Are virtually all IT jobs on call?

PragmaticZealot

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and I'm in search of advice from career techies. I have a BS in psych but I’m considering a masters in IT. I’ve had miserable luck with my psych degree (few openings, low pay, stressful work conditions). Currently, I work at walmart I heard IT pays better and has more openings. However, I'm concerned about the on-call nature of the job. Some of my friends are in IT and they have told me conflicting things. One friend who does tech support at a hospital says there are some mid level positions with little to no on-call. Another friend who is doing a mid-level position for a company says the IT field is mostly contract work and requires constant on-call (he is on-call 24/7). Which one of my friends is closer to the truth? I have always been passionate about computers. But if IT requires you to always be on call, then I will have to think twice. I really REALLYwant to have (most) weekends off and I want to be able to leave work at work. Can I make it work or is it wishful thinking on my part? Thanks in advance

Iristheangel

Depends on what level of IT you are on. Working at a vendor, partner, management, architect roles, professional services, pre-sales, SMEs, or other technology company outside of operations, you don't usually have on-call duties but I will say this: usually you have to get experience in operations to get to this point and that might be a couple years of working those operational roles and working your butt off on certifications, studying, etc to make yourself good enough on your free time.

The above is typically the average. If you are really recently out of college with a technical degree (which it sounds like you currently aren't), you could jump into Associate roles at companies like Cisco, CDW, WWT, etc where they hire people fresh out of college and train them up to be engineers. If you decided to go back to college (depending on your age) for a technical degree, you could qualify for the ASE program.

Dojiscalper

It will completely depend on the company, position, type of work you do. I myself have worked in IT over 20yrs working for MSP's in field service type of jobs where you go out to businesses and fix what ever is wrong or install some equipment, wiring, etc and I rarely work above 40hr weeks and currently probably don't pass 35hrs. Now others will have jobs that have them working constantly.

E Double U

I've been in IT for over a decade and have never been on-call. When I was in the NOC I worked weekends, holidays, graveyard, and swing shift because it was a 24/7 environment. Every other role has been a standard Mon - Fri 40 hour a week gig.

techfiend

In my short career I've been on-call the whole time but it hasn't been a big deal for me. A few late nights and a couple weekend days a year is about all it's been for a 24/7 company. Usually most jobs if on-call is often used they'll have rotations.

nachodba

I've always been on call, but some jobs won't require it.

Nightflier101BL

Being in this field, depending on your role there's a certain level of expectation that you would be there to fix the issues whenever they break, whether you're officially "on-call" or not. IT is not a 9-5 job and doesn't stop when you go home. We build and maintain the equipment that keeps everybody else doing their jobs. Most places would have a stipend or overtime pay, to make up for the extra work.

I don't necessarily enjoy being on call, but I do understand it's part of the job. Some environments are more critical than others or operate 24x7. The good thing about most MSPs is that a large portion of the customer base are 9-5 companies. So maybe that would reduce the extra overtime/on-call. However, I've never worked for one so I can't be sure.

Danielm7

I've always been on call but in different ways. Now any issues after hours to to a SOC where someone else goes through it and decides whether it needs to be escalated or not. At some point it'll get to me if they can't figure it out. I think for most jobs as long as you're in the technical operations in some level beyond helpdesk if something goes wrong they'll need to contact someone. If it's a big enough department you might only get a small slice of the on call time, but if everything really hits the fan you're probably expected to be there to help.

TacoRocket

I haven't been on call for the couple of years of doing IT. I've done System Administration to Data Center and not had on call. Yes there is an expectation for systems to be running 24/7 but I strongly believe in work-life balance. You have to pay me pretty well to come in the middle of the night. I just couldn't be bothered. I feel sorry for the people who have had to do on call. I hope you have goals to get out of that mess.

Nightflier101BL

Also, besides being on-call there may be times when you are working on a project after-hours or setting up a new technology that can't be done during business hours. I've done this numerous times at various roles, staying at the office with the group until 4am installing a new VoIP system, switches, etc. Looking back, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot during those times.

scaredoftests

No. I have been in IT about 20 years and none of my jobs I have no 'on-call'. 2 shift jobs though..

hurricane1091

I'm on call all the time I guess but it usually doesn't result in anything.

Interestingly, my boss did have to go in on July 4th though rather than send someone.

kohr-ah

Not all jobs are but most I've worked at have rotational on call. Except MSP jobs. I've been on call 24x7x365 at those.

Most more recent jobs the on call was very few or far in-between where at most it took 30 minutes to resolve an issue and that was once every few months.

markulous

Problem with a Psych degree is that unless you go towards a doctorate, it's not a very marketable degree at all. You might be able to get a case worker type job at best. Once you do get your PhD though, you can make some good money...

I have had 3 different IT jobs over the past two years and not one of them was on-call. All of them I had to volunteer for any overtime also.

My work/life balance is a huge priority though. I don't mind on-call a little, especially if it's something I can do from home.

