The Four Curses of the IT Biz
Topic(s): Floundering Users
Submitted by: renman – Wed, 01/10/2007 – 19:25
The four curses of the IT biz are:
1) If you do a great job, nobody notices. They only notice when things go wrong.
2) Nobody outside of IT really knows what you do. They don't know the difference between a junior PC tech and a senior network security expert, or between a kid who has learned some HTML and a seasoned programmer who can handle large-scale, multi-platform development efforts.
3) Anybody who's unafraid of their home PC knows as much as you do. Just ask them. Corollary: Why doesn't our entire corporation do things the way I do them at home?
4) Your friends, neighbors, and relatives can ask you for free help on whatever computer problems they're having, big or small.
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Comment: For some companies,
For some companies, supertechs aren't enough. At one career fair some time ago, one company was looking for people with 5 years experience in Windows NT 4.0. At the time, the first beta release of NT 3.1 to be sent outside Microsoft was 4 years old (and I had been working with NT since that beta). Where do they expect to find people with qualifications that are impossible to meet?
Anonymous (not verified) – Sat, 01/13/2007 – 14:45
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Comment: I hear you loud and clear.
I hear you loud and clear. That's just crazy. I've heard of several companies asking for the wrong credentials too. Asking for people with skills using Creative Suite 4. .. and this was before 3 was even released.
cdegeare – Mon, 10/29/2007 – 17:47
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Comment: I've noticed that when
I've noticed that when looking at job listings. Some of them want you to specialize in everything.
scully – Wed, 01/23/2008 – 21:44
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Comment: You said it
It is amazing when you read these ads for entry level positions, must have 5 years experience, CCNE, MCSE, and BS in order to apply for a job on a help desk answering the phone for $8.00 an hour. Seriously, do they really think (even in this economy) that someone with those credentials would be looking for an entry level position?
pelizdr – Tue, 01/12/2010 – 14:18
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Comment: The knowledgeable associate
My boss' comment that:
"My wife's second cousin's brother-in-law's neighbour's godfather's grandson told me that he has a better way of setting up our LAN so why don't I listen to him. He actually won the junior-grade under-12 science fair last year so he can teach you a thing or two and it won't cost us as much as you estimate"
Chris (not verified) – Thu, 01/11/2007 – 08:00
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Comment: IT is also responsible for
IT is also responsible for the infrared sensors that control the flushing of the urinals and yes this comment is a result of someone calling our helpdesk to report it.
Anonymous (not verified) – Thu, 01/11/2007 – 08:49
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Comment: IT is also responsible for...
LOL, we had the same problem with getting calls for the urinals sensors not working (some guys would not get close enough to activate the sensor?!)
So we finally told one guy that the sensors were actually mini cameras with the feed going to the secretaries office to a monitor so when someone comes up to pee the secretary activates the flusher when she see's that they've finished and she must have been out of her office at the same time he went to pee.
Well rumors started going around and before we knew it several guys actually believed it and would no longer use the urinals that had the sensors on them, complaining to their supervisors about the secretaries peeking at them in the restrooms.
Can you say "gullible? There, there now Forest, it's going to be okay!
Anonymous (not verified) – Fri, 01/12/2007 – 05:13
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Comment: In the (l)users defense
Some people do become so trained to use the help desk, they call for anything; missing keys, broken door knob, electrical outage, etc... So this therefore begs the question, which is worse, the one that calls for EVERYTHING or the one that calls for NOTHING?
pelizdr – Tue, 01/12/2010 – 14:33
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Comment: Ha Ha Well Said! Here's the
Ha Ha Well Said! Here's the one that gets me everytime - all techies can do all tech jobs. Webmasters can configure the LAN. DBAs can troubleshoot Exchange. This is in the smaller places, like my company, more than the really large companies, but it is ridiculous.
The other thing - these ads for tech positions that actually LIST all of these qualifications. They want supertechs! And pay them 50 thou a year! Sure, why hire two people when you can make do with one?