DISQUS

mngrif · 1 year ago

Great list, I especially like the last few.

Found you through stumbleupon.

me · 1 year ago

# 11 is incorrect. I'd run for my life if one of my past managers ever attempted to become technical, assuming they were technical once in their lifetime.

Julio Dominguez · 1 year ago

yep, you almost described me there :p

brad · 1 year ago

I don't get that t-shirt - "there's no place like localhost"? That makes no sense. Wouldn't "there's no place like ~" be more appropriate?

Jack Vermicelli · 1 year ago

"Dr. Spock" was a child psychologist, and not likely to ever have visited any other planets.

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Jack Vermicelli, lol! You're right! Duly noted, and I'll remove the Dr., nice catch, thanks for the input!

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@brad, 127.0.0.1 can mean "home" as well.. when pinging 127.0.0.1, yes you're pinging local host, but some refer to it as home, phone home, etc... play along. We didn't create the shirt! :)

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@me, I've had some decent managers who jumped back and forth throughout their careers.. their not all bad (or good).

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@mngrif, Awesome, thanks for stopping by!

ThePingedHobbit · 1 year ago

A good post, covers some good reasons for working in IT. Mind you dont want too many people catching on otherwise point 16 might become invalid

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Andy D, I suppose that's true to a degree, but the cream always rises to the top. :) The best people in any industry will always be in high demand (thankfully).

Mike Slo · 1 year ago

Great list!!

Found ya on StumblUpon :) Cheers

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Mike Slo, thanks! We love stumblers.. :) I use it all the time.

carlos · 1 year ago

You forgot about the crappy pay..

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@carlos, Crappy pay? I've been in IT in a variety of positions for going on 20 years, and I haven't experienced crappy pay. Not to say there aren't jobs or companies where you'll find that, but I would suspect you can do better if you look around and not be reticent to changing jobs/locations.

Predrag · 1 year ago

Everything that you wrote is TRUE. Great post!

Found you at Stumble

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Predrag, Thanks for the input. Yup, I think it's certainly great to be in IT.. it certainly varies from place to place, but overall it's a great industry.

Pierre · 1 year ago

just stumble you... Brilliant.I have a kid and #12 is so true.

Oh by the way love that pert:
local technology superstore or their computer manufacturer’s IT help desk (where ever call begins with “reboot” and ends with “reinstall”). lol :)

Dave · 1 year ago

One thing that rarely gets mentioned when talking about career options in IT is specialisation.

Sure, you can stay technical or go for management. You can also go halfway where you are in charge of a team and 80% of your time is still spent doing the same things they do.

But you can also specialise.

I used be an all-rounder. I did tech support, programming, web design and system administration all in the same job. Later I was a PHP programmer who occasionally dabbled in sysadmin. Later still, I got to be just a sysadmin and as I was in a more specialised role, I was expected to be better at it and I got better pay. Even later still I specialised further into the security area. Now I'm a sysadmin with a focus on security.

There is a career path that heads towards more money in IT that isn't management. You will still have greater responsibilities as a specialist than as a generalist but at least those responsibilities will be doing what you are good at.

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Dave, what you've said is very true. Specialization is always the key, in IT or just about any field. Think about a heart surgeon vs. a general practitioner. Who do you think makes more money?

Along with the increased specialization usually comes more pay, more responsibility and the assumption the specialist is more highly skilled. So it takes longer to get there, but as you said you get to hone in on what you're good at, and spend the majority of your time doing the things you really enjoy.

Michael · 1 year ago

Its all in specialization. i was new to the IT field when i started... but i had a good background in the telco world. this helped me get on with a good company at a good price, and also helped me push them into a VoIP world. great list, "Stumbled Upon" it.

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Michael, thanks Michael, and glad to hear you're in a good place. VoIP is certainly where it's at..

Hesham · 1 year ago

Yeah i found interested list i am involved in the IT Field from 4 years now and hope to be manager someday lol
found it by StumbleUpon !

Farihan · 1 year ago

I feel like migrating! In Malaysia you have to own your own IT company to get paid that much. Perhaps I should initiate a start-up :-). However the pay is much better than other fields. Stumbled onto this...

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Farihan, Thanks for the comment. I would suspect the cost of living is much less where you are, so perhaps it's not that big of a gap! I'm glad to hear that our statement holds true though in your part of the world, and that IT as a whole gets paid better than most other fields.

Dave · 1 year ago

THis list is great. In fact, I'm putting a link to it on our blog.

Christopher Rees · 1 year ago

@Dave, Hey Dave, thanks for the link. Certainly appreciate it, and glad you liked the post!

Mark · 11 months ago

Did you see the show IT crowd? It denies this article :)

Christopher Rees · 11 months ago

I didn't... not sure what show or article you're referring to. Do you have a link?

Erin Neumann · 11 months ago

I found this information interesting. Sounds like a fun career. I would love to work from home as well as be involved in all aspects of the company I work for.

Adediran Ayobami · 11 months ago

I agree with the list above. But right now am having a challange on my project topic "The reason why people leave/migrate from their field of specialization to Information Technology. Please if you have any materials taht can be of help kindly send it to my mail box (ayobami.adediran@zenithbank.com). Thanks

Diamond · 11 months ago

Awesome list here, agree with most, but when I was doing IT for one company only the work turns out to be more of a hassle because theres no longer that "hero" opinion for yourself from the other employees, its simply get this done asap, no more love because its expected - now that I do work freelance for smaller businesses in the area, i find that they are much more appreciative - even though the pay isn't exactly the same as working for one company, its much more pleasant now.

Christopher Rees · 11 months ago

That's certainly true.. it's not always just about the money.. Job satisfaction and recognition is a huge component and often overlooked.

BigBill · 9 months ago

I started my career after college as a Field Technician for Hammond Organ Co. Then, I joined a healthcare company as a design engineer.

I transitioned into international sales and marketing and traveled all over the world and made great money.

Now, as a mature manager, I started my own company in IT services and consulting. So, I am a Field Technician again and loving it! And, I refuse to participate in "recessions" and "economic downturns".

With IT skills you'll never starve.

Phaoloo · 5 months ago

Never thought about why I am an IT guy before reading your post. Nice thoughts, so we are happy to be geeks, aren't we? :d