# IT Industry



## .17485

Anyone working within the IT Industry? What type of job do you do in the IT industry? I have some experience of being a Games Tester at a games testing lab. I'm looking at getting into IT Support maybe


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## Hollow Man

Hey Tega!

From what I've read, it looks like it's kind of a competitive field at times. Sometimes jobs are cut or replaced with other kinds of IT type of things. For example, Cloud has become a platform that has replaced standard network administrator job titles. Also, my work-place now actually uses Google a lot for this kind of thing(work hours, sharing documents), whereas before we had a network administer before working part-time on our network to connect all our data and etc. 

But, there's still things in developmental, and some skills are transferable in the IT field. I am not really sure what the best field is exactly. Cyber security is a big topic lately. LOL I guess it depends on what kind of company you'd like to work for and how they utilize IT. What kind of programs and hardware would be useful? If you're programming how could that be useful for various businesses or data keeping? I think of using logic systems to keep track of data mostly when I think of IT that I have seen in Excel or heard about Boolean Algebra (AND, OR, NOT). I don't know too much exactly about IT yet specifically, I've only delve into GIS (Geographic Information Systems) a little bit, which is different or an application of something done in IT. 

I suppose as support person, you'd would plan and manage computer systems and make training packets on how to use the computer and/or help staff or people on the phone with computer problems. Make sure the systems are running well and not getting overfilled, researching what works and what could be good for your clients, etc. 

There's also web development, and this site even has some on staff.  There's coding in web development and certain languages to learn supposedly, I think. But, it's basically about designing a website and making sure it's running ok at a good speed as well(testing). Using applications and that kind of thing, which I don't know much about now specifically. Making contact with web-site users....making a website that sells things that is accessible and safe for the users too. 

I am thinking of transitioning too to maybe something in IT, but we'll see if something comes up...it's not set in stone yet.


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## LibertyPrime

o)_(o sysadmin...I always feel like killing the office users for nagging me with trivialities....and you ALWAYS have that one guy who times his boot up and software load times. WHY WHY WHY!?

If you go into IT support be prepared for long ours and odd calls at inconvenient times.Another thing. Learn python, how to handle yourself in a command line interface and get a cisco certification. From here on out you'll figure it out.

PPS: Be prepared to learn constantly or else your skillets will be obsolete in a rather short period of time.


<.< welcome to the wonderful world of loading bars...I hate loading bars....and prepare for yer job to be outsourced, because the boss doesn't get what the fuck you do all day.. That goddamn computer illiterate cunt...


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## caffeinekid

Tega1 said:


> Anyone working within the IT Industry? What type of job do you do in the IT industry? I have some experience of being a Games Tester at a games testing lab. I'm looking at getting into IT Support maybe


Learn to speak Hindi. Seriously. Google "H1-b visa and american IT, Disney and Southern Edison."


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## LibertyPrime

caffeinekid said:


> Learn to speak Hindi. Seriously. Google "H1-b visa and american IT, Disney and Southern Edison."


Holy shit...that sucks. They have to train those ppl? :/ wtf!?


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## .17485

FreeBeer said:


> o)_(o sysadmin...I always feel like killing the office users for nagging me with trivialities....and you ALWAYS have that one guy who times his boot up and software load times. WHY WHY WHY!?
> 
> If you go into IT support be prepared for long ours and odd calls at inconvenient times.Another thing. Learn python, how to handle yourself in a command line interface and get a cisco certification. From here on out you'll figure it out.
> 
> PPS: Be prepared to learn constantly or else your skillets will be obsolete in a rather short period of time.
> 
> 
> <.< welcome to the wonderful world of loading bars...I hate loading bars....and prepare for yer job to be outsourced, because the boss doesn't get what the fuck you do all day.. That goddamn computer illiterate cunt...


Does the IT Industry suit a particular personality type? Your an INFP right?


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## AriesLilith

FreeBeer said:


> Holy shit...that sucks. They have to train those ppl? :/ wtf!?


I was once in a project/company as an outsource and was replaced by an internal employee who knew nothing about the technology used in a project. And I even had to teach and help her a bit before leaving. Didn't blame that on her, although it reminded me of the outsourcing reality. I shall not be outsource anymore, unless working as contractor where all the actual cash goes to me and not to an intermediary company.


