The Good & Bad
Job Satisfaction
* Helping others ?
* Creative
* Distinct tasks - achievable
* The People
Money
Job Security or lack thereof !!
Team Orientation
Tied to a Desk
* Lack of Fresh Air ? / Excercise
* Lack of Interacting with people
* Not subject to the elements
Don't mention your job at a dinner party !!!
Very sad but true. You go out for dinner and meet some new people. All goes well for the first 30 minutes until you run out of small talk and inquire about what the other person does. One particular dinner stands out in my mind. "So what do you do Joe ?" " Oh, I run my own limousine taxi service. Yeah, it's a great job. Picked up Madonna and Michael Schumacher just last week when they were down here for the Grand Prix. You should seen Schumacher in the back seat with his escort.....blah.....blah......blah.....". Twenty-five minutes, and four short stories later..." So what do you do for a living ?".
"I'm a computer programmer for the government". "Oh ! Could you pass me the water ? This curry is really spicy. Excuse me - must call the kids - I said I'd call them when we got here."
You've just pumped in 34 questions about this guys occupation but he hasn't got any for you. You know why ? Because he's decided that he wouldn't have a clue about anything to do with your job. And he doesn't want to look stupid so he doesn't ask anything. Or maybe he's just decided you are a boring egg-head with a job where nothing interesting ever happens.
Now you've gotta say that on your average day there is not a lot of excitement in your average I.T. job. " Hi Honey, I'm home. You should have seen what happened today - the users decided they wanted my Stock Calculation program to interface directly into their Website. I spent all afternoon cutting this HTML code with embedded Java and THEN they the Network crashes and I lose everything !!! What a day !!" " That's nice dear. What do you want for dinner ? Curry ?".
Romantic liaisons
If you are a male interested in the opposite sex and want to get into I.T. - don't expect to meet too many prospective partners/conquests at work. There two reasons for it - one is the complete lack of females in the industry. Who knows why - maybe males just have a more logical brain making them suited to I.T. ? Is that sexist ? Maybe. The question you should ask is "Is that true ?" and you will probably find it is.
The second relates to the personality types in the industry (Refer The People). The average I.T. person is not a sex maniac craving their next fix. They are sensible, logical types with their emotions and urges well under control. So short skirts, heavy make-up and cleavage are rarely sighted.
Having said that it does happen that couples do get together in I.T. After 20 years in the industry I do know at least 2 marriages where the partners met on an I.T. project.
However if multiple partners over a sustained period or even one partner for life is your go make sure you have an active social life outside work. Or go and work in a call centre full of young 20-somethings who are less focussed on career building and code writing.
Then again if you are female looking for a male - you've got a better chance as there are plenty to choose from. But once again be aware of the personality types so you know what you are getting yourself into.
If it's marraige you're after, it's a fair chance any future husband will have a Budget spreadsheet that gets reviewed each month - can you cope with that ? And they will spend a lot of time in the study on the home PC. But you will most likely have a Broadband connection if fast Internet access excites you.
As for male looking for male - not too sure here. I've come a cross a few gay males in the industry but no doubt there have been others. I'd head for Silicon Valley - is that far from San Francisco ?
* Helping others ?
* Creative
* Distinct tasks - achievable
* The People
Money
Job Security or lack thereof !!
Team Orientation
Tied to a Desk
* Lack of Fresh Air ? / Excercise
* Lack of Interacting with people
* Not subject to the elements
Don't mention your job at a dinner party !!!
Very sad but true. You go out for dinner and meet some new people. All goes well for the first 30 minutes until you run out of small talk and inquire about what the other person does. One particular dinner stands out in my mind. "So what do you do Joe ?" " Oh, I run my own limousine taxi service. Yeah, it's a great job. Picked up Madonna and Michael Schumacher just last week when they were down here for the Grand Prix. You should seen Schumacher in the back seat with his escort.....blah.....blah......blah.....". Twenty-five minutes, and four short stories later..." So what do you do for a living ?".
"I'm a computer programmer for the government". "Oh ! Could you pass me the water ? This curry is really spicy. Excuse me - must call the kids - I said I'd call them when we got here."
You've just pumped in 34 questions about this guys occupation but he hasn't got any for you. You know why ? Because he's decided that he wouldn't have a clue about anything to do with your job. And he doesn't want to look stupid so he doesn't ask anything. Or maybe he's just decided you are a boring egg-head with a job where nothing interesting ever happens.
Now you've gotta say that on your average day there is not a lot of excitement in your average I.T. job. " Hi Honey, I'm home. You should have seen what happened today - the users decided they wanted my Stock Calculation program to interface directly into their Website. I spent all afternoon cutting this HTML code with embedded Java and THEN they the Network crashes and I lose everything !!! What a day !!" " That's nice dear. What do you want for dinner ? Curry ?".
Romantic liaisons
If you are a male interested in the opposite sex and want to get into I.T. - don't expect to meet too many prospective partners/conquests at work. There two reasons for it - one is the complete lack of females in the industry. Who knows why - maybe males just have a more logical brain making them suited to I.T. ? Is that sexist ? Maybe. The question you should ask is "Is that true ?" and you will probably find it is.
The second relates to the personality types in the industry (Refer The People). The average I.T. person is not a sex maniac craving their next fix. They are sensible, logical types with their emotions and urges well under control. So short skirts, heavy make-up and cleavage are rarely sighted.
Having said that it does happen that couples do get together in I.T. After 20 years in the industry I do know at least 2 marriages where the partners met on an I.T. project.
However if multiple partners over a sustained period or even one partner for life is your go make sure you have an active social life outside work. Or go and work in a call centre full of young 20-somethings who are less focussed on career building and code writing.
Then again if you are female looking for a male - you've got a better chance as there are plenty to choose from. But once again be aware of the personality types so you know what you are getting yourself into.
If it's marraige you're after, it's a fair chance any future husband will have a Budget spreadsheet that gets reviewed each month - can you cope with that ? And they will spend a lot of time in the study on the home PC. But you will most likely have a Broadband connection if fast Internet access excites you.
As for male looking for male - not too sure here. I've come a cross a few gay males in the industry but no doubt there have been others. I'd head for Silicon Valley - is that far from San Francisco ?
posted by Whitefellah at 8:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home