What is Digg?78 Comments
- jonathan4465, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31I work as a network administrator, and I all I can say is to make it in I.T. you have to have more than a professional interest in the work, it almost has to be a passion. Also, you can't be all things to all people. i.e.- I'm an expert with Server 2003, Unix, Cisco, SQL 2005, Macs, Citrix, Novell, Eudora, Lotus Notes....on and on and on and on. My advice is pick an area of I.T. that really interests you and focus on that. Being versatile is good, but not too versatile that your employer thinks you don't have a good working knowledge of one thing. For example, I'm a network administrator and engineer, not a SQL programmer. I know a little SQL, enough to get by in fact, but I wouldn't tout myself as a DBA.
That's my .02 - dsignr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26This is such a spam blog.
"Earn a professional certificate" is followed by links to their own certs. Bury. - rm999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"Raise Your Standard of Living"
Wasn't IT ranked one of the most stressful and least happy professions recently? - Zunger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19I don't understand these. One week it's easy to find a job, the next it's hard. Someone needs to make up their ***** minds.
- lithuin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Don't be scared; just club everyone in your college that's smarter than you on their head until they become stupid.
The secret of life is not to be good at something, but to just be better at it than those around you.
Rather than try to raise yourself up, you should just bring everyone else down.
I'll give you dating advice next week. Interestingly enough, it also involves clubs. - rm999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18For God's sake, that hasn't been funny in months. It doesn't even make sense in the context of this story.
- pwallroth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Want to develop your IT skills? This persons actual advice: take a class. Woah, did you have to take a class to be able to dole out that super helpful advice? Want to develop your IT skills: stop reading digg and develop them.
- rondeth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Did a C programmer ***** in your cereal or something?
- unibomber999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Highly competative and getting worse"
I guess it depends on the market, but I work for a growing company and I find that it's actually getting harder and harder to find qualified applicants to fill our open positions. Sure, we get hundreds of resumes for each job, but very few, if any, have the skills we're looking for. Then you find someone that looks good on paper and a drooling idiot shows up at the interview.
We actually had one guy joke about bringing his Glock into work after being asked how he deals with a bad day at work. Amazingly, he didn't get the job... - buckaroo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@ "I'm curious, do you think IT is one of those rare fields where skills++==money++"
Yes.
I'm versatile. My motto has been "never stop learning" for 25+ years. I love learning new things in this field (and dropping stuff like Tcl/AOLServer out of my mind.. yuk). What I despise is the attitude of "I'm out of school. I'm done learning. Pay me."
If you're not passionate about Tech, and just got into it for the money, get out. At least be honest about it and go into finance, or be a stockbroker, etc. Make room for someone that cares.
More skills in this field gives additional insight towards solving problems, seeing patterns, etc. (duh ;-) - funk49, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6chewybass gives somes great advice. You can learn to be a network admin with some self-study books and a few network devices. Hell, you can even buy programs that simulate the whole thing and at the end of the day, you saved money that you would have paid for classes.
The one area I would recommend to anyone thinking of IT, Information Security. Here's why:
1) Pay scale is at the top end of the IT sector due to knowledge needed in multiple areas.
2) Most companies are loathe to outsource it. Think about it...would you want someone in Bangalore managing your IDS?
3) The massive shortage of experienced Info Sec professionals.
4) Lots of areas to specialize...research (app exploit), auditor, analyst, management, design, etc.
Want 6 figures easy? Get into InfoSec. - coustoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"egotistical social retards"
Shouldn't be too hard on yourself, I'm sure you have thousands of virtual friends on myspace. - TechScribe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Agreed, but the "join the military" part isn't necessary to get a clearance.
- civicex2g, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5To generalize is to be an idiot.....
- civicex2g, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5After looking at my comment, I have something else to state.
I don't mean to call you an Idiot, but it just bothers me this mindset that people have about us IT folks. Sure we love computers and we understand the Tech stuff, but just because some of the IT people are pricks (I have run into a couple) doesn't mean people have to start saying that we are all pompous jerks who think our sh*t don't stink.
I for one have a passion for cars...THAT is my number 1 hobby, IT is just something I understand and really like, and something that comes naturally to me.
