Unglorified Look at Your Career in IT

by Mr. Bristol  (a.k.a. Draco - Dragon, not Harry Potter)

I am 40+-years-old.  I have been breaking/fixing computers since I was 13.  That gives me more than 25 years of experience in this field.  I dedicated my life to anything a computer touches.  I thought today everyone would have finally figured this out, but I am still hearing about it.

You want a high paying job; IT is the way to go.  Do not expect that pay just because you have a degree or certificates.  I hold two associates and two college certificates.  I have no more interest in furthering my education portfolio any further than that.  Pay-to-test to gain certifications are a waste of time and money at this point for myself (doesn't mean you shouldn't).  These tests are hard and they expire in just a few years.

I have become that which I hated the most growing up: a money-grubbing corporate yuppie.  Yet I still remain humble.  Annoying so to many.  Corp doesn't care about your education if you have the experience to back it up.  More often than not, if you can show previous accomplishments (without breaking NDA or DNC); all you really need is the ability to talk like you know what you are doing.

Most importantly, you must dedicate yourself to this lifestyle if you want to have a career and a family to support.  That said, I know others that just do the minimum and support their families.  There is nothing wrong with this.  If you want to do something fantastic and grand, you do not need a black hat for that.  You do not need to kiss butt.  I found sucking up to your boss is counterproductive.

I have told my Chief Information Officer (CIO) and my Chief Digital Officer (CDO) that they were wrong.  I did it looking them right in the eye with confidence.  Now - I was nice about it - but I told them there was a better way.  They will ignore you at first until their plan fails and then guess who they come to.

People get into this field typically for a singular reason:

1. I am going to make a bunch of money.
2. I am going to have an easy job googling all day.
3. I just graduated with a BS and I do not have to deal with BS getting a job.
4. I am going to be a hacker like Kevin Mitnick.
5. I am going to be the best no matter what it takes.

Now me personally, I am the fifth.  However, let's break this down real quick.

I am going to make a bunch of money.  You will, if you can put your money where your mouth is.  This is a field that you cannot BS your way into.  You can make a decent living provided you can show up on time and do your job.  If you want to get real money, you still have to work for it and bust your butt doing it.

I am going to have an easy job Googling all day.  I cannot even begin to describe how insulting this is to hear.  Yes, we Google/Yandex a lot in order to learn.  That is the idea.  We start learning how the search engine works, the code in the background, and, more importantly, what to type to get the search result we need.  Most of us only do this if we get stuck and time is a factor.  That would be almost all the time.

I just graduated with a BS and I do not have to deal with BS getting a job.  Wrong.  You still have to prove yourself, even if you have a reputation already.  Employers are looking for people that can actually care about the work they do.  They also want to make sure you can walk your talk.  Expecting the world as your oyster is ridiculous.  The amount of competition out there in IT fields is insane.  If you specialize, that is how you get your name out there.

I am going to be a hacker like Kevin Mitnick.  He spent years in a prison without any due process.  No trial, nothing.  If you plan to have a future that involves a spouse and/or kids, you'll do what I did.  Hang up your black hat now.  It is not worth the trouble.  Now, that does not mean you cannot dab once in a while and keep up with that culture.  No law against education... yet.

I am going to be the best no matter what it takes.  This is something I've been recently learning.  It does not matter how good you are.  There will always be someone better.  Become a mentor to someone to help the next generation grow and learn.  You will never be top dog.  That is not a thing.  Our end goal is to get society to listen to us and force their hand if and when necessary.

This is not TV.  This is not Mr. Robot.  We are not Chloe or a character from a hacker movie (Hackers, Swordfish, etc.).  There is no such thing as the best in this world.  There are only the elite, the great, the good, the adequate, and the squeakers.  Most will be the good which is a good thing.  The great is a burden on yourself, but I can cover that in another article.  Same goes for the rest of the hierarchy.

In the words of Tyler Durden, "You decide your own level of involvement."