Typical Day

cxzar20

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread for people considering a career in IT. Feel free to post a "day in the life" from your job. I work as a Senior Network Architect in Tampa and this was my Thursday last week:

6:00am - Alarm Goes Off
7:00am - Drive to work.
7:30am - Arrive at work, check e-mails, put out morning fires
7:40am - Surf the web for the latest news
9:20am - Get some coffee, formulate a plan for things to do today
9:30am - Having issues with a Cisco IOS release that we pushed to many sites in the network. Working directly with Cisco on this issue but neither Cisco nor I have been able to recreate it in our respective labs. We have a router from a different site that arrived and will try to recreate the issue in our lab again.
9:35am - Began building the testbed. It is small consisting of only a switch and 3800 series router to test connectivity across a T1 link. Trying to determine if there is a bug with this certain version of IOS code.
10:15am - Could not recreate the issue as connectivity tests were successful between the devices, back to the drawing board.
10:30am - Informed operations supervisors of the test result, will need to come up a new plan of action with my group and theirs. Operations involves Tier I/II support and I work in Tier III engineering.
10:45am - Call up customer in order to get more details about a request for an upgrade at one of their sites. This is to determine what services will be running and how many people will be at the site. This will determine the equipment they will need and the bandwidth provisioned.
11:05am - Auditing devices in the network based on configuration specifications determined by the customer and my team. This is part of an ongoing project that I am in charge of.
11:45am - More web surfing
12:00pm - Lunch - I normally go at 1 but have other obligations at that time today
12:39pm - Issue gets escalated up to me directly from Tier I, Major site outage. High impact/visibility issues bypass Tier II due to company policy
1:53pm - Still working on issue, missed meeting at 1pm
3:06pm - Issue Resolved, it was visibility only due to IPSec misconfiguration. Back to surfing the net.
4:10pm - Check emails, nothing new. Refresh on BGP confederations and route reflectors
5:20pm - Leave work and head to the gym
7:15pm – Leave gym and head home
7:30pm – Eat dinner while streaming Grooveshark from my computer
7:50pm – Finish dinner, talk with some friends while listening to music in the background. Facebook is great as it has allowed me to stay in contact with old friends from the places I used to live.
10:15pm – Set the alarm and head to bed, 6AM comes up awfully quick

pham0329

To be honest, I can't really say what a typical day is like. I wake up every morning thinking "hmm, I don't have that much on my plate today...wonder what I'll do at work", and yet, there's always something that keeps me busy the entire day

Essendon

A typical day (now-a-days) for me would look like:

5.30am - Alarm goes off, I snooze it once-twice before finally cursing the alarm and dragging myself out of bed.
7.00am - Leave home.
8.00am - Drop the missus off at her work.
9.00am - Get to my work, check that all the backups completed successfully the night before
9.30am to 5pm - I could be doing anything ranging from, troubleshooting DNS/DHCP/GPO issues to working on the backups to posting on TE.
Lunch is usually anywhere between 11.30-2.30pm. My work is flexible with hours, so no issues there.
5.45pm - Reach home.
6.00pm - Grab a coffee/tea.
6.30pm - Flick the channels on the TV
7.00pm - Help the missus out with the dinner
9.00pm - Time for bed, usually takes another half hour or so before falling asleep (for obvious reasons! )

ChooseLife

Awesome thread, it should give newcomers to the field the opportunity to "virtually shadow" those holding a position of their interest...

Btw, please post your titles...

Everyone

Ok I'll play your silly game... :P

Currently an "Exchange Administrator".

5:00 AM - Alarm
5:27 AM - Oh Crap, did I hit snooze 3 times?
6:00 AM - Arrive at work 2 hours before anyone else, only because I need to be able to get off early. Logon and check e-mail.
6:30 AM - Eat an "Everything Bagel" with real butter and garden vegetable cream cheese on it. Start checking the 28 different servers I'm responsible for, while surfing the web.
7:30 AM - Boss comes in, turns on the lights, and tells me to "wake up", even though I've never fallen asleep on the job, he must think it's a funny joke.
8:00 AM - Rest of co-workers start coming in, BS with some of them for a bit. Start looking at tickets that have been escalated to me.
8:15 AM - Resolve tickets, complain about how the Help Desk doesn't even try to troubleshoot. Send many tickets back to Help Desk manager, explain to him why most of them should never have been escalated to my level, and should have been handled on the initial call by his staff. Start working on projects (Currently AD clean-up and a DFS re-design).
11:45 AM - Start thinking about lunch, check the cafeteria menu, surf the web a little more.
12:00 PM - Have lunch with handful of co-workers in a break area we made for ourselves. Have shockingly outrages conversations that would make even the most seasoned HR professional curl up in the fetal position and cry.
1:00 PM - See what kind of tickets made their way up to me over lunch, back to work on projects.
2:30 PM - Yay off work for the day, go home.
3:00 PM - Get home, send my wife off to work, spend the rest of the evening with the kids.
8:00 PM - Get the kids in bed, try to come up with something to do until my wife gets home, before finally going to bed myself, usually around 11.

