Working in the IT industry
Discussion
Quick question for those who work in the IT industry: do you enjoy it, 10yrs+ in etc?
I'm a web developer/IT engineer, just about to hit 20 and I'm bored of it already. I earned great money having my own advertising network (which I'll do again soon). But a lot of people I know who are years in IT don't enjoy it anymore - or they tell me there's no money in it.
What do you guys think? Is it worth sticking out? I always wanted to hit the IT manager role and aim for 50k+ by my mid 30's, I can make a lot from coding/programming but I truly try to avoid it, it was fun at first; not so much anymore.
I'm a web developer/IT engineer, just about to hit 20 and I'm bored of it already. I earned great money having my own advertising network (which I'll do again soon). But a lot of people I know who are years in IT don't enjoy it anymore - or they tell me there's no money in it.
What do you guys think? Is it worth sticking out? I always wanted to hit the IT manager role and aim for 50k+ by my mid 30's, I can make a lot from coding/programming but I truly try to avoid it, it was fun at first; not so much anymore.
Yea I like it, but then I like hacking around with things, find the technology interesting, enjoy the security challenges, like creating stuff. Have also changed roles every few years which helps keep it interesting and move on when I find a role or company gets boring.
IMO it's not an industry you learn for a couple of years then get a job-for-life, those days are long gone and those kind of jobs are all either automated or offshored. If you're interested, willing to keep learning, work hard and taking opportunities then there is plenty of money to be made, a jobserve search for all roles at £65/hr+ or £75k/yr+ shows 250 adverts within 50 miles of me.
IMO it's not an industry you learn for a couple of years then get a job-for-life, those days are long gone and those kind of jobs are all either automated or offshored. If you're interested, willing to keep learning, work hard and taking opportunities then there is plenty of money to be made, a jobserve search for all roles at £65/hr+ or £75k/yr+ shows 250 adverts within 50 miles of me.
Does the fact that the tech you know today will be obsolete in under five years (a) excite you or (b) make you fearful ?
I wouldn't be here 36 years later if the answer wasn't (a). In my case it's been software product development at different levels, database designer to CTO, and back again more than once, all around the world
Of course there are ups and downs and once or twice I've stayed too long and felt my skills going stale, but there is so much going on in the software industry it's exhilarating
I wouldn't be here 36 years later if the answer wasn't (a). In my case it's been software product development at different levels, database designer to CTO, and back again more than once, all around the world
Of course there are ups and downs and once or twice I've stayed too long and felt my skills going stale, but there is so much going on in the software industry it's exhilarating
IT keeps re-inventing itself. I've been in and around IT for 13 years nearly (with 7 years in commercial roles in the middle) and there are new an exciting things every day. I don't do programming but the projects/teams I've led are all different. The reliance on IT to make the business work is important.
Personally, it's helped me visit 40 countries, live in 2 and make more business impact than I ever could have imagined. Boring... sometimes, just like every other profession. important... for sure
The trick is to keep moving with the times, take opportunities and be an expert... but not too much as you are pigeonholed.
Personally, it's helped me visit 40 countries, live in 2 and make more business impact than I ever could have imagined. Boring... sometimes, just like every other profession. important... for sure
The trick is to keep moving with the times, take opportunities and be an expert... but not too much as you are pigeonholed.
I Get where the OP is coming from, currently feeling very unsatisfied / unrewarded where i am as a company / job, even though to many my current employer is supposed to be a fantastic one, but the actual role and the projects are just dull.
Seems that there is less spend, less big projects, less new and cool stuff to do. Where you get large companies they have sliced and diced projects down int such small component teams and elements due to risk aversion that there is nothing juicy to sing your teeth into.
Hopefully the guys i am talking to for my next role are going to be a bit better, big projects run by a small project management team, so able to see and get involved in a whole project.
Definitely IT as it was when i fell into the industry in the mid 90's has left the station with less and less roles for "general technologists" and all focused on very narrow specific skillsets.
Ohh well, 10 more years in it i guess, then i will leave it to China and India.
Seems that there is less spend, less big projects, less new and cool stuff to do. Where you get large companies they have sliced and diced projects down int such small component teams and elements due to risk aversion that there is nothing juicy to sing your teeth into.
