Do people have unreasonable expectations?

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Some think they're not learning anything because they think they've learned everything there is at their level. But there's usually a LOT to learn at each level.

That said, I believe that you are correct with their being blinded by the dollarz.

 

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I haven't addressed the main issue in this thread. Do I think people have unreasonable expectations getting into IT? Absolutely, from what I read on forums such as this one.

If I told you guys what I make a month you would all laugh at me. I would bet a large sum of money that I'm the lowest paid person, who has a job in IT, on this forum and by a not inconsiderable amount either. That said I spend at least $120-150 a month on educational materials.

In the last two months I've purchased the following books:

Preventing Web Attacks with Apache
MySQL Administrators Guide and Reference
The Web Application Hackers Handbook
The Database Hackers Handbook
HTTP:The Definitive Guide
MySQL Stored Procedures
MySQL 5.0 Certification Guide
sed and awk

These came out of my own pocket. My boss also purchased me a couple of others on Plone and Joomla. I also bought, out of my own pocket, the Burp Suite Professional, a suite of cross-platform security tools for almost $200 US.

Most people gripe and complain about the lack of training, but won't spend their own money on educational tools that will help them get the skills they need to advance.

When I was a DVR client they spent a lot of money training me when 99% of the other DVR clients I talked to couldn't get 1/10th of the monetary resources made available to them that I had made available to me. Why? Because I worked my butt off learning and got straight A's while in school. When I started studying on my own while on their dime they still provided me the resources I needed because I'd proven that I had made good use of the ones I had.

What was the difference between me and the rest of the clients? I worked my butt off and proved myself. The rest wanted the goodies, but didn't want to put out the effort I did.

The same goes in the working world. You show you'll put out the effort, that you'll spend on yourself because you believe in yourself, and any company that is worth working for will reward you for it. When they see what you've done with your resources, they will be much more likely to invest their resources in you.

People just need to remember that trust is earned, not given as a gift.

 

Yep. It's an investment in your career. If you buy high-quality training materials, you'll generally get high-quality training (provided you study them! hah!). And the high-quality stuff may not be cheap... but it's usually worth it.

Rep given!

 

I would agree with both those points.... For example I passed my CEH and have found lots of the material has given me a footing into the CCNA objectives... for example the OSI, TCP/IP, how switches function. So yes because you have more pieces of the puzzles, it becomes somewhat easier. Even though the subnetting drove me mad for a while. (cracked it now I'm thankful to say) 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000, 255.255.255.0, /24, FFFF:FFFF

 

The problem I see is the lack of similarity between the IT needs of separate entities

One could be the guru at a company with 40 users, you might be the network admin, the exchange admin, everything, and think you know it well

go to a company that has 40 exchange servers! and your in a different boat all together

in some companies a few weeks first line may more than cover you to run the place when the other guy is off sick, some places really are that simple

others, you cant even touch a production server with less than 10 years experience because it might cost millions!

 

Doesn't that just boil down to understanding the business and what's at stake? The guy who understands both business needs and technical issues isn't going to make the mistake of confusing his experience in a small environment with the needs of a business like Google or Amazon.

Anyone who does make the above mistake understands neither the business nor the technical issues.

 

True freddy
I guess my point was knowing enough Exchange to get buy in a company of 40 is not sufficient to perhaps operate a company that has more than that in Exchange Servers..
the way the software and technology are used are often far more mature and deep, and a much broader understanding of them is required

 

I understand. It's a good point. To me it's all about someone just knowing their limitations, which means knowing themselves and being honest with themselves. That seems to be fairly rare these days.

When I say "knowing their limitations" I'm not talking about overall abilities in this sense either, I mean the practical limits of application for their present knowledge and skill levels.

 

I would say personally I could do a ""1st line job"" really good. I did a year in support for a company of 120 users and now I am responsible I.T. wize for two schools of 70 clients each + developed the cms/website for one of the schools.

Though as said below I am the I.T. Guru in the above situations but put me somewhere bigger than that and its a whole new fish to fry! Theres so so so much I don't know and I try to squese it all out of any I.T. guy I come accross as a result.

Time and time again I have issues I struggle to fix because its just me. Google this, google that. Often some problems I fix are bodge jobs just because It was trial and error with no experiance. All of which gives me valuable experiance for the future of course.

As trip said though in one post once you have reached the day of doing the job without even thinking about it, its time to move on to gain more challenges. Or its just gaining invaluable experiance.

The point is I know my limitations. You gain experiance, work your way up! OR get into a graduate scheme and start on 26k - LUSH!

 

"The only thing I really know is that I know nothing" Socrates

"The bigger the island of knowledge the longer the shoreline of mystery" Unknown

Not sure if these quotes are relevant but what the hell I love em anyway!

 

A great man once said "It is like a finger pointing to the sun, don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all that heavingly glory".

Good point and the point is, if you don't look at the bigger picture and just one thing you wont get there and if you see the bigger picture you will progress.

Keeping focused will get you there in the end.

 

That's exactly where I m at the moment, and am looking and applying for new jobs to move on. I think its a good rule to keep in mind.