Depending on the day of the week, I could squeeze several different kinds of meetings in there. Many of them are for non-IT additional duties.

EuclidJones

My schedule will be changing soon as I just accepted a position out in AZ.

Anyway - here goes

"Freelance Programmer"

5:30 AM - Wake up
5:45 AM - Workout
6:45 AM - Shower/Breakfast
7:00 AM - Check oDesk, Elance, craigslist for work. Post ad on craigslist.
8:00 AM - Put in any bids for work I could do/find interesting.
8:30 AM - Check workload list/documentation and get cracking on high priority items.
12:30 PM - Food!
1:00 PM - Back to work, scallywag! /crackwhip
5:00 PM - Start wrapping up work, document changes, work completed, work left to do, priorities, etc for tomorrow.
6:00 PM - Food!
6:15 PM - Free time! I usually get in an hour of studying.
10:00 PM - ZzzZzzzZzzzZzz

hiddenknight821

EuclidJones wrote: »

5:30 AM - Wake up
5:45 AM - Workout
6:45 AM - Shower/Breakfast
7:00 AM - Check oDesk, Elance, craigslist for work. Post ad on craigslist.
8:00 AM - Put in any bids for work I could do/find interesting.
8:30 AM - Check workload list/documentation and get cracking on high priority items.
12:30 PM - Food!
1:00 PM - Back to work, scallywag! /crackwhip
5:00 PM - Start wrapping up work, document changes, work completed, work left to do, priorities, etc for tomorrow.
6:00 PM - Food!
6:15 PM - Free time! I usually get in an hour of studying.
10:00 PM - ZzzZzzzZzzzZzz

Out of everyone else here, you're the only person that actually take a shower!

Tackle

I'm an Asst. System Admin

6:30 - Wake up
7:00 - Check e-mail (work and personal), see if I need to go in early.
7:45 - Arrive at work and check e-mail again, put out anything hot
8:00 - Surf forums, tech deal websites
8:30 -12:00- Server work, AD/GP, user issues, R&D
12:15 - Eat sandwhich on carride back to Apartment, close my eyes for a few min once I get there.
1:15 - Back at work doing more Server work, AD/GP, user issues, R&D
5:15 - Arrive home
6:00 - Supper and possibly a beer
6:30 - Go for a walk around the complex with the woman
7:00 -8:30- Either Black Ops, R&D on my ESXi server/openfiler, TV, cleaning
9:00 - Cuddle time!
10:00 - Walk accross the hallway and go to sleep in my own bed seperate from my girlfriends, ( for being a cute little asian girl she sure snores/passes gas/gets up at 4:00AM a lot.). Set alarm for 6:30.

shodown

8:15 wake up brush teeth
8:30 Log into work Start Tickets or projects
12:00 Cook lunch
12:15 eating lunch while doing light work
1:00 Meetings with Managers
1:15 Shower
1:30 Back to tickets projects
5:00 Wrap up for the day
5:01 already home shut down citrix or work laptop
5:05 Gym
6:15 Shower/ BS with my wife cook dinner
8:00-1200 Usually studying

gorebrush

I work in Server and Network Automation

I have differing days depending on my wife's shifts, but generally: -

07:00 up
07:15 leave for the pool
07:30 swimming
08:30 leave for work
08:45 work
12:00 lunch
12:30 back to work
17:00 home
17:15 arrive home
17:16 me and wife time
22:00/23:00 sleep

Generally spend my evenings with my wife if she is at home. If (like today) she is working until 21:30 then I've got the evening to myself to work/study/game

On weekends she often works for 1-2 8 hour shifts, so there's my study time there. Sometimes, she may work 3 shifts

networker050184

I sure hope none of you have a stalker or you're screwed.

TLeTourneau

Currently it's:

Senior Operating System Consultant

06:30 - Wake up
06:45 - Shower
07:30 - Head to work and have breakfast in the caffateria
08:00 - Start work/check email
08:15 - 11:30 - Work on tickets/browse internet (multitasking)
11:30 - 12:30 - Lunch with the guys
12:30 - 17:00 - Work on tickets/browse internet (more multitasking)
17:10 - Return to hotel
17:10 - 17:30 - Call wife
17:30 - Dinner
18:00 - 21:00 - Study
21:00 - 22:30 - Unwind/Call wife to bid good night
22:30 - 06:30 - Sleep

Depending on the day sprinkle meetings in at various times.

