Most technically challenging job in IT?

milliamp

In your opinion, what are the most difficult jobs in IT?

Also, the most rewarding?

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seuss_ssues

The one you enjoy. <=== on the rewarding part.

It really all depends on the person. Some people are content with fixking pcs all day long, others want to manage network engineers.

Mrock4

I agree with the above...if you were to put me in a programming position, it'd probably be one of the hardest jobs ever for me. Throw me into a cisco network, I'd be at home..it's all relevant to your strength's and weaknesses I suppose..

sprkymrk

Most rewarding = Bill Gates job, obviously.

Most difficult = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2798672604205317772&q=can+you+hear+me+now&total=9938&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

elover_jm

LOL

ULWiz

God i miss does jerk chicken stands

eMeS

milliamp wrote:

In your opinion, what are the most difficult jobs in IT?

Also, the most rewarding?

Most difficult - Those which are poorly funded, without clear expectations, and for which you are penalized for doing poorly. This could be any job, from CIO all the way down to the guy mounting tapes in a datacenter.

Most rewarding (traditional) - Seems to me that the higher up on the ladder you can get in a traditional organization, the more rewarding it is. Sometimes getting those jobs are like winning the lottery...a lot of people play, but very few win.

Most rewarding (for me) - I get immense satisfaction and significant reward from owning my own company. I can accept or decline work as I wish...which is great if you disagree with an organization's policies, activities, or ethics (or lack of any of these!). It takes a while to get to this point though...I have been working in "IT" since 1988, and I had about 10 years of exposure to computers, technology, and programming (basic, pascal) before that. (I am 37, my father is an electrical engineer, so I was exposed to technology at an early age).

Another most rewarding - Any job where you are allowed to accomplish results with a minimal amount of organizational bs or nonsense. Understanding how the results you accomplish directly contribute to the business is a great feeling too.

MS

KGhaleon

Is TC asking which pays better, etc in terms of System administration, network administration, security, etc? It sounds like you're trying to decide which route to take.

milliamp

KGhaleon wrote:

Is TC asking which pays better, etc in terms of System administration, network administration, security, etc? It sounds like you're trying to decide which route to take.

Sort of, yes.

Mishra

http://www.phillydotnet.org/Forums/JobPostings/tabid/86/ctl/Edit/mid/429/ItemID/164/itemindex/129/Default.aspx
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-jobs/2007-01/msg00004.php
http://www.vedior.com.au/page/jobs?id=127785

This is response to the post above BTW. Not the response to "hardest job".

sprkymrk

I am curious if there are many non-management positions in the field that pay ~$200k and what they are.

I know a company in Chicago that pays it's top Security Consultants/Pen Testers in that pay range.

JDMurray

milliamp wrote:

I have some experience scripting with bash/perl and some experience with VB6, C++, & Java, I am thinking of maybe being a developer, but it seems like everything I would want to do requires a different language and that has kind of prevented me from really committing to one and running with it. I have also heard being a "programmer" for some companies can be dull and unrewarding sometimes.

As a software engineer, I would say pick either Java or .NET (C# or VB.NET) and stay with careers that specialize in either of these language bases. You can do practically everything you'll ever want to do in Windows with .NET. And Java will allow you to expand easily your programming skills to Linux and Mac OS X as well. Once you are a programmer, your only way to move up is into a management position, typically project management at first. With programming and PM skills under you belt, start learning the business and finance side of how organizations work. From there you can go anywhere.

Daniel333

Hardest - Writing Device Drivers in Assembly using specifications provided in a bad translation from Chinese, on a tight deadline without a beta testing team, with closed source requirements.

Rewarding - is certainly a matter of opinion, but the ones that give you the best quality of life and keep your mind sharp are the ones that sound most rewarding to me.

As far as programming, man! I hate that stuff. I did C++, Java and VB when picked up my AA degree circa 2002 and when I moved on to my BA (which I didn't complete) I switched to history.

In spite of, like 5 classes in programming and two years, I never could do anything interesting. I wonder how long you would have to stay at it until you could even start to understand the source code for an emulator. I did write space invaders in VB though, it had the South Park kids as the sprites.

Schluep

Most Difficult: Anything involving accurate information from the average user or client not familiar with technology.

Most Rewarding: Catching an error in a database structure designed by someone else that could have resulted in major accidents involving gas pipelines in 7 different States in the U.S. If not caught an explosion could have resulted while crews were working on the line.

Goldmember

Programming Kernel/Drivers

Database Developer

Data Center Architect(Designing Data Centers...knowing in and outs of WAN/LAN/SECURITY/VOICE/MPLS/CISCO/BGP/everything that has to do with computer networking).......basically someone who has 3 CCIE's or equivalent