Ten secrets about working in IT
Jason Hiner
Published: 05 Sep 2007 13:04 BST
If you are preparing for a career in IT or are new to the industry, many of the "secrets" listed below may surprise you, because we don't usually talk about them out loud. If you are an IT veteran, you've probably encountered most of these issues and have a few of your own to add — and please, by all means, take a moment to add them to the discussion.
Most of these secrets are aimed at network administrators, IT managers and desktop support professionals. This list is not aimed at developers and programmers — they have their own set of dirty little secrets — but some of these will apply to them as well.
1. The pay in IT is good compared to many other professions, but since they pay you well, they often think they own you
Although the pay for IT professionals is not as great as it was before the dot-com flameout and the IT backlash in 2001-2002, IT workers still make very good money compared to many other professions.
And there is every reason to believe that IT pros will continue to be in demand in the coming decades, as technology continues to play a growing role in business and society.
However, because IT professionals can be so expensive, some companies treat IT pros like they own them. If you have to answer a tech call at 9pm because someone is working late, you hear: "That's just part of the job." If you need to work six hours on a Saturday to deploy a software update to avoid downtime during business hours, you get: "There's no time off in lieu for that since you're on salary. That's why we pay you the big money!"
2. It will be your fault when users make silly errors
Some users will angrily snap at you when they are frustrated. They will yell: "What's wrong with this thing?" or "This computer is not working!" or "What did you do to the computers?" In fact, the problem is that they accidentally deleted the Internet Explorer icon from the desktop, or unplugged the mouse from the back of the computer with their foot, or spilled their coffee on the keyboard.
3. You will go from villain to hero and back again multiple times within any given day
When you miraculously fix something that had been keeping multiple employees from being able to work for the past 10 minutes — and they don't realise how simple the fix really was — you will become the hero of the moment and everyone's favourite employee.
They will conveniently forget about your hero anointment a few hours later when they have trouble printing because of a network slowdown — you will become be enemy number one. But if you show users a handy little Microsoft Outlook trick before the end of the day, you'll swiftly return to hero status.
4. Certifications won't always help you become a better technologist, but they can help you land a better job or a pay raise
Headhunters and human resources departments love IT certifications. They make it easy to match up job candidates with job openings. They also make it easy for HR to screen candidates. You'll hear a lot of veteran IT pros whine about techies who were hired based on certifications but who don't have the experience to do the job effectively.
They are often right. That has happened in plenty of places. But the fact is that certifications open up your career options. They show that you are organised and ambitious and have a desire to educate yourself and expand your skills.
If you are an experienced IT pro and have certifications to match your experience, you will find yourself to be extremely marketable. Tech certifications are simply a way to prove your baseline knowledge and to market yourself as a professional. However, they don't tend to be of them reliable indicators of how good you will be at the job.
5. Your non-technical co-workers will use you as personal tech support for their home PCs
Your co-workers (in addition to your friends, family, and neighbours) will view you as their personal tech support department for their home PCs and home networks.
They will email you, call you, and/or stop by your office to talk about how to deal with the virus that took over their home PC, or the wireless router that stopped working...
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