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## AriesLilith

I work in IT too.  Sys admin? Prepare for a serious training of your EQ and patience lol~ XD

I work as a developer/coder/programmer/<insert some programmer term here) developing web applications mainly for enterprise environments and working in IT projects/consulting companies. What I do is to join a team of professionals (developers, architects, testers, managers, analysts, you name it) and together we develop stuffs for clients. Imagine that you are a big non IT company that needs a complex web application that processes many transactions and stuff, by registering stuffs by the users (imagina portuary administration that needs to automatize the registration of boats and boxes and trucks coming and going and so on) and stuffs. (sorry I'm using lots of "stuffs" but my brain is not at its best currently due to lack of sleep *_*)
A non IT company might need an application but not a permanent team, nor they'd have the expertise of an IT company to know what's best to use for their situation.

My tasks are usually programming and developing along with developers, thought I also participated on requirements analysis and solutions design, as well as talking to clients, testing and support. Documentation can also happen sometimes.

Being a programmer means lots and lots of opportunities and being hunted by the HR through LinkedIn. I get lots of contacts from them over there and even from other countries.

As for the job itself being great or not, it depends. Join a consulting company that only cares about putting a bunch of clueless devs together (imagine interns or devs with no experience in a particular set of technologies), givind impossible deadlines to cut expenses, give bad estimates, bad management and such, and you'll wish you never joined this whole thing (coz there'd be many extra hours, cluelessness, bad implementations and frustrations plus stress). Join a company that knows what they are doing and care for the devs plus interesting projects and you'll never really work for a day (ok sometimes there will still be boring tasks but you get my point).

It also depends on the country, as some tend to have better management, work conditions and paycheck than other.


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## bluekitdon

Tega1 said:


> Anyone working within the IT Industry? What type of job do you do in the IT industry? I have some experience of being a Games Tester at a games testing lab. I'm looking at getting into IT Support maybe


I've worked in IT for more than 20 years. It's a good field, but can be pretty competitive. As others have mentioned you should be prepared for long days at times. If you're doing field service some companies have pretty flexible policies, as long as you handle the calls in a timely manner they don't care what you do so that can be nice as far as having time during the day, just realize you may get some calls at 2AM too. I enjoy fixing things, solving problems, and learning new things all the time, if you like those then it could be a good fit.

Here was my career path to date. I still handle some escalated service calls and go on sales calls in a technical/management role.
Technician->Trainer->Project Manager & Sales Engineer->Service Manager->General Manager


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## LibertyPrime

Tega1 said:


> Does the IT Industry suit a particular personality type? Your an INFP right?


ENFP and I don't think it does. There are a lot of other variables which come into play.

Personally I love problem solving and that works well in many areas such as photography and IT (in my case)

^^; I always found this really funny:


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## MessWithTheBest

May I let down some links?

Check out (1)
Check out (2)
Check out (3)

I think this will help...

My personal advice now, if you decide to jump on IT industry/community. As a starter to IT the FIRST thing you MUST/WANT learn doing to avoid CHAOS/DESTRUCTION is: *use Google Search properly.* Kinda sarcastic but true story.


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## PowerShell

Honestly doing IT support sucks. You will eventually reach a point you just want to tell people to learn how to use a f*cking computer. Every time the phone rings you are thinking, "What the f*ck do you want?" Most issues you typically deal with aren't technical in nature. They're caused by complete morons who don't know how to use a computer. Those morons hold the double standard that computers are just so hard for them to learn that they proudly proclaim their ignorance to them while at the same time expecting you to go whiz pow and magically read their minds and fix their problems.

In the whole scheme of things, IT support is a stepping stone. Go into it thinking that because eventually you will get fed up and burnt out. Another thing to realize is, unless you go to a bigger company where you can specialize and they have a dedicated help desk, you will get roped into support in one way or another.

I current work as a sys admin but it's a small enough place where I get roped into doing help desk overflow or have stupid stuff escalated to me. No matter what level you are (last company I was a NOC sys admin with 3 layers under me in terms of support), you get roped into stupid stuff and the farther you go up, the more you realize a lot of people in IT have no clue how to use a computer either and are slightly more competent than the users.

Overall it's a job that pays well. I have been in the industry for over a decade and am planning my escape. Maybe it's the ENTP in me and maybe it's I just hate corporate structure, but working in IT isn't the greatest in terms of job satisfaction. I'm happy with my job I'm the guy who goes on site to remote locations so that's one definite plus. Otherwise, I've learned to hate computers for the most part and all desire to really tinker after work has died.

If you have any more questions, let me know. I don't want to write a novel and have actually considered blogging on all the bullshit that is encountered working in IT. Don't let this scare you because you might be better suited for this. Just heed my warnings.


