The IT Career
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I live for the "do what you enjoy doing" school of thought. My sister didn't get into IT, but then again, that's just not something she was interested in. One of my brothers did go into IT (doing help desk support), and he moved to Columbus. Although my dad tells him to come back to Cleveland and do IT here, I constantly tell my brother to stay down there and ignore dad's plea. The economy here in Cleveland is weak, and he's much better off where IT and the computing industry in general is stronger. IMO, he's too young in the field to survive up here. My youngest brother is taking Cisco classes at school (high school) and I've already warned him that if he wants to stay here, he needs to be competitive early on.
I have no problem recommending IT to those who really enjoy it. But I do warn them of things to look for, as some locations are better off than others and some areas need to be approached differently than others.
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I think IT, medicine, and law intersect in interesting ways.
Medicine is the most obvious case where lives can literally be lost if mistakes are made. But so can law and IT if you think about it. In fact, most lawyers and doctors depend on IT for their decisions - everything from medical equipment to forensics - and if a mistake is made in any of those fields, someone coud mistakenly go to jail or the chair, someone else could go free to kill again, and some other person could die on the operating table.
I'm certainly not anywhere near the IT equivalent of a brain surgeon - and of course on a day-to-day basis more lawyers and doctors (to say nothing of cops and firefighters!) feel that kind of life-or-death pressure - but I have come to appreciate that IT has almost the same low tolerance for mistakes as do those other fields, just that perhaps it is harder to draw the cause and effect as clearly for the life-or-death cases. But the spotlight is clearly on IT for other cases involving data, security, money, and business reputation. That's why you see more and more articles these days on huge IT mistakes.
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webrunner
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html -
Can't really argue with the do what you love advice, but I would caution against it without at least one tag: do what you love if you're good at it. I have a friend who insists they are a mussician, and, frankly, they would starve if they tried to do that professionally. My daughter may have to live with my theory that you striek a balance between what you love and what you have a talent to do. If she has a talent for IT, I would bless the choice, but I might also be apt to suggest she explore other options before committing. IT isn't bad, but it can be demanding if you're good, and that sometimes sacrifices other aspects of life.
What is evident today is that IT is generally viewed as one large clump that encompasses the expert coder right down to the guy that puts together the PCs of a desk. While both jobs have a high skill requirement to be done well, they are vastly different, and part of the problem is that management in many companies doesn't grasp the differences, turning IT into a dumping ground of sorts. The number of times I have worked with someone who got their position because they could turn on a computer fifteen years ago stuns me, and toss in six of those chaps on any team and you get at least three who are going to make your experience sour fast.
Perhaps a better question though is not whether It is a good career choice, but whether it is a respectable one. Even with 21+ years in the field and some high-end accomplishments, I figure only 10% of the clients even grasp what they pay for, and many still dismiss the value proposition. when that changes, IT will be a golden career choice once more.
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I don't love it but it pays good and jobs are always going to exist in IT. Would I recommend it to my son ? Maybe... maybe not. Bang for the buck wise in college tuition fees it isn't too bad comparied to alot of professions.
The one thing about 'The Trades' is that there will ALWAYS be work and it cannot be moved to a foreign country ! I have heard in the next 10 years over 100,000 tradesman will be retiring and even today there is a shortage of tradesman. Sounds like an opportunity to me.
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But did you get to keep the red stapler?
I think I was there in the closet/turned server room. Just behind the rack to the left.
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Bill and Jwainz have the right idea about getting centered, set the right priorities and then choose your vocation. Know what you believe and what you want to do before you select your job. Just taking an IT job because it is available is not the route to take.
I have worked in a Deli, in construction, in parks, in ministries, in IT and in many other jobs. Every one of them was an honorable job that did not violate my beliefs.
But getting to the heart of matters. I believe that you should do and live your dream. If what you want to do is paint landscapes and you have to paint houses to make a living do them both. If you want to dance, act, make pottery or weave baskets underwater do so. But also gain a skill that you can use to make a living while you pursue your dream. Or if your dream includes the ability to make a living let er rip.
Of all that I have done in the end I chose IT. I love it, and may even be gifted or at least skilled at it. I would hope so since I have been in this gig since punched cards, paper tape and pre-360 mainframes.
So would I recommend to someone that they take an IT job, to train for a future in IT? You bet, and in a heartbeat. It is a hard, fast moving, challenging field where nothing stays the same. It is mentally, physically, and emotionally trying. This work is hard. Not all can do it well. Many never get past the surface, and most find that it is too much of a journey to ever get started in. But for those who can do, it is also one of the most rewarding jobs you will ever find.
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
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The kept the "red stapler" in a locked, transparent box on my desk and sent me a steady stream of papers (in dire need of stapling)
Take care,
Bert
"Speculations? I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I shall live also." - Michael Faraday
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IT is the best thing I've ever done, but see... I actually like it. Anyone who says otherwise, simply made the wrong career choice. It really is that simple. If you chose IT for the wrong reasons, you are going to hate it.
