Discussion on:

Is IT a sinking ship?

A few years ago, my dad asked me what I would do if suddenly, all computers disappeared, and I had to find a new line of work. I laughed at him and said that'll never happen, there will always be plenty of work in computers. I thought my career was secure and I had nothing to worry about. I figured I'd find that 50-60 K a year job in a few years and someday make 6 figures as a programmer. Now I look back and shake my head at how naive I was.

Back then, there were tons of opportunities and high paying jobs in this field. Most of the high paying jobs are gone. There are few opportunities unless you're a good saleperson and/or have a lot of connections. And even when you do find a job, you have to deal with the same politics that managers and other business people have to deal with. And they're making the same amount of money (or more) without having to know as much!

It's amazing how many disgruntled people are in this field. The negativity on this board is astounding. There are people with degrees, certifications, and experience, and still having trouble finding a job. It's a damn shame that there are a whole lot of people in their 40s and 50s who have worked their asses off this field and can't find work.

Some of you speak of keeping your skills up to date. It's a crapshoot. Unless you have a secure job, how do you know what skills are you supposed to be learning? There are so many things to know that it's impossible to focus on everything. By the time you become an expert in something, it's already passe. Employers don't want to train you. They expect you to have all of the skills that they require.

If there's no money OR job security in this field, and you have to spend many hours a week studying for certifications outside of work just to (hopefully) stay afloat for a few more years, and you have to deal with the same politics as everyone else, what is the point? Not to mention that the schools are pumping out thousands of graduates per year....

If you're a manager, you have politics to deal with but you don't have to spend countless hours outside of work passing certification tests.

If you're an independent HVAC repairman, you have to know your stuff but the technology doesn't change as nearly as much as IT. And you don't have office politics to deal with.

IT people are expected to know everything that there is to know about computers, be excellent communicators, deal with politics, etc.

So what do you do? Continue to devote thousands of hours on your own time learning skills that may or may not help you in the future? Start over and go into a new field? If you learn how to be a bricklayer, you may not make as much money (assuming you're lucky enough to be employed in IT), but at least you don't have to re-certify every 3 years.

And I have said it myself much to people's horror many times.

There are TRADES and there are certs, certs being called trades is weak.

You can make money as a mechanic or bricklayer because not everyone has a shop at home or a place to build houses out of brick for fun. Computers? Everyone has one and everyone is GETTING savvy with them now. IT will soon just be a high school credit (as it is already becoming) that is no different that learning English or math. Not a specialty trade as many still think it is.

The number of MCSE's running around complaining about the market is going to sound like people saying "Hey I passed grade 12! Why won't anyone give me a job, I PASSED grade 12 for god's sake!"

I am an MCNE not by choice but because an employer paid for it (and it was on the nice Novell training cruiseship program, too cool!).

I am also a licenced mechanic, as IT $$ dwindles, the automotive Journeyman's wage inrceases, unionized and all that.

So while I turned my back on a 'working man's' trade for easier work, I find myself realizing that hard work still pays more and as for the future...well it just technology that keeps changing and getting cheaper every year.

Notice that cars aren't any cheaper though? You pay more at the shop now?

The Discovery channel had a show on the other day that was about Water Theme park designing. They showed how all of this outstanding engineering is done on computers that could never have been done before.

Then they had to build a mock model to prove the software gave them the right information, that consisted bricks and mortar in a warehouse with little blow up boats in it.

They showed how the water jets at another park had been intricately designed by high end CAD software and by skilled Autocad engineers. Then they showed three guys, all grubby and greasy with little welders beanies on, who were actually bulding the mechanical mock-ups.

No matter what it is they can design, it still takes skilled labour, engineers, Tig welders, mechanics, and masons, to actually build the damn thing.

Computers aid in designing these wonderful places, PEOPLE WITH REAL SKILLS build them. Excluding of course the skilled autocad enineers that got jobs...both of them.

SO with the TWO or THREE highly skilled CAD techs that actually designed it, there were literally hundreds if not thousands who actually BUILD it.

