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Continuing with my recent “jobs” theme…
I mentioned in the previous post that there are some things I don’t want in a job, and that, if I go looking for one, stating those in advance might potentially save both me and a couple of companies a bit of time. But what are those things? And why?
Assuming you’re curious…
- No Microsoft technologies. For many people, having a permanent “scapegoat” (“hey, software crashes occasionally, it’s normal… what can anyone do?”) is probably a boon, but I simply despise the idea. If something goes wrong with my work, I want it to be my fault, my responsibility, and fixable (and avoidable in the future) by me. Windows, MS software, and closed source software in general, take too much control away from the user. I need to be able to vouch for my tools.
Note: I don’t mean that I refuse to ever touch MS software. If I’m in a company, I’m the Unix admin, a Windows server needs something done to it and the Windows admin is at home sick, of course I’ll help. I simply don’t want it as part of my “regular” work. - No helpdesk work. I’ve done it in the past, both to calling customers and to co-workers, and didn’t like it. This is not “arrogance” or “I’m too good for it”; I’m simply a technically-inclined, introverted, and sometimes shy person, and, at work, I feel much more at ease with computers than with people.
Note: as before, I wouldn’t refuse to help a co-worker in need, sporadically. I simply don’t want it as part of the job description. And, yes, “everyone in the IT department does some helpdesk” does qualify as “part of the job description”.
- No outsourcing. Sorry if I offend someone, but I sincerely believe that outsourcing is an evil, evil thing. As most countries have incredibly collectivist laws which make it less expensive and time-consuming to keep paying an useless employee than firing him (because he “needs” the job, so the law is on his side, and other crap), this has given birth to companies which employ people themselves, pay them a salary, and then “rent” them to real companies, for much more money, just so companies can “fire” a bad worker with a snap of fingers. And companies prefer to pay twice the money, if not more, just so they don’t risk ending up with an “unfirable” parasite. Obviously, I don’t like the concept. In fact, I think it stinks. I’m not saying that there aren’t very nice people as part of outsourcing companies, but, to me, those companies shouldn’t exist in the first place.
Besides, when working as a “consultant”, you can go one day to a company, another day to another, and I don’t like that. Personal taste. And most companies will treat you as a “stranger”, instead of as part of the “team”. And you won’t have any power to change anything for the better, only do as you’re told. And you’ll have to do reports and more reports. Why spend your life in a situation you hate?
A little clarification, mostly about the first two: you may be thinking that I’m some conceited “prima donna”, that I accept working only in ideal conditions, and expect to do only things I like. That is not the case at all. I’m not naïve; I know that in any job a person, from time to time, has to do something boring or frustrating. But those cases should be the exception, not the rule. If you know in advance you will hate a significant part of a job, why take it at all? It’s not the job you want, and you’re not the person they want, either.
A simple metaphor: let’s say you’re a gardener, and you’re also able to cook, but you hate cooking. Would you take a job as cook? Or, if someone wanted to hire you as a gardener, but then told you that you’d also have to cook for the entire family every day. Would you still want the job, in that situation?
I think not… and it’s the same scenario, here.
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Hi,
Altough i totally agree with the points you made i also think that if you have to work in Portugal we are still a few years away from the kind of specialization in IT that you wrote about. Despite a few steps in the right direction most Portuguese companies still don’t have a clue about technology and that if you specialize in hardware you’re not a programmer. Most IT people are expected to do anything related to computers, networks, cellphones, photocopiers (it’s true, happened to me today).
I think this can only be solved with a new generation of business managers, and a new way of thinking about IT and technology in general.
Keep up the good writing,
cdaniel
I like the no-Microsoft rule… I don’t know about Portugal, but everyone I know of around here uses Windows. If I wanted to get a job in IT*, I wouldn’t have much of a choice.
*Nobody would hire me, anyway. I’m always too young. Damn.
[...] I’ve said here before: no outsourcing, no MS stuff, no helpdesk. I don’t see this as “arrogance” on my [...]
[...] já disse em mais detalhe noutro sítio, não estou interessado em outsourcing, tecnologias Microsoft, ou helpdesk. Não encaro isto como [...]