The problem is, I think we need more IT people than there are people who like it. Life is too short to do something you hate, just for the money. And yeah, I'm actually pushing my oldest boy into the military... IT would be horrible for him... he hates science. My other son is a good programmer already at 14 (just like I was), so IT might be good for him, but he's still growing, so nothing is set in stone.
That's the other issue I think... people change over time, and something they used to love becomes drudgery. Rather than telling others to avoid the career, those people need to simply switch to something else. Don't rain on someone else's parade... they are not you. Make them aware of the challenges, but if they are still turned on by it, they are probably perfect for IT.
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I do not particularly like IT. I chose to major in IT in college because my parents thought it was easy to find a job.
I can do a good job in IT because I am good at Math. Solving problems and writing programs are no problem to me. Most of my employers liked me.
However I hate IT more and more because of the nature of the people and companies management attitude started to change. When I first started working, I could talk to people, people would like to share their knowledge and experiences. Company always had politics but it still cared about the people.
Nowadays corporates treated employees liked garbage instead of assets, they disposed them whenever they liked. People worried about their jobs. You cannot talk or do something without people complaining.
IT is HELL.
I would love to get out of it once my son finishes college.
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Then become a consultant!
You are in charge and get to charge!
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Back to the QUESTION - would you recommend it to your kids?
Mothers don't let your young boys grow up to be IT!
"Capt Kirk - Star Treck episode 2In ten years, IT will be paying about 60% of todays salary. Competiton will make it really tough to keep a job.
WHAT!! you say! NOT My job! Why the Law of Gravity doesn't apply to IT!
Every technology going back to the TV Repair Man, PC Repair, Telephone Repair.... just name any technology job 25 years old.... had seen the salaries rise with popularity.... then fall (and even go away) from automation. When I graduated from Junior College with electronics in 1972, I made $56 and hour in todays money and paid single digit taxes as an employee of Texas Instruments. In the 1990's, I made twice my present day IT salary. Today, every job posted attacts dozens of qualifed persons at 80% pay of what I started 6 years ago.
Do you honestly think that any of the routine tasks you as an IT person conduct today can't be automated in the next 10 years? Remember way back when a network card had DIP switches and the network cables were hand made? In 10 years we will own ANN and AI technology on "throw-away" hand held servers. A user can just ask a computer to produce blogs, inventory management, transaction bidding systems, extrapolate the genetic changes to the projection, and every other task we consider to be done by advanced IT today. Just like all those electronic circuit boards that were hand crafted by 300,000 engineers of past, you too can be replaced by the throw-away IC chip designed by a couple of thousand worldwide automated designers.
In 10 years, we won't need that many peopple who even understand how or why things work. If Star Treck was right, the CEO will just "talk to the computer" and the system will be set up. How many IT guys did you see on Star Treck? The old timers will talk about how they use to write a Select statement with an inner join and secure it with a View. The younger persons will shake their heads in pity and tell others that the old guy is having flashacks ... again. You will be taken to watch re-runs of Star Treck so you can search for the IT staff.
All those already washed out of IT are not responding. The rest of us will enjoy this ride while we can!
"Asking the computer to extrapolate the genetic changes to the projection" Source: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/VOY/episode/114246.html
A search on episodes failed to return any reference to IT staff. Including Episode 2
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Sorry but I don't put much stock in the opinion of a person who claims to be an IT guy, but can't spell Star Trek. Programming is different. It will always need to be done. Somebody built the Enterprise. Captain Kirk is only a user. More productive user for sure, but somebody built the thing. There's a lot of things missing in Star Trek simply because it's not relevant to the show... ever see a toilet on the Enterprise? I'm gonna bet that in the future we will still need those.
Ever see Space Cowboys? In 20 years, I will be them... the only person around who knows how to actually fix the guts of the thing. People don't trust machines. We will never get to the point where machines are building the other machines and no people need to be involved.
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Ooooo...you probably shouldn't be so mean about Star Trek. There are probably people reading this blog who have REAL phasers!
Take care,
Bert
"Speculations? I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I shall live also." - Michael Faraday
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Hehe... I have one of these so I'm not worried:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/8506/
I'm not bashing Star Trek... not at all
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I started in IT before it was even called "IT". I sort of fell into it. I was going to school not really sure what to be when I finished. I was working full time in a computer room mounting tapes and cracking stacks of printed paper and distributing reports to support my schooling. I moved up in the ranks and now I found myself as DBA. I'm too am not passionate about it, it pays the bills and I have moneys left to play.
My girlfriend works in desktop support, I keep telling her to get into Unix admin stuff or even network security, with all the cisco certs, those people make bank. She told me the other day she wants to be a programmer. Silently I squeezed my head and screamed "NO!!!!!" Then I calmly said to her, if you really like it go for it. Get ready for the competition.
Bottomline, IT is not a bad career path, it has it's ups and downs like any other job. However if you are passionate about it, well, good for you and you're lucky to be doing something you really enjoy.
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