I go out and have a few drinks with my non-IT friends. Most of my other friends who are into this IT field are the same as me... normal. We understand the business end of things, my minor was in Business, and now I'm 1/2 way into getting my MBA.
OK. gotta go fix a printer for a lower life form.. :-) - Homunculiheaded, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I think the problem can be found in this line here: "In the job market, education is king." While education is often a very important part of landing that first professional job, education is not 'king'. There are countless articles on digg from employers essentially saying "There are not enough QUALIFIED employees", people always think that education equates skills, which in my experience is pretty far from the truth. A degree simply mean you passed the required classes, that's it. Many people rush out of school with little or no experience, hence no proven skill, and expect to land awesome jobs.
I'm not knocking education, I spend plenty of time in classrooms enhancing and developing new skills, but I know that the end of the class is the beginning of the learning experience. - ChewyBass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4One more item that should have been listed is to experiment on yourself. You don't have to run a million dollar network to gain experience. For a little money you can setup a network and try out alternatives. I know a few people that run this type of setup and the experience they gain gets transformed into employment.
- humperdeath, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5OK, I've been a programmer for the past 22 years. I do not totally agree with this article. There are actually far fewer young people entering IT lately but that is because there are not as many well paying jobs. When I fist started, you could write your own ticket, because you really had to know what you were doing. DASD was expensive and processors were SO SLOW compared to now that every calculation had to be optimized and thought out. Now, it is so much easier, with intelli-type editors and drag-drop design studios that it doesn't take too much thought to but an app together. So, I do encourage younger people to get into IT, but not just by self-education, get some degree. Learn what goes on behind all that flash and cool effects. If you really want to learn this stuff and can do it the right way, you will go far. (sorry about the sermon, but after all, that is what this website is for, no?)
- BigPapi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"If you are working in IT you don't deserve to have any standard of living. 'Egotistical social retards' is at least two words too long of a description."
Then it's a good thing you're using digg because last time I checked most of their staff was in IT. - mrswirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wasn't trying to denegrate IT folks because I was one once, and in a lot of ways, still consider myself one. I install and maintain our rack servers; I do software installs and tech support; I still code a little bit here and there....but my role has evolved away from being a straight tech guy now.
I guess my main point was that my career did not really take off until I started to look at the business as a whole and not just the individual technical parts. Once I got to start meeting with customers and sales prospects and really started to understand what the IT functions were attempting to support, it really changed my perspective on things.
Now I try to really understand what the business needs are that we're working to solve - what are the underlying problems that IT can address and how can that be leveraged into either making money or saving money for the company.
You can find a lot of people who will trip all over themselves willing to port your SQL server database to MySQL or can build the next whiz-bang AJAX interface; but find me somebody who can intelligently explain to me WHY we need an AJAX interface and what it will do to save/make me money and I'll be willing to pay a premium for that talent. - TechScribe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why digg down Mrswirl? He's absolutely right. Of course, there are prima donnas in every profession who can't handle a little constructive criticism, and I guess that may be the source of the digg downs.
civicex2g, your comment applied the first time you used it, but not here. - wiggles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Here's a piece of advice from a 30 year old corporate drone for you and your fellow college students: Do what I should have done and get a masters degree before you hit the work force. An MBA is the gift that keeps on giving. I'd probably be getting close to 6 figures if I had one right now.
Even if you don't go into management, companies want their people to understand how business works, and an MBA will go a long way to providing you with that. - rondeth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Exactly! If there is one job one can train solely for with an Internet connection and a computer, it's programming. All it takes is a desire to learn and the wherewithal to stick with it...and a genuine interest in the practice. Go download OSS code in whatever language you're interested in and get cracking.
- web.phreak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey...
I resemble that generalization... ;p
l33t skillz > social skills
Who needs people anyway... lol - sfontain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Most of my coworkers in IT aren't pompous asses. However, they do get a bit riled up when non-technical people make it clear that they think they know more about IT than the guy who does IT for a living.
