Is IT world totally screwed up?

[AMIGA-FAN]

Hi IT pros out there. While navigating on the INTERNET I came across a forum on TechRepublic where discussions are taking place on the IT world, particularly as far as jobs in this sector are concerned. After reading a few posts, I came to the conclusion that the IT world IS TOTALLY SCREWED UP and I can confirm that on personal experience.

Take a look at that:

http://ct.com.com/click?q=8a-3yDdQXnnaHb_njEuF3Xc9DXmZwgd

Would be nice to hear further comments on this matter from other IT pros all over the world.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

Pretty much so, I think.. As well as much other markets, but I keep quiet before this thread's being moved to the CH politics section

[T_Bone]

Yep, get out. seriously.

Anything's better than IT.
Go into healthcare, unlimited potential

[sir_inferno]

yep, but i don't see how age should determine whether you have a job or not...

if a 45year old can touch type faster than a 30 year old, has much more programming ability, knows about older hardware and is reading up about new hardware...


(don't say: Oh but they come up with bright new ideas)

[Speelgoedmannetje]

T_Bone wrote:
Yep, get out. seriously.

Anything's better than IT.
Go into healthcare, unlimited potential

Matters what branch of IT you are aiming at.
Probably I got the good branch, I got a job offer while I was at school (I had to refuse :boohoo:)

[Vincent]

I've just got to look at my mum's work to see that IT is totally screwed up.

She works high up in a respected solicitor's office (not as an IT person tho) and every single IT person in her building used to be a receptionist.  Not one single person is qualified for the job.

Quite a lot of the time she has to phone me to solve her problems - some of which I can't help her with becuase they have special software for their stuff.

The last time I spoke to her about work she had to get the IT guys to reinstall a network card - they had the new card for about 2 weeks before they figured out how to install it!

[darksun9210]

i used to do contract consultancy work, and the guy who ran the company i was working for, his wife ran a legal company, and they had just got in some win98 machines from a PC box shifter but were having trouble. so he asked if i could go have a look (still paid for my time from his company), and give him a run down of what the issues were.

after getting over my initial shock of the amount of fit muff working there, and trying hard not to step on my own tounge. it transpired that the win98 machines (this was about 3 years ago) wern't talking on the network. why? an ageing novel server that one of the seniour partners might as well have picked up at a car boot sale was the main database server, and the network infrastructure was... BNC! oh my god!
spend the next two days patching win98 to run with novel, switching 98 to not send encrypted passwords or scrambled IP packets, and changing the PINK colour config the girls had setup to something not so visually violent so they didn't get eyestrain...

but yeah, basicly it was setup by one of the senior partners as a common conception at the moment is that IT is just about plugging things in.

wrote in my report the various upgrades. spent alot of time playing with cables under desks... (i'm not a leg man really i'm not).

but yeah, after the dotcom boom, alot of companies arn't investing in the people to sort all this out, and are suffering in the process..

[whabang]

AMIGA-FAN wrote:
Hi IT pros out there. While navigating on the INTERNET I came across a forum on TechRepublic where discussions are taking place on the IT world, particularly as far as jobs in this sector are concerned. After reading a few posts, I came to the conclusion that the IT world IS TOTALLY SCREWED UP and I can confirm that on personal experience.

Take a look at that:

http://ct.com.com/click?q=8a-3yDdQXnnaHb_njEuF3Xc9DXmZwgd

Would be nice to hear further comments on this matter from other IT pros all over the world.