They make HUGE money building it, it provides WAY more jobs than the design process did, and then thy need even more guys to run out and reweld, retorque and fix these rides as the computer shows it is due for repair.

Computers replace some people but we still rely on skilled tradesmen to make it all a reality.

After 4 years in an automotive apprenticeship, I had to go back in order to stay current on new electronics used in specific manufacturers cars, Honda and Ford trucks.

As a machinist, you have to relearn new CAD equipment and keep your skills upto date, otherwise new journeymen get the jobs.

My father was a multiple certified tradesman, as a marine engineer it was constantly changing, even as a mason, machinist and engineer he had to constantly stay up to date on new techniques, materials and compounds. There is JUST as much book work, usually MORE time needed IN school to get certified s a journeyman and just as many days with grunt work before you reach your goal, then it is a matter of staying there.

As a sales manager I found the exact same thing, you need to constantly be on top of your game, have the latest competetive information memorized, put up with office politics and long hours, deal with staff in a rut, etc.

So while you are right in that it SEEMS that IT staff have a greater burden they really don't, in fact it is pretty easy as far as WORK is concerned, not too often do you visit the doctor to have a processor removed from your face.

When the boss or CO's go home it doesn't mean they no longer deal with work, in many cases even a trip to the pub will be a long worknight when all is said and done.

The thing I DO agree with though is money, IT does not have the same value it once did, as EVERYONE does it now, high pay and the big rise in the 80's and 90's just saturated the industry, it is now no different than a secretarial, HR or any other administrative position (Not to diminish thier role) but it is just another job that many people hav the common skills to compete for.

Reduce competition and you earn more money, always! Choose your trades wisely and you will alwys be employed and always make the money I guess.

...Having a backup skill/trade/profession (or two or three) is almost a requirement, anymore. Right, wrong, or indifferent, the days in which a person could expect to be employed at the same company for 30 years and retire are gone far behind us. The spoils will go to those who are agile enough to adapt as circumstances demand, whether it means keeping feverish pace with their current industry, or seeking out new ones.

As a humorous side note...among my many other backup plans in unrelated areas, I am looking into becoming certified as a hypnotist. Do I expect to work full-time at this if I go through with it? Probably not; it's mostly for my own amusement and edification, as well as a good conversation topic at parties. But it would be just one more egg in another basket, in the event that somebody trips me and breaks the other eggs I'm carrying.

Life is a journey; it doesn't remain static, and neither, it seems, can we.

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Don't practice in the mirror unless you have someone around to 'snap' you out of it.

...for missing work, wouldn't it?

It is growing.......just not in the sense most are used to it.

However I do agree (and have said it before) IT today is thinning out the 'dead wood'.

Those that think that building PC's & desktop support was 'IT' in the past are gone. Those that think owning a PC or being able to build a PC is 'IT' are history. Those that think understanding just the OS such as Windows or Linux or even Novell is 'IT' are gone. Understanding Networking isn't ennough anymore either.

There's a bigger 'IT' picture out there....those that understand THAT have a future and a job in IT.

To put it another way.....building a cabinet or fixing your car does not make you a carpenter or a mechanic.

You should allways have another skillset to bolster or specialize your IT knowledge.

You bake one loaf of bread, they call you a baker.

You darn one sock, they call you a tailor.

You suck one ****, they call you a....

Couldn't resist

True ennough in a twisted kinda of way isn't it?

Its never coming back either. I was like you too. I thought I would have a good job forever in IT. I never thought it would go away. Boy, was I wrong!

I think IT can no longer stand on its own. It was good back then but its over as we knew it. It has to be IT and something else now.

I think the IT profession has always been held to higher standards than other white collar professions. You used to be paid for it, but now the work has become devalued because of better software and globalization. And, of course, nobody is getting any younger.

To me, it just is not prudent to focus strictly on IT anymore because it isn't enough in today's world. You can't make any money unless you have business skills. Out with the geek, in with the business-savvy IT person.

