dvorakae
join:2008-08-09
New York, NY
| Not right fit for IT?
Hello. I just joined. 
Man, I'm having a rough time trying to figure some things out, and I could do with some advice.
I like computers. I love using them, and I have a good knowledge of building them, upgrading etc. I even have the A+.
But I find myself really frustrated by my family when they ask me to solve their pc problems, even if they pay me. I'm pretty impatient, and I work extremely quickly, and because of this I'm really starting to question if I have the right personality/temperament for any type of technical repair/higher level IT work.
I don't tinker with my home systems, I just want it to work correctly and be a solid dependable work horse.
Does anyone know of technical IT related work that involves using a computer, but not fixing it or supporting it?
/rant
Thanks for listening if nothing else.  |
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craig70130
Premium
join:2004-04-27
New Orleans, LA | Tons of stuff - any of the software based fields - database administration, web designer, application programmer, etc. for starters. |
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dvorakae
join:2008-08-09
New York, NY | Yeah. I forgot in my haste to put in that I hate coding. Tried to do a comp sci degree and dropped out. That's the problem. There doesn't seem to be any area left that's open for me. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
1 edit | reply to dvorakae
QA? Management? |
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Brat75
Cats rule
join:2003-02-05
Auburn, WA
| reply to dvorakae
Go get the book called "What Color is My Parachute?" and get the newest version. Use it over the next 6 weeks or so. Really get to know yourself better, and you may find a better field to be in.
I'm a bit like you - I have A+, Net+ but my social skills with users aren't the best. I like desktop support, but I have found that it's not the mostest bestest thing for me. While working and living, I've also found that I LOVE AD and really like all the things it can do.
So I'm shooting for Sys Admin position - a person who supports a working system but also makes it work better /faster/ efficient. And gets to use creativity.
What about business analyst? They have a hand in the pie of business, and also in the pie of IT.
Brat75
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Salted Pineapple, anyone? |
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jp10558
Premium
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY
| reply to dvorakae
Yea, I'd look at other fields or figure out what you do like. Most Sysadmins do end up doing some user support, and some scripting (coding sort of). Also, if you're trying to do analyst positions, you still need to be able to do user interaction quite a bit unless you're going to be limiting your employability in small-mid sized companies.
Also, I don't really belive you're going to get into a backline only position out of the gate, mostly you end up doing user support first, because a screw up there affects one user, not many or all.
In my opinion, you're not going to be able to get away from some user support.
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Opera 9.51(Build 10081); Windows XP Pro SP3;Intel C2Q6600; 3GB DDR2 1066; 1M/128k DSL; Antivir Personal; Comodo Firewall Pro 3;Proxomitron 4.5j Sidki 2008beta,GPG ID:0x0A1C6EE3 |
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John Galt
Forward, March
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
 ·CenturyLink
| reply to dvorakae
said by dvorakae  :I'm pretty impatient... Ah...
You should really try and control this...at least understand it better.
You'll do better.
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A is A |
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ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17 | reply to dvorakae
Maybe Desktop Engineering / QA testing |
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dvorakae
join:2008-08-09
New York, NY
| reply to dvorakae
I'm going to work on the patience problem I have, and I'm not really massively introvert. I can communicate quite well.
I just wonder if my talents would be better suited to actually using a somputer for another field, rather than fixing or maintaining them.
I did wonder about something like CAD. Is this a career that anyone does and could offer me some tips? |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| said by dvorakae :I'm going to work on the patience problem I have, and I'm not really massively introvert. I can communicate quite well. I just wonder if my talents would be better suited to actually using a somputer for another field, rather than fixing or maintaining them. I did wonder about something like CAD. Is this a career that anyone does and could offer me some tips? CAD = Engineering. CAD is not IT, unless you're supporting the CAD software and or systems, which means you're back to square one. |
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bilbusb
join:2003-04-10
Tucker, GA | reply to dvorakae
ummm everything other then helpdesk and tech support.
Fixing computers is a low level job. |
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Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
 ·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| reply to dvorakae
You have posted something pretty thought-provoking and interesting. It shows how we're all different. I could sit for hours and try and help someone get passed the on-switch and the old "left click or right click" / "single click or double click" stuff, but I can't sit behind a desk all day and program.
We're all different, each with different levels of knowledge and patience. The sole fact alone that you recognize what you're not good at speaks volumes, and will do you a world of good in terms of making a decision.
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"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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dvorakae
join:2008-08-09
New York, NY
| said by Jeffrey :You have posted something pretty thought-provoking and interesting. It shows how we're all different. I could sit for hours and try and help someone get passed the on-switch and the old "left click or right click" / "single click or double click" stuff, but I can't sit behind a desk all day and program. We're all different, each with different levels of knowledge and patience. The sole fact alone that you recognize what you're not good at speaks volumes, and will do you a world of good in terms of making a decision. Thanks. I try and keep ahead of myself and analyse what my strengths are. The problem is that so far it hasn't done me any good. I can't quite grasp where I fit in. |
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Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FIOS
·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| said by dvorakae :Thanks. I try and keep ahead of myself and analyse what my strengths are. The problem is that so far it hasn't done me any good. I can't quite grasp where I fit in. Eventually - hopefully sooner than later - you'll find it.
