that.
Sorry it's not working out for you, but it seems you know who you are and have a good plan. My wife is on a similar path, and I'll post about that soon. Good luck getting things paid off and hope you find something that pays the bills and puts a smile on your face.
April 27, 2012 at 9:37 am
I am one of those people that is trying to break into management.
I began my career as a 'Computer Programmer' when it was called Data Processing. I worked in that classification about seven years. Because of my ability to see the bigger picture, my manager suggested I move into the 'System Analyst' classification.
As a System Analyst I moved up to what was called a Project Leader (Senior System Analyst). This was before the Project Management push. I worked as a System Analyst for thirteen years. I worked side by side with consultants that encouraged me to 'free lance'. I am glad I did not jump ship. I have been with my present employer thirty four years.
I moved to the Database Administrator classification fourteen years ago. I began with and continue to support mainly Oracle databases. To save license cost the company has some Microsoft SQL Server installations. The last four years I have administered both Oracle and SQL Server databases.
As my working days come to an end I am looking to a management job. It is difficult to break into management because of the lack of management experience. I would have to take a pay cut then move up in management to regain the lost revenue. I will remain in IT until I retire.
My ideal management job would keep me in Information Technology (IT). I am looking to manage a team of Database Administrators.
I do not know why so many people are afraid of technology. I understand that if it does not work turn it off and start over. This applies to code, databases, servers and work stations. People do not understand it is a machine. It will only do what you tell it to do (unless you are working with artificial intelligence).
I found my career to be an easy way to pay the bills.
It is amazing where the technology has gone. I began my career with a big computer room with stand alone disk drives. Today I have on my desk a lap top/docking stations that has more processing power.
April 27, 2012 at 10:20 am
I've been officially in IT for the past 20 years (anniversary in June). I would not encourage my children to go into it.
I read with interest one post here that thought IT would be mainstream business function in the future. ?? Not from my perspective. Granted, IT is becoming engrained into all aspects of business and you have to be somewhat tech savvy for most jobs. However, too many companies are looking at traditional IT as a cost center rather than as a competitive advantage. This is evidenced by outsourcing of major portions of IT to large IT centric companies, who may even service your competition. If you and your competition can use the same IT provider, it is a commodity and has no upside to the business.
IT has been good to me. It has paid my way through schools to improve myself, houses, cars, etc. What it has cost is a lot of time to stay current. Weird hours. Lots of travel. Living out of suitcases for years at a time.
I wouldn't wish the bad parts on my children. I chose this life, but it is not for everyone and I would want my children to be find jobs where they can be fully engaged, but not for 12 hours a day. Where they can advance their education, but not be on an ever-turning wheel trying to keep up with technology change.
If one of them would choose to be in IT, that would be ok (one is engineer bound and will probably be working with tech), but I would never push them toward it.
Regards,
Joe
April 27, 2012 at 10:34 am
I've been working in technology since 1992 and it's been great except for a couple of speed bumps but i look back on my friends from high school who are still struggling to stay employed and as a DBA, I've always had multiple offers when I need top switch jobs. The last move was not because of the company but to be closer to my kids. I've been able to have my wife, before the divorce, stay home with the kids and we would not have been able to do that if I would have stayed as a systems admin.
April 27, 2012 at 10:35 am
I am relatively new to the IT side of the chemistry laboratory where I am the unofficial LIMS (laboratory information management system) admin, but I've been 'into' computers and software for a least 20 years. The software end of it intrigued me and at all of my past jobs I was the go to person for the MS Office and Windows questions. At one of my labs, I 'built' a rudimentary report producing process using Paradox as the DB and WordPerfect to merge and create my reports.
I thoroughly enjoy what I do. Currently it intrigues and challenges me. I see a lot of possibilities for me. I would like to do this until I retire and maybe even do some consultant work after I retire.
Someone talked about the inactivity of the job, I solved this by creating a standing desk for myself and it has been a good way to me to stop sitting all day.
