Potentially the longest thread in history...
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Doesn't annoy me. It's much easier for me to identify safe/unsafe temps for electronics in Celsius vs Fahrenheit, as that's how I've always done it. Then when talking about temps about other things or in general, I use Fahrenheit. All the temps on my PC / even my phone read out in Celsius unless its talking about the weather
.I sure hope so...
PP Mguire
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It's Merica, doubtful.
hikaricloud
Golden Master
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Re: Today I have...
I was unemployed for 7 months, and had applied to well over 100 jobs. It's not like I got a job super easy. Get a good suit, learn some decent interview technique, and apply to every IT job possible and attend all interviews with a mindset to really impress and you will get a job too. It just so happens I got lucky with this job. I could of done one thing wrong in the entire process which would of removed me from the equation, and I could of applied for 100 more jobs after it to get another interview and be unemployed for another 6 months. It just depends.
I still think you would find you don't know as much as you think you do. I had a very similar mindset when looking for IT jobs, that it would be easy because it was my hobby. But it isn't really like that. There is so much to learn. I am working with some really awesome and skilled IT Engineers that have been their for years on end and several times a day they have to open up books, or hit up Google to find out how to do stuff. It's not because they don't know what they are doing it's just when your in such a huge complicated IT environment with literally thousands of variables, new things always crop up that you don't know how to fix.
If I don't know something I don't just do nothing about it, though. I take a pen and paper with me everywhere and write down what the more qualified IT Engineers are doing so when the problem comes up again that is how you fix it. E.g. today there was a woman on the phone saying her computer had locked up, I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I asked the more senior IT Engineer and they said they are having problems at the moment with the Thunderbird email client freezing the computer if someone tries to open a mail with too many PDF attachments. So I wrote that down and remembered it, so now I know.
I'm not saying you don't know a lot about IT, as like most people on here you obviously do. But as Puddle and CarnageX said there is always way more to learn than you think. The hardware side of things which most computer enthusiasts know like us all here probably comprises about 5% of the knowledge needed for my job. I thought it would be more like 90% when I started, but it becomes apparent very quickly that is not the case.
I was unemployed for 7 months, and had applied to well over 100 jobs. It's not like I got a job super easy. Get a good suit, learn some decent interview technique, and apply to every IT job possible and attend all interviews with a mindset to really impress and you will get a job too. It just so happens I got lucky with this job. I could of done one thing wrong in the entire process which would of removed me from the equation, and I could of applied for 100 more jobs after it to get another interview and be unemployed for another 6 months. It just depends.
I still think you would find you don't know as much as you think you do. I had a very similar mindset when looking for IT jobs, that it would be easy because it was my hobby. But it isn't really like that. There is so much to learn. I am working with some really awesome and skilled IT Engineers that have been their for years on end and several times a day they have to open up books, or hit up Google to find out how to do stuff. It's not because they don't know what they are doing it's just when your in such a huge complicated IT environment with literally thousands of variables, new things always crop up that you don't know how to fix.
If I don't know something I don't just do nothing about it, though. I take a pen and paper with me everywhere and write down what the more qualified IT Engineers are doing so when the problem comes up again that is how you fix it. E.g. today there was a woman on the phone saying her computer had locked up, I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I asked the more senior IT Engineer and they said they are having problems at the moment with the Thunderbird email client freezing the computer if someone tries to open a mail with too many PDF attachments. So I wrote that down and remembered it, so now I know.
I'm not saying you don't know a lot about IT, as like most people on here you obviously do. But as Puddle and CarnageX said there is always way more to learn than you think. The hardware side of things which most computer enthusiasts know like us all here probably comprises about 5% of the knowledge needed for my job. I thought it would be more like 90% when I started, but it becomes apparent very quickly that is not the case.
I'm not sure if you are aware but the world doesn't revolve around america.
I prefer Celcius purely because it makes more sense. 0 is freezing. 100 is boiling.
PP Mguire
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Eh, it pretty much does since Merica slings its dong around everywhere. Demonoid was taken down in the Ukraine because of Merica.
Merica is on Mars. Merica.
PP Mguire
Build Guru
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Re: Today I have...
I know there are tons more I could learn, but the thing is I have watched and got hands on experience in a TON of things simply being with my dad. That is more than you can say sadly, because hands on is what people want. The only difference being, it wasn't "on the job" so it doesn't count as true "experience". The multitude of things he taught include but are not limited to:
Electronics/fine electronics
Electric wiring house and electronics, electrician type stuff
Cable and phone
Satellite technology large and small scale
He began my computer addiction by teaching me the fundamentals from a young age including command
Beginners networking
****, almost anything electronic that man touched he understood down to the details. I have taken a few things one step further by applying myself to the applications like, computers, hardware and software. Networking I learned and dug into seriously because of large LANs we used to host at my friends house. Sat, phone, and cable I got hands on experience from working with DirecTV. There is more to understand than one would think. Simply putting a dish up is not the case. You have to understand how the systems work, how to tap in or work around other systems, and learn the frequency of which each company runs at. That isn't even all, I have a huge book of things I had to learn to work for them. I'm even still certified until the end of this year.
