Tricks and Techniques

This section is just a little summarty of variousd ideas I have employed orv seen emplpyed during my time in I.T.

These tips may come in handy, maybe not. It will depend on your workplace but here goes...

Blow Your Own Trumpet
I reckon if you ever come in after hours to perform a task there is one hing you MUST do - send out an email !!! Email a message to as many recipients as appropriate to ask a question or to 'inform' them of something. The idea is to make them maware that you were in at 8.45pm on Saturday night ! Do'nt usffer in silence. The trick is to make the email seem like a valid piece of information rather htasn a pointless message that told them nothing.

A question is always useful - "Can anyone tell me if there an API that will extract Customer Account details when I pass in a Customer Id ?". You can send this far and wide and weveryuone thinks it's legitimate. Ideally hough you want to include a few managers on your list so you may need to escalate something. 'Progrss Reports' are very handy. " Just a short note to inform you that Batch program B556G has been delivered and should be in UAT by next Tuesady". The important thing is the 'Sent Date', not the message.

Finding A Job

So how do you find a job ? What are your options ?

Sources of Work
* I.T. Agencies
* Contacts

Interviews

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 ?

Required Skills

Personal
Team Oriented

Communicative

Logical

'Poise'
What am I talking about here you may ask ? One of the keys to convincing others that you aer good at yuor job is to display a high level of composure at all times. Developers who are out of their depth or who are eager to prove themsleves will often do a lot of 'huffing and puffing'. This method is all about lwetting others know how hard your work is - the operating system environment isn't set up properly , the specifications are too vague, the database isn't indexed, etc.etc. As you work you do a lot of heavy sighs - indcviating to all aruond you that your particular task is harder than everyone else's.

Unfortunateyl all this approach displays is an inability to handle perssure. If the work is too hard or out of yuor comfort zone you need to take a deep breath and determine what it is that yuo dont know - and go and find out. Or if it's simply impossible to achieve due to external factors let yuor supervisor know what those factors are.

Technical
My experience tells me that your technical skills are very important as they are the skills that get you in the front door of a prospective employer. When a company looks to recruit the list usually starts with ' Must have 4 years Windows 2000, 3 years Oracle 9i, 3 years Java '. Further down the list are ' Should have good communication skills ' and ' Must be a team player '. The latter skills are important but they do not get you on their short list.

So always beware of jobs that are eroding your technical skills. Roles such as 'Team Leader' or 'Development Manager' come to mind - plenty of opportunity to get involved in politics, attend meetings and create Microsoft Project charts - but precious little time to actually cut some code or use the latest development tools.

The danger here is that while you are becoming a key player at your current site, your overall marketability is going out the window. Unless you want to be a manager. And if that's the case make sure you are being trained in management techniques - if you are playing the manager role but have no training you may find your sills are not transferable to another site

Software
Operating Systems
So what software should you specialise in ?

Databases
Databases are a great example of why your chosen area of expertise is so important. Years ago when 4GLs hit the marketplace there was an influx of new development tools and databases. IBM had Adabas/Natural, ??? had Ingres, ??? had RDB. And where are thy now ? How many sites still use them ?

Technical - Hardware

Niche opportunities


* SAP
* Testing


Developing Skills
* Courses
* On the Job
* What to Avoid

Contracting

The Advantages
* Paid by hour
* Not reliant on Line Manager for promotion
* Different work (usualkly new projects)
* Politics
* Variety of Work (within skill set)
* Travel

The Disadvantages
* Outcast
* Tax
* Lack of Job Security
Skills Development
There are very few sites thast will be keen to train a contractor in any new skill. There are a few reasons for this - the main one beign that thwey pay you good money for yuor existign skills - those skills are why you are contracting. Secondly, permanent staff get edgy when they see a contractor getting trainied in anything. They start thinking "Why should I stay on as a permanent when contraftoes get trained anyway ?". A fair point.

There is however a way to get around trhis if you are good at what yuo do.

