Do you enjoy you job?

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Obviously there are a variety of factors which determine whether you enjoy going to work, such as the commute, pay, colleagues, conditions of employment etc. I would very much like to know specifically your opinions on what you enjoy about your work in IT in terms of doing the actual job.

Do you see your current role as a stepping stone to something else or are you happy where you are?

Has you job lived up to your expectations you had before you started it?

 

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Although my current job is not a typical IT job, it is the best job I've had so far. I've worked a number of IT positions in my career, and my current job allows me to utilize all of the knowledge I've gained doing that work, while also affording me the opportunity to learn new things. Furthermore, I get to help others start or advance in their IT career, and that's very satisfying.

 

I'm probably more like BosonJosh than the typical IT person as well, but yes, I enjoy what I do. It's a contract job and I'd "enjoy" it more if I were full-time permanent with bennies. The commute suks (30 minutes one way...with the price of gas being what it is, that part is down right painful) but the place is ok. The building is literally right next to the Boise River and within easy walking distance to the library, downtown, and the uni campus. Great for going on walks or jogging over lunch, or just taking a book down by the river and reading.

I like the people for the most part. Everyone's been friendly and helpful. Except for one other guy, I'm probably the oldest one on the floor, but thank goodness, I'm not hip deep in teenagers, either.

I'm a technical writer and my primary platform is Ubuntu 7.10. I write in a markup language called LaTeX which I had to teach myself and cr...called [url=http://kile.sourceforge.net/]Kile. Since I have to produce my own graphics, I've become quite adept at using GIMP, which I've always wanted to learn.

I say all this because one of the things that contributes to my job satisfaction is learning new technologies and skill sets. This not only adds to my future employability, but keeps me stimulated and interested on the job.

I was just invited bowling today (had to turn them down due to scheduling) by my manager. The group is very activity oriented (they have organized softball and soccer teams as well) which contributes to the bonding. When the weather wasn't quite as hot, a group of us would take a "break" in the afternoons and throw a few frisbees around in the park.

Needless to say, if they make me a job offer, I'm quite likely to take it.

 

I don't work in IT but have a lot of IT related tasks, I would rather have a more technical job but I don't so my answer is no my job sucks allthough I get paid well for it.

 

I really enjoy my job. Its what I wanted to do when I started studying IT. Now I am there it was worth the time and effort

 

No No and NO!

I cant wait to get out!

 

do you wanna swap?

 

From when I started in IT I moved up the ladder; which meant more responsibilities; which meant crazy OT (12-14 hour days were a norm). I actually enjoyed it! Wife and family did not . Was a problem when my daughter stopped calling me dad (saw my father-in-law more than me)

I changed jobs a few times and now work for a larger enterprise. What a change. I now work in the environment & role I always aspired to. This is supposed to be where I wanted to stay – funny thing, although it’s great (and I’m not complaining) this has become another stepping stone towards another role. At this point, any other role (other than lateral move) would mean management (i.e. PM; Mid-Mgr; etc…)

 

For me, the answer is a resounding yes.

 

havent worked there long enough to make that decision yet

Grim

 

Nah your ok with it mate, i dont want to move to cumbria!

However i am looking for other jobs, while still in this one. If a decent one comes up i'll take it even if it measn a pay drop of 2k. (though to be honest i'm not really sure what i want to do anymore)

Does anyone remeber taking those career test things at school? and is anyone doing the job picked from that? I cant remeber mine.

 

I remember going to the school career guidance and telling them I wanted to be a computer games tester. They just laughed in my face and said "OK all jokes aside what do you really what to do?"

I took their test and the answer was:- a social worker So I took it again and made sure I answered opposite to what I originally put in the test and the answer was still a social worker!

Then one of my mates who wanted to go into the RAF to be a navigator also did the test he got the same answer a social worker


I seem to remember the majority of the class got the same answer!

Do those tests really work?

 

I think the factor which really helps is Job satisfaction, after all we spend more time at work! So enjoying what you do, is important.

I can't move anywhere within the job unless someone leaves from another Dept. There is no clear stepping stone! Management are anti-certs and believe they are a waste of time and money (Something i am totally against.) Their view is it is not required for the job you are in and if you want to further yourself in IT it's in your own time and with your own money. Everything is learn't on the job and in at the deep end!
Sometimes this can be a pain in the neck, but it does give you the freedom to experiement!

Some days are good somedays are bad!

An example of this would be yesterday when I had to recreate a users profile. the computers at work use Windows XP Pro on a Windows server 2003 network. The user accounts are roaming profiles. Which allow certain folders under documents and settings to be saved back to the server.

