The IT Career
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It's interesting, but I've seen quite a few posts and rumblings lately that IT isn't a good career field (such as Advice to a young programmer - check the discussion.). I've seen some people saying that they wouldn't recommend going into IT for their kids. Too much work, too little pay, no job security, etc.
I'm not sure I agree. In fact, here's the advice I've given to my son: get a job doing something you enjoy.
That's it. No worries about income, security, or anything else. I know it can be impractical if you're, say love building sculptures from user appliances, but that's a chance I'll take.
I think I'm already taking a chance as my 8 year old loves the military and has been aiming for a military career for the last 4 years. So the Friday poll is:
Is IT a good career?
Do you want your kids going into IT? Is it worth it? Would you recommend it to a niece or nephew starting college? I use family examples because presumably you think a bit more before recommending something to them. Course if you hate your brother, than maybe you should think about what you'd say to your best friend.
I honestly don't think that IT is worse than any other field. And if this gig ends, I've thought about, and am comfortable with, going back to work in IT for someone else.
Think about it. Is it any better as a doctor? That was one of the fields for "smart kids" when I was young. Malpractice through the roof, billing issues, competition to open a practice from HMOs and managed care. It's not necessarily a great job, not a lot of tolerance for mistakes, and it takes lots and lots of training. But if you love it, it's cool.
Lawyer? That's easy, but realistically you'll burn 15 years of your life toiling as an associate, working 6-7 days a week, 10 hours a day or more to get billable hours to try and make partner.
Plumber? You'll make good money, but it's manual work and unless you start your own business, you won't get rich. Plus there's the wrestling in less than desirable fluids that I'd avoid.
In any of these fields, or probably any other, unless you open your own business, you won't get rich. Business is the key to getting rich, but it's not easy and it's not necessarily fun. I think IT, at least in the US, is still a good career field. Sure it's hard work, sure the hours can get long, sure security isn't there. It's better than being a college football or basketball coach. It's more fun than pounding nails in the rain.
You should pursue what you enjoy and if that's computers, it's a good way to make a living. We've been spoiled with lots of benefits and perks through the booms of the 90s and 2000's, and lots of those are gone.
But it's still a great way to spend your career if you enjoy it.
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Firstly, I would like to say that I don't LOVE working in IT. I've done it now for 12 years, but it's not my passion.
However, working in IT has given me a car, a house, great holidays when I wanted to take them, and best of all, my fiance'.
Most of the people I've worked with in IT have been great people. Sure there's plenty of politics and the occasional nasty person, but overall I think that there are a lot of great people in IT. Most of my close friends (apart from my fiance') work in other areas, but I think that is because you make you closest friends before you start out working (at least this is my case anyway).
IT (in Australia) pays fairly well compared to other professional careers. There are some long hours, but nothing compared to the hours you put in if you run your own business.
IT gave me the platform (financially) to move into what I am passionate about. I'm not sure I would have had this opportunity otherwise.
I do agree with Steve though, in that I would tell my kids to pursue what they enjoy doing and what gives them satisfaction and makes them happy. If my kids want to pursue an IT career I certainly wouldn't dissuade them.
Glenn Mafodda
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You said it : "get a job doing something you enjoy."
IT is not my passion but I am happy doing the job - most of the time.
I can't think of any job I can do that will pay me as well - maybe a politician, but that would be like becoming a lawyer just no fun at all.
I'm not talented enough to be a professional sportsman, but that's what I'd love to do (and I'm too old now anyway).
And, sadly, I've yet to find a job where they pay you to sit around drinking beer and watching sports.
Life could be worse, I could still be working in a factory.
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I rather be lucky and win a 100 million dollar tax free lottery every couple of years.
Then IT would work for me...
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I have to disagree about your point regarding physical labor. Having been a union electrician, my experience was that the work is physically and mentally challenging. Not only do you get a good work-out by the end of the day, but it has a very strong meditative side to it as well: after you become expert at the repetitive tasks, your mind can wander to other places which is quite delightful. At other times you have to concentrate with the same focus a software engineer needs to debug a particularly nasty computational problem.
The main downside, the main reason I left, was exposure to all manner of crazy toxins: formaldehydes in glue, naphthalenes in paints, silica in concrete dust.... So, that is the reason I don't recommend construction work to my nephews.
Pounding nails rocks!
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I think you should first of all choose a career that you like and that interests you. After all, you will be doing it for a large part of your life. Liking what you do is the best compensation for whatever disadvantages or setbacks that come with your job. And in my experience, dedication and enthousiasm are often appreciated by employers.
Don't forget that times are a-changing: an underrated job can become a scarce resource with better conditions in the future, and vice-versa.
Personally, I graduated as a micro-electronics engineer and started designing ATM systems at Alcatel. I switched to IT consultancy because it was a much better fit to my core skills and interests: it requires technical insight, designing IT applications is a creative job, you meet and work with lots of people of different nationalities and you apply technology with tangible results.
I might have been richer or more powerful having chosen for an economic career; I seriously doubt if I would have been happier. I am doing this job for 17 years now. Despite all troubles, I never regretted my choice. The foresight of being an IT-er until my retirement does not scare me.
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It's now thirty six years since I decided I wanted to "go into computers" for my career (the phrase IT wasn't invented then) when I was choosing my O level subjects at age 14 and I haven't found any other job I have wanted to do or enjoyed as much.
I've tried shop, laboratory and factory work as a student and creativity and selling at craft fairs as a home based mum but have always regarded IT as my career and gone back to it for employment despite plenty of opportunities to change direction.
It's one career where you can guarantee change and new knowledge and be sure that what you are doing now will not be the same in ten or twenty years time, even though the rate of change has now slowed right down.
