Agree or disagree: "There is no future (at least that's "well paying") in the day to day IT grind"

[alocurto]

I am a developer primarily and have my own IT Consulting business. Tech work is good if you are on the front lines running it and getting cheap labor. IT Technicians are a dime a dozen now a days. However, coders appear to hold value. I am making 6 figures on Long Island, NY and I am only 25.

 

[oslama]

Originally posted by: trmiv
I agree to get ahead in this field you need to constantly improve and develop your skills. One problem is, it's so overwhelming, there are so many certs and skills you can pursue, it's hard to know where to focus your time, effort, and money. By the time you get whatever cert or skill it is you were after, the next hot thing is making money and you're left out. When I started college, the hot thing was getting an MIS degree. At the college I went to, local companies were literally asking for the names of MIS graduates and throwing money at them. By the time I graduated the dotcom boom was busted and the bottom fell out.

My biggest barrier to improving my skillset is lack of desire. When I started this "career" I was passionate about computers, technologies, etc. I learned all I could, and I enjoyed it. But now I'm just burned out. I know advancing in this career involves self improvement and education, but I've found it hard to do so because, I'm just not interested in it anymore. In the past reading about new technologies interested me, now it puts me to sleep. But changing careers completely can be a daunting task.

Ditto. I took an extra year in college to get a minor in BA. IT has become a utility and its not cost effective for companies to a "full time" staff.

 

[busmaster11]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
"There is no future (at least that's "well paying") in the day to day IT grind. The dot-com boom is over and high paying IT jobs are getting really scarce. Nobody is making "the big bucks" anymore. Move up or get out while you still can. The days of one income households where the breadwinner is a systems admin are OVER."

Note that I'm not talking about non-technical IT managers. I'm talking about system admins, network admins and general IT staff.

What do you guys think?

This is something people whine about 5-7 years ago. These days its plateaued to a level unlike before when any illiterate bum with a paper cert can get a well-paying job. If this is the expectation, then of course you won't be happy. But today, if you have a good work ethic, you can make a good living in IT. If anything, IT is still easier to get into because it doesn't require the academic credentials to get a foot in the door. Just experience. After that point you can get the credentials to move up.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Ok, I decided that Pontifex should work at a gun store. It covers a lot of his interests:

Guns - Well, DUH!
Books - Hey, they got books on guns!
Music - Umm... Never mind. NEXT!
Photography - You can take pictures of the guns for their ads!
Movies - If someone asks for the gun that Danny Glover had in Lethal Weapon 3, you got it covered
Video Games - If someone asks for to see all of the pistols from CounterStrike, you got that covered too!
Computers - Every gun store needs a technical guy to track the inventory and update the web site.
Astronomy - Hey. No job is perfect. If aliens ever invade, though... you're in the right place to defend yourself

Best of all, you can do it part time on weekends while you work your real job. Besides, if I remember right you live in Pennsylvania, and you can't turn around without running into a gun store around there. And don't tell me that you can't make money selling guns... the good ones are freakin' expensive!

Being a gunsmith sounds interesting but I've talked to several and they say it doesn't pay very well. as for selling guns, i don't think they really make much on them. the one shop i go to occasionally only marks their guns up $20. I know places like Gander Mountain mark up their guns by a lot. a gun I bought recently cost $329 at the local shop and Gander Mountain wants $429 for the same one.

Maybe I just need to find my niche in the IT field. I just know its not help desk. Whats something interesting in IT that doesn't require dealing with dumb people all day?

Of course they don't mark up the guns, silly... They mark up the accessories like ammo and cleaning supplies! It's kinda like Best Buy that way. Sure, that deal on the TV sounds good initially, but they end up raping you on the "monster cables" and the extended service plan. Once they're done, the average consumer ends up buying an extra $200 worth of crap that is almost pure profit for Best Buy.

Gun stores are the same way.