Anyone else sick of IT Career?

run_Forrest_run

Hi Folks,
Perhaps I am a little bitter after being in the IT industry for 6 years but is anyone else just sick of the way the IT industry is?? I love programming but I am becoming more and more fed up with the overall IT business! Any programmer will tell you they love programming but hate the peripheral issues like meetings, last minute change requests etc..maybe I just got out of the wrong side of the bed today (or for the past year!)...does anyone else share these feelings?? Maybe time for a career change but not qualified to do anything else!

rsynnott

You could become a contractor...

run_Forrest_run

agreed but I don't want to venture too far from where I currently am..anyway contractors are often hired to be the fall guy for an ailing project....my first IT job was with a consulting firm...they would sell your soul for a few bob!

ah, sure I suppose most jobs have their knockers...that's why they are jobs..no one likes em! Now to win the next euro millions....hmmm.

Evil Phil

run_Forrest_run wrote:

agreed but I don't want to venture too far from where I currently am..anyway contractors are often hired to be the fall guy for an ailing project....my first IT job was with a consulting firm...they would sell your soul for a few bob!

ah, sure I suppose most jobs have their knockers...that's why they are jobs..no one likes em! Now to win the next euro millions....hmmm.

I disagree, in my experience contractors or a convient way of getting extra hands on board without the commitments or expense of fulltime staff. Sometimes contractors may be brought in for an ailing project in a consultancy role but this is to save the project rather than have a fall guy.

By the by, yes I do get fed up sometimes, usually in a 2 or 3 weeks window over go-live but it goes away again

cornbb

IT sucks. I finished my degree a year ago and no sign of a job. If i did get an IT job, i suspect I wouldn't want to hang onto it. Going back to college in sept to do something completely different

run_Forrest_run

at least I am not the only one gettin fed up! yeah,nothing wosrse than week before release and feckin user support/reqs come at ya with a last minute change request....I suppose they are not to blame...it's project management for letting it go ahead who should be shot...in my experience anyway!!

run_Forrest_run

cornbb wrote:

IT sucks. I finished my degree a year ago and no sign of a job. If i did get an IT job, i suspect I wouldn't want to hang onto it. Going back to college in sept to do something completely different

well fair dues to ya for copping it so quick! It took me about 4.5 years to realise it sucks! But at least I can say I never entered the IT industry for the money..I have a great interest in computers anyway....just the business/management side of things that gets me so mad!!

GoneShootin

Welp Ive just secured a nice full time position as a Web/Soft Dev type person in Midleton. Its been a year since my Degree, and I couldnt get a smell of an interview back then. So, I went back and went at my Masters. Feb 05 I got a part time IT Admin/Web Dev job, so I could still do the fulltime masters and work partime. Now that the masters is finished (more or less) I went looking for a full time position. It took about 3 months of hard cold calling and chasing people up, but I a new job, and 3 interviews this week alone.

Emailing recruitment angencies via recruitireland/irishjobs wont really help. I use those sites to get a list of end employers and then call them directly.

There are plenty of graduate positions in the country, mostly in Dublin. I could have had a job last year no problem, but I would not move to Dublin permenanty. EVER

IT is great. You get free broadban at work to download Invader Zim!

Merrion

IT is a good avenue for those that want to be "entrepreneurs". It probably won't make you a millionaire (there just aren't any really big markets unfulfilled) but if you find a niche you can probably make a living at it. Best of all you don't have to carry feckless middle management around with you ;-)

run_Forrest_run

You said it Merrion! Feckless middle management!

Took a look at your gallery...some great pics...nice one. Do you use a Digital SLR?

Hobbes

There are two skill sets to work on.

1) Technical.

2) Personal.

A lot of developers have no problems with #1 and its why they get into the business. #2 however tends to give a lot of grief. If you spend time training on this it can help a lot with the other crap that you have to put up with.

run_Forrest_run

Hobbes wrote:

There are two skill sets to work on.

1) Technical.

2) Personal.

A lot of developers have no problems with #1 and its why they get into the business. #2 however tends to give a lot of grief. If you spend time training on this it can help a lot with the other crap that you have to put up with.

totally agree. I know plenty of developers who are great at 1 but awful at 2 and hence end up writing millions of lines of code but are never really promoted or consulted on design/usability issues. It's just that no matter how much personal ability one has it seems very difficult to handle constant chopping and changing of requirements/demands from management (without changing the deadlines of course!).

wes

Jeebus, threads like this are disheartening to someone like myself who has just graduated. Damn you all !!!

run_Forrest_run

Sorry Wes! Don't fret...you may love IT all! Maybe I am just tired of it...you may write some killer app and will be forever famous for it and they will throw loads of money at you just for coming into work every so often...who knows!

wes

By no mean did i go into IT expecting to be rich, lol. I just want to make a decent living of it. If I wanted to be rich I would be better off being an entrepreneur, more risk but all the rewards.

roamer

I think its important to remember that there are alot of other jobs in IT than just programming...