There are opinionated people in every profession who become petulant in the face of the slightest resistance to their opinions. It isn't just IT. - civicex2g, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Education is something that no person can take from you. ( I sound like a commercial)
- humperdeath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sorry, another bit of advice: Web design is only one part of programming. It is very easy to do, and there are certainly plenty of jobs, but this is where the competition is fierce. Do yourself a favor and learn other 'legacy' languages, believe it or not there are a lot of jobs for COBOL, RPG, NATURAL developers. It may not be as sexy, but it pays the bills! And most people that know these older languages are near retirement age. But the programs are still going. Good luck!
- Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5It wasn't funny the first time.
- 1nhuman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+41. Don't spend too much time reading Digg.
- coustoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have never found that number of languages = money, or that having a masters degree will get you more money.
The biggest thing employers are looking for is talent, talent that's developed through experience and initiative.
you can see from how people write about their work experience in their resumes or talk in interviews what the depth of their experience is. - Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Raise your standard of living?
My God I absolutely love IT but there's no way I'd get involved in this industry.
Crappy pay, crappy jobs, crappy people. - starguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sitting in front of a computer staring at a screen is not a life.
- djangoxl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, this is EXACTLY what I've been looking for......
I will try all of these tips out one by one and keep you posted on the results:-) - n0other, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree with you completely as the same thing can be observed in my university. People think "I spend most of my time in front of my PC so I should study IT, the pay is good I hear" - but the problem is, most of that time is spent playing video games or "socializing" on the web. Another group of people think about IT in a dated way, they are usually good at math and think that IT is all about that. IT is about knowing how to use things correctly, about solving real world problems and not drifting behind the continuous flow of innovation.
- Ethek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I would add join the military and get a clearance as one of the more productive routes to take. Guaranteed work for those that have the mentality the military needs. Also, when you do step back into the slipstream of the civilian work force, your resume is a world apart from the rest if you can strip out the military speak.
- morningmatters, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't agree with everything in the article, specifically on the topic of acquiring more degrees and certificates. Putting down $200K for a master's degree ($40K tuition + lost wages for 2 years) is not for everyone, and even to this day I am not sure if it was worth it for me because I think I could of gotten to where I am now without it. Now if this article were addressing investment bankers, then getting MBA is a natural choice. But I know plenty of people in the IT field who are not utilizing their MBAs because their job functions are pure technical. For some odd reason IT people think getting MBAs means they will be promoted into management automatically. Unfortunately I don't think that's the reality.
For the programmer types who wish to get into the IT Business side, try to become a sale engineer or business analyst. If you are still young join a consulting firm such as Accenture or IBM Global Consulting. Consulting is by far the best way to get experience and income, the only downside is excessive traveling. I certainly wish I had went down this route a lot earlier...
- un1x4dm1n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't buy this whole "get your masters degree" garbage. I head up a team of 8 systems admins and 2 network admins. I've been around the block a few times and worked at the same company for several years. Fact is, either you have it or you don't. You either love what you do and you make an effort to excel at it, or you don't. If you've got passion, you can make it in this field. Some of the best admins I've ever seen have a GED and just learned all the intricacies of an OS and cross platform deployment that they're simply worth their weight in gold. And they are paid damn well.
A degree doesn't make you smart. Certifications don't make you smart. But if you can survive an interview with some of the best IT guys I've personally met... you've got a fighting chance of becoming something great in tech. I don't care what kind of paper you have to back it up, if you're good... I'll spot you. And you WILL get a job. And you WILL be paid well. - mrswirl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4What most people who work in IT forget is that there is a business running behind all of the tech stuff they work on everyday.
Companies need people who understands the business and the reasons for why IT is needed in that business. Most tech people are so closely wrapped up in their day to day projects or the next network upgrade that they forget the reasons why they are there in the first place. I'm not saying you should know all the intimate details that the CEO does but at least have functional knowledge as to what your company sells and how your particular tech project will help benefit the bottom line.
Somebody who can understand and articulate the business needs and relate them to a technical solution will always be in demand and can really command the big bucks. It's not the kind of thing you can outsource either.
