What Keep You Guys Going?

Hello All,

I would like to know, what keep you guys going in IT? I am 24 years-old and I started a position as an Help Desk Engineer, after they decided to keep me during my first few days as an temp. They provided me with a Kindle to study Server 2008 and CCNA. After being a little motivated to do really well, I am kind of down because of bills, home issues, time management, lack of direction with my career etc. What are your advice(s)? Thanks in advance.

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cxzar20

Money and the promise of stable employment. People that say you can't do IT unless you love the work lie.

Alhaji265

cxzar20 wrote: »

Money and the promise of stable employment. People that say you can't do IT unless you love the work lie.

Lie about you love the work? Not sure about that but hey I don't have much IT experience so I'll find that out as I get a little older but have you or anyone else felt like kind of giving up on this field?

passcert23

I feel like giving up sometimes but my common sense kick in right after. I invested so much in I.T - money, college degree, certs, time. etc... and honestly I don't know what I'll be good at if I was not in I.T. My motivation is to move from help desk.

cxzar20

Alhaji265 wrote: »

Lie about you love the work? Not sure about that but hey I don't have much IT experience so I'll find that out as I get a little older but have you or anyone else felt like kind of giving up on this field?

No, some people will tell you that you can't make it in IT unless you love your work and THAT is a lie. I made it through grad school and up the ranks in my career because I want the money and I want a good job. I don't really care about networking, but I am apparently good at it since I was promoted quickly.

You have to look at the alternatives and decide if those are better or not. At the end of the day your job shouldn't define WHO you are. It is just a way to support yourself and family. Just make sure you don't hate waking up in the morning to go to work.

Turgon

Alhaji265 wrote: »

Hello All,

I would like to know, what keep you guys going in IT? I am 24 years-old and I started a position as an Help Desk Engineer, after they decided to keep me during my first few days as an temp. They provided me with a Kindle to study Server 2008 and CCNA. After being a little motivated to do really well, I am kind of down because of bills, home issues, time management, lack of direction with my career etc. What are your advice(s)? Thanks in advance.

This work will erode your social skills if you are not careful. Lifestyle management is the key. Get that right and you will be successful in your career and life. Quality over quantity. Yes we need to work hard and sometimes long hours, but learn to disconnect and to reflect. Love your wife, like your job.

Zartanasaurus

Alhaji265 wrote: »

Hello All,

I would like to know, what keep you guys going in IT? I am 24 years-old and I started a position as an Help Desk Engineer, after they decided to keep me during my first few days as an temp. They provided me with a Kindle to study Server 2008 and CCNA. After being a little motivated to do really well, I am kind of down because of bills, home issues, time management, lack of direction with my career etc. What are your advice(s)? Thanks in advance.

Sounds like you got a pretty good employer if they are trying to get you trained up and are paying for it in some fashion.

The hot women and limosines don't come right away.

Alhaji265

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Sounds like you got a pretty good employer if they are trying to get you trained up and are paying for it in some fashion.

The hot women and limosines don't come right away.

funny. Thanks you all for the much needed help.

ITdude

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

The hot women and limosines don't come right away.

hmmm.......

ThePrimetimer

To give my family a better life than I had
Will always be in demand as long as the technology changes
To acquire my dream car, a C6 ZR1

N2IT

To support my family and make a nice income.

pham0329

Alhaji265 wrote: »

I am kind of down because of bills, home issues, time management, lack of direction with my career etc.

that's what keeps me motivated! I've been in that situation before, where the worries of bills started to affect everything else in my life. Don't ever want to be in that situation again.

Also, I'm just genuinely interested in IT. I want to learn everything! I see a lot of people either being a MS guy or a Cisco guy...but I want to be both.

baseball1988

Alhaji265 wrote: »

Lie about you love the work? Not sure about that but hey I don't have much IT experience so I'll find that out as I get a little older but have you or anyone else felt like kind of giving up on this field?