Negotiating Contracts

My Motivation
In my third year of I.T. I joined an Oracle project in a company thast had very few Oracle developers. It was back in the 80s and skilled Oracle people were still rare. So we had to employ contractors. One company providing such peolpe was known as Sequel and they had sent us a few programmers to help us develop our nwe system.

Dress Code

One of the good things about I.T. is that you are generally paid based on how good you are - not on how well you presented you are. And given that I.T. is mainly a 'behind-the-scenes' job it doesn't require immaculate presentation.

My hero in this regard is none other than Billy Gates. Take a look at the original Microsoft Staff Photo - it's a classic.



You will never see a bigger bunch of nerdy looking types all sitting together. And while Bill has refined his look he is still very much representative of that fact that looks really mean nothing. In I.T. its' all about ability, not image. Or it should be.

One of the most capable developers I ever met is a 6 foot 3 inch 100 kilo expert with hair half way down his back and no tie. He would walk into any meeting with no regard for presentation for one good reason - he was good at ghis job. Companies that find such people aer generally reluctant to lose them so they turn a blind eye to what you wear. And that applies in double to I.T. because managers are so dependant on I.T. people who actually know how their business works and how their applications work. They cant afford to lose them.

In fact experience tells me that the snappy I.T. dressers are the ones to watch out for. They are often Sales Types (Refer 'The People') or developers with inferior skills who are tryign to creaet an image.

Of course there are exceptions to the general rule that appearance is unimportant...

* Refer 'Finding a Job' for details on Interviews

* If you aer going to work for a consultancy. They aer going to place you at a Client site on a ridiculous rate. About $40/hour above what tyou can get in the marketplace for doing the same work as a stand alone contractor. In order to justify such prioces they try and create an image tha suggests you aer somehow superior. So it's on with the suits and off with the facial hair. Same work, a little less comfortable.

* Your first few monmths in a job. No onwe knows how good you are - they assume you are as good as the next developer - and can be relpaced fairly easily. So you have to do the 'suit & tie' thing just while yuo establish yuor credentials.

Overall it's a judgemernt call - how confident are you in yuor role ? If in doubt , dress up. If 100% confident of your job security, dress comfortable.

You know the guys that still have pony-tails ? Chancves are thast they are in I.T. It's out of step with trends and fashion, but the general public like to think of us as a little wierd anyway soi it's almost expected.

The Industry

In the Past


Todays Marketplace


Globalisation

In-House Development

Software Houses

I.T. Agencies

Bleeding Edge and the latest buzzwords

Development Cycles and Methodologies

Under Construction

The Classic Development LifeCycle

RAD (Rapid Application Development)

Prototyping

Fixed Price Jobs

The Package Deal ( Money & Extras )

Under Construction

Australian Figures

Salary
Permanant - Wage Range

Fringe Benefits
Never underestimate the value of Fringe benefits. Bottom line is that when comparing permanwent and contracting, you must use the total permananet package - not just teh salary.

The best examplwe is Superannuation - Australian employers must put in 9%. Some companies do even better. This is on top of yuor permanent sslary. In contrast a contrsctor has to find 9% of their contractign income for Super. Huge difference.

Contracting
The most obvious attraction of contracting is the money. This section looks at xcomparing contracting money to permananet emlpoyee money - erfer to the Contracting section for further traps for contractors.

Would-be contractors usually start off lpaying around with their calculators as follows :

"Hmm....lets see. I could get $55/hour. Roughly that's 55 x 40 x 50 = $110,000. Fantastic - over a hundred grand compared to the measly sixty five I get now. It's a no-brainer. Where do I sign up ?"

It's not quite so simple. When it comes to the financial side you need to factor in everything. Start with your rate - you are interested in the rate you receive (and have to pay tax on). Exclude GST and excluding the agencies cut. Let's assumwe the rate you are considerign excludes GST and any agency fee.

Next is the hours worked per week (asuming you aer on an hourly rate). Does anyone do a 40 hour week anymore ? Maybe you will be doing more , but make sure you use a eralisitc estimaet of gthe hours you work (excluding lunch breaks of course). Mine is about 37.