Its a new era. Being a bricklayer wouldn't be ruled out if I loved doing it. Personally, I think it would be a hard transistion, too much manual labor and no intellectual stimulation. Very creative though.

You need to be an IT person with a specialty in _______.

"You can't make any money unless you have business skills. Out with the geek, in with the business-savvy IT person."

You need to be an IT person with a specialty in BUSINESS PROCESSES.

specialise on Business Processes? In terms of degree, would Masters with Information Systems specialisation be sufficient?

Top it off with people skills and........$$$$ You got it Yoda.

Ihave been doing that for 6 years now without a cert.

I go into a company, work for 4-6 weeks in various areas and look for ways to use technology to streamline processes, enhance efficiency and retain revenue, all areas of the company.

Sorta like a 'consultant-of-all-trades'!

I have an MCNE, Sales, marketing and administrative experince, no degree. But I am also a pretty persistent person who sells his ideas to employers. I get paid for the consulting (usually a percentage of the revenue savings with the percentage depending on the amount of revenue of course), and also get paid by vendors for the equipment sale, service contract etc. I will then monitor and manage the system and work with staff for a while to ensure it is being implemented properly. Someitmes F/T sometimes temporary.

It isn't brain surgery it's jus a little ingenuity to make things better and get some different revenue streams coming in.

Its job experience of any kind. What if you waited tables during school or did landscaping or data entry. You now have an understanding of business processes in that industry and an understanding of the unique problems each of them faces.

If you concentrate in an area that you have worked in, even if it was a menial job, that experience will help you to understand the business process in that industry. It will help you to help them make their process better. I think a degree can give you the mechanics, but you can't fully understand how to fix a process until you've worked in it.

For example, I am an IT manager for a law firm. Many years ago when I was in high school, I worked part time as a legal secretary. I vowed, at that time, to never work at a law firm again. But I was wrong. Today, my experience then as a legal secretary has proven to be very helpful in my current position. I was able to understand the legal "culture" and also what their business processes were. Two very valuable lessons.

You can't learn everything in school.

"I think the IT profession has always been held to higher standards than other white collar professions."

When working in OTHER white collar positions, IT staff have always been seen as people who hold themselves at higher standards.

'In the IT community' it was a higher standard than other white collar jobs, not to other white collar employees though.

No matter how much they patted you on the back and said you were god, they always thought the IT guy was just some geek with no social skills that click keys for the company everyday.

It's not just IT though. Guys in the warehouse think the company would grind to a halt without them, so do the receptionists who remember the bosses wife's birthday every year, so do the sales reps who bring all th efood back from the hunt.

Once IT has settled into just another administrative office job, like the secretary, AR clerk, trainer etc. things will settle and even out to where they should be.

I have never been 'proud' to be the company IT guy nor ever felt that I held the place together or was more esteemed than others. In fact I would go out of my way to show I wasn't a 'computer guy' (they usually don't end up with the girl like in the movies).

Perhaps why I don't feel let down by a crumbing empire the way some do who felt they had GOD status years ago. I've thought it was an overrated 'career' all along, it was just a matter of time until people caught on I guess.

Your exactly right.....a lot of 'Techs' out there believed their 'own press'. (For whatever reason)

Now, reality is setting in. Those that have street smarts and people skills are the long term type that will carry forward in IT.

It is those people who can COMMUNICATE and appreciate people for who they are - Be it the Janitor or the CEO.

These types can communicate ideas. (Assuming they know what there doing of course.)

Some may call them righteous......but they're ideas nonetheless......isn't that right Oz?

Gotcha!!!

Just kidding

Did you ball a fist and clentch your teeth before clicking the link to read it?

Have a good weekend, LOL :D:D:D:

I'm definitely not a GOD, not even close, but I'm always working when lots of other white-collar types are not. Take for example, the holiday season.

Everyone else is enjoying lots of office parties and everything else and I'm dragging cables around. There is a big difference.