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## Solrac026

I think a lot of people associate IT will IT Support, which is tier x level BS. In reality IT is a massive field with different niches. I have considered switching from my current career, which is tier 2 support (not really IT related) at this really cool company, to networking. I imagine IT would be great for those that spend minimal time dealing with non-technical users. I think the best place to be at would be in management working for a company that actually gives a dam about tech; ie Amazon, Google, Cisco, basically any company where tech is their core competency.


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## PowerShell

Solrac026 said:


> I think a lot of people associate IT will IT Support, which is tier x level BS. In reality IT is a massive field with different niches. I have considered switching from my current career, which is tier 2 support (not really IT related) at this really cool company, to networking. I imagine IT would be great for those that spend minimal time dealing with non-technical users. I think the best place to be at would be in management working for a company that actually gives a dam about tech; ie Amazon, Google, Cisco, basically any company where tech is their core competency.


The thing is, not matter how high you get, you will get sucked into support. Even if you're doing networking, the issue often is first reported by a user. Often times, you then have to get in direct contact with the user and work with them as you test your changes to the network. In a lot of cases, you might not be dealing directly with users, but now you're supporting dumb IT people. The higher level you get, the more you won't believe what gets escalated to you in terms of stupid issues IT people at that lower issue should be able to resolve.

Companies such as Amazon, Google, and Cisco do have technology at their core and I'm sure there is a lot of differences than just working for a normal company, but when a business has technology at their core, if you're in any operations sort of job or your code breaks, the pressure cooker is so much greater.

Basically no matter what, there's going to be things that suck. Like I said before, it pays well. You make the best of it and try to not let the stress get to you.


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## drmiller100

I'm IT program chair for a small university. 

100 percent placement rate for bachelor's graduates, with mean income about 45k a year in backwoods Idaho.

Students who succeed like to fix things. It is easier for N's. Those with Ti tend to fix stuff, those with Te tend to be manager types. 
Everyone starts low, and they get promoted reasonably quickly.


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## PowerShell

drmiller100 said:


> I'm IT program chair for a small university.
> 
> 100 percent placement rate for bachelor's graduates, with mean income about 45k a year in backwoods Idaho.
> 
> Students who succeed like to fix things. It is easier for N's. Those with Ti tend to fix stuff, those with Te tend to be manager types.
> Everyone starts low, and they get promoted reasonably quickly.


You can pretty much get a job anywhere at pretty much the drop of a hat. I came to Austin with no job and within a couple days already had an offer.


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## IIIIII

Tega1 said:


> Anyone working within the IT Industry? What type of job do you do in the IT industry? I have some experience of being a Games Tester at a games testing lab. I'm looking at getting into IT Support maybe


Welcome to the game,

Read this book, Hacking the IT Cube: The Information Technology Survival Guide -- Douglas Chick

Let me tell you first off that support is not where you want to be for long. However as far as learning the ropes and understanding how Network works, and the environment you are working in, there is nothing better then a support job, plus IMHO people have more respect (which is important, when dealing with C level people later on) for someone that worked Tech Support and climbed the ladder from the ground up. A lot of the crap (network disasters) I have seen on the Network side usually comes from someone that has never done support and is clueless about how things work. Don't be that person, it will cost the company, time and money, and in the end cost you your job.


If you have a gratuitous skill set and know what you are doing, I highly advise skipping support and aiming higher. End users can be irate and make you hate you job. With a higher level skill set you can mitigate your interaction with end users greatly. The part you are going to have to accept about IT is that every job is customer facing in some way shape or form, be it support or a network security engineer, if its not an irate end user, then its going to be an exec pushing your buttons, get used to this concept now. Make sure your customer service skills are awesome, they will come in handy and server you well.


Things you should look for, 

1. Always do research on the company you want to work for, do not be desperate. HR will underpay you, and take advantage of the fact that you are desperate. If you find hella negative reviews from the staff at the company, it's usually going to be a support nightmare while working there. Look for companies where the people are happy with their jobs, are growing and doing well.

2. Make sure that the company you work for is interested in helping their employees grow, in addition to offering promotions and training perks. This should not be the sole reason you rule out a job, but it's a good indicator of whether they are going to give you a chance to climb the corporate ladder, or stick you in a support position and leave you there, plus you need to keep your skill set competitive and some support jobs have a very short shelf life. Money is good, skills are gold in I.T.. IMHO the better your skill set the more opportunity you will have on the job and later on in your career.


Hope this helps, happy hunting!

P.S. Get used to working OT now, I.T. is usually 24/7 365 and where ever you are at make sure you check the labor laws concerning I.T. and confirm that you are being compensated correctly. In some place they are required to pay you OT even if you are are salary and not making more then a certain amount.


