Many people mistakenly believe that IT professionals have very high salaries. However, few understand how hard it is to work in this area. As in any profession, working in IT has its advantages and disadvantages. This article is intended to dispel unrealistic ideas about working in the IT field. But if you decide to look for a job in this area, start with a resume, make it great or find help in the best resume writing service https://finditcareer.com/best-resume-writing-services-near-my-location.
1. Irregular working hours.
There are many IT majors, but most have one thing in common - irregular working hours. If you want to work in IT, you must be prepared for the fact that you have to work at night and on weekends.
2. Lack of personal time.
Working in technical support, you will be tied to a mobile phone. This means that at any time you can be called to work in case of emergency. If misfortune happens, you, like a superhero, should be ready to give up all your affairs and go to save the world.
3. Communication with embittered people.
The worst part of working in IT (in particular, in technical support) is that you will have to face many embittered people. People who turn to you for help are upset and expect that you will solve their problem right now. Often they are hostile, because the “problem with your system” prevents them from doing their job.
4. Urgent work.
Many IT jobs must be completed on time. For example, developers need to write a program, and a network administrator must create user accounts or deploy and test a new system by a specific date. Often, the deadlines are completely unrealistic for the amount of work that needs to be done, but in any case you have to keep within them.
5. Repair of home computers.
Another thing that you are likely to encounter is that your colleagues will ask you to repair their personal equipment. Helping people is good. But sometimes, you may just be very busy or they may not understand that they are asking for impossible things.
6. The constant lie.
Users will constantly lie to you about the nature of the problems they face. Nobody wants to take responsibility, so users are trying to hide the true cause of the problem. This applies not only to internal users, but also to vendors. They will constantly tell you that the problem is not related to their software, but to the hardware or operating system. Well, suppliers in general can say anything to sell their goods.
7. Continuous training.
The IT industry is constantly evolving. In order to do their job, IT professionals have to study a huge amount of information, which is very out of date. The only way out is to constantly train. It's complicated. And the point here is not so much in the complexity of the technical information being studied, but in the fact that you have to study after hours and, most likely, at your own expense.
8. Not always everything works as it should.
When the deadlines for the project are already running out, you usually encounter some technical problems that lead to a complete stoppage of the project. Computer systems are a complex thing, and sometimes, despite all their efforts, they simply do not work as they should. Any little thing, for example, an incompatible version of the chip for a series of motherboards, can disrupt the entire project. It is up to you to find the problem and fix it.
9. Bureaucracy.
IT has always had to deal with certain office policies and bureaucracy. However, in recent years the level of this bureaucracy has increased several times. Incidents in large companies have led IT professionals to comply with a number of regulations. And this almost always makes IT projects more complex, time-consuming and costly.
10. Your profession can get rid of itself.
Professional IT professionals do their job so that everything works perfectly. But if everything works, then IT professionals are no longer needed. Many believe that IT professionals do not have to worry about being left without work. However, to work with the latest generation software products for managing a huge number of systems, a very small number of specialists are required. In addition, many IT positions are disappearing as systems move to the cloud. And although the IT industry itself will not disappear in the near future, but knowledge in the field of IT does not guarantee employment at all.
1. Irregular working hours.
There are many IT majors, but most have one thing in common - irregular working hours. If you want to work in IT, you must be prepared for the fact that you have to work at night and on weekends.
2. Lack of personal time.
Working in technical support, you will be tied to a mobile phone. This means that at any time you can be called to work in case of emergency. If misfortune happens, you, like a superhero, should be ready to give up all your affairs and go to save the world.
3. Communication with embittered people.
The worst part of working in IT (in particular, in technical support) is that you will have to face many embittered people. People who turn to you for help are upset and expect that you will solve their problem right now. Often they are hostile, because the “problem with your system” prevents them from doing their job.
4. Urgent work.
Many IT jobs must be completed on time. For example, developers need to write a program, and a network administrator must create user accounts or deploy and test a new system by a specific date. Often, the deadlines are completely unrealistic for the amount of work that needs to be done, but in any case you have to keep within them.
5. Repair of home computers.
Another thing that you are likely to encounter is that your colleagues will ask you to repair their personal equipment. Helping people is good. But sometimes, you may just be very busy or they may not understand that they are asking for impossible things.
6. The constant lie.
Users will constantly lie to you about the nature of the problems they face. Nobody wants to take responsibility, so users are trying to hide the true cause of the problem. This applies not only to internal users, but also to vendors. They will constantly tell you that the problem is not related to their software, but to the hardware or operating system. Well, suppliers in general can say anything to sell their goods.
7. Continuous training.
The IT industry is constantly evolving. In order to do their job, IT professionals have to study a huge amount of information, which is very out of date. The only way out is to constantly train. It's complicated. And the point here is not so much in the complexity of the technical information being studied, but in the fact that you have to study after hours and, most likely, at your own expense.
8. Not always everything works as it should.
When the deadlines for the project are already running out, you usually encounter some technical problems that lead to a complete stoppage of the project. Computer systems are a complex thing, and sometimes, despite all their efforts, they simply do not work as they should. Any little thing, for example, an incompatible version of the chip for a series of motherboards, can disrupt the entire project. It is up to you to find the problem and fix it.
9. Bureaucracy.
IT has always had to deal with certain office policies and bureaucracy. However, in recent years the level of this bureaucracy has increased several times. Incidents in large companies have led IT professionals to comply with a number of regulations. And this almost always makes IT projects more complex, time-consuming and costly.
10. Your profession can get rid of itself.
Professional IT professionals do their job so that everything works perfectly. But if everything works, then IT professionals are no longer needed. Many believe that IT professionals do not have to worry about being left without work. However, to work with the latest generation software products for managing a huge number of systems, a very small number of specialists are required. In addition, many IT positions are disappearing as systems move to the cloud. And although the IT industry itself will not disappear in the near future, but knowledge in the field of IT does not guarantee employment at all.