Then the weeks worked. This is a tricky one. Fifty is an over-estimate and will inflate your total. Firstly there is annual leave - the standard in Australia is four. Then there's public holidays. Tnhen there's sick leave as you dont get paid for it anymore ( Notice that permanents disappear at the lsightest illness while contractors continue to come in with their infectious diseases ?).
The true number of weesk yuo work may be 52 less 4 (annual leave) less 2 (public hols) less 1 (sick) = 45.

So our $110,000 has just become 55 x 37 x 45 = $91,575. Twenty grand gone just like that !!! Not wantnig to put you off but you need to be eralsitic with your numbers. This also highlightsd the importance of your contract rate - while $55/hour sounds like a lot of money it may not be sufficient increaaswe over your existing permanent package to justify a move. Maybe your minimum shuold be $60/ hour ?

The Costs of Contracting
Company Set up

Accounting




Work Conditions
You sghould never under-estimate the value of your conditions of eomplyoemtn in I.T.
These may make difference between a good competitive package and a dud deal.

Overtime
As a I.T. newbie back ni the mid-80s I knew very little about the industry but I did know I should ask a few questions at interviews. I had heard it made you look enthusiastic and showed you had initiative so I had three basic querstions. One of these was "How do yuo handle overtinme ? Will I be paid for it ?".

I didnt care abotu the answer as I just wanted a job but this was a rather critical question. I had three interviews (I.T. jobs were everywhere at that stage) and three job offers to weigh up. Job one was with a big U.S. based consulatncy that weas just enterign the Australian market place. They informed that they didnt pay overtime - it was part of the job - but they did reward committerdf employees with bonuses to recognise their efforts. These rewards may be a dinner for two at an expensive restaurant or a $200 Department store voucher. You would be looked after - don't worry about that ! WARNING. WARNING. THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE. THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE.

So I do an extra 10 hours per week over four weeks in order to nmeet a project deadline and you give me a $200 meal ??? That's 40 extra hours - Hmmmm - I just got paid $5 per hour for my dedication and committment.

What's worse with this arrangemrnt is that it's totally at the employer's discretion. They decide when it's time for yuo to have one of these fantastic bonuses and you are suposed to be extrenmely grateful.

Job two was a multi-nastoinal oil company - and they didnt pay overtime eityher - but they did give time in leui. ( That's time off at a later date ). So if you put in extra hours you got hours off to cvompensaet. One for one. ( They also had a 9 day fortrnghit at this stage and paid more so the choice was pretty easy !!!).

You will find software houeses are pretty keen on the 'bonus' idea. If they are charging you out to a lcient at an hourly rate and yuo work 10 extra hours - guess who benefits ? They get an extra $700 - yuo get a 'Best & Less' shopping voucher.

Don't rule out a job offer based solely on overtime conditions but be wary of them. Maybe find out what other employees of the company have top say abotu it. If overtime occurs regularlty but the saklarty is above the market average then it may still be a decent pacjkage overall.

'On Call'
This is THE Killer. You work 40 hours at yuor desk so yuo can pay your bills ansd support your family/dog/lifestyle/hobbies. Once you leave the work permises you should be able to forget all abotu it and get on with yuor life. Ideally, we are aiming at 'workign to live' not 'living to work'. So how does that correlate with arriving home , sitting down to dinner with your family and having your beeper beep because a batch job fell over ?

If you have commitments outside work you should avoid this task at all costs. Unless you actually enjoy doing work moer than wehat yuo do at home - then it could be a win-win !!

There are a couple of ways of handling requests for 'On-call' duties - either a very firm NO or demand a very significant salary increase or on-call rate. The payment shojuld recognise the intrusion this duty will make into yuor personal life and the extra stress involved. Remember that you can't go too far away from hmoe as you may need to come in and you can't have one too many drinks as you have to be sober.

