For those with IT jobs...do you actually know what you're doing?

[MaxDSP]

Seems like most of my friends can't tell a PC from a MAC yet they still have decent/good jobs in IT. Im wondering just how many of you actually know 100% of what you're doing at work, and how much of it you learned at college and how much you learned on the job or by yourself.

 

[her209]

I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[Fiveohhh]

Whats IT stand for? j/k

 

[cchen]

I'm not using anything I learned in college.... but I know what I'm doing :beer:

 

[T3C]

When i started i had NO idea what i was doing, the sad thing is at the time I started i thought i did. Now I know what im doing and more

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Seems like most of my friends can't tell a PC from a MAC yet they still have decent/good jobs in IT. Im wondering just how many of you actually know 100% of what you're doing at work, and how much of it you learned at college and how much you learned on the job or by yourself.

To be fair what do they do? Not all IT people need to know much about hardware...

 

[ScottMac]

After twenty-something years in the business, I believe I'm reasonably competent in a variety of areas.

Scott

 

[SaigonK]

I know what I am doing...thats why they pay me and call me intermediate Network Engineer....or is it?

I learned most of what I know by job experience and through my personal business.
College is a last place candidate for actual useable info to be honest.

 

[enis083]

Originally posted by: cchen
I'm not using anything I learned in college.... but I know what I'm doing :beer:

 

[Atrail]

100% well, not quite.

But I don't cause any trouble...

 

[MaxDSP]

Originally posted by: Soybomb

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Seems like most of my friends can't tell a PC from a MAC yet they still have decent/good jobs in IT. Im wondering just how many of you actually know 100% of what you're doing at work, and how much of it you learned at college and how much you learned on the job or by yourself.

To be fair what do they do? Not all IT people need to know much about hardware...

Im not exactly sure, but they may be technical support (not call-center) or something along those lines.

 

[FoBoT]

sure, i do

but the IT dept where i work has 100's of people

you don't really think any significant percentage of those people are computer geeks do you? :Q

no, they are the jocks/popular people that picked on us nerds back in high school, they only got into IT during the late 90's when IT was where the $$$ was (or they took CS in college again, just for the potential income, not because they like technology/computers)

they don't even like computers

 

[Freejack2]

Waiting for someone to say their are a 250k/year CTO and don't even know how to turn on a computer.

 

[m2kewl]

i'm in networking and i know what i'm doing

/pulls blade off Extreme switch

oopps

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: cchen
I'm not using anything I learned in college.... but I know what I'm doing :beer:

Same here.....also no one is going to know 100% what they are doing. Something new will pop up everyonce and a while.

 

[Jgtdragon]

College was a waste of time, didn't help at all (behind the time since IT move so fast).
Learned mostly from working.

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: Freejack2
Waiting for someone to say their are a 250k/year CTO and don't even know how to turn on a computer.

THAT WOULD BE MINE!!

 

[alzan]

Love the title.

No, I don't know 100% of what I'm doing. Where's the fun in that?

Never went to college.

Learned 50% through OTJ experience, the rest is self taught.

alzan

 

[cchen]

Actually, you don't even need a computer related degree to be in IT. My entire department (and this is in a multi-billion dollar firm) is made up of mathematicians, statisticians, and operations research analysts. There are only 2 guys with CS degrees. The CS guys know the most about computers, but the rest of the people in my group aren't very technical. Yet, we still are in the IT sector.

 

[Mucman]

Even though I am new to the industry (couple years) I think I know what I am doing... more importantly, if I don't know what
I am doing, I am adept at figuring it out through research/consulting.

You wouldn't believe how many people I have to deal with on a daily basis that don't have a clue about what they are doing. It's
frightening actually.

 

[flyfish]

I code stuff.

 

[sciencetoy]

I know what I'm doing most of the time. I also know enough to wing it when I don't exactly know what I'm doing, and I know the point at which I stop and ask for another expert. That's what makes me a $250 an hour consultant.

I learned 99 per cent of it on the job or on my own, and that 1 per cent when I got that degree in CS.

 

[Rogue]

I know just a little bit about everything. Given enough time and the internet, I can configure a Cisco Router/Firewall, setup partitions and file shares (Linux, Unix and NT), establish permissions, configure, setup and maintain an Exchange server, backup/archive SQL Server databases as well as general data functions in a variety of SQL databases, basic web page coding and just about anything you can imagine with hardware. All in all, give me an internet connection and enough time and I'll make it work.

 

[Linux23]

what's funny is that my job entails me making Cisco and Microsoft certified reps look like fools when they call in for support of our product, when 99% if all problems lie inside your network!!!

 

I know more than most out there, and I quit.