10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT
 

http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=1470&country=United+States

I love this list. My standard answer for number six is: "Sorry, I work on mainframes."

Sorry, I can't help ya...I'm lazy, complacent, and self-satisfied :)

Great list.

I really liked #10 too: "IT pros frequently use jargon to confuse nontechnical business managers and hide the fact that they screwed up".

Around my shop, that is not a great move. Managers have learned to vet excuses with a trusted analyst. Besides, when I'm in a meeting with two dozen people explaining why a problem occurred, I rarely know the level of experience of every person in the room. Better to be honest and get to the bottom of the problem than try to BS and be called on it by someone who knows more about the product than me.

Computers are just a tool to most of us. I use many tools in the course of my day to get my job done. I actually have two computers on my desk, an IBM RS6000 machine on which I run CATIA V4, and a PC on which I run CATIA V5 and other applications. I'm admittedly no MS Windows application wizard; I use those tools only when necessary to get a part of my job done.

So my pet peeve with my IT support people is the condecending dip*****s that get a good chuckle over helping me. They find it quite humerous at times that an engineer, of all people, is struggling with some application. They remind me of Beavis and Butthead. They are convinced that they are somehow superior, or brighter in some way, because their geek knowledge exceeds mine.

We had a particularly anoying one that would come around every now and again when the problem could not be fixed over the phone. He was quite the pompous ass, lording his secret knowledge over us and implying we were all stupid. So we started ganging up on him, asking for technical advice about what we were working on. We got him pretty worked up one day, to the point that he started snivelling "why the fuch do I have to know anything about what you guys do to work on your computers?" Exactly. Now reverse the roles. I know IT guys find this incredible, but there are an awful lot of us with no interest in what they do. We just need to use the tools they support to do our jobs.

Jeff, you're speaking of the first-line support people. In my experience those are usually kids with high-school or associates degrees with a sort of mental Napoleon complex. They hoard and abuse their limited knowledge as a means for raising their self-esteem.

My job is to actually write the applications and handle problems when the first-line people can't figure them out. I am well aware that I don't understand every aspect of how the people that use my programs do their day-to-day jobs--that's why I ask them a lot of questions. The toughest thing I deal with is when designing a new application, many end-users expect the application to be able to know what they are thinking. They want it to behave one way sometimes, and another way other times. When I ask them to draw up rules for when a set of logic should be applied, I'm often told: "Well, just make it do this all the time." I see my job as largely helping the end-users drive out what they want--they often really don't know.

Ahh...those "Helpless Desk" folks :). I've always been a "backroom" systems & network designer/implementer/"fireman" type, so I totally understand. I think IT is like most professions...the good ones are secure enough in their capabilities & knowledge and don't condescend like this. It's the "wannabes" that exhibit the traits you describe...childish imo. There's not a single person on this board that's not infinitely knowledgable about "some" subject matter that would be "greek" to most of us.

Good list, I'm a Consultant so I am the one that gets blamed if things go wrong, and I have found that the employees take the credit for my work when it goes right (That's OK by me), so I would have to say #5 is off.


And yes it's not just IT, there are jagoffs in all jobs, I just wait for the right moment and hit them with the right question at the right time to embarrass them in front of management. Karma's a beyotch

List is dead on, however I think pay is actually better now then it was before the dot com fallout, at least in the Architecture side.

I can normally hang with all science and engineering disciplines but when it comes to IT I am an idiot. That world is loaded with jargon and moves so quickly that unless you are involved with it on a daily basis if becomes upsidedown Greek.

Shoot, I have trouble on a Monday with just two days off! I remember my first position with IBM (notorious for cryptic acronyms) way back when...the "team" could be discussing something (say at lunch, out in public), and folks would think we were speaking some alien language. We were :).

i refuse to read anything that writes about users , that prooves it's written from the wrong side of the fence, as anybody in the right side of the will refer to them as L-users...

Don't forget #11 - You probably can't get away with half the stuff the Bastard Operator From Hell gets away with.... unfortunately...

actually...you'de be surprised how much stuff you CAN get away with if you play it right...

Nah, they've started locking the skips and putting security cameras around htem... and we've only got one 'gator in the zoo, and he's missing his bottom jaw, so no disposal duty for him....

Like sitting at home in my robe playing video games for the last three years, while attending the occasional conference call?

I just sit around "mooing in my cubicle" in my Internet "wet suit" these days (just waiting for an outsourcing decision to come down). If you guys knew how much I got paid per Pelican post, you'd be envious! Not really...it sucks and I'm ready to move on...I'd much rather be productive or out of IT completely...soon can't happen fast enough for me :).

Outsourcing IT is a bad thing IMO.

In many businesses (but not all), IT represents the implementation of a company's core competency. Programs are highly proprietary and specialized to give that company a competitive advantage.

Why would you want to outsource that to someone who is paid for completing project on time, but isn't invested in the success of the company?

Programming is tough, and all programs have bugs and other mistakes in them. You really need people on staff who understand the programs that are currently in use, can respond to problems, can priortize fixing problems by business impact, and can help an application evolve into being stable and usable.

No argument here as you have perfectly valid points. On the other hand, when a corporation selects a CIO to preside over IT (who has no previous experience whatsoever in IT), and then listens to the beancounters and consultants, it seems like a grand idea :). Outsourcing is much like "made in China", you get what you pay for. This isn't the first time I've seen this...

Or your new CTO is Indian, and has family ties to "TATA" and decides to send half the company over to them. Thanks new boss!

I've spent significant portions of my career re-working programs from offshore. (Although the worst company I worked with was in the U.S.--they sent us VB code that didn't even compile, much less work.) After the time I spent trying to understand how offshore attempted to solve the problem and re-working it until it worked and met standards, it would have been much quicker for me to write and test the program from a clean slate. Of course, they never gave me a "reworking code from offshore" bucket to log my time to, so that "cost" has remained hidden (intentionally, I think).