When a user moves around the office and uses another computer these files move with them and so logging onto any computer they get their short cuts on the desktop, network printer settings, email, etc.

Unfortunatley a lot of users don't tell us the full story and don't even listen to what you are asking them to do!

One person had a corrupt profile, this mean't she would get a error message in a software application, the problem was this was now attached to her profile so no matter where she logged onto a computer. The problem would move with her. If someone else logged onto the same computer they would not get the message!

In order to fix a corrupt profile you must get the user to shut down the PC - not log off (and I will explain that bit later) once they have shut down you clear the profile on the server and then go to the local computer and rename the local profile saved on the PC. If the user had just logged off the Pc and not shut down, you are presented with a message from windows saying unable to rename folder, because it is currently open or still in use. This is because the profile is still active in the memory, even when you logg off!

Now I asked the user to shut down her PC and told her what I would be doing and why it was important that she must not log back into the computer. The reason being as soon as you clear the profile off the server, if the user logs back into a computer with the old profile it is written back to the server and you are back where you started.

When i arrived at the office I found the computer had been shut down, but also found she had logged onto another computer Which mean't as soon as that computer shut down or logged off the old profile would write back to the server overwriting the new profile I had created on the server

When i asked why she did this - she said she need to read her email and thought by using another computer it would be OK!
So I explained again she can not log onto any computers until I have recreated her profile on the server and on any of the computers she has logged onto!!

Simple right??? Wrong:-

well it worked for about 30 minutes because I got another phone call from her saying the message was back again. what she didn't tell me was she was in a different Dept and using a computer that i was unware of that had the old profile on! At this point I felt like pulling my hair out and screaming so I used what they call login scripts. Which shows a list of each person name and what computer name/number they have logged into over the current month. Eight computers were found, when I asked Why she hadn't told me about the other 6 she said she forgot and didn't think it matter! OMG!

Yes and no! I orginally only went there to get some work experience for my A+ The first 6 months were the best (the Honeymoon period) after that things got tough because of the lack of staff and no training and because everyone wants it done yesterday!

 

I think it is practically impossible to know what you want to do for a career when you leave school as you do not have the life experience and self knowledge to assess what job really suits your character and skills.

Going into IT purely for the money seems to be especially foolish as it is only with several years of experience and study that the big money is made. If you are not motivated by the work itself (or at least can put up with a period of time doing some aspect that you do not enjoy but leads to advancement) then you are doomed to grow to hate your choosen career. I suspect that most people would rather do a job the love and not get paid a fortune rather than the reverse (although I acknowledge that there will always be exceptions to this).

Like many others I am exploring IT as a new career having come from a different background. From UCM's comments it seems that IT is much more a people business that you might at first think. Although there is a large element of technical expertise you still need to be able to communicate and empathise with the people who use the hardware. These colleagues will often be confused by what the IT technicians regard as the obvious and common sense. But they will have skills that counter balance these deficiencies. For example I know that I am absolutely rubbish at selling, yet for other people this skill seems to be very natural. Also if you find your job boring or demotivating or poorly rewarded then so will the colleagues who at times need the IT services.

I believe that you owe it to yourself and family to find a job which you genuinely enjoy doing, which often involves an element of sacrifice and changes of priorities. As for me I don't know yet if IT is the right sector for me but by taking part in forums such as this you can get a genuine insight into a career before you invest lots of time and money from the people who really understand the good and bad parts.

Cheers.

PS: How do you highlight quotes from other people's post?
PPS: I hate the title of this post it makes me look like a complete moron! (It should be YOUR).

 

Highlight, right click, copy, click wrap tag, paste.

Kat

 

HTML:

Highlight, right click, copy, click wrap tag, paste.

Cheers.

 

No, wrap quote tag!! Looks like speech bubble.

Kat

 

Hopefully that has worked.
Cheers.

 

I seem to remember taking one of those tests in high school (back at the dawn of time when Dodos were not yet extinct) and it said I should be some sort of file clerk. I suppose that would translate into a data entry clerk in the modern era. Sounds boring but think about it...what do I do for a living?

Don't look at the "social worker" title but rather, the skill sets that are required for that particular career. It doesn't mean those skill sets (or portions of them) can *only* be applied to that career path.

If, in my case, part of what the test was picking up were qualities like organization, being detail oriented, being research oriented, having good writing skills, being good at keyboarding...then I suppose the test was correct and somewhat predictive of my current career path.

Ok...now that I've indulged in taking this thread off topic, perhaps we should return to the whole "job satisfaction" theme.