The Little Careers Book

࢚࢚ If you are easily discouraged in the face of challenge, a career in IT may not be for you. ࢚࢚ Planning, prioritising, and meeting deadlines have to come pretty naturally to you. ࢚࢚ Change is inevitable in IT, and you need to be the sort of person who welcomes change and always wants to learn new things. ࢚࢚ Finding IT solutions requires creative thinking and different approaches. ࢚࢚ IT jobs can be very stressful. How good are you at handing stress? ࢚࢚ Good IT people need to be disciplined and able to focus. ࢚࢚ Precision and accuracy are important – little things often matter a lot. ࢚࢚ When dealing with clients, especially ones who are not technical, being calm, understanding, and patient is always appreciated. TRUTHS XX Most people who work in IT are nerdy, technical, anti-social geeks. XX IT Project Management is boring and the people who do it are dull. MYTHS ࢚࢚ If you aspire to work for a very large IT company, be prepared to work very hard. ࢚࢚ Those who have entered the field purely because it’s a good money- maker can certainly be competent, but are rarely exceptional. ࢚࢚ IT jobs can offer starting wages that are better-than-average, but not always. ࢚࢚ Every IT position, at some point, requires doing repetitive, menial work that shouldn’t be beneath anyone. ࢚࢚ Being asked to develop an IT solution which no one has attempted before, but which could make or break a business, is incredibly fulfilling. ࢚࢚ You often get to work with dynamic, driven, highly intelligent people who all want to get a project done in the most efficient manner possible – that’s rewarding. ࢚࢚ Gone are the days of “plodding” IT project managers following their plans; today, everything is dynamic and has to be responsive to ever- changing factors. ࢚࢚ You’ll usually be based in an office, working either at your employer’s premises or at your client’s site, but plan to be in an office setting a lot of the time. ࢚࢚ Expect to occasionally deploy new systems on weekends, work unsociable hours and be on-call, often without overtime pay. ࢚࢚ Working freelance can be very interesting, and you can earn more money, but you will be away from home a lot, working long hours. TRUTHS XX Taking the management path leads to more career advancement opportunities than remaining on the technologist path. MYTHS REWARDS AND SACRIFICES PERSONALITY TRAITS