I like the thinking part of my job. It's the sitting and typing that I find (literally) painful.
I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
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Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#32I'll admit that I am very unhappy with my current job. Part of this is whining, I know, but just hear me out. One major, major, major problem with my job is that I work for a small company, and am the only person here that knows tech at all. This was really great for me at the beginning. I am very proficient in BSD and Linux, so everything (mailserver, file server, FTPs, VPN, firewall, etc.) was built on one the two.…
Let me get this straight. You intentionally built out a custom DYI enthusiast IT infrastructure out of a random collection of OpenBSD and Linux boxen and then complain that nobody but you understands it? Unless you've completely documented how everything works and fits together you've made it very difficult for anyone else to maintain it. That's one way to ensure job security.
If you read more closely, you would see that this isn't a WTF, but more of a beautiful complex system that actually makes sense. blhack only used one OpenBSD box for the normal network and used the second one to patch the network together after one of the T1s went down. Sure, it's DYI, but it is simple and makes sense.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#33I'll admit that I am very unhappy with my current job. Part of this is whining, I know, but just hear me out. One major, major, major problem with my job is that I work for a small company, and am the only person here that knows tech at all. This was really great for me at the beginning. I am very proficient in BSD and Linux, so everything (mailserver, file server, FTPs, VPN, firewall, etc.) was built on one the two.…
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Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#34I consider IT to be the systems maintenance and administration role -- programming is another occupation. While I love the technical stuff, I can tell you very specifically why I hate my job:
1. Constant interruptions. I cannot accomplish anything of any degree of complexity when I get nipped at at all sides for a piece of my attention.
2. Micromanaging boss. My boss has this peculiar trait where he insists on observing everything I do that he doesn't understand. He still doesn't understand it when I'm done, but somehow he thinks being there helps me.
3. Idiotic end users. There is no semblance of any sort of competency requirement for an employee of the business and computer usage. I've received calls before on broken computers only to find the computer was OFF.
In my experience, this is pretty much pervasive in the industry.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#35I'll admit that I am very unhappy with my current job. Part of this is whining, I know, but just hear me out. One major, major, major problem with my job is that I work for a small company, and am the only person here that knows tech at all. This was really great for me at the beginning. I am very proficient in BSD and Linux, so everything (mailserver, file server, FTPs, VPN, firewall, etc.) was built on one the two.…
blhack I understand what you're saying. I worked in that kind of environment before. If you want to be happy in your current job it comes down to two things: Communication and Limits.
You have to find a way to communicate complex ideas to people who don't understand it. Find out what they understand and what their values are and term it in that way. It could be time, money or customer convenience.
The main aspect is trust. You get paid for the job you do so no appreciation is in order. It's their trust that you know how to deal with the crisis better than anyone that's needed. Let me tell you the only way they will trust that you know what you're doing is if they know what you're doing. If they don't get it they'll think you're a dumbass, or condescending or an introvert. All things bad for a team and bad for business. Imagine you are the teacher of a grade 10 class teaching derivatives and integrals. If your students don't get the concept then at some point they will start cursing at you as you write on the board - even though you know what you're doing and they don't.
That's the communication bit. The other half is to limit yourself from all things tech and do it routinely. This is not once a week gym time or when you're free. Book classes in martial arts or cooking. Take up smoking shisha at a cafe. Find something you can do regularly and often that has no part in your life now - and non-tech. If work demands some of your free time then you say NO. If that's not an option then hire an underling and train them on specific tasks.
There was another comment here about how we are not meant to live in cubicles. I like it. We are not meant to do one thing only everyday. That is mind numbing.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#36I wonder why so many happiness complaints in Joel on Software forums always talk about working in "IT" (as opposed to "engineering")? I've never been referred to as "IT", but I've only worked in companies where producing software/Internet services was the core competency and either as production operations engineer (i.e. customer facing systems, not internal systems) or as a software engineer. Is the case with these…
Ever since I started school in Engineering I've been treated as a commodity.
It's that much harder to paint yourself in a different light when most peers are fine with the status quo.