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## IIIIII

Solrac026 said:


> I think a lot of people associate IT will IT Support, which is tier x level BS. In reality IT is a massive field with different niches. I have considered switching from my current career, which is tier 2 support (not really IT related) at this really cool company, to networking. I imagine IT would be great for those that spend minimal time dealing with non-technical users. I think the best place to be at would be in management working for a company that actually gives a dam about tech; ie Amazon, Google, Cisco, basically any company where tech is their core competency.




Don't work for Cisco, heck of Lay Offs.........
Google while being awesome, isn't exactly the crem del la crem anymore, a lot of CS Majors forego working there, 
Amazon has potential

Research....Research.....Research


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar

Wish I could get a support job. I'm not good enough... at talking in... real time to get a... tech support job, though  .


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## Solrac026

IIIIII said:


> Don't work for Cisco, heck of Lay Offs.........
> Google while being awesome, isn't exactly the crem del la crem anymore, a lot of CS Majors forego working there,
> Amazon has potential
> 
> Research....Research.....Research


What makes you say CS majors forego working there?


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## IIIIII

Solrac026 said:


> What makes you say CS majors forego working there?


Why Recent Graduates Should NOT Work For Google - Forbes


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## IIIIII

IIIIII said:


> Why Recent Graduates Should NOT Work For Google - Forbes


It's not that Google is rated as a bad company, it is just that, working for Google may not be in line with what a CS Graduate or another Graduate may want to achieve.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar

Are there any entry-level IT jobs that aren't about IT support on phone?


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## PowerShell

Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar said:


> Are there any entry-level IT jobs that aren't about IT support on phone?


Maybe programming but most IT jobs start at the bottom and you will deal with users either over the phone or email\instant messaging. It's kind of a pay your dues and prove yourself.


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## PaladinX

Tega1 said:


> Does the IT Industry suit a particular personality type? Your an INFP right?


Not particularly. It depends on your interests.

i run a system administration team for a university. My team consists of an ENFP, ESFP, ISFP, 2 INTJs, ISTJ, 2 ESTJs, 2 INFPs, ESTP, and me an ENTP.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar

PowerShell said:


> Maybe programming but most IT jobs start at the bottom and you will deal with users either over the phone or email\instant messaging. It's kind of a pay your dues and prove yourself.


It's pretty bad, then because they seem to prefer people who talk fluidly in IT support jobs.

Does programming include web programming?


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## IIIIII

Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar said:


> Are there any entry-level IT jobs that aren't about IT support on phone?


Programing,Web Development,DBA

Support and others you have to earn your stripes usually.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar

IIIIII said:


> Programing,Web Development,DBA
> 
> Support and others you have earn your stripes usually.


Thanks. I guess I'll have to focus on web Web Development and DBA, then.

I wonder if should sell all my network books (CCNA Exploration and E.13 textbook) and bypass E.13 certification since I have no chance to get into support anyway.


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## IIIIII

Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar said:


> Thanks. I guess I'll have to focus on web Web Development and DBA, then.
> 
> I wonder if should sell all my network books (CCNA Exploration and E.13 textbook) and bypass E.13 certification since I have no chance to get into support anyway.


Wait.......

CCNA will help, knowing back end will help you in any chosen IT career path you chose to take.
Top Ten IT Skills In Demand for 2015 - Technology Jobs & Training
10 hottest IT skills for 2015 | Computerworld
11 Fantastic Tech Jobs in 2015 - US News
http://www.inc.com/aaron-skonnard/the-top-6-tech-skills-you-need-in-2015.html

You can get a support job probably, its just what happens when you do get it, will they let you climb the ladder, or will they leave you at first level support forever, another good question is will you get paid what you are worth.

A Web Guy, DBA, or Programmer, that can understand what a Network Admin, Sys Admin, or a Support Guy is telling him is worth their weight in gold. Most of them do not understand anything having to do with Network really. It's a foreign language to most of them. The CCNA can be sold either as a Developer or Network Administrator, or a Support Tech. If you are going to do it then I highly suggest going for it. Can't go wrong with that one in your pocket.


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## PowerShell

Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar said:


> It's pretty bad, then because they seem to prefer people who talk fluidly in IT support jobs.
> 
> Does programming include web programming?


Programming includes anything that you write code for, including web programming. You may be able to find a job where you are strictly doing code but usually if you go in a bigger environment, you'll start out doing support for users and work your way up. While this support might not be direct help desk, first point of contact sort of support, you'll be the first point of contact for the coding team. If you work for a smaller company or freelance, you'll end up dealing directly with customers that have no clue what they're talking about or demand a certain technology versus actually telling you what they are trying to accomplish.