In other words: don't be just a code-monkey. - geronimo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have always found that if you keep an open mind and constantly learn, your standard of living will go up, you will be happier and you will be more secure in yourself. At that point you should start your own business and take control of your life, getting rid of people who want to see you fail or don't share your values, and finding people who share your values. You should be living life without competing against coworkers and struggling to attain a higher title so you can show off to people. Ideally you live in a world where you celebrate everyone's success and you see infinite possibilities, never wishing anyone to fail. Maybe you can pity people but that should be the extent of it. At that point everything else falls in line, you learn to speak better, you take classes to work on those weaknesses. Any criticism is considered, in fact you ask for criticism so you know what to work on. You will find yourself amused at the thought of caring about a title or competing against coworkers. Everything will be easier at that point since you are in tune to yourself vs other people.
- Wuss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Missed one huge point.
The one's mentioned are all good, but totally obvious.
One of the best, if not most important trait you can have in IT are PEOPLE SKILLS.
Yes, being able to communicate effectively to non-IT people is integral in finding a job. Having social skills that make people instantly feel like they could hang out with you outside of a work enviroment is crucial. This to is a bit obvious, but in the field of IT seems to be more sparse then others. Let's be honest, in IT, there's a lot more nerds there are then in other fields. And by nerds I don't mean how you dress, etc., but the fact that you can't carry yourself in a conversation without making people want you to shutup or go away.
In a job market where all resumes look identical, the make or break will come down to one question...
"Do I LIKE you?" - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1crappy pay?
Where are you working? Where I'm from help desk level 1s, password-resetting call-escalating masters, start at 35k. Systems Analysts start at over 50k, and most other entry level jobs start in the high 40s.
I wouldn't call that crappy pay. Ask a psycology major or a liberal arts major about crappy pay. - Anidzuki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, according to CNN, IT is rated 7th place overall in best jobs in the world. First place being Software Engineering, which is in the same hierarchy in ICT programs in Universities and Polytechnics.
- siekosunfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Instead of focusing on a field like IT, which tends to be the lowest common denominator as far as technology jobs are concerned, go into something worthwhile like Electrical/Computer Engineering. I guarantee the starting pay is far better for CENs/EEs with just a Bachelors when compared to someone with a Masters in CIS/MIS.
- Comatose51, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you want to be in IT then get a job in the finance field (such as hedge funds). Same IT work but much higher pay. I was making 6 digits 2.5 years out of college but decided to change jobs because IT was just too stressful for me and programming, not computer management, was what I love (got my degree in CS, not MIS).
- un1x4dm1n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Crappy pay? Tell me who in this world would balk at $100k/year with 10 years experience on the job? The good ones are paid well... don't kid yourself. If you suck? Yeah, the pay sucks right along with you. We wouldn't presume to try to sell you the easy job lifestyle where you just make phat bank, (yeah, digg me down for the antiquated term), right out of the starting gate. You have to apply yourself and keep getting better all the time.
- mortigon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like what I'm doing... I don't want to change. I realize no job is really going to mean easy money. I just hope the money is where I need it to be so I can stay in the field I like.
- fintheman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So you or the company sponsoring you is willing to shell out the 50-75k it costs to do a security clearance?
I love Security Clearances, making sure that only vets get the good government IT jobs. - n0other, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's so out of context that it seemed funny to me this time :)
- Leg0z, on 10/12/2007, -0/+195% of the people I see going from college to IT think it's some kind of get-rich-quick scheme... they may even land a good job... but they won't hold it for long... and soon enough, they go work for a relative or worse, GeekSquad.
People should really think twice about going into IT... there are still plenty of good jobs in engineering fields.
- Agent_M, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1wiggles posted: "Do what I should have done and get a masters degree before you hit the work force. An MBA is the gift that keeps on giving. I'd probably be getting close to 6 figures if I had one right now."
Is this really how it is over in the States (yes, I'm assuming you're from there, so forgive me if I'm wrong)? Over here in Canada, I've had numerous people from the industry tell me to get at LEAST two years' work experience before trying to get an MBA (this doesn't include research-based Masters degrees).
I say just do school and get your certificates while you're working if you're a fresh grad. There are a lot of good night school courses out there that you can do while getting money from your day job. -
Show 51 - 74 of 74 discussions
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is