Yes, cable dragging is part of the job, but the job doesn't allow for socializing. Every other white collar job enjoys their lunch hours and holiday parties but you can't do that because someone somewhere has a problem. That is what I mean by a higher standard. You have to be willing to accept that. Thats part of the job.

You're right when you say you think everyone thinks their job is important. All of them are, but the fact is that if the systems aren't working, many people can't do their jobs. Thats a huge responsibility to have on your shoulders that most white collar jobs don't have. They are only responsible for themselves. Downtime is big money.

It isn't fair. If IT is just like any other job, why don't I see this dedication in other white collar jobs?

Maybe there are some people that just rest on their laurels in our profession, but many go the extra mile and are never rewarded. They are laid off instead. They are the Gods. They earned the title.

I can say the exact same thing as a sales manager, everyone goes home or goes to parties I and I'm left rewriting proposals or working overtime (even if at home) to ensure an RFP is properly addresses.

Or as a warehouse manager who has to spend three days reorganizing and preparing custom shipments at odd hours or on weekends.

Or the HR members that spend weekends getting financials finished on their own time etc.


We all go that extra mile to do what we can if we take pride in our work.

To be dead honset, I have worked less overtime and 'off-hours' work since entering IT than in ANY position I've held before. When at the office, 4:30 meant walking out my door , saying goodbye to sales reps and hitting the bar. I refused to work overtime, for specific political reasons, and never did any OT work, unless for nmy own benefit, staying late to work on a personal project.

As for cabling, I've worked in Telecom for years now, cabling pulls are just a matter of a work order, it is then done early morning of in th eday, bet never after hours.

I'd fire the boss if I was you, who the hell does he think he is? Don't tell me when to urn up or go home, just be thankful that I offered your company some of my time today. One they get the idea, they leave you alone.

You're right on target with that. I guess if you are a person that takes pride in their work you will be taken advantage of. There aren't too many people today that take pride in their work anymore.

I think it depends on what type of IT setup you have. If you have an IT department there are people to cover the work. I have a one person environment. I have consultants I can call in to do the major work, but day to day stuff is mine. I make sure to get comp time for extra time worked though. I've learned my lesson over the years. Any IT job I have ever had was always demanding, but now I make sure to be compensated in time or money.

I'm not sure if you're an employee or consultant. I think if you are a consultant, they are less likely to ask you to work overtime because they have to pay you. If you are a salaried employee, your job duties are less defined and you're not being paid by the hour so you're more likely to get dumped on.

I have a good situation basically if I keep it under control. And I'm happy to be working. I will do what I have to, but I'll make sure to get something for it.

I have to agree. I am one of those that is starting over - on my terms. I am fortunate to be able to leave a job (t-o-o much stress that was affecting my health). To top that - there are so many disgruntled IT folks out there working long hours etc. - that it is becoming a shame.

You are right the job of IT is no longer fix the box and move on. It has become increasingly more political and that the low-end and high-end workers will stay (PC tech's and exec's) to run the place as many other tasks will be outsourced (to be read off-shored) as the fervor for such activity diminishes in the news/gov't. So many companies are looking at the bottom line with outsourcing of AP/AR/call center/network monitoring etc. being done by companies that have the capacity to do so. Kaiser outsources much of their network monitoring and repair of the Cisco type boxes. Other companies have taken a look at the outsourcing of much of IT - including desktop support. (The logic is that many of these folks have been around a while, making near/at/over $100,000 with real or perceived low value for their efforts). Some companies (becoming more popular) are actually re-classifying jobs so that instead of 10 they now need 6. Those 10 need to re-apply for their jobs - making 4 redundant.

HIPAA, Security and SOX has not been a boom or grail that it was hoped for. Companies have looked inside to IT or business analysts as much of this work is more interpreting and recommending. Then the coders can take it from there to make proper corrective action. (Think about it for a bit - if a company has outsourced it's Cisco config/security, then it can leverage it's own economies to estblish changes for many). Many of these companies engage companies like ISS or have a consultant like Deloitte who will also recommend solutions.