No matter what, you're probably going to deal with clueless users when you first start out. It's something that you grin and bear as you work your way up. If you can tolerate several years of working with completely clueless people whose lack of computer skills not only make you wonder how they even get their jobs done, to basically wondering how their lack of even common sense (please just read the error message on the screen) allows them to even survive.


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## EndsOfTheEarth

Tega1 said:


> Anyone working within the IT Industry? What type of job do you do in the IT industry? I have some experience of being a Games Tester at a games testing lab. I'm looking at getting into IT Support maybe


That ship sailed over a decade ago. Most corporations outsource to cloud services which means there's still support roles there but far fewer than there ever used to be. Many support roles now exist in India, and when that gets too expensive there's still Manilla, and eventually any other poor country and with low wage rates that decides to become the world's IT engine.

Ex-Network Engineer. 

It was a good gig once.


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## drmiller100

Lots and lots of jobs for IT in boise idaho and many other midwest towns. 

Call centers are all over here.


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## PowerShell

InSolitude said:


> That ship sailed over a decade ago. Most corporations outsource to cloud services which means there's still support roles there but far fewer than there ever used to be. Many support roles now exist in India, and when that gets too expensive there's still Manilla, and eventually any other poor country and with low wage rates that decides to become the world's IT engine.
> 
> Ex-Network Engineer.
> 
> It was a good gig once.


Yes and no. There's still a ton of stuff being done in house but it's moving to the cloud. You can easily make a career out of knowing how in house stuff works, supporting it while moving it to the cloud.


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## EndsOfTheEarth

PowerShell said:


> Yes and no. There's still a ton of stuff being done in house but it's moving to the cloud. You can easily make a career out of knowing how in house stuff works, supporting it while moving it to the cloud.


My point though is, it's a shrinking profession, not a growing one. If you want to experience redundancy go into IT Support.


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## drmiller100

InSolitude said:


> My point though is, it's a shrinking profession, not a growing one. If you want to experience redundancy go into IT Support.


Your point is incorrect.

The job is changing, just like ti has for the last 50 years. no longer is it desktop in person support. now it is different. cell phone support, ipad support, custom web design support, custom app support, database support, blah blah blah


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## PowerShell

InSolitude said:


> My point though is, it's a shrinking profession, not a growing one. If you want to experience redundancy go into IT Support.


Actually IT support would be staying the same. What you're seeing is a hollowing out of the middle, just as manufacturing had. You're either going to have low level people (support) or high level people (specialists overseeing 1000's of servers in a very specific role like say DNS administrator). The whole jack of all trades sys admin and those kind of jobs are shrinking. The thing is, there's still a lot of opportunity if you know how to maintain the current infrastructure and then transition it to the cloud when it's depreciated. There are a ton of companies who spent a ton of money on in-house stuff and they're not going to just dump their investments right away. There's still a large market to maintain this stuff and then a market to move them to the cloud. Recognize this and capitalize on it.


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## IIIIII

PowerShell said:


> Programming includes anything that you write code for, including web programming. You may be able to find a job where you are strictly doing code but usually if you go in a bigger environment, you'll start out doing support for users and work your way up. While this support might not be direct help desk, first point of contact sort of support, you'll be the first point of contact for the coding team. If you work for a smaller company or freelance, you'll end up dealing directly with customers that have no clue what they're talking about or demand a certain technology versus actually telling you what they are trying to accomplish.
> 
> No matter what, you're probably going to deal with clueless users when you first start out. It's something that you grin and bear as you work your way up. If you can tolerate several years of working with completely clueless people whose lack of computer skills not only make you wonder how they even get their jobs done, to basically wondering how their lack of even common sense (please just read the error message on the screen) allows them to even survive.


LMAO, yhea


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## PowerShell

IIIIII said:


> LMAO, yhea


Not to mention the further you advance, the more stupid a lot of IT people also seem.


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## IIIIII

PowerShell said:


> Not to mention the further you advance, the more stupid a lot of IT people also seem.


I have been in situations where my co workers have been very bright and in some where they have not been so bright. I agree there have been times where I have sat at my desk and face palmed like WTF?


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## PowerShell

IIIIII said:


> I have been in situations where my co workers have been very bright and in some where they have not been so bright. I agree there have been times where I have sat at my desk and face palmed like WTF?


Most of my coworkers don't want to put in the extra effort so they find ways to "escalate" the issue so they can toss it over the fence and not have to deal with it.


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