The problem is that companies don't care about customer service anymore. Companies like Dell cut costs on technical support and customer service just so that they can lower prices even more. Non-IT firms fire large parts of the IT-departments in order to cut costs. Everyone want to have, eat, and sell the cookie at the same time.
The entire industry is about to drop dead... :-(

[GreggBz]

I have a degree, right, not in IT but computer science.
I've been looking for a long time for a programming job, what I would love to do actually. Unfortunately, no one is hiring. Instead, I worked in retail sales and various other not so admariable positions.
As far as IT is concerend, I currently work for a very large and very rich American company that is in the process of laying off IT people left and right. I might be seeing special circumstances because of the exact nature of the company I work for..  The reason I have my job is because a whole department got laid off. (Mind you, I'm basically a clerical person, and a research assistant for IT accounts payable. I make pretty Excell worksheets all day and call reps at IBM to ask what kind of contract this was.. etc.) In the cubicles next to me, there are about 40 on lease IBM workstations sitting around in a pile because the people that used to use them are now waiting in line at the unemployment agency. It's really rather depressing.  
Screwed up? Hugely. The irony of what I do.. I'm really mad.. Oh well.

[Dalamar]

Heheh.  see my post in the Unhappy Campers thread.  I would only add to that the Cisco/Microsoft/ 90 day wonder certifications have put unqualified people into jobs that would have once been held by people that had a passion for the tech.  Now the guy pumping your gas yesterday is implementing client/server technology for your company.  It's impossible to work with when your background is that of playing with the stuff for as long as you can remember (i.e. me).  I have a reputation amongst many that I'm unusually hard on applicants.  I don't think I am, I just ask hard questions to screen people that aren't qualified out.  

 :-D

[AMIGA-FAN]

Oh dear, till now my idea was that have been rather unfortunate and unlucky when I choosed to be an IT pro. I only have around 10 yrs of work experience in the IT market; I didn't get to the end of my studies in Information Technology at the University in Milan as I needed to get to work. Have worked in 4 different places the most important being a rather respected and reknowned Company in the UK. So, despite not holding a degree most tell me that I have had some very good work experiences. I'm now rather disappointed of the fact that the IT market is not hiring anymore, not as it used to do years ago and changing job in this sector has nowadays become more and more difficult. I therefore find it difficult to believe that, despite your degree, you are having difficulties in finding a job in the IT, even though the situation is not as good as we would want it to be. Here in Italy have recently declined some proposals simply because I deeemed them inappropriate for my interests and experiences, the simple fact being that only specific IT sectors (like TLC for instance) are hiring today. As I said, till now I thought that the US were the heaven for the IT... It looks like is not so anymore....

[Fade]

An article with some stats on IT in the US.

[redrumloa]

T_Bone wrote:
Yep, get out. seriously.

Anything's better than IT.
 

Agreed. About 8-9 years ago I almost made the jump to IT. Companies were hiring just about any idiot and would pay them a fortune. Luckily I didn't, and I stuck it out. Boy have times changed. Companies now have the pick of the liter, and can pay them crap.

Get into something related to realestate if you are in the US.

[T_Bone]

redrumloa wrote:

T_Bone wrote:
Yep, get out. seriously.

Anything's better than IT.
 

Agreed. About 8-9 years ago I almost made the jump to IT. Companies were hiring just about any idiot and would pay them a fortune. Luckily I didn't, and I stuck it out. Boy have times changed. Companies now have the pick of the liter, and can pay them crap.

Get into something related to realestate if you are in the US.

Yes! (And be sure and {bleep} about MLS not supporting linux!)

or if you're one of those nuts that feels the need to stay in school for years, go into medicine  :-)

On another note, one area that's exploded within the past decade is SELF STORAGE, and amazingly, it hasn't been saturated! I don't get it, they're everywhere, and the people I talk to say it's easy money and no matter how many lots they build, there's always demand for more. I asked what they'll do if that changes, and they said by the time that happens, there's developement all around the lot and they can sell the land alone at a profit. Who knew?

[asian1]

>Scarce IT Jobs.

Hi
In NZIS (New Zealand Immigration Service), IT Jobs are included in Priority List (POL).
In Australia, NZ, the unemployment rate is the lowest since 1987-1989 (4.4 Percent in NZ, 5.6 Percent in OZ).
IBM recently bought IT Outsourcing companies in India.
The Motorola IT Development unit in Bangalore had received 5 stars from a computer magazine (highest rating).