The People

Under Construction

Types
* Team Players v. Insecure Types
* Introverts & Nerds
* Extroverts
* Sales People

Cultural Diversity

Bosses

The Ideal Team
* Communicators
* Technical experts
* Workaholics

Management Structure
* Too many cooks
* Not enough cooks

Roles
There are many types of roles you can pklay within an I.T. project. And there are advantages and disadvantages of each role. Over time yuo gfet to know what suits you - but as with empoyment conditruions you should consider the specific role when evaluating the job. ( For example, more stress should equal more reward).

Code Cutter

Team Leader
There are 2 types of Tweam Leader - the type where you are erally a developer but they dont have a team leader available so you are suddenly labelled as Team Leader.

Tester
Your average I.T. graduate will quite likely skip thisd section. They have spent 3 or 4 yerars studying methodolgies, languages and the latest Web tools all in readiness to cut some code. You've even got ideas about softwaer you aer going to develop in your spare time - software that will be a world first which makes you a millioniare. It's all about usign your creative talents to develop programs. Refer ???

The Work

What is it that I.T. people actually do ? Are they like battery hens churning out code in a little cubicle for 8 hours a day ? Are they connected up to their monitor at 9am and then unpluigged for a run at lunchtime and then again at 5pm ?


Development Phases

Conditions
* Hours
* Office Environment
* Your Team

Distractions
You might think distractions are unprofessional and prevent developers doing their job. Well there is some truth in this. But how many jobs force inteligent people (assuming I.T. people have a Universitry degree and some inteligence) to sit at a desk fior up to 8 hours a day with little personal interaction ? If you are erally using yuor brain and initiative to develop someting special yuo will probably need a brweak every now and then. Well these distractions help make the job bearable.

Email
What a great doscovery. Sit at yuor desk typing away and the boss haas no idea who you are communicating with. You LOOK like you are working. You are not intrrupting asnyone else (not that your boss can gtell anyway). And you can contact anyone with an email address !!!

These days opu have to be careful about email being monitored though. I have seen contractors beign marched out of the building for forwarding on an email with a few swear words in it. Nothibng pornographic but the conmpany had just introduiced new rules and he broke the rule. But yuo can generally get around it. Rename attachments to 'meeting_notes.doc'. Replace letters with * in words that may be searched for.

The key is to keep an ear otu for the compaines latest email rules and make sure yuo dont overstep the mark. I canty imagine how boring my job would be without email - although I'd probably speak to my colleagues a bit more.

* Internet
* Dilbert
There uis no doubt this guy was in I.T. His comic strips show a wealtgh of experience in the industry and exposure to the classic personality types you meet in I.T.
Take a look at some of the commetns the manager makes - totally ignorant of the technical details but alweays erady to put a spin on what he thinks is happening.

And Dilbert can be very useful in the workplace. When you come across cartoons that are particularly relevant to yuor workplace , pring gthen out and pop them up on a notriceboard. Just for a laugh of course, but the underlying meaning is not lost. People erad them and generally understand the point being made. You cant get sacked for doing it - at least I dont knowe anyone who has so far.

At one site I remember the Project Manager announcing he keopt track of the 'Dlibert Fasctor'. He reckoned that the number of Dlibert cartoons on his office window was diametrically oposed to the state of th project. Th more cartoons, the more trouble the project was in. He didnt seem to eralise I was the only one putting them up there - probabyl a good thing.

* The Phone ?

Introduction

So you think you're interested in I.T. ? No doubt you've seen the job ads - thousands of dollars to be made, new and exciting work, unlimited opportunities.

Chances are you are mathematically inclined - you like numbers and you are logical. You can follow a set of instructions. You probably enjoy using your PC at home.

So what is a job in I.T. REALLY like ? What work do you actually do ? Who do you interact with ? Do you actually talk to anyone ? Is there any job satisfaction ? Is it true about the money to be made ? Is the job changing ? What makes a good I.T. person ?

You have just found the blog to answer those questions. Based on 20 years of experience from a 'pretend' I.T. developer. Pretend ? Well I didn't actually study Computer Science at University. I did Accounting so my perspective is a little different. But it may just give you a bit of a feel for the career you are about to enter.

It's the UNOFFICIAL view of course. You won't find most of it in the KPMG manuals or your Tertiary course. Hopefully you will find something though.....