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Did you know everything about your job before you were hired?

S

ShowdOWN

Golden Member
I just recently got a job offer in the IT field which requires me to administrate duties that I have never touched on before. Im usually very proficient with researching on an issue and figuring out an answer pretty quickly, but I dont want my new employer to see that this guy we just hired has no idea of what he is doing on this subject. Is it risky to leave a job that you are comfortable with for a new one that pays more but has a lot more subjects that you never had experience wtih? What are your inputs?
 
did you tell them you could already do that stuff? or did you say that you could learn it really fast?

did you tell them you had experience doing stuff that you have never done?

if they know you are learning, then i don't see a problem
 
You don't advance if you don't take some chances. I moved from an IT job into managing a construction company, with no construction background and I never had so much fun.
 
I went from working in marketing to working in IT, so yeah... I pretty much winged it, asked questions, and picked it up pretty quickly.
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
did you tell them you could already do that stuff? or did you say that you could learn it really fast?

did you tell them you had experience doing stuff that you have never done?

if they know you are learning, then i don't see a problem
Click to expand...


I told them that I was able to do everything that they required. But at the end of the interview, they asked me to create a new email account on an microsoft exchange server. It seemed pretty easy to me but I wasnt able to get in done in the short time that I had. That wasnt one of the requirements.
 
Knew nothing and had nobody at the site that knew anything about it either (Automation and controls engineering). Lots of time with the nose in the books and a little luck has turned into a rewarding career.
 
this institution does not have anyone there that knows anything about technology. but im just afraid that when they need something configured like the exchange server, that they need it done right away and that they dont have the 45 min for me to fool around with it.
 
I believe that as long as you know you can learn it real quick, without reading books for months, you'll be fine.

You live, you learn.
 
Originally posted by: benliong
I believe that as long as you know you can learn it real quick, without reading books for months, you'll be fine.

You live, you learn.
Click to expand...


thanks for the support. i think im just being paranoid cause I couldnt complete the task today. they didnt even care about it and wanted me back for a second interview.
 
being able to learn new stuff and figure it out without attending massive (in time and $) formal training is an invaluable skill

good luck! remember, google knows everything about computer stuff, that is where i learn all my IT stuff from
 
Originally posted by: ShowdOWN
Originally posted by: FoBoT
did you tell them you could already do that stuff? or did you say that you could learn it really fast?

did you tell them you had experience doing stuff that you have never done?

if they know you are learning, then i don't see a problem
Click to expand...


I told them that I was able to do everything that they required. But at the end of the interview, they asked me to create a new email account on an microsoft exchange server. It seemed pretty easy to me but I wasnt able to get in done in the short time that I had. That wasnt one of the requirements.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by creating an email account on an Exchange server? That shouldn't take you more than a minute to do.. what version of Exchange are we talking about here? 2000/2003 or 5.5?
 
Originally posted by: kt
Originally posted by: ShowdOWN
Originally posted by: FoBoT
did you tell them you could already do that stuff? or did you say that you could learn it really fast?

did you tell them you had experience doing stuff that you have never done?

if they know you are learning, then i don't see a problem
Click to expand...


I told them that I was able to do everything that they required. But at the end of the interview, they asked me to create a new email account on an microsoft exchange server. It seemed pretty easy to me but I wasnt able to get in done in the short time that I had. That wasnt one of the requirements.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by creating an email account on an Exchange server? That shouldn't take you more than a minute to do.. what version of Exchange are we talking about here? 2000/2003 or 5.5?
Click to expand...


it was 2000, i was able to create one perfectly fine but was able to connect on the client side. im guessing it didnt have all the appropiate permissions. anyways, im going to read up on it a bit more.
 
Depends on how technical the job is. Many management jobs simply require putting-up with alot of BS, but I wouldn't hire someone who didn't possess the skills to be an electrician.
 
Originally posted by: ShowdOWN
Originally posted by: kt
Originally posted by: ShowdOWN
Originally posted by: FoBoT
did you tell them you could already do that stuff? or did you say that you could learn it really fast?

did you tell them you had experience doing stuff that you have never done?

if they know you are learning, then i don't see a problem
Click to expand...


I told them that I was able to do everything that they required. But at the end of the interview, they asked me to create a new email account on an microsoft exchange server. It seemed pretty easy to me but I wasnt able to get in done in the short time that I had. That wasnt one of the requirements.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by creating an email account on an Exchange server? That shouldn't take you more than a minute to do.. what version of Exchange are we talking about here? 2000/2003 or 5.5?
Click to expand...


it was 2000, i was able to create one perfectly fine but was able to connect on the client side. im guessing it didnt have all the appropiate permissions. anyways, im going to read up on it a bit more.
Click to expand...

You have to make sure that the user account (in Active Directory) that is going to access the mailbox has permissions to use it.

Go grab VMWare Workstation, install something like SBS2003 or Server 2003 + Exchange and FIDDLE. It's the ONLY way to get to learn something; reading will give you the background but hands-on experience cannot be beaten.
I went from knowing sod-all about Exchange when I started my current job, to being a fairly capable Exchange admin, in a couple of months of on-and-off fiddling, making users, making mailboxes, distribution lists, settings limits, configuring POP3 smarthosts...
Once you've got the basics down, it's pretty simple stuff. It's when you get into Exchange clusters using front- and back-end servers that things start getting a bit complicated 😉

If you can find it, the CBT NetNugget series is excellent, and will take you through a large proportion of what you need to know, using videos and voiceovers.
 
Didn't have a clue about my job. Don't let a little thing like knowledge stop you from taking a job, just RTFM baby!

Potential Boss: Do you know VOIP?
Spunky Jones: Sure, aren't they a band out of Seattle?
Potential Boss: Ha ha, your funny, the job is yours.
 
It would be intensely BORING if you knew everything about the job from the get go. I'd rather learn from exercising my experience and hitting goals on the job.
 
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