#ITCareerMyth #CareerAdvice #ITIndustry
Hey all! 👋 Let’s talk about the biggest IT career “myth” out there. We’ve all heard various beliefs about what it takes to succeed in the IT industry, but what is the one myth that you’ve found to be completely untrue based on your experience?
Here are a few common myths that I’ve come across:
– “You need a specific degree to succeed in IT.”
– “Once you land a job, you can stop learning and coast through your career.”
– “Work-life balance is impossible in the IT field.”
So, what do you think? What has been your experience with these myths or any others you’ve encountered in your IT career? And most importantly, how have you debunked them or overcome them?
Share your thoughts and let’s help each other navigate through the world of IT careers! 🚀💻 #CareerGrowth #DebunkingMyths
Misconception: “It’s for people who don’t want to interact / collaborate / etc. with others.”
So many posts here of “I’m an introvert / antisocial / want a job where I can be left alone.”
That the next job is going to be different.
The pay is good.
Recognition equates to progress. Awards are nice, money and upward mobility is better
Its easy to get in and start making 100k+ just by showing up.
It’s for everyone and everyone can switch.
NOPE. Worked with too many “i dont care about computers, I just want my paycheck” and it always was a terrible experience.
It requires a lot of analytical mindset, if you have a QA or DEV that isn’t curious, it will not work. Or maybe will, at shitty web projects, but in fintech – nope.
You HAVE to learn scripting to be successful.
That you don’t need a degree.
There are still people squeaking by without one but it’s more and more difficult. Almost everyone I know who started without a degree eventually did try to get one because they eventually see how valuable it is, and it’s harder to finish when you’re already working full time.
You have to start your IT Career doing help desk support.
That there is some concept of structure all companies follow. IT can have 50 SOPs at one company and 5 at another. Structure, processes, workflows necessary skills all vary so greatly from company to company.
The “IT” that is widely spoken about only applies to working at an MSP. Literally everywhere else is different and uses different skill sets based on the business.
I think a big myth, or illusion many people come to realize isn’t true is that bigger more prominent orgs have their shit in order.
I’ve worked at 5 person MSPs to FAANG level orgs, and every place has had shitty documentation, terrible code that needs to be refactored, and unorthodox ways of doing things.
IT really is the wild west in many places. Often times systems are set up once and if it works, it’s done. There are probably way better ways to do things but the org just needs to keep things moving.
I left a small IT shop partly due to frustration on how disorganized they were, joining a F100 company only to find out they were just as disorganized, with even more systems to wrangle.
Better get used to untangling a lot of outdated/stale documentation because that’s just how a lot of orgs work.
that the work life balance is good. if you are working on projects or have responsibility for some deliverables you are thinking about it 24/7 and will often find yourself working off hours to get things done. critical infrastructure won’t wait for your business hours to kick in (that being said the fact that you just need an internet connection and computer and can probably resolve it from anywhere is a massive win)
I have never worked in IT/Cyber, I got a certification X, where is my 100K+ fully remote job.
That certificates are important to progress.
Knowledge and skills are important though so if having formal requirements helps you focus on learning then certs may be useful but they aren’t important in and of themselves (compliance things aside if you’re in that type of work).
Here is an oldie:
To do ANYTHING with a computer you need to WRITE CODE.
Once you start WRITING THAT CODE you will be one of those “tech famous” gurus that will be handed a golden joystick, can ask for any salary you want any time you want and get it.
The biggest myth is that IT is a great paying job. On a company budget IT is an EXPENSE to be minimized and constantly controlled
The bigger paying jobs are in R&D which are on a companies INVESTMENT side of the ledger.
Not always literally true and many companies have weird organizational structures but as myths go, 90+% of people do not understand this basic distinction
That you can make a lot of money with little experience. Sure, there are probably some outliers who got lucky…however, I imagine it took a few years and a role change or two to hit over $100k in salary.
Probably that you can get a few certs and make 6 figures.
Misconception: You will make 100k+ per year as a network admin the moment you graduate even from community college
Truth: You will struggle for probably a year to get a job in general IT first off, and at that you will make as low as $14/hr, but take it and deal with it for about 2 years. After year 1, try to find a more specialized job toward networking, but even if it’s being a cable monkey, go for it because that’s your foot in the door. After 1-2 more years, then start climbing the ladder. My first IT job actually paid $12/hr (call center back in 2000 [Service Zone folks, ya’ll here?!] but never tried to use it to get another IT job after), then my first REAL IT job paid $15hr, then first network job made $50k, Next was $55k, then it was $65k. Hoping the next is around 85k though cause inflation but we shall see. As far as real network jobs, I have been in the net-admin game for roughly 8 years and have only made 15k in bumps since then, but I have sold myself short a lot and didn’t go get any more certs.. That will be changing soon.
IT is a 99% a non-intellectual job. So the myth is that IT is crowded with intelligent people.
They are dumb at 99%.
To succeed in IT, you have to be ruthless, step on everyone’s toes, talk over people, cheat, corrupt, lie, be unfair and without pity.
20 years of experience talking.
My mistake was having a passion for IT and wanting to make it a job, thinking that people would be the same.
Not at all. 99.9% of people in IT don’t give a damn about technology and just want the money. The fact that a design in IT works or doesn’t work is totally irrelevant.
One that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is the idea that IT jobs all have universal standards. You see it all the time with posts asking about dress codes in IT or which job titles pay the most or don’t have on-call; if you work at a bank, you’re going to follow all of the bank’s standards and dress codes, you don’t get a separate one for being in IT. Most IT jobs are not going to be at “IT companies” but in other industries where IT is needed and operates in support of that company/industry. Working IT at a law firm is going to be very different than a cannabis dispensary. Even the same job title will mean different things at different companies.
Another one is that you have to spend all your free time studying. You do need to learn things to keep up with changes, but that doesn’t mean hours of exam-style studying after work every day. Unless your job is keeping you busy every single minute, a lot of that can be done at work.
You have to be competent to get a job. When I first started I have imposter syndrome like most people, asking if I was had the knowledge and ability to do a job I was hired for. After a little time in the industry and seeing the type of people that are making decent or even good money that are any combination of incompetent, lazy, just plain stupid, etc…, I’ve realized this:
I’m above average. Most people that even care about their jobs are above average and that’s before you start even rating technical competencies. Average has 50% of the population that is better than the middle and 50% that’s worse. If people that are below average can make an easy six digits, I’m pretty comfortable that I deserve to be where I’m at now and could potentially make even more if I wasn’t in a comfortable spot for where I’m living right now. I make about six times the average salary of my state, so the motivation to move elsewhere isn’t very strong right now. Maybe in five years or so I may change my mind.