Entry Level IT job for my wife with no user/machine interaction

Hi,

I wanted to see if I could find my wife a job doing IT work that does not involve any major interactions with users or machines. I mean no messing around with hardware or doing helpdesk. It is not that she is above those roles but she has no interest in performing those roles. She doesn't mind if she has to sit at a pc all day performing the job function. She just recently obtained her GED and is taking a nurses aide class. She doesn't like the nurses aide stuff.

Not sure if college education is an absolute prerequisite to find the wife something that pays around the same as a nurses aide does (8-10 per hour). I thought IT might be the way. She could always further her education later on by building on some basics. She is open to self study and grabbing a few certs but we are not willing to make the investment in post-secondary education yet.

Anything like that out there?

Thanks

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Comments

xenodamus

If you're wife doesn't want to work with users or machines, than she doesn't want a job in IT.

It sounds like she wouldn't mind a job that involves "using" a computer, but that's not IT.

Hypntick

Good luck with finding anything entry level IT related that isn't user facing in some way. Truthfully almost all roles are user facing to one degree or another.

Priston

Does your wife have a strong interest in IT?
What does your wife want to be 10 year down the road?

Psoasman

ukiltmybrutha wrote: »

Hi,

I wanted to see if I could find my wife a job doing IT work that does not involve any major interactions with users or machines. I mean no messing around with hardware or doing helpdesk. It is not that she is above those roles but she has no interest in performing those roles. She doesn't mind if she has to sit at a pc all day performing the job function. She just recently obtained her GED and is taking a nurses aide class. She doesn't like the nurses aide stuff.

Not sure if college education is an absolute prerequisite to find the wife something that pays around the same as a nurses aide does (8-10 per hour). I thought IT might be the way. She could always further her education later on by building on some basics. She is open to self study and grabbing a few certs but we are not willing to make the investment in post-secondary education yet.

Anything like that out there?

Thanks

About the only thing that would avoid hardware or Help Desk, might be a call center job. I would advise her to find something she is actually interested in. There are a lot fields paying $8-$10/ hour that she might like instead.

apexgtp

Sounds like she wanted to be a NURSE but didnt want to put in the work. Now she wants to go into IT with out doing the work there either. No offense, me being in healthcare IT, i know plenty of CNAs,NAs, ect that want the nurse money but hate wiping butts. Gotta start some place.

Daniel333

I am confused... please rephrase that?

Sounds like you need to tell her she needs to take sh?t job in IT working 50 hours a week and studying 10 hours a week like the rest of us. Interacting the rudest, meanest and abusive people and getting paid slightly less than a living wage for the privilege.

ukiltmybrutha

xenodamus wrote: »

If you're wife doesn't want to work with users or machines, than she doesn't want a job in IT.

It sounds like she wouldn't mind a job that involves "using" a computer, but that's not IT.

What about working with databases, web design, etc. I don't sit on top of people who perform these functions but I haven't really noticed them interacting with lots of users or anything besides their own machine. Maybe terminaling into a server or two.

ukiltmybrutha

Hypntick wrote: »

Good luck with finding anything entry level IT related that isn't user facing in some way. Truthfully almost all roles are user facing to one degree or another.

Thanks for your honest opinion. Just exploring and trying to think out of the box.

ukiltmybrutha

Priston wrote: »

Does your wife have a strong interest in IT?
What does your wife want to be 10 year down the road?

I don't think that she does. I am honestly not sure. She is getting life together at a later age.

ukiltmybrutha

Psoasman wrote: »

About the only thing that would avoid hardware or Help Desk, might be a call center job. I would advise her to find something she is actually interested in. There are a lot fields paying $8-$10/ hour that she might like instead.

No interest in call centers either. Our area is somewhat rural so doing something that she might like could involve driving 3 hours to a school each direction on a daily basis.

ukiltmybrutha

apexgtp wrote: »

Sounds like she wanted to be a NURSE but didnt want to put in the work. Now she wants to go into IT with out doing the work there either. No offense, me being in healthcare IT, i know plenty of CNAs,NAs, ect that want the nurse money but hate wiping butts. Gotta start some place.

Very childish response. No offense is a cover for an offensive statement. Some people just don't like doing certain things. No need to be presumptuos or rude.

ukiltmybrutha

Daniel333 wrote: »

I am confused... please rephrase that?

Sounds like you need to tell her she needs to take sh?t job in IT working 50 hours a week and studying 10 hours a week like the rest of us. Interacting the rudest, meanest and abusive people and getting paid slightly less than a living wage for the privilege.

No, I am trying to avoid that scenario if possible. It wasn't pleasant for me and it obviously isn't pleasant for you since you called it Sh!t yourself. If many of us could start over we would do it differently. I am just looking for some positive help here not some of the weird posts that I am seeing. If there is no way to do this in IT then there is a right way of going about saying it. Looks like some of the other posters have that figured out.

phantasm

I gotta tell you, an IT job with little to no customer interaction and not touching machines is almost non-existent. Even at the entry level of IT you're dealing with people and their expectations of you; you're also going to be doing technical work on machines of some type. Whether it be server admin, helpdesk or in a NOC, you can expect some level of technical hands on work being done.

