Slashdot Mirror
One Terrible Job: IT Manager
editingwhiz writes "I suppose we've always suspected this to be true, but IT Manager's Journal reports that a recent email survey by the authors of a new book called 'Crap Jobs' says that IT managers have the U.K's third-worst job -- ranking just below phone sex operator (No. 1) and ferry cabin cleaner (No. 2). Hmmm. Do you agree?" (ITMJ, like Slashdot, is part of OSTG.) Maybe it's better in the U.S.?
Theme designer for the IT section of /.
Ugh...horrible...
So, careers involving handling sewage, manure or garbage are actually BETTER than being an IT manager?
One reason that I'm not in IT is beause of the people. People who whine over an IT management job. Are you kidding me?
1. They get paid a LOT more than minimum wage.
2. They usually get to work in a climate controlled office.
3. They usually get to sit down.
4. They generally don't have to punch a time clock.
These few things here make ANY IT job better than about 90% of the jobs on the planet. Quit whining and repeat after me, "I am not entitled to any particular kind of job."
I don't respond to AC's.
The respect of your coworkers is a big factor in how good your IT job is. I'm sure all IT workers (or former IT workers like me) would agree that the actual types of hardware or difficulty of the work isn't the biggest issue. As an integral part of the organization, sometimes IT workers don't get treated as well as they should.
(I had it pretty good... Only one or two people I didn't enjoy.)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There ARE worse jobs out there. IT people just have more time to bitch about it. ;)
This tagline brought to you by 1500 monkeys in just under 17 years.
IT managers get very little sympathy in terms of the basic creature comforts that they get. There's usually a lot of bling involved, and some aura of "respect" that comes with the title.
But the bad side...first and foremost, you're expected to be a miracle worker. Something borks, it's your fault. Nevermind any rhyme or reason why you couldn't have foreseen it coming. It's your fault. Worse yet, they want it fixed yesterday, if not sooner. Forget the impossibility of getting the parts until tomorrow -- it needs to be up and running NOW.
Some of the techs you manage will second-guess you. The rest of the company will second-guess everything you do. If things work, you're not doing your job (after all, there aren't any fires to put out). If things don't work, you're not doing your job because it was your job to keep things running and all that time, you were just sitting there doing nothing.
Some higher-up can't use e-mail? It's your neck on the line. Someone forgot to save their document and some tech you manage says it can't be recovered...so they report this to their superior and next thing you know, some VP wants to know why you're even there.
And those are only if you're a clueful manager. If you're clueless...well, you end up being promoted.
As a former manager in IT, I found that I was being trained to lie. Just like Scotty - Never tell them the truth!
Budget::
Them - cut your budget as much as possible.
New Manager - cuts as required.
Seasoned Manager - cuts Half or Less than what is required.
Them - cut your budget more.
New Manager - cant do that I already did.
Seasoned Manager - cuts Half of Less of what remaines that can be cut.
Them - cut your budget again.
Former new manager - I need a job, My position was cut.
Seasoned Manager - cuts Half or less of what still remains to be cut.
Lesson Learned? Dont cut it all at once.
Time Management::
Them - How much time is required?
New Manager - 2 weeks. (2xactual required)
Seasoned Manager - 2 months. (8x actual required
Them - We need it in half that time.
New Manager - Ends up working nights and weekends but demands cut in requirements.
Seasoned Manager - Resigns to half time but demands cut in requirements.
Them - We need these new requirements but it can be done with an additional 1/4 original time.
New Manager - What are you nuts?
Seasoned Manager - We can do it but it will be a miracle.
Them - Congratulations project is complete on schedule.
New Manager - standard pay check. Was done in 75% time estimate. (1.5wk)
Seasoned Manager - BONUS. completed in record time. (75% time estimate =6wk)
Lesson - lie about time to complete.
was my first job: cleaning out the incinerator at an animal disease laboratory...sometimes they shut off the gas before the rabid dog carcasses were completely burnt. After that, even my job as an operator at the student services counter for my university's computer center seemed like a real move up in the world. How many days a week can you constantly deal with the software problems of people who should never have been given anything more complicated than a bottle of beer and still think you have a great job?
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
Oh there's tons of others, but I'm lazy, perhaps if I'm bored I'll come back later and document them all.
Why on earth would anyone take a job as a deodorant taster? What possible good could tasting deodorant do? And why would it be tasted in the armpit? Why not from the dispenser? That's just an appalling career, and it sickens me. That's even worse than my career as an IT Manager.
Hmmm?
Oh.
Never mind!
The results are a BOFH trick. You see, it is in the interests of U.K. IT managers to make everyone believe no one is interested in their jobs.
By keeping up this illusion, their vast network of power and influence can be maintained and competition can be eliminated.
M
I have to disagree with you. I worked in a pub kitchen flipping burgers as a kid and loved the job. You come in, you feed people, and you leave knowing that your job is done. I liked the people I worked with and felt like I could do a good job every day.
Now that I am in IT, I toil away at projects that can drag on for years only to be cancelled and called failures. I will be happy to flip burgers any day compared to that.
Of course, in the long term a career job is more rewarding, but short term there is nothing wrong with labor.
Last Wednesday (October 6th), after faithfully serving the company I worked at doing software development (on an internally used software package that helped to run the business, no less) for 8 years, I got canned - out of the blue, no warning, no nothing. One minute, I was helping a co-worker with a problem in the software (bugs, gotta love 'em!), when I get a page to go to my supervisors office. I finish up what I am doing...
In my supervisor's office is my supe, and the manager of programming (long to explain, but I *wasn't* on the programming team). This guy is known for wanting new things in the package I was working on, generally difficult (but not impossible) to implement enhancements to make your skin crawl - so my first thought was "now what?". I didn't mind doing these additions; job security, ya know. Little did I know what was coming next...
"cr0sh - we've decided to cancel development on your project, and we won't be needing your services any longer"
GULP
My head was swimming, I was thinking "what am I going to tell my wife?", "how am I going to pay my mortgage", and "WTF - doesn't the past 8 years count for ANYTHING?"...
Apparently not - especially not in a "right-to-work" state. The thing that really galled me is that my supervisor didn't even know, and he is a VP in the company: they went behind and above him to fire me. He had no chance to make a case for me and my project, nor alert me to allow me to make a case for myself and the project. One minute I was working, next minute I am being shown the door (well, actually they were kind and let me pack up my desk - they were also kind enough to cut me a check for the three days I was there along with vacation pay, and some severance pay).
In the end, I am getting the last laugh: By Friday I had another job, and it is looking like by November or so I will be making what I was making there, possibly more. Plus, it is at a smaller company run by an entrepreneur who works hard to succeed in her niche, which involves the methodology of six sigma. Its a good thing to have friends and be able to network!
I quickly landed back on my feet thanks to several friends, my skillset, my resume, and the faith of another small company to take a chance on me. I plan to put everything I have into this new oppourtunity.
To my former employer:
You threw away a very valuable employee. Yeah, on the bottom line the software I developed may have looked like an expense, but I bet it saved you more money over the years than you spent on it. Good luck with whatever you do to the software, but I can guarantee that if you try to move to another system, it won't be half of what you had, and will probably cost twice as much or more to implement!
So, to all of you out there in a similar IT situation bitching about your job: be thankful you have a job - one day, it may not be there, and dinner will be dollar store macaroni and cheese meals.
Reason is the Path to God - Anon