Accounting firms are also being asked to complete surveys (mostly SOX here) but it could end up like Andersen who was recommending it's own consulting group to make fixes (stem of their problems). Some - that I have spoken with - do not want the liability; enter the Verizon's, IBM's, etc of the world. One should read one of these engagement letters to get the full-breadth of what they are responsible for - it is a letter of absolution because many cannot assess mainframe apps etc...

(Forgive the tirade... these are my observations, experience and assessment).

btw, this is my assessment of the situation. Strangely, I am back doing a contract job from what I left.

I have to agree. I am one of those that is starting over - on my terms. I am fortunate to be able to leave a job (t-o-o much stress that was affecting my health). To top that - there are so many disgruntled IT folks out there working long hours etc. - that it is becoming a shame.

You are right the job of IT is no longer fix the box and move on. It has become increasingly more political and that the low-end and high-end workers will stay (PC tech's and exec's) to run the place as many other tasks will be outsourced (to be read off-shored) as the fervor for such activity diminishes in the news/gov't. So many companies are looking at the bottom line with outsourcing of AP/AR/call center/network monitoring etc. being done by companies that have the capacity to do so. Kaiser outsources much of their network monitoring and repair of the Cisco type boxes. Other companies have taken a look at the outsourcing of much of IT - including desktop support. (The logic is that many of these folks have been around a while, making near/at/over $100,000 with real or perceived low value for their efforts). Some companies (becoming more popular) are actually re-classifying jobs so that instead of 10 they now need 6. Those 10 need to re-apply for their jobs - making 4 redundant.

HIPAA, Security and SOX has not been a boom or grail that it was hoped for. Companies have looked inside to IT or business analysts as much of this work is more interpreting and recommending. Then the coders can take it from there to make proper corrective action. (Think about it for a bit - if a company has outsourced it's Cisco config/security, then it can leverage it's own economies to estblish changes for many). Many of these companies engage companies like ISS or have a consultant like Deloitte who will also recommend solutions.

Accounting firms are also being asked to complete surveys (mostly SOX here) but it could end up like Andersen who was recommending it's own consulting group to make fixes (stem of their problems). Some - that I have spoken with - do not want the liability; enter the Verizon's, IBM's, etc of the world. One should read one of these engagement letters to get the full-breadth of what they are responsible for - it is a letter of absolution because many cannot assess mainframe apps etc...

(Forgive the tirade... these are my observations, experience and assessment).

btw, this is my assessment of the situation. Strangely, I am back doing a contract job from what I left.

While I'm earning less than I was, the amount I was earning was stupid compared to what I did. I enjoyed it while it was happening, but that wasn't the norm this is. I've noticed this a lot with my younger colleagues who started in the boom, they only see the drop, I remember the rise.

As for staying current, I'm not now, and based on past experience I never will be. If I went off and got a badge, convinced someone that the badge plus my old experience meant I could do it, and then did it. By the time I had enough experience to not need the badge, I'd be out of date.

Must confess if all the computers disappeared, that would be a problem career wise. Kill my other career choice of mars colonist stone dead as well. My daughter's bloke is a plumber though and I'm quite handy at that so I'll go work for him, there's a shortage of plumbers in the UK and he's got his own mint at the moment.

Plumbing is a tough yet high paying trade.
The trick is all in building the plumbers butt though.

As for getting badges it will never work, my dad always said you need to wear a lot of hats, not badges!

I can keep a pencil there without clenching, got to drop the habit of chewing them though LOL.

Haven't got a badge to my name, They aren't completely useless, but until you use any tool in anger, all you know is how to recognise it.

Thats where the opportunities are. In fact there is a tremendous amount of nurse shortage in US and male nurse fresh out of college is commanding 50+.

I graduated in 2001 from a tech school (was in college during the IT boom, unfortunately) and what a joke this field turned into. If it isn't outsourced...it is contracted work. No benefits, no career path, no training, nothing. I feel like I wasted 4 years of my life...but a lesson learned.