Systems Admin
Network Engineers etc.

run_Forrest_run

absolutely...I'd say programming only makes up about 10% of IT. loads of stuff in customer requirements, architecture, tech writing, test, platform, deployment, support etc etc..and not to forget management!

wes

roamer wrote:

I think its important to remember that there are alot of other jobs in IT than just programming...

Systems Admin
Network Engineers etc.

Good point, there is quite a variety out there.

Einstein

I too am in IT and have learnt to absolute detest it!!
7 years and counting, I'm not a programmer though, I'm more of a support person...likes of network Admin, network support etc.
I'm glad to say though that the only wa out is to do something about it. I'm opening a newsagents and also building a recording studio! I'll be outta this place by Xmas!!

So my advice is to find something you really love and go for it! I can always to back to IT if the other stuff doesn't work out!

wes

Don't know about the rest of you, but i do like IT quite a bit. I was probably one of the few people in my class who liked what they were doing. So all I want out of an career in IT is to make a decent living out of it. I don't expect to be making Bill Gates (or even Steve Jobs) money.

incisor71

Divers wrote:

So my advice is to find something you really love and go for it! I can always to back to IT if the other stuff doesn't work out!

After 5 years in, a few years out of, and the previous six months back in IT - specifically, telecoms software development - I know for absolute certain that this is not the career for me. Same goes for my experience of PC administration/support . My dearth of people/management skills (unfortunately nobody on here so far has cited ways of improving those skills) also keeps me trapped on the same rung of the ladder. It's starting to get shiny from the number of times the soles of my shoes have scraped against it.

The thing is, I don't think I can bear to give up the modest paycheque that saves me from having to return (yet again) to relative poverty, not to mention dependency on poxy Irish public transport!!

So I just shut my mouth and do my best to feel grateful for having a job. But don't get me wrong, I'm not telling anyone else to shut their mouths.

is_that_so

Was out one night with IT class and this question came up - what would your ideal job be?

Not one of them - 15 people working in IT and on an IT course would. This included the class nerd.
IT pays the bills. Some bits of it are very interesting but in the main a lot of IT people don't do anything that gives job satisfaction.

I am now self-employed and still doing IT but on my terms. :rolleyes:

My suggestion to anyone who hates it is to figure out exactly what you want to do and ditch the IT. It may pay well in some cases but that's not always what life is about.

lukin

GoneShootin wrote:

Welp Ive just secured a nice full time position as a Web/Soft Dev type person in Midleton. Its been a year since my Degree, and I couldnt get a smell of an interview back then. So, I went back and went at my Masters. Feb 05 I got a part time IT Admin/Web Dev job, so I could still do the fulltime masters and work partime. Now that the masters is finished (more or less) I went looking for a full time position. It took about 3 months of hard cold calling and chasing people up, but I a new job, and 3 interviews this week alone.

Emailing recruitment angencies via recruitireland/irishjobs wont really help. I use those sites to get a list of end employers and then call them directly.

There are plenty of graduate positions in the country, mostly in Dublin. I could have had a job last year no problem, but I would not move to Dublin permenanty. EVER

IT is great. You get free broadban at work to download Invader Zim!

Jeez that sounds like a handy number alright. Do you mind me asking where you work? If you don't want everyone to know you can pm me.

RicardoSmith

Have to admit I'm a bit jaded of IT. I have good days when I'm fired up, and other days where I want to pack it in and do something that doesn't involve a computer. You never stop needing to learn something, and to be honest it gets a bit much after a few years. It helps if you are working on a project that you are fired up on. But contracting is a bit soul destroying. You don't really care about the product. You are professional yes, but thats all. Its hard to walk away from a project you've spend a long time with. Once you've done that a few times you become detached from the work.

I actually like all the people and management side of things. I think after a certain point its the only way to progress your career in IT. I enjoyed contracting as a business analyst, but am back more on the development side of things, and no longer contracting. I kinda like to try something completely different now. IT for me is a safety net. I used to be big into it, but not anymore. I think IT is a lot harder with less returns than it used to be. The money still ok though, once you have some experience.

