Job Security?

How good is job security in the IT field? is it like all other jobs or is it better because computers is constantly changing?

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dynamik

chevy454 wrote: »

...or is it better because computers is constantly changing?

That could also be seen as a negative aspect if you're not prepared/able to keep up with advances.

msteinhilber

Overall I think that job security has been fairly decent in IT from my friends and contacts in the industry. I've seen the articles claiming that IT is the next industry to be hit, I don't really buy it. I think there may be some people who might be laid off due to large projects that were in the works (i.e. not completed yet) that all of a sudden with tighter budgets are no longer as important and get put back.

I think you will find that it is somewhat harder to get find a job or move up into a different job in the industry currently, at least it seems that way in my area.

What I do think is going to happen though, most places that I know people who work in IT have cut back significantly on spending. I suspect there is going to be a slowdown in purchases as projects are put on hold while things recover a bit. Once things do recover, I can foresee a significant increase in spending on IT projects and as a result a higher demand for labor. This will probably be a very good thing for many people, hopefully it isn't a good thing for a shorter period and there ends up being a lot of unemployed people as projects that were put on hold are completed.

I also agree with dynamik, things changing often can help or reduce your worth to your organization - dependent upon if you keep current with technologies that are of value to your employer.

snokerpoker

I have found that it really depends on what kind of job it is. For instance, I was recently laid off from my job (totally sucks, but its ok). This was mainly because the type of job it was. We provided support to a bunch of servers in a remote data-center and to clients via email and phone. There was very little interaction with the clients face to face and most of the time we would have a tech out in the data-center do hardware installs, reboots etc. These types of jobs do not have the best job security. Certain jobs like this where a person is not necessarily needed on site can be outsourced quite easily. The company I worked for outsourced to India and got 20 employees while they laid off the entire department I worked in which previously had 10 people. From their perspective it doesn't matter where in the world the techs are located, as long as they can do the job. In my case the offshore team was not qualified and could not do the job, but it didn't matter because they were cheaper. As for me, I just landed a new job where I am working with one other gentlemen and we will be the entire IT department supporting about 500 users, 400 or so pc's and 50-70 servers. I feel like this has more job security than my previous job because now I'm needed on site to support the users and the computers.

chevy454

when i was registering to start school i overheard these two guy talking about the field, they was telling each other about how stressful the IT job field is,it was a little bit discouraging because i registered for computer science and for a minute i almost said forget it! lol but i like messing around with computers so i went ahead and registered for the class so hopefully i will be starting in the summer and by the time i finish i hoping that the economy will be close to normal

qwertyiop

I wouldn't worry about the economy, it will hopefully get better soon enough.
I recently took a job as a network admin and the other guy i work with where's 2 hats(one being IT guy and the other is a engineer since I work at a civil engineering firm). I would say that I'm pretty safe because since i'm running all aspects of IT for my company he is now able to return to more of the engineering and thats how the company makes there money.

darkerosxx

chevy454 wrote: »

when i was registering to start school i overheard these two guy talking about the field, they was telling each other about how stressful the IT job field is,it was a little bit discouraging because i registered for computer science and for a minute i almost said forget it! lol but i like messing around with computers so i went ahead and registered for the class so hopefully i will be starting in the summer and by the time i finish i hoping that the economy will be close to normal

Do what you like... the rest is just details.

the_Grinch

IT is no different then any other industry when it comes to economic hard times. When budgets have to be slashed, IT is usually hit up. I look at working in IT to being like a mechanic. People who were going to get a new car, now decide to just keep the old one running. Once times get better, they'll get new stuff, but until then the old stuff will have to keep working. I have to agree with dark, do it if you love it and the rest is just details.

gorebrush

Depends where you are working, the environment, your skill level, peers skill levels.

I run an IT Service Desk with two members of staff (myself and one other)

I look after 1-3rd line running, whereas my staff is 1-2.

I think i'm pretty secure because my staff cannot perform the jobs I do, so I shouldn't be at risk.

