I think I WANT to be JOAT, am I doomed?

Doomed in the sense that I'll never fully go way in depth with some things while at the same time not being compensated as well long term?

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Comments

shodown

if it makes you happy then thats the way you play it. No since in doing something you don't love for a dollar. You can find other ways to make more money.

networker050184

The more specialized skills you have the more money you can earn from a strictly technical stand point. There are people that earn lots of money that have broad but shallow technical skill though. They are usually on the consultant side of the house though rather than engineer or similar roles.

paul78

I personally like being a joat. I could never quite deal with just being in a silo or working on the same set of technologies. For me, it hasn't impacted my total compensation. The trick is finding how to contribute to a business's success - that's true regardless of whether you are a specialized technologist or a joat.

BradleyHU

yeah, I personally like being a JOAT trade. You can end up being well compensated in the right environment...

--chris--

I think it also really depends on the area. I will preface by saying there is always an exception....

I am in Metro Detroit, I have met with a couple dozen people who have worked for everything from a small 3 man operation to several Fortune 10 companies and everything in between. In separate conversations, they have all given me the same advice. Get a broad base of knowledge and keep building it up. The best wisdom imparted to me was to move from one area of knowledge to another area that compliment each other.

Now I have also met a VMware guy that does nothing but consult in this area and he is the highest paid guy I have met. I think it is about striking a balance. JOATs seem to be more employable around here. Specialist make the big bucks. You take your pick.

edit: Not to say JOATs are underpaid around here either. We have a very LCOL, so making 60-80K as a JOAT is like making six figures in other parts of the country.

mokaiba

be joat with specialties. Try to get employed in those specialties but if that doesnt work out fall back on the joat skills. If you happen to get a specialties type job (eg security) you can use your joat skills to have a better understanding on how everything should work...makes you a better IT admin imo.

edit:

honestly, why should pay matter. I work a job a monkey could do atm in help desk (if its even that) and every day I go they pay me to do this ****? This job relies on my joat skills and none of my specialties. However, when something goes wrong, I am often asked what I think and what should be done to resolve the issue because of my joat skills and specialties. I had hoped at one time to use this to my advantage but certifications I needed had not been done by the time an opportunity came up and I have decided to start moving on to other prospects. Enough about me, more about pay! Pay should not be the #1 factor in getting a job. First, are you happy with the job choice/field? Is it really what you want to do? Once hired, is it what you were expecting? Is it worth what you are getting paid? If you were offered 45,000US/year, is it enough to provide food and shelter for you and your family? Credit cards and other extras should not factor into this as they can all be avoided, however, if you have those they should be the second question you ask yourself. Can this job provide financial support for my mistakes (sorry, but I consider CCs and loans mistakes)? Have you factored in how much it costs for you to live comfortably? This equation does not include eating out, movies, aka a social life. Does your living cost (rent, food, basic needs) cost less than you make (along with extras)? eg., you make 45,000US/year but it only cost 20,000US/year to live (rent, food, etc) and extras (CCs, loans, car payments, etc) cost you another 8,000US/year. You would make 45,000US but spend 28,000US of it a year. This would leave you with 10,000US(minus assumed 7,000US taxes) a year to completely blow or to save. BTW, that would be 800US/month just sitting around if the yearly amount seems weird. When put into this perspective, is 45,000US really that bad? Sure, others may be making 60-70,000US doing the same thing you do but **** them, only be concerned about yourself as jealously has never done any good.

W Stewart

The senior admin at my current job has held an mcse rhce pretty much any major cert you can think of along with 20 years of experience. He's sitting the ccie this weekend. He's a jack of all trades in his current role and he makes me think of me 20 years from now. If you're passionate about IT and a quick learner then you can get pretty in depth with a lot of technologies.

lsud00d

I'm a JOAT and my path has lead me to a 'Senior Infrastructure Engineer' title, AKA I can plan, design, and build almost anything.

I'm studying for the CCNA and am sitting the VCP course starting next week. I passed the Microsoft 74-409 recently to demonstrate my competency in Hyper-V/SCVMM so in a couple months I will have rounded out my bases for a good bit of the technology stack.

What am I doing after that? I'm on the fence...CCNP/CCNA:S/CCDA to further my networking abilities, VCAP to further my VMware virtualization skillset, or maybe RHCSA to expand on my linux skills.

Note that JOAT's excel in consulting environments or shops that require large oversight for multi-technology complex projects.

paul78

lsud00d wrote: »

Note that JOAT's excel in consulting environments or shops that require large oversight for multi-technology complex projects.

That's actually an excellent point. I think that too often people misunderstand the value that a technology JOAT brings to a business.

Chitownjedi

I was a JOAT, moved up really fast. Personally, not for me, and I wasted years not focusing. But that's just my opinion. The amount of information I have to read just to keep everything up to date is about the same that it would take for me to Master something. Which is why I am choosing to master something.

kohr-ah

I think there is value but I would call it JOAT with wiggle room.

What do I mean by that? Like excel in something like everyone is saying. Lets say Cisco/Juniper for example and you go up to your CCNP (Maybe CCIE, who knows) and/or the Juniper Equivalent there of. But this would support the 80% of your daily duties.

Then the wiggle room. Linux, MCSA, VM-Ware, Aruba, something as your sub category. To cover the other 20%. Depending on what your work needs to you to do or your dream job to do.

Like my work I do network engineering for most my day but I also fix Aruba wireless issues and Call Manager issues when they come up also. Occasionally a Juniper SAS issue. Those are my wiggle rooms. They will help me down the road and I am glad I am learning them but they aren't my bread and butter.

SteveLord

I am a JOAT for almost 9 years now. Keeping an eye on opportunities to transfer into something more specialized. However, the flexibility I have right now is most valuable and is hard to match in other departments.

chrisone

You want to be well rounded but be highly specialized in 1 area.