Are people in IT afraid to say "I don't know"?

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I'm curious about other people's takes on this. From what I've seen, it seems like people are often afraid to ask questions (fear of a RTFM reply?) or admit they don't know something, whether it be terminology or process.
Also, as an extension, do you feel it's sometimes necessary in IT to put on a front that you know what you're doing even when you don't?
Also, as an extension, do you feel it's sometimes necessary in IT to put on a front that you know what you're doing even when you don't?
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Let's look at the positive side, I've met incredible characters in IT so it balances itself out somehow.
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When interacting with people that dont know me, i love to say "This is still in the discovery phase".
probably why people who work on computers get the knock of having poor communication skills. they only think about fixing the problem. And, not communicating with the person who has the issue. But, then their management counts how many problems they solved in a given time frame and not how well they communicated with the people who called in.
First job interview I ever had for an IT job - the interviewer asked what I would say if I didn’t know the answer to a customer’s question. Correct answer is to say “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out and get back to you with a solution (or escalate the case as necessary)”.
In reply to your second question, don’t ever bulls**t the customer. In most cases the customer will respect you more for your honesty... ��
It seems like I met more of the knowers in engineering. Since I have transition to security I noticed more curiosity in peers. In my field I am far more likely to hear "I have no idea how that thing works.. Lets go break it and find out!".
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Of course, there are some people that want that assurance from the IT guy. They don't like the "I don't know" or "Let me look into it". They want an answer to reassure them that not only are things getting better, but their IT staff knows what they are doing. So, I've definitely used some BS on those people. Yes, we are currently looking into our upstream provider to fix a routing issue that is causing our network to degrade. As long as they aren't the ones getting the post-mortem report, then we're good.
At an interview? If I don't know, I'll say it. But, I sure would like the opportunity to learn it! That's a huge part of why I love what I do and where I work. I don't know a lot of things. But, my employer gives me the tools, training to learn it and then gets me hands on time with it.
When I was doing some interviews along with my boss (it's really different sitting on the other side of the table giving the interview!), we had some BSers. We had some people that would be willing to go to training if it was required for the job. We hired the guy with little IT experience, but had the passion and desire to learn more. He's just an amazing employee, too. If he doesn't know, he'll say it. Then, he'll be in every meeting, training, look over your shoulder. He really WANTS to know this stuff and grow.
I don't know, but I want to learn is 1000000x better than BSing or not caring at all.
If you're in IT and haven't said "I don't know" in some form, you're lying to yourself. Half the fun is not knowing and learning something new.
Me personally early on I did, but after 1 - 2 years in the business I realized who cares. Learn and move on, hope to retain.
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However, I do know of a colleague at work who won't admit that she does not know a particular thing and spews nonsense non-stop just to divert or avoid the question.
Depends on who the audience is, if it's another IT professional, I'm not afraid to tell them I don't know that answer to that. If it's a User, I'll say I have to look into that and get back to them. It's usually not good form to tell a user, "I don't know". They are coming to you for answers, telling them, "I don't know" is like saying your bothering me, go away.
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I think, it's true not only with IT but with almost every technical domain such as medicine. It is more prevalent with freshly graduated (or graduating) students. Usually, experienced people do ask questions and also admit if there is something that they don't know. It's matter of time!
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