Why NOT to go into IT

[philaman01]

1. IT is not standardized and job requirements are all over the map2. Related to point 1, the field is constantly evolving; the subject matter changes all the time! This means new languages, new frameworks, etc are constantly being introduced. You will be a perpetual student. Learning something new at 20 is much easier than learning something new at 40, 50+.

3. These days, IT is not a respected profession; it is more of a 'get-it-done-with-whatever-it-takes-mentality' job. As an employee, you are just an interchangeable cog inside a machine.

4. Related to point 3, if you work as a FTE, you will be a salaried employee and work well beyond 40 hours per week, without being paid for anything beyond the 40.

5. Age discrimination runs rampant. This means that if you are over age X and apply to a company where young(er) workers rule, you will be disqualified just based on this alone.

6. Related to point 5, experience is not respected in IT. For example, someone with 20 years of COBOL experience is not even considered for a job simply because he does not have the exact experience a particular job calls for. Conversely, a lawyer with 20 years experience is a prized commodity; it is common for lawyers to practice well into their 60s, 70s, and beyond. In IT, if you are employed after 60, you are very fortunate.​

 

[Lexluethar]

Wow - get turned down for a big job or fired recently? Why so bitter?

Counterpoints:
1. You are right, it's not completely standard, but what job is? Please summarize a management position for me. What qualities make a good manager? If you are a manager at an applebees does that make you a good manager at a law firm? I think you are right, the requirements aren't standard but that is in most industries except something like a trade job (welding). Just like most professions the standard is education. If you get a 4 year bachelors that is generally the standard in the industry. IT even goes a step further with certifications.

Also you are right, you are going to constantly be training on new material - again something that occurs in most industries. Micro management used to be something that was normal, but management practices have changed and will probably change again in 10 years.

3. Depends on your job, i agree helpdesk or the 'average' desktop tech isn't respected. You don't gain respect from your title - you gain it from doing good work. Respect is earned, not given.

4. Again nothing specific to IT, any job that is salaried you will only get paid for 40 hours. I will however agree that you usually work more hours in IT than you would in another field. This also has to do with the company, some companies take advantage of this and if someone works 45 hours a week - they'll put them on salary.

5. I can see this point going both ways. Experience is key in IT IMO, so younger people are generally looked at as not knowing their stuff, while older people it is assumed you know what you are talking about. Although i agree, there is a certain age (say 50) that unless you've been doing the job for a long time people may discriminate and think you are too old. I agree with you here.

6. False, experience is really important, any job i've done or interviewed for the company looked at experience higher than education or certs.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Well, what about vintage systems? Someone at 20 would know little to none about the command line, DOS, etc. Where an old fart would know explicitly.

 

[GhOsT1321]

I'm still searching for point #2. Maybe employers only employ people who count: 1,2,3 instead of 1,3,4

 

[Slacker]

I am good at one thing thus far in life... sticking my foot in my mouth...(need an emoticon)

What it all comes down to is do you enjoy what you are doing?

All things provided as reasons not to do something can quickly be applied to any other job.

It is easier to find reasons not to do something but if you truly enjoy what you are doing the other stuff is just that stuff...

I do agree tho that the wisdom obtained from age is no longer respected... not that I know about age... still trying to find out what DOS is....<<<<rule out="" comedian="" as="" my="" next="" job<="" html="">(edit) rule out comedian as my next job</rule>

 

[iFargle]

I'm still searching for point #2. Maybe employers only employ people who count: 1,2,3 instead of 1,3,4

It looks like he just didn't hit enter.. It's in there on the first line

I agree with Slacker here.. It's easier to find reasons why not to do something than the reverse.

If you enjoy IT, learning new languages, frameworks, etc. is easier because you enjoy it

 

[philaman01]

Wow - get turned down for a big job or fired recently? Why so bitter?

Counterpoints:
1. You are right, it's not completely standard, but what job is? Please summarize a management position for me. What qualities make a good manager? If you are a manager at an applebees does that make you a good manager at a law firm? I think you are right, the requirements aren't standard but that is in most industries except something like a trade job (welding). Just like most professions the standard is education. If you get a 4 year bachelors that is generally the standard in the industry. IT even goes a step further with certifications.

> In IT, the standard is NOT education because on a daily basis, I see job postings specifying the following examples for educational requirements: High School diploma, Bachelor's Degree strongly preferred, and degree OR equivalent experience. Therefore, anyone from any previous background can get into IT WITHOUT formal schooling.

> In IT, certs [particularly in development tools] are meaningless because the technology and versions change so rapidly that they depreciate as soon as you've received it.

> Allow me to cite you examples of standardized professions: pharmacist, nursing, and law.

Also you are right, you are going to constantly be training on new material - again something that occurs in most industries. Micro management used to be something that was normal, but management practices have changed and will probably change again in 10 years.

3. Depends on your job, i agree helpdesk or the 'average' desktop tech isn't respected. You don't gain respect from your title - you gain it from doing good work. Respect is earned, not given.


4. Again nothing specific to IT, any job that is salaried you will only get paid for 40 hours. I will however agree that you usually work more hours in IT than you would in another field. This also has to do with the company, some companies take advantage of this and if someone works 45 hours a week - they'll put them on salary.

> I'm glad you agree.

5. I can see this point going both ways. Experience is key in IT IMO, so younger people are generally looked at as not knowing their stuff, while older people it is assumed you know what you are talking about. Although i agree, there is a certain age (say 50) that unless you've been doing the job for a long time people may discriminate and think you are too old. I agree with you here.