Hopefully the guys i am talking to for my next role are going to be a bit better, big projects run by a small project management team, so able to see and get involved in a whole project.
Definitely IT as it was when i fell into the industry in the mid 90's has left the station with less and less roles for "general technologists" and all focused on very narrow specific skillsets.
Ohh well, 10 more years in it i guess, then i will leave it to China and India.
Been doing it for 10 years now - onto my 5th role since graduation (although my last role resulted in redundancy!).
Do I enjoy it? Difficult one. It has its pros and cons - I've never been a fan of a Sunday evening, but overall it's not a bad way to make a living and the money / benefits can be excellent if you get into the right gig.
Would I do it again if I was starting off? Probably.
Do I enjoy it? Difficult one. It has its pros and cons - I've never been a fan of a Sunday evening, but overall it's not a bad way to make a living and the money / benefits can be excellent if you get into the right gig.
Would I do it again if I was starting off? Probably.
I don't enjoy it but it's a job and one that pays better than a lot of people who don't enjoy their jobs.
After uni I became a software developer. After a while I made senior developer but got really bored of coding. I went into management and much prefered the people side of the job over the IT side. Now I'm being pushed into a business analyst role. I travel a bit which is also a pain now. I've lost interest in IT but I have a really short commute, work good hours, rarely stay past 4:30pm and get paid a pretty decent salary. As much as I'd rather stay in bed than rock up to work and play "IT", I'm also aware there's many people out there who are in a much worse position. I know guys a lot older than me earning less than half what I do to do a really boring and unskilled job. I really feel for some of these guys, especially the ones who still manage to smile and joke there way through the day.
So to answer the OP, no I don't live and breath IT and haven't for a long time. I guess I've been lucky that my role has changed and allowed me to do a lot of training outside of IT (lean 6 sigma, project management, people management, etc.) I think I'd be in the mad house if after almost 20 years, I was still just coding.
After uni I became a software developer. After a while I made senior developer but got really bored of coding. I went into management and much prefered the people side of the job over the IT side. Now I'm being pushed into a business analyst role. I travel a bit which is also a pain now. I've lost interest in IT but I have a really short commute, work good hours, rarely stay past 4:30pm and get paid a pretty decent salary. As much as I'd rather stay in bed than rock up to work and play "IT", I'm also aware there's many people out there who are in a much worse position. I know guys a lot older than me earning less than half what I do to do a really boring and unskilled job. I really feel for some of these guys, especially the ones who still manage to smile and joke there way through the day.
So to answer the OP, no I don't live and breath IT and haven't for a long time. I guess I've been lucky that my role has changed and allowed me to do a lot of training outside of IT (lean 6 sigma, project management, people management, etc.) I think I'd be in the mad house if after almost 20 years, I was still just coding.
20+ years here. My hobby became my job. It stayed my hobby until only reasonably recently, and computing still is a form of relaxation for me (you know, some people paint, play guitar, etc).
Do I want to be an 'IT manager' ? Hell no, because and IT manager is not a manager of IT. An IT manager is a manager of people who do IT.
Just be aware that a job is a job, and the only thing that's really changing is the technology. Do not assume a single skill will carry you from college to retirement - you'll need to pick new technologies up as old ones fade. The old ones just carry higher contract rates
As with any job, you have to love it to be able to persist with it. If you don't now, maybe you're an entrepreneur who's had IT exposure, not *really* an IT person.
Do I want to be an 'IT manager' ? Hell no, because and IT manager is not a manager of IT. An IT manager is a manager of people who do IT.
Just be aware that a job is a job, and the only thing that's really changing is the technology. Do not assume a single skill will carry you from college to retirement - you'll need to pick new technologies up as old ones fade. The old ones just carry higher contract rates
As with any job, you have to love it to be able to persist with it. If you don't now, maybe you're an entrepreneur who's had IT exposure, not *really* an IT person.
I left uni having done Cisco networks, I'm 3rd line, starting another job soon doing 3rd line also. I left school waiting to be a police officer. I asked myself knowing I was about to get proper s
t GCSE grades and didn't want to do A levels what I could do that would pay OK (end up on £45k maybe) and required no brains - had no interest in anything at school and swore Id never work in IT as I hated spreadsheets and power point.....