--
"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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gudel
System Lord
join:2004-06-03
Santa Barbara, CA
·Cox HSI
| reply to dvorakae
said by dvorakae :Hello. I just joined. Man, I'm having a rough time trying to figure some things out, and I could do with some advice. I like computers. I love using them, and I have a good knowledge of building them, upgrading etc. I even have the A+. But I find myself really frustrated by my family when they ask me to solve their pc problems, even if they pay me. I'm pretty impatient, and I work extremely quickly, and because of this I'm really starting to question if I have the right personality/temperament for any type of technical repair/higher level IT work. I don't tinker with my home systems, I just want it to work correctly and be a solid dependable work horse. Does anyone know of technical IT related work that involves using a computer, but not fixing it or supporting it? /rant Thanks for listening if nothing else. Whatever you do, just be cool, don't be like this:
»Tech Support.
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wilbilt
Pronto Resurrected
Premium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA
| reply to dvorakae
said by dvorakae :Does anyone know of technical IT related work that involves using a computer, but not fixing it or supporting it? Web Design? There are lots of companies that create/host/maintain sites for other companies and organizations.
In the educational field, there are lots of applications used for day-to-day operations. Student information systems, library management, transportation, grade book software, etc.
Many of the companies that produce these offer the option of hosting them for the customer. You could work in supporting these systems, and have virtually zero end-user contact. Just a thought.
We host our own SIS, transportation and library systems, among others. One of our schools is looking to move to a remotely-hosted web based grade book. I think it sounds like a great idea, as I am at the point of saturation regarding my time and stress level.
Good luck, and I hope you find something that works for you!
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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dvorakae
join:2008-08-09
New York, NY
| said by wilbilt :Web Design? There are lots of companies that create/host/maintain sites for other companies and organizations. In the educational field, there are lots of applications used for day-to-day operations. Student information systems, library management, transportation, grade book software, etc. Many of the companies that produce these offer the option of hosting them for the customer. You could work in supporting these systems, and have virtually zero end-user contact. Just a thought. We host our own SIS, transportation and library systems, among others. One of our schools is looking to move to a remotely-hosted web based grade book. I think it sounds like a great idea, as I am at the point of saturation regarding my time and stress level. Good luck, and I hope you find something that works for you! I haven't done any web design, but isn't it basically just programming? (excuse me if that sounds ignorant ) |
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wilbilt
Pronto Resurrected
Premium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA
| said by dvorakae :I haven't done any web design, but isn't it basically just programming? (excuse me if that sounds ignorant ) Mostly WYSIWYG editors these days. I used to code web pages in a text editor when the web was young and life was simple, but I don't think anyone does that anymore.
Hosted application support could mean anything from database administration, roster imports or any number of other tasks.
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
·Comcast
·AT&T Midwest
 ·Site5.com
| reply to dvorakae
I have been in a Network Administration/Engineering/System Administrator role for a while now. I was even an IT Manager for about 5 years. In that time, I have learned a lot about how IT works and how to be successful in the field.
There are a lot of IT people who are not good with customer service or in other words "dumb end users". The boards here are full of people who like to belittle users who know less than they do. The simple fact of the matter is that a lot of people don't know how to, or don't want to, provide good customer support.
Every job in IT requires a certain amount of support of end users. Some more than others. If you really like the systems administration part of things, well guess what, there are a ton of customer support issues you will have to do. Its very involved because you have to support all the systems on the network and that includes end users. Even the higher level work that you do such as the engineering and design of the network requires some, but not as much as a systems administrator.
Customer support is something I feel I excel at. Helping people that don't have the knowledge I have to become better at working with systems leaves a great feeling inside of me. Which is why I have been successful, even in a crap economy here in MI.
IMHO, you aren't going to get totally away from customer support. The key will be to get the right job where you are more limited to customer support issues. I am sure there are jobs out there where network admins or system admins don't deal with people at all.
The key is experience. Something you don't have a lot of right now. In fact, I don't even know if you work in IT right now, you just say that you are easily frustrated when it comes to working on your own family's computer.
To get the best job, you should be focusing on 3 things.
1. Experience - get as much as you can. You will have to start low on the job board. Everyone does, but the more experience you get, the better jobs you will get. Expect to work in customer support at some point during the first 2-3 years in IT.
2. Education - equally as important. Someone with a 4 year degree in computer information systems is going to climb the ladder faster than someone without a degree.
3. Certifications - study up and get a couple certs. If you work hard in this field and experience and education are good, then you will have your pick of jobs.
Good luck!
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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rec9140
Provoice just DO it
join:2003-07-29
Mulberry, FL
| reply to wilbilt
said by wilbilt :
Mostly WYSIWYG editors these days. I used to code web pages in a text editor when the web was young and life was simple, but I don't think anyone does that anymore.
No WYSIWYG editors here. Kate is your best friend. Any non WYSIWYG IDE code editor is permitted. You want to see what your code does, you upload to the test server and open a browser.
WYSIWYG editors lead to bloated code and point and click coders who have no way to fix the "code" when it bombs or the generating programs screws up etc..
All the little "coders" who come by and get handed a blank piece of paper and told to create a basic HTML page to do some thing even as simple as "Hello world." FAIL EVERYTIME. Next applicant, please.
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Ban all copyright, trademarks, and IP laws!//Lorem ipsum ei pro stet equidem labores, at enim animal expetenda nec. Ea vix argumentum dissentiunt, usu esse ridens ex. |
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