6. False, experience is really important, any job i've done or interviewed for the company looked at experience higher than education or certs.

> What if you have experience in a similar technology? For example, if I was an IBM DB2 programmer for 10 years and my company suddenly went out of business, why should I not get hired for a job that asks for a SQL Server 2008 programmer? The fact is that I have 10 yrs of prior experience, 10 years of writing SQL, and yet may still not get hired simply because I did not use that specific tool. So that would be like a dentist being turned down for a job because they have not used a particular drill bit.

 

[Lexluethar]

Counter Counter Points

1. Good point, I too see those types of job postings, but the job postings that are vague (IE they may require a degree but they don't care in what field) are usually entry level positions. Very rarely do you see a middle to upper level job with something vague like that. The jobs I saw require a 4 year degree in IT or at least 5 years experience.

Development tool certifications may be useless but other certifications are not. I realize with CCNA it's only valid for 2 years i believe, but the recertifications i believe are only over new material. Microsoft certifications are generally good for 5 years because that is how long certain OS / server OS's are mainstream. I think the recertification process is a good thing, i for one hate when someone gets certified in X technology then 15 years later they can still say they are certified in it. I think this was something that happen a ton in the 90's, you get someone certified in one thing and they were essentially SME in that field forever, which is silly IMO.

6. That does suck, but i think that has to do with the company. EVERY company uses a different set of tools, some companies don't use AD console for GPO, they use a 3rd party tool. A lot of companys don't use the printer server and services in server 2008 and use 3rd party tools. I'm sure its the same way in programming (was my major for 3 years in college), where you are coding lets say in Java but they use their own in house compiler. I think this is industry stands now in IT, every company uses different tools to accomplish the same task. I think you have to get with a company that understands this and will train you on their specific tool.

If you have the skill sets, experience and track record to show you know how to build SQL databases and a company passes on you because you don't use their specific tool - i wouldn't want to work for that company anyways. They are hiring staff off the wrong criteria IMO.

 

[philaman01]

Counter Counter Points

1. Good point, I too see those types of job postings, but the job postings that are vague (IE they may require a degree but they don't care in what field) are usually entry level positions. Very rarely do you see a middle to upper level job with something vague like that. The jobs I saw require a 4 year degree in IT or at least 5 years experience.

> Educational requirements - like requirements for this field in general - are all over the place. By waiving educational requirements, it's like tacitly telling a college grad who invested the time, money, and energy into obtaining a degree that he/she is a chump for doing so - when they simply could have learned the skill sets/tools on their own. No one can or should take away your education since you earned it. However, for this field formal education is not necessary.

Development tool certifications may be useless but other certifications are not. I realize with CCNA it's only valid for 2 years i believe, but the recertifications i believe are only over new material. Microsoft certifications are generally good for 5 years because that is how long certain OS / server OS's are mainstream. I think the recertification process is a good thing, i for one hate when someone gets certified in X technology then 15 years later they can still say they are certified in it. I think this was something that happen a ton in the 90's, you get someone certified in one thing and they were essentially SME in that field forever, which is silly IMO.

> Certs are a money-making scheme designed by vendors; capitalism at its best.

6. That does suck, but i think that has to do with the company. EVERY company uses a different set of tools, some companies don't use AD console for GPO, they use a 3rd party tool. A lot of companys don't use the printer server and services in server 2008 and use 3rd party tools. I'm sure its the same way in programming (was my major for 3 years in college), where you are coding lets say in Java but they use their own in house compiler. I think this is industry stands now in IT, every company uses different tools to accomplish the same task. I think you have to get with a company that understands this and will train you on their specific tool.

> All of these job postings with arbitrary skill sets, versions, and tools have given rise to resume fabrication. Now, companies want applicants to have the specific industry experience, tool(s), version of the tool, specific usage of the tool to mirror their exact business needs, and a bunch of other things that vary from one company to the next. The sad part is that companies WILL NOT train you; they simply expect an individual to send them a resume which has every random thing they are seeking based on the job posting. I have to hand-craft ever resume before sending it out.

> True professions such as law, medicine, nursing are not like this. I've seen job postings requiring that the applicant speaks fluent Japanese (for sys admin). When you have an unstandardized field like this with Frankenstein-like requirements from one job to the next, this is the ridiculous result. What it really boils down to is disrespect to the job applicant

> Does a job post for a carpenter specifically ask if they have experience using Craftsman, Black and Decker, Wescott, or Disston tools? No. Your experience is valued. If you can build a house using Craftsman, you can build it using Black and Decker just the same.

If you have the skill sets, experience and track record to show you know how to build SQL databases and a company passes on you because you don't use their specific tool - i wouldn't want to work for that company anyways. They are hiring staff off the wrong criteria IMO.

 

[tj_extreme]

IT isn't a consistent field in a sense. But in some ways, it is. Most every company out there will look for 2 things: Education and Experience. I got the job I have based more off of the latter. See, I worked my way through the first half of my college, as a tech/installer at the local cable company. I've been A+ certified since high school. They took one look at my experience, and hired me. BUT, computers aren't my only "area of expertise", and I KNOW that is another reason they hired me. It seems like anymore I'm doing a lot of traveling and interpretation. So, if you want to be successful in the IT field, make sure you have another (relevant) skill.