Got into Cisco because a mate was doing a CCNA course at uni, showed me some stuff and it obviously struck a nerve somewhere so I went and did it, loved it and did really well at it. I also saw the jobs for £120k+ and thought hell yes Ill have a bit of that those are few and far between.
Do I enjoy it? Yes, its something I find interesting and I prefer knowing about what I do and understanding the technology rather than in the land of Microsoft where all you do is drive a GUI.
Would I do it till 65? Not entirely sure yet. Ill worry about that later. But I cant see myself wanting to deal with the 'st' at that age. I say this because everyone blames the networks for everything and internal teams actively work against you. I also spend a lot of time fighting people with facts to prove people wrong and that can become extremely frustrating. I know other 'seasoned' engineers in their late 40's who have done well and are retiring early and I can see why.
Not a career you can sit back and relax in. Go work at Homebase i
No money in it? Dont think so. I don't give up at stuff and will apply for jobs until I get one rather than sitting about complaining about how st my life is.
t GCSE grades and didn't want to do A levels what I could do that would pay OK (end up on £45k maybe) and required no brains - had no interest in anything at school and swore Id never work in IT as I hated spreadsheets and power point.....Got into Cisco because a mate was doing a CCNA course at uni, showed me some stuff and it obviously struck a nerve somewhere so I went and did it, loved it and did really well at it. I also saw the jobs for £120k+ and thought hell yes Ill have a bit of that
those are few and far between. Do I enjoy it? Yes, its something I find interesting and I prefer knowing about what I do and understanding the technology rather than in the land of Microsoft where all you do is drive a GUI.
Would I do it till 65? Not entirely sure yet. Ill worry about that later. But I cant see myself wanting to deal with the 's
t' at that age. I say this because everyone blames the networks for everything and internal teams actively work against you. I also spend a lot of time fighting people with facts to prove people wrong and that can become extremely frustrating. I know other 'seasoned' engineers in their late 40's who have done well and are retiring early and I can see why. Not a career you can sit back and relax in. Go work at Homebase i
No money in it? Dont think so. I don't give up at stuff and will apply for jobs until I get one rather than sitting about complaining about how s
t my life is. I went to university in 1995 to study Computing as I'd had a few years of doing crappy admin-type jobs and thought computing would be a reasonable career choice.
Twenty years later I'm still in IT and have done a wide range of roles from software engineering and project management through to my current job as network manager.
I still enjoy it and hopefully will continue to enjoy it up until I retire!
Twenty years later I'm still in IT and have done a wide range of roles from software engineering and project management through to my current job as network manager.
I still enjoy it and hopefully will continue to enjoy it up until I retire!
Edited by BigMon on Thursday 24th September 10:57
VISE said:
I know who are years in IT don't enjoy it anymore - or they tell me there's no money in it.
I always wanted to hit the IT manager role and aim for 50k+ by my mid 30's, I can make a lot from coding/programming but I truly try to avoid it, it was fun at first; not so much anymore.
No money in it? You are speaking to the wrong people, there are plenty of jobs out there paying incredible salaries especially if you are prepared to work abroad. Coding especially is getting crazy, everyone want something built.I always wanted to hit the IT manager role and aim for 50k+ by my mid 30's, I can make a lot from coding/programming but I truly try to avoid it, it was fun at first; not so much anymore.
If you don't like coding then best not to go down that route. What about Business Intelligence, Big Data, IT Analyst, Business Analyst, lots of demand in those areas?
I'm an IT manager for a law firm, what has already been said is true. It is a people management role primarily, with the need to keep up to date with the tech in use and be able to muggle through if necessary.
Pay is good, I'm 42 and will retire in the next 5 years I hope. I've been in the industry for 20+ years, and I do have to say it's not got the excitement it used to have.
Pay is good, I'm 42 and will retire in the next 5 years I hope. I've been in the industry for 20+ years, and I do have to say it's not got the excitement it used to have.
How anyone can get bored in an industry that changes on a daily basis; that has touchpoints on pretty much every single aspect of our lives; or come up with "there's no money in it", is deluded and bereft of any imagination.
SlimRick said:
muggle
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