Any Doubts?

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Hey guys,

I've been a computer enthusiast for nearly a decade now and only just got my foot in the door of the IT industry. I dont know if this has happened to anyone else but since I've landed this job I feel like I'm going off computers. Because I've gone from being an enthusiast to a professional it seems like its ruined my love for computers.

And the thing with my new job (1st line support), im finding it very boring just speaking on a phone all day, I know its experience and everything but shouldnt I be enjoying this? I would prefer a more physical hands on role but I know I have to go up the ladder.

This is where im starting to have doubts about working in IT and is it really for me. Just woundered if anyone has been in the same boat and has any advice for me?

Thanks
Kraven

 

I feel fine about my current career path but strictly speaking, I don't work in "IT". That was the original plan when I started my education, but somewhere along the way, step-by-step, the path verged from the original course and I found myself writing about technology, not directly administering it. Of course, I have to be able to understand the language of those people who *do* understand it, but I also have to be able to express it in an understandable way for my audience.

I guess what you might want to do is to pick all the various directions you could branch out from your current position and see which one best "floats your boat". It may not be the direction you originally chose.

 

When I did voluntary work for my old school, that was basically what I wanted. It was hands on, laid back, the users were nice and quite bright. Me and the admin would talk about anything I didnt have a good understanding of. But sadly they only needed one person to run that network.

Whereas my current job, its basically 40 - 60 calls a day, no hands on and the users dont have a clue. But being at the bottom of the ladder thats what I've got to go through.

Kraven

 

I specifically avoided IT for that very reason. I had been messing with computers since I was 10, and I didn't want my hobby to be spoiled by "work". I became an intelligence analyst in the Army, an operations analyst at a telecommunications company, and got my BS in Chemistry. At the time I got my degree, companies were wanting chemists with Masters degrees, not Bachelor degrees. So after a fruitless job search in Chemistry, I did what I swore I'd never do: I made my hobby my career, getting a field service tech job making $11/hr.

I wasn't on a phone all day - I went out to client sites and fixed whatever was broken... printers, computers, applications, whatever. In reality, it was no different than phone support except I got my hands on the equipment. I still had to deal with the end users (which, in truth, you never get away from... our job, no matter how much we want to shut ourselves in the server room, is to enable the users or customers to do their jobs).

Ultimately, my fears were unfounded. Working on computers did not kill my love for computers. My wife doesn't know how I can work on computers all day, then go home and... get on the computer.

I guess my mindset is this: regardless of what type of support role I'm playing - help desk, service tech, systems admin, network admin, security admin, consultant - I treat the problem in front of me as a challenge to overcome. Not everything is fun and games and roses and milk and honey... there are some things that I'd prefer to NOT have to deal with. But there's some real satisfaction in being able to help fix a problem that someone is experiencing... whether you're helping them over the phone or working on a computer right in front of them. It's a mindset.

Hope this rambling helps.

 

Most users don't have a clue. If they did... there'd be far less need for computer professionals, wouldn't there? ;)

Perhaps you're just not in the right job or the right company or the right environment for you. There's no shame in continuing to look for something different. Just hang in there with what you've got until you find something either different or better.

 

yes unfortunately, users are indeed a special breed, however you should never see them in a negative light even though they might get all het up because they dont understand what they are doing wrong or cant explain to you what is happening. do you not do a Remote desktop or anything. to be fair I think I started the other way round, worked in a computer repair shop, so got to fiddle with home users pc's riddled with porn and also got to install networks in new buildings, then went into a helpdesk role, which I think has taght me alot about how uses view pc's and their way of explaining things. I think with most companies if you have the drive 1st line support is a 12-18 month stint then move on. Im moving on next week to be a pc and network support officer, hence my post in the mcdst forum so brushing up on linux and novell at the mo and very much looking forward to a new challenge.

think of helpdesk roles as a springboard, lean as much as you can from them and move on.

 

I did something similar at British Telecom, but in the customer accounts department. You chase up outstanding phone bills, calling up people, disconnecting lines for nonpayment, fielding irate calls from people whose phones you've disconnected. God, I hated that place. I used to check my watch every five minutes. Worse job of my life.

 

Well me too, in the earlier days I was a big computer enthusiast but now not so muc. I love my job and very glad about picking this career and hope to continue to pursue it in the future. How ever when I get home I am not into computers and stuff like before. I just do other things like hang out with friends, work with cars which is my other hobby and play sports.

However it is normal to not like your first job because usualy you dont really do what you learn at school, etc. It is after when you gain experience and employers begin to trust you more and thats when you get a job which you like more.