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There is absolutely no way you wasted 4 years of your life. Don't fall into the trap of pessimism that snags too many unsuspecting victims. If there's one thing that separates Democrats and Republicans it's that Democrats tend to victimize everybody and everything, while Republicans are more prone to taking full and total self-responsibility for their lives. Don't be a victim.

Absolutely everything you do in life is setting you up for the next opportunity -- absolutely everything. Your last four years have been anything but a waste, but rather a vital component in making the next step possible. Don't dwell on what isn't anymore, but rather on what's now possible.

If you look back over the past 100 years, you'll see that absolutely every business sector has had peaks and valleys. You'll find that absolutely every new trend or technology has had periods of exuberance followed by periods of rationality. Look at it logically. Logic will tell you that in the span of time when people and companies were becoming "computerized" for the first time, that an "exuberance" would take it sky-high. We're merely in a period of rationality, but the opportunities are still unlimited.

IT is anything but dead. It's alive and vibrant and ripe for people with initiative and drive to be successful. Don't agree with the doom-and-gloomers. Don't even discuss it with them. Don't even listen to them. When confronted with a negative-thinker, turn around and run -- run away from that poison as fast and as far as you can. They only serve to drag you down into the quicksand of doom-and-gloom. And you, Garion, are too damned smart to listen to such nonsense.

Try to develop the habit of looking for what is possible instead of what's not. Try to establish the mind-set of can instead of can't. And try to always see the opportunities, not the obstacles. You do those things, and you will indeed discover that everything you achieve in life is only a stepping-stone, and is setting you up for the next. Stay focused on that, and it will indeed come to pass.

Are you a Star Trek fan? Do you know the Vulcan saying, "Live Well and Prosper"? Well, my friend, "Think Well" and you will indeed prosper.

was "Live Long and Prosper"

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Ouch - I missed it. And I call myself a Star Trek fan? I should be ashamed. I should be transported into deep space to wander aimlessly for all eternity, until I get sucked into a black-hole, of course.

You're right, I got it wrong. Thank you very much.

I guess I used a poor choice of words...Yes it wasn't a waste...I definitely learned in the last 4 years which has helped me to gain this new job of a Field Service Tech in the medical industry (talk about stability, lol). You see I was out of a job for about close to a year combined that with lack of growth in THIS sector for the last 2 years or so... and wondering at what else I could have acheived if I had gone into another field...and the frustration boiled over.

I never experienced the wave of IT so to speak...but your post on the Hydrogen cars and the upcoming innovations in transportation, in addition to other articles I read about...its safe to say I had the wrong idea on IT. You are right...IT is not dead...it has changed.

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If that's what you think, yes, absolutely it is. In which case, you should jump ship and swim away as fast and as far as you can, lest you get sucked down by the vortex of its rapid descend. After all, you don't have to be another E. J. Smith.

From what I have read on your letter, it?s making me think twice whether if I should pursue a career in the IT field. Right now I?m majoring in Computer Networking, this is my third year in college, but I?m getting this knot in my stomach if will be able to pay my student loan for getting this degree. I have one more year to go. Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated.

From Lizzy

If you believe it is a tough market and you can't succeed, you most definitely will be right.


If you believe it is an open door and are willing to explore the field and get your feet wet in order to get where you want, you will succeed.

Where you may go wrong in choosing a psecialty and lookign to target a specific are a of IT, it just may not be available to you.

It would be a good project to discover the types of business in your area, if they are small, medium or large companies and figuring out your plan of attack from there.

For example, when living in a bigger city, there were it jobs for all specialties available, as the departments were much bigger and they hired specialty staff, but I fear these specialists won't last as the markets change.

Where I live now, there is a lost more small business or branches of sall businesses. Therefore a broader knowledge is apprecaited, VNP and VoIP technilogy is HUGE because small branches are spread out over the island.

There is a TONNE of opportunity in IT, I simply don't know where to go next in many cases as once you open your focus up a bit, IT jobs are simply everywhere.