However, who knows...

unclerico

In the end it all comes down to making yourself indespensible to your organization. I'm not talking about making things unnessecarily complicated and keeping little to no documentation. I'm talking about, for the lack of a better term, knowing your ****
- You must have the hunger to learn...A LOT. You will never stop as long as you are in the industry.
- You must show initiative to take on new tasks.
- Don't complain when you have to perform system maintenance on off hours and weekends.
- If users have problems don't complain about them. Afterall they are the reason you are there no matter how idiotic some of them may be. Ok, most of them

- Do what you say you will do. For instance, when I was hired for my current position I told the CIO that I keep detailed documentation and create change requests before any changes are made to production. Now in some environments this is required so it's not a big thing, but in my environment it wasn't so it came as a breath of fresh air to the CIO. When he left the company a little over the year ago he said to me that he really appreciated that I followed through on what I said in my interview regarding documentation and change controls.
- Understand the business side of your organization. I know it's a cliche to talk about aligning IT with the business, but you really need to be able to do this. For me, it got my CIO to delegate a lot of the product discovery and investigation that he would normally do because I understand how these products will really help the organization as a whole, not just IT.
- Keep a positive attitude no matter what

There is absolutely no guarantee that at the end of the day you will be gainfully employed no matter how good you are. The only thing you can control is you, your attitude, and your work ethic.

kate88

Good work!!!In my opinion job security is more important in these days given the economic condition of the world.It's a good time to work in the security field but it depends on your work, your skill level and the environment.

Resume Objective Examples Learn security Resume Objective

blargoe

Job security as far as staying with the same company for x years? No. But make the most of it and you will always be able to find work. I make my own job security.

apd123

It has always made more sense to me to become skilled enough to easily find a job rather than spending time trying to keep the one I have. If you do your job most likely you will keep it, and how hard you try to keep it likely will depend on how happy you are there and the chances of finding something else if needed. If your company is not doing well financially keeping you or not will likely depend more on the perceived value of your position than your individual effort to make yourself valuable.

Xcluziv

kate88: Those resume example objectives are pretty good. Will continue to take a look....

blargoe wrote: »

Job security as far as staying with the same company for x years? No. But make the most of it and you will always be able to find work. I make my own job security.

Thats the main thing. if you are good at what you do, you will always be able to secure a position for the most part

bellhead

It depends on what side of the field you are on. Software and administration type jobs can be outsourced relatively easy to the other side of the globe where labor is cheaper. This is why I didn't pursue a programming degree or work on the server end as it can be done remotely.

Network and telco cannot, this is the side I work on. So it is very secure, for example you have a remote facility which takes a lightning strike at 2:00 am. The NOC sees an alarm loss of connectivity but cannot access anything else. So they dispatch a tech out to take a look at the situation. What is the trouble? Is it your equipment? Is it the leased circuit or the radio carrying the signal out to the sight. There is a lot of equipment which still has remote monitoring out in the field and it takes a long time to learn how to troubleshoot and install this equipment. The same for networking gear in a company, a hotshot IT director may outsource his department to save money but the first time half of the company is down for a day because his vendor is busy is the last time he does this if he values his job.

laidbackfreak

bellhead wrote: »

It depends on what side of the field you are on. Software and administration type jobs can be outsourced relatively easy to the other side of the globe where labor is cheaper. This is why I didn't pursue a programming degree or work on the server end as it can be done remotely.

Network and telco cannot, this is the side I work on. So it is very secure, QUOTE]

Actually I disagree with this, while your right it cant be done remotely it can and is outsourced as often.
Usually the outsourcing firm will place staff at the customer site for situations like this, and\or have field engineers on standby. As long the SLA are in palce life goes on.

Anyone who didnt have a watertight sla in place deserves to be shot

Like others have said keep your skills updated and one eye on the job market so you know what the current trends are like and should be ok.

bellhead

laidbackfreak wrote: »

bellhead wrote: »

It depends on what side of the field you are on. Software and administration type jobs can be outsourced relatively easy to the other side of the globe where labor is cheaper. This is why I didn't pursue a programming degree or work on the server end as it can be done remotely.

Network and telco cannot, this is the side I work on. So it is very secure, QUOTE]

Actually I disagree with this, while your right it cant be done remotely it can and is outsourced as often.
Usually the outsourcing firm will place staff at the customer site for situations like this, and\or have field engineers on standby. As long the SLA are in palce life goes on.

Anyone who didnt have a watertight sla in place deserves to be shot

Like others have said keep your skills updated and one eye on the job market so you know what the current trends are like and should be ok.

Yes most places have a SLA in place but when push comes to shove in the middle of the night which customer gets serviced if they have multiple outages? Trust me on this I have seen it many times waiting for the "IT Engineer" to meet me at 3:00 am in the morning to let me in the building or phone closet to work on a circuit. My boss would be calling me with the customer on the line wanting to know the status of the situation. I would tell them I am at your front door where is your IT guy. After a while we figured out the company they contracted the service out to had multiple calls that night and only one person. You cannot outsource this part of the job.