Sorry to say it, but I don't think it will be a good fit. I'd suggest call centers if there any near you. Other than that... I don't know what else to offer. Best of luck.

hackman2007

ukiltmybrutha wrote: »

What about working with databases, web design, etc. I don't sit on top of people who perform these functions but I haven't really noticed them interacting with lots of users or anything besides their own machine. Maybe terminaling into a server or two.

Unfortunately those jobs have interaction with users, at least everywhere that I have seen.

A database person has to know how the company operates to design an effective database. They will also get calls from other users (and probably management) when something isn't performing right.

Web design has an extremely high amount of customer contact. You design the website for the person, which involves talking to the person and figuring out what they want.

ukiltmybrutha

phantasm wrote: »

I gotta tell you, an IT job with little to no customer interaction and not touching machines is almost non-existent. Even at the entry level of IT you're dealing with people and their expectations of you; you're also going to be doing technical work on machines of some type. Whether it be server admin, helpdesk or in a NOC, you can expect some level of technical hands on work being done.

Sorry to say it, but I don't think it will be a good fit. I'd suggest call centers if there any near you. Other than that... I don't know what else to offer. Best of luck.

Thanks for your thoughts...yeah the call center idea is not going to fly in this case. I am sure things will work out.

ukiltmybrutha

hackman2007 wrote: »

Unfortunately those jobs have interaction with users, at least everywhere that I have seen.

A database person has to know how the company operates to design an effective database. They will also get calls from other users (and probably management) when something isn't performing right.

Web design has an extremely high amount of customer contact. You design the website for the person, which involves talking to the person and figuring out what they want.

This is true, I perform desktop engineering and after 13 years I have escaped the back office. VERY VERY little user interaction but I work for an enormouse enterprise. Getting into this situation wasn't easy. I couldn't have gotten to this point without years of desktop support though.

N2IT

Only thing that comes to mind is a role in access control. Some very low security position, but even then she would need an AAS in security or some IT degree at the very least in my opinion.

Good luck

effekted

As everyone else has mentioned, there's no chance that you'll get into IT and not have to deal with users or machines. And besides, IT is already filled with enough non user friendly/poor attitude people.

SteveLord

No users, no machines....hmmm. Gravedigger?

I really can't think of many professions that don't involve one or the other or both.

NetworkingStudent

+1

Have her take some career tests and see what they suggest. Almost every job has some sort of human interaction.

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Armymanis

Sounds to me like she is not going to make it in this field. Everything requires user interaction. She can be a stay at home mom. Only user interaction she will do is talk to her husband and kids

cyberguypr

OP: I think a few of us are confused. You say she's willing to get certs but then you said that you aren't sure if she has an interest in IT. NetworkingStudent's suggestion is good. Go through a few aptitude tests to see what she may be incline towards. You could spend a lot of time suggesting things that she will hate. This is something that she has to discover by herself.

buzzkill

Very strange thread to be honest.

Sounds like you are projecting your idea of what job she should get onto her.

Tackle

Data entry.

Everyone

It doesn't sound like she's really interested in IT.

IMHO, the college education for her is going to be a complete waste of YOUR money. She's married to you, you have the job, you'll end up paying for it. If she isn't career minded, you'll pay for her education just to have her work jobs that barely pay more than minimum wage if you're lucky. These jobs will not be related to her degree in any way, and they'll be jobs she could have obtained without them.

My wife has asked me if I could help her find an IT job before. I told her no, because I know it isn't really what she wants to do. She just sees that I make good money, and thinks my job is easy because to her, I'm just sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. So how hard could it be right? I tell her what my job really involves, and she gets a blank stare. She doesn't understand it at all, and obviously has no interest in it. She thinks I could teach her, but why? Why teach her when it isn't what she wants to do?

My wife has an AS in Business Administration, and a BS in Criminal Justice, and has wanted to be in Law Enforcement for as long as I've known her. She missed her first chance at doing it to have a baby. Now 3 years later there are finally starting to be some openings for Law Enforcement in our area, so she may finally get to do what she wants, if she can get hired. I am the sole income earner right now, as she hasn't been able to find a job that would pay enough to where she's not just working to pay someone else to raise our kids. More economical for her to stay home with the kids until she can find her way into the career she's always wanted.

Zartanasaurus

Sure you could do database, web design or programming. That doesn't require much end-user break/fix type interaction. OTOH, those aren't something you just jump into as an entry level job with no skills just to see if you like it either. I don't think IT will suit her based on those requirements.

computer g33k

I agree with networkingstudent suggestion. Have your your wife take some career tests and start from there. From what I have gathered, IT doesn't seem like a good fit for your wife because you pretty much deal with user/machine on a daily basis.

snokerpoker

The only job I could see your wife doing is a call center position. Even with those positions though, an interest in IT is needed to a certain extent.