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I work in IT recruitment so not from the same perspective but IT seems like a pretty good career in terms of the job prospects and the secuirty is becoming better. Every company now relies heavily on it's IT infrastructure so IT is not the first to take the hit if cuts are needed anymore. I recruit DBA and Database Developers and the market is open to the same fluctuations as any other. Finance is dictated by the state of the economy and world events and IT is no different. From this perspective it seems as good as anything else...The UK market is very much on the up at the moment and I would recommend it to my (potential) kids.
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It depends...
sorry, someone had to say it.
I started out as a farm hand (growing up on a farm, but got paid for all the work, last couple of years in Norway I ran the farm).
I went to college to become a pilot, and have all my ratings except ATP. Also have a B.S. in Aeronautical Studies (read: flying with some science classes), and a minor in Computer Science.
Out of college I started as an underwriter for aircraft insurance, but quickly became the de-facto DBA and SQL developer. And have never looked back. I haven't used my pilots license once since August 1995 when I graduated from college.
I know to 2 of my nephews I would recommend it, they got the apptitude and personality for IT. The 2 others.... no!
All that said.... IF I could make a steady income and keep health insurance, I would go back to being a farmer in a heart beat. Of course, the stuff that dad runs on the farm now I would have more training than I have ever had for SQL to even have a chance at doing it right. GPS, radar, precission farming in general is becomming big, and with that a lot of IT on the farm!
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I would only recommend it to my worst enemies
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it is not really that bad, but some days can be challenging. Now that I know my supevisor reads this site as well, things have gotten more interesting...
I have been in IT since 1990, and have survived, it is actually a good career, if one can manage to keep up with technology and learn to turn it off when leaving for the day. Thanks for the posts and comments, I have learned a great deal from reading the daily emails I get from sql server central.
Regards,Greg Bogard
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I love IT. I'm clean, inside, sitting down, no one is shooting at me, nothing is likely to chew one of my appendages off, I'm well (some would say over) payed. Life's pretty sweet. <knock wood>
I did time in submarines. 18 hours on, 6 off, few showers, 100+ degrees in the engine room... You can have it. IT is better.
I've done retail. All day long on your feet, whiny ass-ed customers complaining about the stupidist crap in the world, with weird demands. Nope. IT has that beat.
I've worked construction. Except for being outside when it's cold, that's a good gig, but the pay wasn't great and there were all those guys I worked with that were missing bits & pieces of themselves because of a moment's inattention. Worse thing a moment of inattention ever did in IT was the time I restored a backup over the production database. Oops. Everything still attached. IT wins.
I tried to break into the movie business. I don't know what big budget motion picture production is like, but small pictures, commercials and music videos usually entail working INSANE hours (longest run I remember was 72 hours straight) with some amount of back breaking labor (grip) working outside (cold sucks, see construction above) and having to deal with frigging prima dona actors (although, give me a beer or three and I'll tell you about the porn stars I met). IT (porn stars aside) wins here too.
I've skipped some of the nasty jobs like janitor & waiter and working on the newspaper loading dock because they paid squat the work sucked and no one in their right mind would suggest they're possibly better than IT.
Plus, I'm a geek.
But in the end, I agree with Steve. Get your kids into things they enjoy. Worry about paying the bills second.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore RooseveltAuthor of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning -
My advice to my children was simply two fold. One, only do work that you like, and two, nothing is worth doing unless failure is a possibility.
That said, I would rather have the risk of failure and passion for what I do than to be held hostage by a career that offered only money.
And software development provides both for me... Could use a little more money:-)
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First off, let me say that I have been in IT since January of 1979, and this was not my first career.
I enjoy IT as a field and "mostly" enjoy the work. I have found through the years that my preference is just to be a tech. This gives me the most satisfaction.
Saying that, a good chunk of the years I have spent in IT, I have absolutely HATED! This I believe, is more based on the company that I worked for and the positions that I found myself stuck with.
I found myself downsized in March of 2006 (I am old, not creative enough, can't learn, too expensive, etc.) and felt at that point that I would rather drink lye than ever have to work in IT again.
Well, I found a spot doing volunteer work for a non-profit organization, that I could feel good about. I eventually got hired by that some non-profit and am enjoying myself immensly, something that I have not done in at least 15 years.
I am making less than I did in 1986, but, I get a lot of personal satisfcation from the job and the good that I perceive I am doing.
AND, my wife and I, have both advised the kids to NEVER, EVER take a job that is soley IT related. They will probably find themselves without a job, as so many or our friends and co-workers have, the minute that their company decides it needs to cut overhead.
IT ALWAYS GOES FIRST.
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I really enjoy working in IT, most of the time. Any job/career satisfaction is going to be affected by your work environment. When I first started in IT (for a pulp and paper company) I worked for a company that encouraged innovation and we developed several cool and efficient applications. They sent us to training, etc... Then we were bought by another company where the VP said "IT is a necessary evil and brings no value to the company." Obviously I became dissatisfied with my career choice as this was also right after the dot com bubble burst, so there were not many other opportunities for someone with 2-3 years experience. Now I work for myself, make more money, and love what I do because I am only brought in when there is development work to be done.
So my point is, if they like technology and have the aptitude, yes I would recommend IT, but I also would counsel them to make sure they know the value potential employers place on IT.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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IT is as good or bad a career as any other. I agree with Steve. Find something that you enjoy.
I enjoy IT. I spent the first 6 years of my career as a Systems Analyst (server, network support, etc) and realized that it was not for me so now I work as an IT Data/Business Analyst. I do report writing, I've built finance, sales, and A/R cubes to list a few things. I love working with people and I love the technical aspects as well. Sure there are good and bad days but when it comes down to it if you enjoy what you do the bad days aren't so bad. Plus IT does have perks.
Bottom line, if you don't like what you are doing get some initiative and find something else.
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