subject: 10 Things You Should Know Before Working in IT [print this page] 10 Things You Should Know Before Working in IT
10 Things You Should Know Before Working in IT
Considering a job in IT? We've covered some of the reasons that perhaps you shouldn't and what could be done about them. But there are plenty of good reasons to consider a career in IT. For example:quality batteriesgood pay, better than average job prospects and the chance to work with cutting edge technology. However, there are a few things you should know before you get into the industry. ZDNet's Jason Hiner has compiled a list of 10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT.
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Please note that Hiner's advice is for people like network administrators, IT managers, and desktop support professionals - not programmers and developers.
The pay in IT is good compared to many other professions, but since they pay you well, they often think they own you
It will be your fault when users make silly errors
You will go from goat to hero and back again multiple times within any given day
Certifications won't always help you become a better technologist, but they can help you land a better job or a pay raise
Your nontechnical co-workers will use you as personal tech support for their home PCs
Vendors and consultants will take all the credit when things work well and will blame you when things go wrong
You'll spend far more time babysitting old technologies than implementing new ones
Veteran IT professionals are often the biggest roadblock to implementing new technologies
Some IT professionals deploy technologies that do more to consolidate their own power than to help the business
IT pros frequently use jargon to confuse nontechnical business managers and hide the fact that they screwed up
These about right, and you can read more about each "secret" in the original article. There are two things I'd add:
Even though you'll hear a lot about how there are "so many" IT jobs, you and your colleagues will often have trouble finding jobs. Why? Because most of those positions will demand very specific skill sets that are hard to acquire without direct experience
Even though the pay looks good, laptop battery many IT jobs are temporary contracts with no benefits. And you may go months at a time without working (see above).