It's becoming more necessary to distinguish yourself as being Mr.X who can do X, Y, Z better than anyone else in the world. Otherwise, you're just another Engineer or IT guy they hire and fire or deal with like everyone else. With so many talented Engineers coming in from Asia (hundreds of thousands a year?!) it will be harder to land a job with a decent salary if you are like everyone else.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#37Health care eventually recovered from quackery. It's bound to happen in IT.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#38I'll admit that I am very unhappy with my current job. Part of this is whining, I know, but just hear me out. One major, major, major problem with my job is that I work for a small company, and am the only person here that knows tech at all. This was really great for me at the beginning. I am very proficient in BSD and Linux, so everything (mailserver, file server, FTPs, VPN, firewall, etc.) was built on one the two.…
Let me get this straight. You intentionally built out a custom DYI enthusiast IT infrastructure out of a random collection of OpenBSD and Linux boxen and then complain that nobody but you understands it? Unless you've completely documented how everything works and fits together you've made it very difficult for anyone else to maintain it. That's one way to ensure job security.
What are you talking about here?
The mailserver is Postfix, the file server is samba, the FTP daemon is VsFTPd, imap is courier imap.
Are you a microsoft rep or something? None of this stuff is even remotely "enthusiast".
The Contact manager is just a web-frontend that I made for that sits on top of (and supplements) an existing system (as/400 green screens that they hate).
I'm sorry, but this is kindof insulting. What do you mean "enthusiast DIY"?
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let me get this straight. You intentionally built out a custom DYI enthusiast IT infrastructure out of a random collection of OpenBSD and Linux boxen and then complain that nobody but you understands it? Unless you've completely documented how everything works and fits together you've made it very difficult for anyone else to maintain it. That's one way to ensure job security.
What are you talking about here? The mailserver is Postfix, the file server is samba, the FTP daemon is VsFTPd, imap is courier imap. Are you a microsoft rep or something? None of this stuff is even remotely "enthusiast". The Contact manager is just a web-frontend that I made for that sits on top of (and supplements) an existing system (as/400 green screens that they hate). I'm sorry, but this is kindof insulting. Wh…
My apologies for offending. DIY is "do it yourself". An enthusiast (like myself) would prefer to use OpenVPN or FreeSWAN instead of a Cisco ASA, would rather use iptables on a Linux box than a commodity firewall, would rather slap a wireless card into an OpenBSD machine rather than to buy a commodity access point, etc. This is cool and all, but it makes it harder for other folks to deal with. Let's say your on vacation and there is a problem with the wireless. If you had used a commodity access point, somebody could have just reset it, as opposed to have to log into the OpenBSD box and unload/load the kernel driver, or frobbed it with ifconfig, or whatever.
Re: I've met very very few IT workers who are happy with their jobs
#40I'll admit that I am very unhappy with my current job. Part of this is whining, I know, but just hear me out. One major, major, major problem with my job is that I work for a small company, and am the only person here that knows tech at all. This was really great for me at the beginning. I am very proficient in BSD and Linux, so everything (mailserver, file server, FTPs, VPN, firewall, etc.) was built on one the two.…
Let me get this straight. You intentionally built out a custom DYI enthusiast IT infrastructure out of a random collection of OpenBSD and Linux boxen and then complain that nobody but you understands it? Unless you've completely documented how everything works and fits together you've made it very difficult for anyone else to maintain it. That's one way to ensure job security.
Whatever he used his boss still wouldn't have understood it. The problem he's having is balancing programming time, with IT time. Something I do very poorly myself, but it's not hopeless.
The funny thing is I've been interrupted 3 times while writing this comment, it's ruined my flow and I forget what I was going to write.
Oh yea, I lock myself in an office and close the door when it's time to work on spurts of programming, otherwise I feel burnt out and nothing gets done. I've also got a boss who's capable of doing IT work. Having two of us helps entirely, maybe a $25k a year intern to ease the "my caps lock is broken!" off your plate could help.
But seriously, take your 20% time and don't answer the phone and use it to program. You need your focus time, and then come back and do the rest of your job.