My motivations:
-Praise for accomplishments
-Increase salary based on performance instead of length of service (My company does annnual reviews which makes it seem like everything is based on length of service rather than performance). Some companies will promote you within 9-10 months for doing well instead of waiting for 1 year.
-Career growth/opportunities
-Career stability

Someone mentioned in my other thread that you need to have a thick skin to survive in the IT industry.

drew726

I love computers and it's the only thing I was ever good at. Coming from a Chinese family, I have to make sure I can take care of my parents and plus I want to get married in a few years but have a job that pays well enough before doing so.

QHalo

Turgon wrote: »

This work will erode your social skills if you are not careful. Lifestyle management is the key. Get that right and you will be successful in your career and life. Quality over quantity. Yes we need to work hard and sometimes long hours, but learn to disconnect and to reflect. Love your wife, like your job.

This is true no matter what career path you choose, honestly.

powerfool

-Money
-Achievement
-Role model

You don't have to love IT, but I have to disagree about your working not defining who you are. Your work ethic reflects so much of your character. You should work hard and take pride in what you do; if you cannot do that, you shouldn't be in IT, love or hate it. To not be burned out, you need personal interests, which can and should include your family.

Francisco D'Anconia discussing money with James Taggart (Atlas Shrugged):

“When I die, I hope to go to heaven - whatever the hell that is – and I want to be able to afford the price of admission.”

“Virtue is the price of admission,” Jim said haughtily.

“That’s what I mean, James. So I want to be prepared to claim the greatest virtue of all – that I was a man who made money.”

docrice

Blinky lights. Packets. Not having to trust Geek Squad to fix stuff for me. Blocking traffic. Bills paid. Watching Tron and thinking, "...that makes sense..." Being able to work with "appliances" that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Co-workers who inspire. Constantly-evolving industry. Making a difference with a single command. Being at the helm of a starship. Tailing logs. Finding the needle in the haystack.

NetWitness Visualize:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfa-8hRobxg

Oh, and blinky lights.

SteveLord

Job security, flexible office, comfortable salary, even more comfortable benefits, paid training, ability to purchase toys and invest in tech. My personally decorated cubicle.

Forsaken_GA

Pure grit, and sheer old mean-spirited stubbornness.

RomBUS

I just cant see myself doing anything else

I know I have ran into bad luck with my employment so far but I just cannot see myself doing anything else at this point. I know IT is very competitive and it brings out the best in a person given the situation.

As someone said earlier, I invested so much time, energy, and money on this and I deserve to make it in the IT world

LordQarlyn

It's work I like and pretty decent at. Pays the bills and then some.

DigitalZeroOne

I generally love working with computers, which is much different that the people who say "I like computers".

I will break it down like this; I will fix just about anyone's computer for free, my family will prostitute me out in a heartbeat, I love Windows 7, and can't wait for Windows 8, I love VMware, Hyper-V (Have not used it, but I love it because it's technology), I love Powershell, I want to write huge scripts.

I love getting all my tech books on Kindle now, I can't wait for the new kindle..ok, I can go on and on...actually, I love Information Technology, not just computers.

Hypntick

I like to solve problems. That's about as simple as it gets really.

gorebrush

I like learning about new shiny things and love design/implementing solutions to problems using said shiny things.

I like money too, but it's not the be all end all. I like the shiny things money enable me to buy though.

wass.aouadi

docrice wrote: »

Blinky lights. Packets. Not having to trust Geek Squad to fix stuff for me. Blocking traffic. Bills paid. Watching Tron and thinking, "...that makes sense..." Being able to work with "appliances" that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Co-workers who inspire. Constantly-evolving industry. Making a difference with a single command. Being at the helm of a starship. Tailing logs. Finding the needle in the haystack.

Oh, and blinky lights.

I loved this way of looking at things

demonfurbie

the light at the end of a long tunnel called a degree

veritas_libertas

Turgon wrote: »

This work will erode your social skills if you are not careful. Lifestyle management is the key. Get that right and you will be successful in your career and life. Quality over quantity. Yes we need to work hard and sometimes long hours, but learn to disconnect and to reflect. Love your wife, like your job.

There is so much truth in that.

Time management is definitely important. The only way you can eat an elephant is one piece at time. For me it took years to learn this.