If you work in IT/CS/IS, do you like it?

After reading another thread , I got the impression there are people that work in IT that really HATE it.

What are your feelings?

 

I think that other thread is so surreal. I've worked in the field for 20+ years and there is nothing else I would every want to do. At 43 years of age, I will be finishing my BSCS this summer and from there I'm going to start work on an MSCS. I'm a Software Engineer who is currently employed by Best Software (the US division of Sage Group which is based in England.) I am currently working on stuff that is tremendously exciting while at the same time I make more money than I would have ever thought possible. I believe the hype on outsourcing is just that -- hype. Our company outsources various projects; however, we have never had good results based on the quality of software produced in India. As a result, we usually only take chances with outsourcing conversion projects or other grunt work type tasks.

 

I worked a help desk job for a year and 2 months troubleshooting DSL. I think it was a lot more interesting than the program manager job i had worked before.

My current job as help desk for roaming cellular customers is also interesting and engaging. I worked Customer service before in a call center and it just becomes a grind of the same thing over and over.

one thing you need to get used to in IT is always moving forward with skills and experience. Always looking for that next job with more pay once you acquired the skillset needed to move on from your current job or tier. That is the biggest different I have seen in IT. you really need to be short sited with your positions for the first 4 or 5 years. Once you get a more specialized skillset and exp. then you can look at more settling down in a company.

I love IT, If it did not pay much I would do it, because it is interesting and fun. Screw the money! If I felt carpentry, plumbing or electrition work were very fun and interesting that is what I would be doing. You have to have a passion for your field or you will not be one of the successful ones.

Ex. When i worked help desk for DSL, there were many people who were there for 5 years who never tried to move up with the company and had never picked up one book to study for a computer cert or take one cs class at the local community college. They had no passion to learn how an assember works or how a nortel switch communicates over the SS7 network. they just do not care because they were set in their ways and were comfortable doing what they already knew. When the company laid everyone off and built a new 2000 seat call center in the philipines, A lot of those guys got out of IT and went on to the next job they could get comfortable in. I had upgraded my skillset through being a volunteer PC repair technitian for a non proffit organization, joining 2 local computer clubs, studying for certs, and going to school for IT subjects. With this I had 3 or 4 solid interviews setup 2 months before the layoff dead line, all in IT. I decided to go with the route that paid 100% for school and here I Am today. Constantly upgrading my skill set, finishing school, and getting ready to move on to another job that will pay me for my upgraded skillset.

IT is unique and fun. I find the constant knowlege seeking that you have to do enlightening and fun.

 

I responded "It is just a job".

I've been a techie for 9+ years and am getting a little burned out. I'd rather do something that is part technical but mostly analysis/P.M. type work, and that's what I'm looking for now.

The hardcore techies are born, and would never take a management position if you doubled their salary. That's fine, and I respect it, but it's not me. I don't hate it, but if I could make the same money by driving an 18 wheeler I'd do it.

 

Since I was the first person to advise Cap against a career in IT, I think I should explain myself a little bit more here.

I *love* IT. I really enjoy my job, its duties, my co-workers, and at my level (department head), IT is a good place to be. But for all that, I can't in good conscience recommend IT as a career for someone who is just starting out. The field is too crowded at the bottom end, with salaries being driven down by an oversupply of talent, and it's only getting more crowded as "schools" like ECPI continue advrtising IT training as the surefire ticket to a hot job. (I've ranted about IT training advertising in another thread, however)

Then there's the outsourcing issue - if you're a developer, phone support tech, or anyone else whose job doesn't depend on being under a customer's desk doing actual repair work, then you have the Sword of Damocles hanging over your Aeron chair. The quality of work turned out by the outsourcing firms may be at issue, but they are definitely a disruptive force on the industry, and people who think the tide is going to turn against outsourcing are unfortunately quite mistaken. Read Clayton Christenson's book "The Innovator's Dilemma" to understand why cheap Indian/Asian labor will eat the US software development market from the bottom up. (I know Christenson focuses on technological disruption, but cost disruption can have as great an impact.)

So to sum up: The work is fun and interesting, but job security is shrinking, competition is high, and the pay just ain't what it used to be. If you're looking to change careers to IT, you had better love the field and not be doing it just for the money. If you want to do something for the money, go into investment banking. The hours suck, but first-year associates can make $125K+, quickly rising to $200K+ with experience.

 

I'm a former programmer(dot.coms). The reason I got out was that although the pay was often good, I would always get stuck in a cubicle in a basement or something. For the level of expertise involved, the respect of it just wasn't there. We were like assembly line workers.
You really have to love it.

 

my 2 cents !!
hving worked for nearly 12 years in IT, I can say I love it.. BUT.. it is a VERY stressful field !! and people who have worked in the field can understand that.... I am now moving from a programming to more analysis stuff ( just got admitted to MSIT at UMUC)... and would want to work in IT till I can...

 

10+ years in IT, love it.

 

Get paid to talk about IT and get e-mails from ex-students about their new jobs - what is there not to like about it?

 

I have spent best days(10yrs) of my life in IT and love it atleast till now.