You guys are way off. Where I work the IT guys are all genius' and this place wouldn't run for a second without them. They are all cool too, that's why the chicks secretly dig them.
All us engineers are envious of them, the way they can always solve the problems so fast. I just wish I was as together as they are, I should inveite them all out some day for a beer.

(shhhh! they're watching) SmileWavySmileWavySmileWavySmileWavySmileWavy

To me, engineering and IT require very similar critical-thinking skills.

With engineering, the rules of physics do not change but knowledge is constantly evolving. Engineers can build a knowledge base that holds true for their whole careers.

With IT, changing from one platform to another can change all of the rules. Things evolve, but sometimes they also change drastically with new hardware/software. Building the perfect solution is just about impossible as by the time it is implemented, it is already obsolete. You can be an expert and a master one day, and a complete novice the next.

Most engineers I know like to seek absolute certainties: a bridge will hold up under a given wind load. Most IT people know that they can only at most be certain about something for a given moment.

i can relate to what legion says
it's the thing i hate the most about the whole business
experience doesn't weigh as much as it should
and on top of that, i feel that IT companies in general aren't that loyal or appreciative for loyalty...

most jobs, you do em, you gain experience and reputation
after 10 or so years of successful work history, you can move shop, and not be treated as a beggar for work

in IT, you'll still have to prove your worth every time you go for an interview worth doing
if you have all the certifications that exist since you started the IT career, they'll grill you on people skills, and other thing
if you don't have the certifications, or they're a bit older, they'll grill you with technical tests as well...

hell, i've been in it for 11 years, worked 6 years as backline at Novell and frankly was to overworked to even think about certifications
now i moved back to Belgium, and now i get this recruiter, that calls me and says :
well, i see you as a junior profile
i'm like "on what basis?"
well, your resume isn't really sexy
i quickly recheck my mail to him , checking i didn't send him the wrong thing, nope
i ask him what about the last six years? doesn't that mean anything to him

he replies :well, i'm just filling in for my colleague who's on maternity leave, i normally don't do IT

i nearly popped a vein :angry:

this preppy douchebag holds probably half of all the really high profile IT jobs in my region
and he won't even give me the time of day because he thinks i'm a junior, simply because he's an incompetent twat

frankly IT is loosing my interest in a big way
little loyalty, nothing lasts, not the jobs, not the results you delivered, not the things you built
constantly fixing stuff that you warned them that it would eff up, but they dismissed your "negative" arguments, and when the **** hits the fan, them's gone screwing up something else, your stuck with the ****

i've broadened my scope now, i've got some experience in operational management, project management, have enough interest and knowledge in basic mechanics and electronics, so i've applied for non IT team lead jobs as well... the agencies all responded positively, they don't see any reason why i should be considered.... fingers crossed, it's a monkey business and if i can get out, i don't see why i shouldn't go for it..

Dilbert Rules
although at times demotivating, since you read the book at home, then live the book at work
some of the tricks in it are usefull though, although probably not appreciated by coworkers and management... "Way of the Weasel" and "how to have fun at the workplace at the expensive of your coworkers" should be the standard gift to any kid who starts working in the corporate world

On a serious side, an IT person, as with pretty much anyone else, is going to try to behave and get away with as much as they can. They're management/leadership is just as complicit in abetting the bad behavior if they're not workign to extinguish it.

Likewise someone who's gonna seek out or accept a management position in IT has to get up to speed on WTF the technology their subject matter experts are responsible for, otherwise they're never gonna make it in the court of credibility and public opinion.

I've known post-docs doing cancer research that have such attitude and SPD that they make Nick Burns look like Jesus Christ with a nutdriver.

My IT guy weights more than my Tacoma, is as ugly as a mud fence, but is the best kid I know.

Geek? I don't know...what I do know is that the big kid makes us smooth. The big kid has skills. I'll pillage the village that tries to take him from me.:D

He puts the IT in IT.

the first thing I do with our IT guys(top notch IMO) is ask"what could I have done wrong? so when I do screw up they give me a break.

This is funny, because from my experience, it's always been the Programmers and sometimes Network Engineering who act like they're superior. It seems all of IT looks down on Tech Support as if they're lower than them. And (with all due respect) we're even seeing it here: wannabes........flunkies, high school grads if they're lucky, etc. (paraphrasing).

Most of our staff (Tier I and II) are college grads, are superior in customer service skills, profesisonal at all times, extremely qualified technically, yet they find themselves being treated as if they're some sort of "burden" on the Tier III staff. They get shyt from the customers (but are NOT allowed to react unprofessionally, they are to report it, if anything), they get shyt and total disrespect from the Tier III staff, they truly are the ones who get shyt on in the department.

I'll be honest, in IT architecture I do tend to look down on the desktop support, and server engineers.

i don't look down on anyone, except if they are troublemakers, then all bets are off

Didn't mean to "pi** in your Cheerios" Cool Chick, but I was referring to my experiences with the "Help Desk" folks who are typically the first to be outsourced and HAVE been already (again, "made in China" quality). I could care less about degrees, etc. One either "has it" (or not) with regards to critical thinking and being able to logically think through, and "solve" IT/engineering problems (and that includes new, never seen before issues, not "doing what worked last time"). I personally have always had a great relationship with the folks you refer to (while working for two of the US's largest banks). I have no problem "explaining" the whats, whys, etc. and typically, they do "what they do" VERY well, but... Sorry 'bout the rant...Sammy's buying, and I'm in :)!

As a veteran of IT, the list is pretty much spot on, IMHO.

-Z-man.