New Job (start 8/1/11):

Systems Engineer

09:00 - Wake up
09:15 - Shower
09:30 - Breakfast
09:30 - 14:00 - Whatever I want (studying etc...)
14:00 - 14:30 - Prepare for work
14:30 - 15:00 - Travel to work
15:00 - 00:00 - Do work (not sure what I'm doing yet but 1 hour lunch and no call schedule)
00:00 - 00:30 - Go home
00:30 - 01:30 - Unwind
01:30 - 09:00 - Sleep

nhpr

Essendon wrote: »

9.00pm - Time for bed, usually takes another half hour or so before falling asleep (for obvious reasons! )

Mild insomnia combined with indigestion isn't necessarily that obvious.


How about those of you who primarily telecommute? How much does that change the dynamic?

pitviper

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, I use the side door - that way the boss can't see me - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Tackle

pitviper wrote: »

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, I use the side door - that way the boss can't see me - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Where can I apply?!?!

Oh, as far as stalkers...not a big deal. I don't have many friends so I'd welcome them with open arms.

networker050184

LucasMN wrote: »

Where can I apply?!?!

Its a company called Initech.

Bokeh

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and had a cup, looking up I noticed I was late....


GoldMine Administrator, IT Support

5am - alarm goes off, smack it
530am - snoozes done, get up.
530-615am - catching up on email, FB, news, etc
630am - wake the little lady up, head to shower, get dressed, pack lunch, etc
730am - out the door for 45 min commute
815am - BS with boss
830am - punch in, see what issues are out there from the remote offices
noon - lunch
1230pm - dealing with more issues, database crashes
5pm - clock out
515pm - picked up by gf since we carpool
6pm - home, dinner, surfing, studying
10pm - bed

Asif Dasl

Bokeh wrote: »

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and had a cup, looking up I noticed I was late....

Phew... Thought for a minute there you were reciting the lyrics to that Rebecca Black song... just when you thought you had forgotten it, it comes back to haunt you!

vCole

Engineering Support Sys Admin.

7:30AM- Wake up
7:45 - 8:00AM - Shower, brush teeth, get ready for work.
8:15AM - Drive to work
9:15 - 9:30AM - arrive at work
9:30AM - till lunch (could be 12:30 - 3:30PM) - Run around like crazy, do lots of work, tickets, throw things at each other from our cubes, etc.
Sometime come back from lunch - 7PM - 9PM: do more work, play video games with coworkers/drink beer occasionally, etc.
7-9PM: Leave for home
8-10PM: Get home, make something quick for dinner.
10:30-12AM - Go to sleep.

Jinuyr

As an IT Manager for a Luxury Resort, here is my schedule:

07:30 - Wake up to my alarm
07:35 - The "3 S's" Shower, Shave, and you know the last one...
08:00 - [START OF THE DAY] Arrive at the employee entrance where I work. I live in the same building which can be a perk at times but also leads to unnecessary calls during my day(s) off.
08:05 - Check my on site equipment and update backup tapes from the previous day.
08:15 - Update myself on current events, CNN, MSN, IGN, etc...
08:30 - Review e-mails and process new tickets from the previous night.
08:45 - Follow up with on site A/V Team to ensure that the third iMac is being installed at the Business Center. Postponed by a day due to design issues with the desk it is being installed on.
08:55 - Review notes for the upcoming morning meeting.
09:10 - Speak to our Security department regarding procedures for incidents.
09:00 - Complete smaller issues or tickets.
09:30 - Attend morning meeting with other managers and directors.
10:00 - Meet with Engineering Coordinator who got back from vacation and ensure that all of her logins are working properly and reset the ones she has forgotten.
10:10 - Check if HR Manager is available who reported having problems using an application with 1024 bit SSL encryption. They were not available, will follow up later.
10:15 - Repair broken LCD for the laundry conveyor.
10:30 - Install client software for one of our applications for the Executive Chef.
10:45 - Update tickets and create new ones for the problems I fixed while travelling from the morning meeting to my office.
10:50 - Follow up with the A/V Team regarding the installation of the third iMac in the Business Center. They are waiting on remote configuration to be pushed to the machines.
11:00 - Attend conference call for Regional IT Meeting to discuss training and development for IT staff.
12:00 - Meet with telephone vendor to address network related issues related to wireless VOIP phones and connectivity.
13:00 - Lunch at the Employee Cafeteria
13:30 - Review tickets and prepare equipment for installation of a wireless phone at the Pool Bar.

~ - Speak to the Spa Director regarding Instant Messenger applications installed on the reception and therapist break areas. Talk to him about the Spa's future plans to include Kindles and iPads in their operation.
Rescheduled - Assist Accounting Clerk in installing new hardware peripherals for his computer.