IT is not going anywhere, don't expect it to be like the millionaire stories of the past but it certainly isn't a dead not dying industry, just for those who have made it that way I think.

Hang in there, good luck! Be prepared to do whatever it takes to pay off that student loan even if not in IT all the time, mine was nearly 130K all done (not in IT) and took a lifetime to pay off it seems.

My student loan is actually what got ME into IT, I took a sales management job to help pay off my BCIT loan (for Automotive training) and was asked to take over network admin, with no experience at all of course. Many years later, I an an MCNE and have paid off that loan and now work at home.

Just make sure you are willing to work, and you will find your IT career quite a lot of fun in the end. Who knows, maybe you will be fixing cars to pay you IT loan off! Just kidding, not to many poeple are quite as insanely unfocused as me.

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....It's Alright -- the IT field, that is. (Thank you, Bob.)

Look at it this way, these are the kinds of negative-thinking people who will be your competition. Anyone with even the slightest bit of optimistic outlook can turn circles around them.

I am so relieved, after reading several comments from several people; it feels like the burdened has been lifted. I guess I just needed to hear from others about their experiences and perspective in the IT field. I know there?s a lot of negative spin about the IT industry due to outsourcing; I think I will stick with it.

,stick with it. I started as a gopher splitting up computer printouts and making my boss tea, now I'm a senior software engineer. Your qualifications may buy you a job, but enthusiasm, talent and desire definitely will.

I made it and I haven't got any recognised IT qualifications at all.

Go for the experience, then the money will come.
Not great big bundles of it, but enough.

P.S. if you haven't already considered it, a job of any sort in real world IT during the holidays will be worth a lot to you. Your university must have a network, see if they'll let you help out. You potter about while they concentrate on building up their next D&D character.

Either way it will fill up your first cv, which will be annoyingly sparse initially.

P.P.S Don't tell them how they should be doing it. Ask them why they don't.

You know what they say about believing ('everything' you read).

If I were you I'd stick with it. Build relashionships with some of the IT staffers at the University if you haven't done so already. They probably know a lot of people in business & government & would be a good source for leads.

Does your University offer Co-op programs or internships & could you make use of these ressources to get to know peers? They could be a valuable source for good job leads as well.

Government & big business are crying for talented grads & as time goes on and bigger & more sophisticated networks get out there (or are in planned stages) your skills become more valuable.

With your degree behind you & gathering up (real world skills) you could also be of value as systems architect.

As well, if you can, try to bolster your degree with (Professional) selling or project managemnent skills. Courses & seminars are (usually) offered at Universities in the evenning.

As someone else said, most of your competition have bad attitudes.....keep your chin up & don't worry about it right now.

Remember, a person creates his or her own reality, to a very large extent.

If you love what you do, odds are, you'll be good at it. Employers will take notice of a "can-do" attitude. Though that's not something you'll ever get certified on, it's worth a lot.

That's not to say that you won't have challenges. I'm not trying to insinuate that IT or any other field is full of sunshine and fluffy clouds...there is no field without its obstacles. You can get through them with perseverence. The other posters here have given you good advice. Don't give up.

I am so relieved, after reading several comments from several people; it feels like the burdened has been lifted. I guess I just needed to hear from others about their experiences and perspective in the IT field. I know there?s a lot of negative spin about the IT industry due to outsourcing; I think I will stick with it.

Here's wishing you a long happy career!

I've never had to deal with politics in my IT jobs, event hough I am politically active.

I think you see the glass as half empty. I used to work in human services. When I got out of it, I didn't think I would use those skills in IT. Well, I sure did. Knowing psychology really did help me in IT, and also serves me well in my interest in foster care and adoption of older boys.

I don't mind the constant learning in IT, either, because I see what happens to people when they stop learning--it's the old saying of use it or lose it. I see once vital older people start going into a form of...dementia, I guess. It is sad. Yet, I also see older people who never stop learning dodge this problem.

Renee