Experience vs formal training
W Stewart
Member Posts: 794 ■■■■□□□□□□
So the senior admin at my current job with his 23 years of experience didn't seem to understand that asterisks in a traceroute may be due to icmp being blocked on a router in between and not necessarily because of latency issues, or that ssl is just an encryption protocol and doesn't actually listen on port 443 until it's combined with a service like http or a vpn, or that dropping the memory cache in linux doesn't really free up ram and it only increases cpu load, or that an ssl handshake failing in nagios (which listens on port 5666) has nothing to do with sshd being in the hosts.deny file. I knew all of this stuff with my 3 years of experience which got me thinking about the current state of IT and garbage IT professionals.
While I believe experience is important in IT, it's possible to spend 23 years doing stuff the wrong way. I think too many professionals rely on experience in the sense of(I did it this way before so this must be the right way to do it), rather than actually trying to gain an understanding of the technologies they use so that they can do things the right way. I don't think it's a lack of passion for the business on his end. He's the type of guy to stay late working on projects and to work on projects at home as well. He's just not as thorough as I am in learning stuff and has most likely leaned on his experience a little too much which can be very limited depending on the situations you've dealt with and how your perceived those situations.
Maybe more formal IT training would ensure that more IT professionals knew some of this fundamental stuff. I think certs have definitely helped me understand the basics but I don't see any reason why somebody with 23 years in who seems to actually enjoy this career field hasn't picked up on some of that stuff. He claims to have held almost every major cert there is to get but he skipped the comptia certs because he didn't think they were worth anything.
While I believe experience is important in IT, it's possible to spend 23 years doing stuff the wrong way. I think too many professionals rely on experience in the sense of(I did it this way before so this must be the right way to do it), rather than actually trying to gain an understanding of the technologies they use so that they can do things the right way. I don't think it's a lack of passion for the business on his end. He's the type of guy to stay late working on projects and to work on projects at home as well. He's just not as thorough as I am in learning stuff and has most likely leaned on his experience a little too much which can be very limited depending on the situations you've dealt with and how your perceived those situations.
Maybe more formal IT training would ensure that more IT professionals knew some of this fundamental stuff. I think certs have definitely helped me understand the basics but I don't see any reason why somebody with 23 years in who seems to actually enjoy this career field hasn't picked up on some of that stuff. He claims to have held almost every major cert there is to get but he skipped the comptia certs because he didn't think they were worth anything.
Comments
I just started into the Linux OS this year, mainly because of my SANS training with its Linux VMs and that was a major learning curve but due to my IT background, I was able to grasp the concepts in the short training time span provided.
I wouldn't knock the senior admin because I do not know his role and obviously so much has changed since he first started his IT career.
Even though I do hands-on, my role is more managerial so I am not as skilled as my workers and we meet to teach one another as well.
When I was in the private sector, I did not have any certifications but IT degrees and experience. Now, working for the government, I have earned ten certs in six years and it has been well worth it. The government has paid for those certs, so I have taken full advantage of it.
I think that formal training helps and so does experience
But like all things in life - it depends on the quality of the effort placed by the individual. I have mentioned before in these forums, experience is important but it depends on the type of experience - spending 23 years working in the same company, in the same way, and on the same technology may not necessarily be transferable to another company or be valuable. And, if the individual isn't passionate about his/her craft and doesn't explore the changes in his/her profession - well - it's just the wrong type of experience.
Similarly - others have mentioned formal training such as certification is dependent on what the individual is willing to put into his/her education/training. As you recall, this often comes up when we discuss online versus brick and mortar degrees. If the individual is truly dedicated to explore his craft and to learn - then training where and how you get it doesn't matter.
Your comment that "did it this way before so this must be the right way to do it" really resonated with me. I often struggle with that sentiment from others. And in business, that can be a death-kneel.
@ITforyears - I couldn't help chuckling at your mention of ADA and COBOL. Glad to see that there is someone else on this forum who may be older than myself -
Working on the same equipment and people at the same company for many years doesn't really seem like proper experience to me...
Lab Equipment: Using Cisco CSRs and 4 Switches currently
I know some serious experts with 25+ yrs of experience, working for major vendors, doing amazing things, yet they may not know ALL the answers to all the questions that you presented here. Sure they will know that SSL is a protocol, but maybe not communicate it to you properly. But do you know what they know? They know the Internal design of IBM AIX kernel, they know how to troubleshoot serious performance problems in EMC Storage with replication clustered in a Geo Cluster (spanning multiple OS's), they know how to present a proper business case to C-Level executive, some even speak 3 languages.
The point I'm trying to make here is that, everyone forgets some stuff, and some things do change. The way Linux handle memory now can be confusing to some, and it wasn't the case with some UNIX variants, and IT WILL change in the next few years.
I feel your frustration, because it sucks being lead by incompetent people but unfortunately this is the reality of our industry (and other industries as well), we just gotta do our best and move on the to the next exciting job. There are some environments filled with VERY competent people that make us feel that we don't know anything (been there too!).
To really excel in IT you need to build a foundation, you can't ignore the basics.
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External validation.
That is to say, someone with hopefully few/no connections to you, impartial and unbiased (or less biased) has put you through a prescribed program to verify you have attained a particular designated skillset.
--Will Rogers
Million dollars worth of certifications and education and 2 cents worth of delivery.
I love computers and IT, but some days I wish I learned a slightly less dynamic trade.
Just my 2 cents.
Joe
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
I hear your frustration, he is being ignorant, close-minded, and he is not acknowledging your expertise nor taking them into consideration, and his ego is getting in the way!
I have to deal with this as well...it's hard, but I think the only way to deal with it is by being diplomatic and trying to look for your own best interest first and foremost. It's the part of our job that I really dislike.