Related Career Categories

• Computer Programmer
• Computer Security Specialist
• Computer Support Specialist
• Computer Technician
• Data Analyst
• Help Desk Technician
• IT Manager
• IT Software Developer
• IT Specialist
• Network Administrator
• Project Manager
• Software Engineer
• Software Manager
• Software Quality Assurance Specialist
• Computer/Systems Administrator
• Systems Analyst
• Web Developer

School and Career Surprises: Tips From People on the Job

Career: "I was very surprised to learn that I would actually be using the skill I learned in college in my current career. Whatever you decide to major in in school make sure you keep that ultimate goal of attaining that career. You will work hard and make a lot of sacrifices while in school, but nothing compares to that day when you are hired into a profession that you truly love. It will probably take some time and a lot of interviews and NO's, but in the long run it's worth it."

Career: "It's surprising how simple my job is. It seems that most of it involves people's ineptitude about technology rather than my own prowess. You do need some personal skills to leverage with management about how to use technology to best fit their needs."

Career: "I was personally surprised about how little people know about computers. In today's world, you would expect people to know how to plug in a mouse. Then again, if everyone could do it, I wouldn't have a job."

School: "I graduated long time ago, it is hard to remember. I was surprised how much time I had to spend in the computer lab at that time. No PC 30 years ago, we need to do punch cards for each program, submitted it to the computer lab and ran the program. Right now, because of the overcrowded campus, I am so surprise to see hundreds of students in one class and the professors had no connection with the students."

Career: "Everything changed so fast, if you leave the field/area for couple years, it is hard to catch up. Especially if a female wants to stay home couple years to take care of the family, it will be hard to get back."

School: "I was surprised by how much mathematical background is needed for Computer Science. This has not been applicable in my profession. I was surprised by how many other students in Computer Science did not know how to actually fix a broken computer; they only know programming."

Career: "I am surprised how quickly new technology arrives and how very very quickly old (and even reliable) technology falls by the way side."

Best & Worst Things About This Career

"I would say that one of the hardest parts of my job is that there are a lot of hours involved. I work anywhere from 45 to 60 hours a week, and at least once a month, I have to work overnight shifts to take care of maintenance issues that are too disruptive to address during normal business hours. On top of this, every few weeks I have to go on 24/7 on-call duty for a week, which severely limits my social life and personal free time during that week. I would say that this is the sort of thing that you can expect from a general career in IT. One of the best things about my job is that its always changing. Technology evolves, and you always have to keep on top of it. It never gets dull...you'll never be doing the same thing five years from now that you were five years ago. I also enjoy the mental challenge of troubleshooting and coming up with solutions to complex IT problems."

"Being on call all of the time, even while on vacation, is very difficult. As I get older, this is becoming more and more of a hardship. One of the really good things about my position is I am constantly being pushed to use my mind in order to come up with better ways of doing things and to keep up with changing technologies."

Tips for Succeeding in This Career

"1. Read as much as you can to stay current with the industry: Books, magazines, websites etc. 2. Certifications certainly aren't required, but you should be prepared to at least get the basics: A+ and Network+ at a minimum. CCNA and Security+ are decent "second tier" certs. Again, these aren't end all be all...they won't guarantee that you will get a job or a promotion, but I can guarantee you that the Powers That Be care enough about them that they will be considered more than you might realize. 3. If you are wanting to work on hardware, be prepared to invest in a setup in your own home, so that you can help train yourself and study. This can be as simple as building a new PC with your own hands, or somehow procuring some Cisco professional grade equipment and building a small managed test network in your living room. Some of this hardware can be virtualized though, which is sometimes a cheaper option, but it's not always the best."

"If you have programming and computer logic skills already, it is a very good idea to include project management courses to the mix. It's also good to know a lot about PC packages. Linux is the latest flavor of Unix to become popular. It is a good starting point. If you would like to earn more, you must move in to the higher end operating systems like HPUX, Solaris and AIX."