Christy
April 27, 2012 at 11:21 am
Joe Johnson-482549 (4/27/2012)
I've been officially in IT for the past 20 years (anniversary in June). I would not encourage my children to go into it.I read with interest one post here that thought IT would be mainstream business function in the future. ?? Not from my perspective. Granted, IT is becoming engrained into all aspects of business and you have to be somewhat tech savvy for most jobs. However, too many companies are looking at traditional IT as a cost center rather than as a competitive advantage. This is evidenced by outsourcing of major portions of IT to large IT centric companies, who may even service your competition. If you and your competition can use the same IT provider, it is a commodity and has no upside to the business.
IT has been good to me. It has paid my way through schools to improve myself, houses, cars, etc. What it has cost is a lot of time to stay current. Weird hours. Lots of travel. Living out of suitcases for years at a time.
I wouldn't wish the bad parts on my children. I chose this life, but it is not for everyone and I would want my children to be find jobs where they can be fully engaged, but not for 12 hours a day. Where they can advance their education, but not be on an ever-turning wheel trying to keep up with technology change.
If one of them would choose to be in IT, that would be ok (one is engineer bound and will probably be working with tech), but I would never push them toward it.
Regards,
Joe
This is one of the more insightful and accurate representations of an IT career that I have read lately. I would very much agree myself, being in this business now going on 28 years. I have done well myself, like Joe, but it has a cost. I would not recommend this career to my children, (if I had any), particularly my daughter. If you want any semblance of a personal life and want children yourself down the road, this is not a career I would choose first. Too many weird hours and a boatload of stress on top of that. A lot of people choose this career simply because it pays well, and it does. But like Joe says, at what cost? Some people can balance it all, but I have seen many more people over the years that didn't. The divorces, alcoholism, heart attacks, and suicide rates are all high in this field, and there is good reasons why. We are right up there with Policemen and Doctors. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
April 27, 2012 at 11:34 am
It's very heartening to read the first two posts form old guys like me! I started @ age 17 as a tape-monkey (mounting tapes and printer-paper) for 8 months until transferring into "Programming" and learning IBM 360 Assembly Language. 38 years on and the CPU with 500K memory firmly in the museum, I can't see myself doing anything else. I'd never seen a computer before I got to work on one - my adult kids have grown up with computing as part of life and my son is currently wrestling with C++ and Visual Studio for his math degree; his is the closest any of the three have shown to any kind of interest in "what Dad does". That's a shame, because Software Development/Database Development is IMO a great vocation and, as some other prior posters have stated, is one that enables the mortgage to be paid every month on time!
Like many/most professions, there's the good (creativity, expression, mental exercise) and the bad (documentation, testing!!! (ha, ha!)) but from observations of the many and various business folk I've met, few have as much satisfaction attached to them - perhaps some engineering branches, breakthrough medicine discoverers have equal and maybe betimes more...
A desk-job may not be everyone's aspiration, but as far as desk jobs go, being in IT, seeing the changes, being part of making lives better and easier, and making a real contribution to society (hopefully "your" company isn't a parasite (auction sites!!! pah!)) while having a ton of fun and really exercising the grey cells, simply takes a lot of beating.
As far as having a personal life goes, I'm not sold out to my career, I live by the simple adage, "I don't live to work, I work to live" and I do my 40 hours, leave the building and go home to my wife of 33+ years, my 3 kids, and LIFE. In 38 years of programming/DBA/CM I've not missed more than 20 weekends and late nights. Maybe, I've just worked in decent companies who respect their employees rather than simply treat them as a resource to grind... The ONLY exception was Ford Motor Credit in Brentwood, UK, where progress was predicated on "involuntary overtime" that was compound for each grade one wished to advance to. Both my brother, at Ford Motor Company in the UK, and I chose family and life over career advancement and we're both happier for it! I left FMCC for a lower paid and graded job more local, for my family, and ended up advanced faster, with cheap mortgage and car loans thrown in, able to provide better than had I wasted my life slaving at Ford's behest. Quite a good choice in retrospect.
Would I recommend IT/Development to MY kids - absolutely, unequivocally. Though, caveat emptor when it comes to the company you plan on investing your life in - get to know the culture and if it doesn't favor "life", see ya!
Thanks, Steve, for the provoking question - it served to remind me to be thankful that I've been blessed to be in this industry for 38 years on two continents.