Gegerty

I think the future looks bright in the IT industry. At the moment there are still management types lingering around who only got into IT to make money in the boom. These types seem to be disappearing, there's not so much money invested in IT companies these days so whats the point? What we're seeing is like a natural forest fire, it sucks but in the long run its actually good for the forest. Once the IT industry starts regenerating and all the pseudo techies and fat cat money makers are gone we'll have control of our own industry again. Things are looking good on the technology side too and personally I think the future lies in portable devices which IMO is going to be an interesting industry to be in.....assuming I last!

bonkey

I couldn't help but smile as I read this thread. Most of the people who are fed up are fed up not with IT, but with the mismanagement of it.

Me...I just moved into middle management. Why did I do that? Because it was offered to me, and I'm fed up of the mismanagement too. So I'm gonna try and do it right....or at least better.

TBH, I don't think any job is exempt from moronic management. The Peter Principle virtually guarantees that you will have to work for incompetent idiots at some point, no matter what industry you're in. The trick is to learn how to deal with them

Reading some of the "best of breed" writing out there (Rapid Software Development, The Mythical Man Month, Peopleware, etc.) is, I have found, a great way to start dealing with these issues. Rather than just being p1ssed off at them, it gives solid grounds to fight for change...and often how to go about same.

Up until recently, I hated dealing with customers. They were nothing but a pain who got in the way of development. Now, they're central to development, because the entire purpose of said development is to keep the customer satisfied. Hopefully making a profit and not losing/killing any developers along the way....these are additional objectives which one would like to meet, but face it guys...unless you work for an actual shrink-wrapped product-development house....you work in a service industry. Your job is to supply a service to those who want it. If you have a problem dealing with the people that your job exists to serve....then I'd suggest you either neet a LART or a new profession.

jc

GoneShootin

lukin wrote:

Jeez that sounds like a handy number alright. Do you mind me asking where you work? If you don't want everyone to know you can pm me.

Well I currently work at Kinetics Process Consulting Ltd. And they will be looking for someone to fill my shoes now that I am leaving for pastures greener. If your in the Cork area PM me and I can forward your details. Dont be expecting big bucks, it was something to keep me going.

Heading to Epic Solutions in Midleton. WoooHoo!

lukin

GoneShootin wrote:

Well I currently work at Kinetics Process Consulting Ltd. And they will be looking for someone to fill my shoes now that I am leaving for pastures greener. If your in the Cork area PM me and I can forward your details. Dont be expecting big bucks, it was something to keep me going.

Heading to Epic Solutions in Midleton. WoooHoo!

Heh-heh, I definiteley don't expect big bucks without any experience on my CV. I only asked 'cause I'll be looking for 6 months work experience next Feb./March so I'm collecting as many companies' names as I can for then. Thanks for the info, I might apply to them, never know my luck.

secret_squirrel

Must admin Im rather jaded with IT at the mo. Spend far too much time with mindless bureacracy just trying to get the simplest things done. Incredibly frustrating when other sections of your own department are the biggest bar to getting things done.

Constant threat of being outsourced, Senior and middle management incompetance - they seem to think anyone can manage IT - when it takes specialised skills imo. Deliberatly persuing mediocre strategies, making us under perform to strengthen the case for outsourcing. Have same amount work and same bullshít procedures as when we had 50% more people.

No-one is interested in supporting the business - just following outdated procedures that are no longer relevant.

Love delivering for my customers - shame I spend most of my time beating my head against a brick wall. Also have to listen about how other it sections have let them down.

Stuck in lower management watching techical skills and marketabilty decline. Only plus sign is Im earning pots of cash - but not enjoying it. Dont have the cynism and doublestandards needed for Senior Management. Have no tolerance for their Bullshít.

New head of IT is talking about outsourcing Application Development whilst keeping commodity services like desktop/and sys admin work. Stuff that IBM etc could do in their sleep.

Spent 3 weeks ago actually doing some technical work. 12 hour days to get something done for my users - actually heaven!

Dimitri

Well this isn't very hopefull! I'm repeating my first year exams for comp sci in cork, is it really that bad? what area's are the best for avoiding the (many) problems encountered above?

Evil Phil

Nah its not that bad really and I don't know what else I'd do. Like I said before its really only go live (I'm a developer) when the stress gets to me. The rest of the time its quite good. If you do your work and stay busy instead of browsing the web all day then the stress levels stay low.

You don't end up working for the bonkey fellah though