GSXR750K2

Everyone has pretty much covered it...it depends. I'll add something just to keep in the back of your mind.

IT is 24/7, whether or not a given company operates that way. Stuff has to work at 8:00 AM on Monday, and that sometimes means doing things after 5:00 PM on a Friday. At any time you may be called to perform a task or, in the future, be called by underlings who have broken something.

SoCalGuy858

Started as a computer technician > IT support and didn't do on call with those (separate companies). Once I moved to my current company, I worked weekly on-call rotations for two years as a systems administrator / help desk guy. Since moving into a security role a year ago with the same company (more risk management, policy, some tech-related stuff), I'm not on-call via rotations and such, but if the phone rings for something major, I'll get to work!

no!all!

We have a rotating on call schedule. No one really follows it though because I'm the closest to work and well usually get called in.

Blackout

Depends on the Environment, I used to work as a Server Admin for Cisco Capacity management, I never work on call once in 2 years there. In TAC you can opt to work BIC's which is shift work on the weekend. In my current role, we have on call which is from 8PM on Friday - 8AM on Monday.

jeremywatts2005

Incident Response Digital Forensics on call 24/7 365 it is part of the understanding at any time the company could be attacked and you may be called in. It is part of the expectation for us.

TechGromit

PragmaticZealot wrote: »

However, I'm concerned about the on-call nature of the job.

Where I work we rotate the on-call duty between 8 employees in the department for a week at a time. So you are really only on call every 2 months, On the other hand if the on-call person get called in and needs support from your IT specialty you could get called in anyway. Where I work it rarely happens, but there no guarantee it will not happen. You have to take extra responsibilities to be making a good salary, if want a guarantee you will never be called in, on your time off, just stick with working at Walmart.

Lexluethar

Just to add to what everyone else has said:

Some jobs no it's not a requirement but most at some point in time, at some point in your career yes you will be required. Two thoughts on this:
1. You aren't going to start off your IT career mid-level, unless you know someone in the business you will be starting at the bottom. Most (not all) help desk / desktop support / noc roles will require some type of on call rotation, meaning phone calls after business hours and during the weekend. Not every business requires this but the majority will at the low end. There is a give and take too and it depends on the company, my current company if i work during the weekend they don't care if i come in late. If i do a big project and work lots of OT they will give me free days off. Some other companies though expect 50 to 60 hour work weeks. Your mileage will vary.
2. Let's say you do start off mid level or you are at a company that doesn't require it. You will find that the higher up you move and the more proficient you are in your craft the more valuable you will become. With that comes a cost, if your system breaks more than likely you are the first person after hours they are calling. You may have a procedure in place that people have to follow - but if they can't get the application fixed they are going to call you.

You have to pay to play IMO. You cannot expect to not work on call ever and still move up IMO. You will do your time early on at the help desk level or you will once you become important enough that infrastructure pieces rely on your expertise.

PragmaticZealot

Hi,
Thanks for all of the responses everyone. I did not expect to get so many in a single day. Ok, so the consensus seems to be it depends on the company and the sub-field. Well what sub-fields should I look into in order to avoid on-call?

Chev Chellios

It does depend on the company and position, but saying that, everywhere I've worked in the UK have expected me to be on call. Often it's never happened but other times, like my current job, it's a 24/7 business and on call means on call, at any time!

Sorry if this comes across harsh, but I would reconsider your career options if you don't want to be on call as most support positions will expect it and you will probably be asked at interview.

TechGromit

PragmaticZealot wrote: »

Well what sub-fields should I look into in order to avoid on-call?

You aversion to on-call implies your not a team player. If I was interviewing you, First thing I would think when you told me you wanted to avoid being on-call, would be you are the type of employee that would throw a fit if they had to work one minute passed there scheduled work shift. I would pass on hiring you, most managers would. You really should re-examine why you want to avoid on-call so badly, most positions pay better have greater responsibilities. Even Walmart asks there employees to work extra hours during the holiday season, are you the one that never volunteers? Face it there’s no real future working at Walmart, if you truly have no ambition for something better in life, then your pretty much guaranteeing a life of poverty.

UncleB

PragmaticZealot wrote: »

I really REALLYwant to have (most) weekends off and I want to be able to leave work at work. Can I make it work or is it wishful thinking on my part? Thanks in advance

Any kind of support role has a possibility of being on call, and since this is the most common route into IT, you are going to have to accept that it is likely to happen at some point.

Think about it, if you work in IT then you are responsible for some system or service (whether it is answering calls on the service desk or keeping a firewall working efficiently) so it is a very logical extension that since IT runs 24/7 then you are expected to be available is something you look after breaks. The low level roles like service desk are not going to fall into this category as the staff there are not likely to know enough detail to perform the role.

Would you expect someone who is not the specialist (i.e. not you) to fix your system? Probably not a good idea, not least because they may change something that you then have to try to understand afterwards if it wasn't documented properly or the right thing to do.