Yesterday's UF spoof was great, BTW.
April 27, 2012 at 12:55 pm
When I started college decades ago, my mother gave me this brief advice, "I don't care what you do as long as you know where in the want ads to find it." She's been a working Occupational Therapist for over 50 years. Here's a final quote from her on her choice of career, "They can't outsource OT."
April 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm
I love being a SQL DBA and have been doing it for a long time, but before my interest in computers I was a huge astronomy buff and still have a place in my heart for that profession. Fate willing, my SQL career is a road to the lifestyle I really want, which is to be able to pursue astronomy, a private pilot's license, travel, or whatever comes to mind without strings. My grandfather in his 70's was attending college the same time I was; we even shared a few classes together. I should be so lucky in my own 70's.
Something I often ponder about the years to come is whether I'll turn into my parents that barely know how to use email and Facebook. Forget SQL Server; I fear what will come down the pike in everyday computing that will make us need to call our 6-year-old grandchildren for help? When I'm no longer the tech guru for my family, it's time to hang up the hat. 🙂
April 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm
nwerner (4/27/2012)
"They can't outsource OT."
Are you sure about that?:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
April 27, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Retire ? Why ?
I've been in IT since 1981 and databases since 1983 (SQL Server since v4.2 on OS2/Warp !). The career is both challenging and rewarding. Being a 'production' DBA on call 24x7 the last 20 years has presented some interesting work/life balancing issues though. But things have the tendency to work themselves out if you apply yourself. The key is 3 simple things:
- like what you do
- like who you work with
- like who you work for (irrespective of titles or organizations)
I am actually looking forward to at least another 10-15 years !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
April 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm
This may sound a little bit pretentious (or too much), But I want to continue working in IT until my last day of life, and I have no intention of die before an age of 80 😀
Honestly, I do not know what things I could do if I retired, which could be different from those I do now.
April 27, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Joe Johnson-482549 (4/27/2012)
I read with interest one post here that thought IT would be mainstream business function in the future. ?? Not from my perspective. Granted, IT is becoming engrained into all aspects of business and you have to be somewhat tech savvy for most jobs. ...
I guess that was me.
We may be closer in opinion than you think. I simply meant that many of the things that are 'application development' now will be handled by 'business people'.
Part of that will be an increased skill set by average (normal?) people and the rest will be an increase in power of the tools.
Think of web programming where you used to (1998?) have to code in C++ to write CGI extensions to the web server - and if there was a bug it could crash the whole web server.
People who coded static HTML pages made $90k/year then came InterDev and Dreamweaver - heck all the MS Tools do that now and you don't have to do anything except change the "Save As" to author pages.
Then there was ASP (replacing straight CGI) - where you didn't crash the whole server even with a catastrophic error (just one site on the server).
Now there are CMS tools like Drupal and DotNetNuke which allows a 'knowledgable non-tech user' to do in a few days what would be weeks/months of custom code.
We will still be needed because our tolerance for dealing with computers is higher than everyone else's 😉
(i.e. we will be doing stuff beyond what we're doing now)
April 27, 2012 at 10:10 pm
I've been in this industry since the XT machine was a gleam in somebody's eye.
It's been a good career but outsourcing has made things difficult on occasion.
I see the outsourcing becoming more of an economic option for large and medium size companies.
The smaller, more agile (as in 'quick', not the methodolgy) companies will still require the skills we have but will be unable or unwilling to pay the price that we have come to expect for our work.
New and easier to use products are always on the market and our skill set has to be updated completely every 5 years or so.
I estimate that by the time I'm 80, technology will have become so advanced that my current skill set will be redundant.
This industry has been good to me but it's getting close to the time where I start looking at a new career or retirement. (Retirement does not sound good. I'd have to stay home with the wife nagging at me.)
Cheers,
Wayne
======
April 30, 2012 at 1:17 am
Randy Rabin (4/27/2012)
Something I often ponder about the years to come is whether I'll turn into my parents that barely know how to use email and Facebook.
I wouldn't worry about that...parents usually struggle with this sort of thing due to never having known it in the first place and having no desire to learn it! So long as you keep the desire to learn you'll be fine.
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