Friends in Tech » Career

Busting IT Out of the Silo

Mike McBride — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:32:53 +0000

I was reading Kevin Eikenberry’s blog this evening, specifically his post on the Most Overlooked Networking Opportunity, about networking within your organization, and this bit really caught my eye:

Be a silo buster. If your organization operates in a fragmented, highly departmentalized, siloed way, decide to be the silo buster. All these ideas can help you do this, but the point here is to make a conscious decision to network with the purpose of building relationships that will begin to break down these barriers.

That certaily sounds like most IT departments to me. How many IT departments have a tech/(l)users mentality, where you don’t really see the people you supports as anything more than users, and they don’t see you as much more than a bad SNL skit? How much better would things work if your IT techs were seen as actual human beings? In this economic climate, how much more value to you appear to be bringing to the table when everyone knows you, talks to you, and respects you, when you’re taking the time to learn about what they do and how technology might be able to help? How much could that value mean when it comes time to decide who to lay off?

Give it a shot, you might be surprised just how talented and interesting those (l)users are.

Speaking of IT Careers

Mike McBride — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:30:56 +0000

How about 10 Dirty Little Secrets you Should Know About Working in IT?

Do they sound familiar to you? Personally I think they ring pretty true, although I’m currently an hourly employee so I don’t get the “they own you” quite as much. They tend to not call you off hours too often when they have to pay you extra for it!

But I’ve definitely seen all of these things go on in one organization or another. How about you?

Link via Geek News Central

Tags: ITCareers,, Secrets,, TechRepublic

Having Second Thoughts?

Mike McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 01:32:22 +0000

According to eWeek, many of you IT folks are having second thoughts about your career choices.

“If you ask an IT pro what they think of their chosen career path, a surprising number might pause before giving you a litany of reasons that the technology workplace leaves them feeling unsettled.

They love what they do, but they’re not sure IT is a great place to be doing it anymore. Even worse, they’re not sure that they would encourage their own computer-inclined children to pursue the same line of work.”

Now, personally, I’m not really having second thoughts. On the other hand, I’ve moved out of general IT into a specialized field, Litigation Technology, so maybe I’m not the best person to represent the IT field any longer.

What say you, IT pros? Are you having second thoughts? Would you discourage a geeky kid from pursuing IT as a career?

Tags: Career,, IT