16:30 - Troubleshoot the Ballroom with Assistance Chief Engineer. Found out that the client's iPad was not working.
Canceled - Attend meeting with Security Manager to go over Emergency Response Training.
Reassigned - Run Cat 5e cabling around the Catering cubicles since one area was forgotten during construction.

18:00 - As the day draws to a close, I study for a few moments. Currently reading the Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK.
18:30 - Start or continue on my larger projects. Currently reviewing documentation on our contingency plan.
19:00 - Continue working on PlayStation 3 Policy and Procedures for staff. Working on this project with Engineering to have an enforceable policy on how guests will check out the consoles and who will provide the games if any.
20:00 - [END OF THE DAY] Check the systems for one last time before shutting down my laptop and head back to my room.
20:15 - Call my wife and remind her to get on Ventrilo so we can start our premade League of Legends group followed by Global Agenda. She lives in a different city, =\
21:00 - Cook rice and heat up some leftovers.
21:20 - Continue watching Season 3 Disk 3 of The Big Bang Theory
21:00 - Continue reading Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK on my Kindle.
21:30 - Wife convinces me to continue playing games with her.
22:30 - Alternate between studying during load screens or quiet moments and playing with my wife.
23:30 - Wife logs off for the night so I continue to study.
24:00 - Clean up and head to bed. I continue reading for a few more pages.
00:40 - About the time I actually fall asleep.

Rinse and Repeat sorta...

demonfurbie

7:00 am - wake up
7:07 am - get out of bed while dog looks at me like im crazy
7:15 ~ 8:15 - get ready and get kids ready
8:20 - yell at car seat
8:23 - drive to daycare/work
9:00 - check in with da's office and wait to be called
10:00 - play games on phone while waiting for lawyers to fight about data on a hard drive and giggle about what they think they know about computers.
11:00 - explain what the difference between a hard drive and a pen drive is to a judge
12:00 - lunch and Tylenol
12:30 - check techexams for interesting stuffs
1:00 - back to waiting
2:00 - testify about the "stuff" i found on the computer
3:00 - back to waiting if i am recalled
4:00 - yep still waiting
5:00 - court over for the day back home

Fueledbycaffeine

pitviper wrote: »

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, I use the side door - that way the boss can't see me - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Haaaahaha, had to quote this for my first forum post.

+1

Everyone

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Out of everyone else here, you're the only person that actually take a shower!

The shower schedule is posted on my other website, but you have to pay $3.99/min for it.

CodeBlox

4:45am - wakeup and take shower
5:00am - walk dogs
5:20am - take care of hygenic stuff
5:30am - make lunch
5:30 - 6:00am - Watch the news play xbox
6:00aM - leave for work
7:30am - start work
7:30am - 6pm - answer phone calls troubleshooting the problem of the end user
6:00pm - leave work
7:00pm - finally back home
9:00pm - Sleep, rinse, repeat!

The work day is rather long because we are in a state of mandatory overtime :P

JohnnyBiggles

cxzar20 wrote: »

7:40am - Surf the web for the latest news
9:20am - Get some coffee, formulate a plan for things to do today

LOL... Nice way to kill some time at work

hex_omega

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Phew... Thought for a minute there you were reciting the lyrics to that Rebecca Black song... just when you thought you had forgotten it, it comes back to haunt you!

No. THere was no mention by him of getting cereal. HAVING A BOWL.

hiddenknight821

Everyone wrote: »

The shower schedule is posted on my other website, but you have to pay $3.99/min for it.

Haha, I'm no pervert, but can you give me the link anyway? Jk.

pham0329

So...is it safe to say that us IT people don't really do much at work?

demonfurbie

pham0329 wrote: »

So...is it safe to say that us IT people don't really do much at work?

for me (when im not stuck at court) its a wait till somethign breaks then PANIC ... then stay ther till 3am fixing it

Everyone

pham0329 wrote: »

So...is it safe to say that us IT people don't really do much at work?

We do plenty of work, it's just often in spurts.

On the operations/support side of things, you're sitting around waiting for something to break or go wrong. It may seem like you're not busy until something does, but then when it does, you'll be VERY VERY busy. As a Systems Administrator, I always said if you're busy all the time, then you aren't very good at your job. You should be able to keep things stable without too much effort.

On the consultant side of things, you'll be busy all the time, if you're not, then you aren't making any money.

Architects, Engineers, Developers, and any other roles that revolve around completing projects, will only be busy when there are projects to be completed. If you complete all your projects, and the company doesn't have the budget to start any new ones, you won't be busy again until funds are released to start more projects.

cxzar20

JohnnyBiggles wrote: »

LOL... Nice way to kill some time at work

Yes it is, at work there are usually two kinds of days:

1. All hell is breaking loose
2. Steadily working on projects at a reasonable pace

This day was more of the latter. Days with multiple large site outages and fiber waves down are the former, no time to read techexams forums lol