On top of that, I have actually worked IT already doing almost everything you have mentioned besides company specific things. Only difference is I wasn't hired on full or part, just free lance. I get a phone call, go fix **** or setup something, and I'm done until they need me again.
Trust me, I have been applying at many many IT things since I was 18. The only nibble I got was Best Buy and Geek Squad. I had 2 interviews and the supervisor for Geek Squad was afraid I might take his job so he talked to the higher up manager and canceled my 3rd interview (I have confirmed this by 4 employees working there). I always look appropriate for the occasion, I have had many people in the industry look over my resume and cover letters and they come out clean, I have taken 2 classes on good interviewing, yet still nothing. Reason being, I don't have anything showing I can do this, because people over here want paper, proof. Any idiot can go and flake by and get some degree, I've seen it and witness it every day. People just don't hire the guys who really know what they are doing.
I also think that is a mistake most people assume about me. I don't know "just computers". Sure, I know quite a bit about hardware, stay up to date with current tech in almost all areas, and can overclock like a mad mother ****er. Thing is, that isn't all I know by a long shot. It's just what I participate in here because it is my hobby.
I know there are tons more I could learn, but the thing is I have watched and got hands on experience in a TON of things simply being with my dad. That is more than you can say sadly, because hands on is what people want. The only difference being, it wasn't "on the job" so it doesn't count as true "experience". The multitude of things he taught include but are not limited to:
Electronics/fine electronics
Electric wiring house and electronics, electrician type stuff
Cable and phone
Satellite technology large and small scale
He began my computer addiction by teaching me the fundamentals from a young age including command
Beginners networking
****, almost anything electronic that man touched he understood down to the details. I have taken a few things one step further by applying myself to the applications like, computers, hardware and software. Networking I learned and dug into seriously because of large LANs we used to host at my friends house. Sat, phone, and cable I got hands on experience from working with DirecTV. There is more to understand than one would think. Simply putting a dish up is not the case. You have to understand how the systems work, how to tap in or work around other systems, and learn the frequency of which each company runs at. That isn't even all, I have a huge book of things I had to learn to work for them. I'm even still certified until the end of this year.
On top of that, I have actually worked IT already doing almost everything you have mentioned besides company specific things. Only difference is I wasn't hired on full or part, just free lance. I get a phone call, go fix **** or setup something, and I'm done until they need me again.
Trust me, I have been applying at many many IT things since I was 18. The only nibble I got was Best Buy and Geek Squad. I had 2 interviews and the supervisor for Geek Squad was afraid I might take his job so he talked to the higher up manager and canceled my 3rd interview (I have confirmed this by 4 employees working there). I always look appropriate for the occasion, I have had many people in the industry look over my resume and cover letters and they come out clean, I have taken 2 classes on good interviewing, yet still nothing. Reason being, I don't have anything showing I can do this, because people over here want paper, proof. Any idiot can go and flake by and get some degree, I've seen it and witness it every day. People just don't hire the guys who really know what they are doing.
I also think that is a mistake most people assume about me. I don't know "just computers". Sure, I know quite a bit about hardware, stay up to date with current tech in almost all areas, and can overclock like a mad mother ****er. Thing is, that isn't all I know by a long shot. It's just what I participate in here because it is my hobby.
Puddle Jumper
Mod Emeritus
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Re: Today I have...
Like Kman said it's easily to feel like you know everything there is to know about I.T. before you actually have to do it professionally. I felt that way before I started my current job yet even after being here for a couple of years I still run across issues I have never seen before.
Desktop/Laptop hardware is really one of the least important sides of support in many places, software and networking are what are really take up most of your time. Both of those aren't to bad on a small scale like you would find in a home or small business but can be a total pain when scaled up.
All of the companies I have interviewed with have done technical interviews so they do know if the people applying really know their stuff or not. That said a degree isn't about showing what you already know so much as it is showing that you can actually learn stuff in a given field.
Also freelance work at least gives you something to put on a resume and show the type of work you have successfully completed.
Like Kman said it's easily to feel like you know everything there is to know about I.T. before you actually have to do it professionally. I felt that way before I started my current job yet even after being here for a couple of years I still run across issues I have never seen before.
Desktop/Laptop hardware is really one of the least important sides of support in many places, software and networking are what are really take up most of your time. Both of those aren't to bad on a small scale like you would find in a home or small business but can be a total pain when scaled up.
All of the companies I have interviewed with have done technical interviews so they do know if the people applying really know their stuff or not. That said a degree isn't about showing what you already know so much as it is showing that you can actually learn stuff in a given field.
Also freelance work at least gives you something to put on a resume and show the type of work you have successfully completed.
Re: Today I have...
Another big thing in IT isn't just knowledge of hw/sw/etc... It's people skills. You could have all the knowledge in the world...but if your people skills suck, then they won't want to hire you. You may get the job done, but people will be hesitant to call in IT when things act up, try to fix it themselves, and **** of IT even more because of that.
That was one of the big things I was interviewed about with my current student position.
Another big thing in IT isn't just knowledge of hw/sw/etc... It's people skills. You could have all the knowledge in the world...but if your people skills suck, then they won't want to hire you. You may get the job done, but people will be hesitant to call in IT when things act up, try to fix it themselves, and **** of IT even more because of that.
That was one of the big things I was interviewed about with my current student position.