If you are not yet working in IT then the chances are it will be years before you are experienced enough to be considered for on call work, so you should relax for now. You can chose fields that are only likely to be used in business hours (1st/2nd line IT support, Service Delivery, Business Analyst etc) but this will restrict your options.

Being on call is normally pretty lightweight work - you have to be available in the event of a serious fault and in most cases you can connect remotely and do the work quickly from home. Is this really so abhorrent? Most companies pay for you being on call so it works out well in the end, plus when you do the work you either get overtime or time in lieu so it is worth it.

Weekend work tends to be used by projects which are a part of pretty much every role in IT at some time - some companies use a lot more than others but you will either get well paid or get time off to compensate.

In 28 years in the business there have only been 3 times when I regularly lost weekends for work and these were all projects I volunteered to do, and all paid handsomely.

Just my thoughts

Iain

bpenn

Well, I am a DoD contractor and we are not allowed to work over 40 hours a week unless there are extraneous circumstances. Because I help manage a vault and have access to sensitive information, sometimes I have to stay after hours if the mission requires it. I also do server patching for 2 hours on Saturdays mornings once a month which isnt too bad as I can use that time the next week and leave early.

The only time this entire year that I was called in was actually on Thanksgiving because the alarm in our vault went off (false alarm) so I had to drive 45 minutes to deactivate it. Being on call isnt that bad. Just give it a chance before you rule it out altogether.

shodown

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to work weekends and not doing on call. I personally haven't done on call for years. I do a lot of weekends because the job requires it. However if a person told me that they didn't wanna work weekends and or on calls I would guide them right to a NOC. They can stay there and make a good salary at some of the larger NOC's for telco's and wireless providers (up to 120K, and they dont' have to do a min of on call and only work their assigned shift. Other people have other priorities like family and such, and if they want to pull in a good 40 hour week and go home there is nothing wrong with that.

We don't hvae to be hard as$es in America

PragmaticZealot

Yes, I'm aware that most on-call work simply requires logging in and fixing something remotely. The friend who works in a private company told me that he does it all the time. I still don't see myself being down with that kind of work. What happens if I decide to go to a bar and have some drinks with friends? If a call comes in with a complicated problem and I'm anywhere from tipsy to drunk-by-any-definition, do you think that's going to work? Lol I don't think so. If I decide to go hiking in a national park where there is ZERO internet service and poor/no phone service, how would that work if an call comes in? Or what if I'm at a beach 3 hours away from my house/workplace and I get a call asking me to physically come to the workplace? In a 24/7/365 IT job, those calls may come in only a few times a year, but they still dictate the parameters of your private life.

The point I'm making is that I'm not ok with a job that dictates the parameters of my private life to that extent. I'm just not. I'm ok with doing an occasional Saturday or staying past scheduled hours (within reason) to fix a problem, but anything beyond that is too much for me.

keenon

the short is yes

UncleB

PragmaticZealot wrote: »

Those calls may come in only a few times a year, but they still dictate the parameters of your private life.

The point I'm making is that I'm not ok with a job that dictates the parameters of my private life to that extent. I'm just not. I'm ok with doing an occasional Saturday or staying past scheduled hours (within reason) to fix a problem, but anything beyond that is too much for me.

Any job in support will not require you to be available 24/7/365, and indeed if you do have to provide the support then it is up to you to negotiate with your employer on when you should be available and what the recompense will be for it. We are not slaves to the job (although some willingly let themselves be in order to feel needed) and it will not be as onerous or restrictive as you may imagine.

If the call comes in on a normal night (i.e. with no agreement that you are on-call) and you are not about take it, what is going to happen? - one of your colleagues will have to fix it when the person reporting the fault can reach them in all probability. If you go out of contact when you are on an agreed on-call time window then that is different as you are expected to be reachable and capable of doing the task, but if you are not on call, do whatever you like.

You should negotiate any reasonable expectation of on-call duties at interview stage and have this in your contract to protect you.

As for being the only person capable of supporting an application / service, well that is just a recipie to ensure you never get promoted as they always need you doing just what you are. Avoid this in any role.

Just remember you only need to work contracted hours so your company will not own your soul, and you need to stand up for your rights and negotiate to the extent you are willing to compremise.

I hope that makes some sense.
Iain

OctalDump

keenon wrote: »

the short is yes

An even shorter answer is no.

Seriously, there are many jobs in IT where you are not on call and don't have to do weekend work. Anything that isn't mission critical - most development, for example - is a fairly safe bet. Others, like mid level service managers, are almost guaranteed to have some on call-ness to their role.

Generally, if there is any requirement, it will be stated up front and certainly would be a fair question to ask of a potential employer for any role. And for some companies, the ones that have their shtuf together, you might be on call and never (or hardly ever) actually get called in - but still get paid for it (explicitly with "on call pay" or implicitly in a higher salary).

Likely, if you start in a lowly helpdesk role, you won't have much to worry about since you will not be important enough And from there you can tread wisely to avoid any landmines.