May 20, 2010 at 6:20 pm
There are some jobs I just won't do. For example: I would do just about any of Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" than work helpdesk - except maybe coalminer. I worked helpdesk for several years when I first started in IT and it was dreadful.
It can be annoying and frustrating to be pulled away from your main job and asked to do something else, but usually it's a nice break from the other annyoying and frustrating thing you were already doing. What really raises my hackles is when I am asked to do something undesirable on a temporary basis and then it becomes permanent. Like supporting that sh*tty little vendor app that always breaks but is somehow mission-critical and - through no fault of your own - you have become the resident SME. Grr.
James Stover, McDBA
May 20, 2010 at 6:52 pm
As with nearly all things there is a bit of truth in all of the above. I believe that each of us are slightly differently wired and that no amount of training (nurture) can change our very basic nature. A really big part of happines in a particular job or career that is often overlooked is simply choice: I can choose to be happy where I am and with what I am doing. I believe that if anyone is in a place where they cannot successfully choose to be happy they should leave - period, no if's or buts, find a way and do it. In a situation so bad that a choice for happiness is not possible you are not doing yourself or your colleaugues any good.
I also believe that it is very natural for all of us to change over time, that includes what we enjoy doing and in that we are truly fortunate to live in a world and time where one or more career changes are the norm and not the exception.
Having said all that, much as I love golf, and choose as I wish, I have to make peace that lack of ability will preclude me from spending my life on green fairways under perpetual sun. Lucky then that I do love analysis and after all these years still get a kick out of designing that great, simple, easy to read report!
Do or do not. There is no try...
May 21, 2010 at 6:46 am
And even in SOX audited places DBA roles are very hazy, they do define what you should not do but you are still expected to do a lot of stuff which is totally unclear and outside of your boundaries.
Not where I have worked, if it is not in your job description on file with HR and you are caught doing it by the SOX auditors, your company can be nailed for it. Our DBA job descriptions are very specific, another requirement of SOX nowadays. SOX auditors do not like hazy job descriptions. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
May 21, 2010 at 11:22 am
If you are happy being mediocre and just doing a job for a paycheck, then your standards are lacking. Someone once said 'Anything worth doing is worth doing well". Why do a job if you can't do it right? Sure, we all have to deal with dirty jobs now and then, but if you are in a job that you are not interested in or skilled at, who benefits?
I came from just such an organization. Management down all 'fell' into the jobs they where not skilled at or trained for.
You can imagine the dysfunction!
May 21, 2010 at 11:38 am
joefeigelman (5/21/2010)
If you are happy being mediocre and just doing a job for a paycheck, then your standards are lacking. Someone once said 'Anything worth doing is worth doing well". Why do a job if you can't do it right? Sure, we all have to deal with dirty jobs now and then, but if you are in a job that you are not interested in or skilled at, who benefits?
It is not just about being interested or mediocre about your job nowadays. With so many IT shops falling under Sarbanes-Oxley auditing standards, it is more about defining accurate job descriptions and staying within the scope of what you can and cannot do under that job description. Managers just can no longer have "Jack-of-all-trades" people working for them anymore, or ask people to do other peoples job outside of their job description. Sar-Box does not allow this anymore, like it or not guys. It is either defined in your job description or it is not. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
May 21, 2010 at 12:03 pm
The sox standard is not that wide spread. The number of comapanies that fall under such a standard are massivly out numbered by those that do not have any such standard. I would also argue that companies adopting such a standard are ultimatley doomed to fail from a lack of ability to be competitive but that is more of an economics discussion. bottom line is that at the end of the day the stock holders decide the direction of any company. If they are unhappy then a reduction to payroll will be made and responsibilities will fall on people who previously did not have those duties in there discription.
Dan
If only I could snap my figures and have all the correct indexes apear and the buffer clean and.... Start day dream here.
May 21, 2010 at 12:08 pm
WOW! One of the best threads yet! Interesting and informative!
Me - The job does matter. Along with the working environment. I took a Draconian pay cut to get my current job and I love it. Early in my career - Job Position/Title was first and Money was second. Now I have stability, another retirement plan, and a team that is probably the 2nd best I have ever had (and that includes a 20 year Army run). I also get to leave here at 3:30 regularly so I can spend some quality time with the Grandkids at least 3 times a week. The job does matter, but so does the fringe benefits that come along with it. More $$ would be great but I can live without it.
I have and will always pitch in to help anytime the opportunity arises. It doesn't matter what the task is. If someone does not know part of their job, I will assist them. I will not do the work for them but I will spend as much time as needed to ensure that they know how to do it correctly. As they say... I am a Jack of all Trades and a Master of Some, so my skills range the complete spectrum of the IT field.
My dream job would be Extremely High Level Data Analysis but I am comfortable in my current job so I have no plans in following that dream.
Joe
May 21, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Dan.Humphries (5/21/2010)
The sox standard is not that wide spread. The number of comapanies that fall under such a standard are massivly out numbered by those that do not have any such standard. I would also argue that companies adopting such a standard are ultimatley doomed to fail from a lack of ability to be competitive but that is more of an economics discussion. bottom line is that at the end of the day the stock holders decide the direction of any company. If they are unhappy then a reduction to payroll will be made and responsibilities will fall on people who previously did not have those duties in there discription.
It is growing though more than you might think, and as we as a government/business community are getting more bureacratic by the year, that's a fact. Also, this will get even worse as stated before, irregardless of what stockbrokers decide. They just can't buck standards that become federal and state law. Sooner or later, for example, I believe overseas outsourcing will be prohibitied for American companies, irregardless of what stockbrokers decide. Particularly, if Obama gets re-elected. The days of big government deciding and defining standards for public/private businesses, are here to stay. It is what it is, like it or not. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
May 21, 2010 at 12:23 pm
TravisDBA (5/21/2010)
Dan.Humphries (5/21/2010)
Also, this will get even worse as stated before. Particularly, if Obama gets re-elected.
I just threw up...
Dave
May 21, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I agree that in political environments this type if ideology will grow but stock holders dictate corporate policy. The kind of force that would be required to change that ideology is too large to imagine. my previous job I was doing the work of 5 people and when I left they did not rehire my positions. They passed those responsibilities to other people. The bottom line is simply more important to any other factor. I can not imagine a scenario where that will change in a corporate setting. The government agencies however, do not care about the bottom line and they can and have spent way beyond there revenue stream. Corporate America however, has to report a profit large enough to satisfy dividends to the shareholders or hope the government will bail them out.
Dan
If only I could snap my figures and have all the correct indexes apear and the buffer clean and.... Start day dream here.
May 21, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Dan.Humphries (5/21/2010)
I agree that in political environments this type if ideology will grow but stock holders dictate corporate policy. The kind of force that would be required to change that ideology is too large to imagine. my previous job I was doing the work of 5 people and when I left they did not rehire my positions. They passed those responsibilities to other people. The bottom line is simply more important to any other factor. I can not imagine a scenario where that will change in a corporate setting. The government agencies however, do not care about the bottom line and they can and have spent way beyond there revenue stream. Corporate America however, has to report a profit large enough to satisfy dividends to the shareholders or hope the government will bail them out.
Absolutely agree Dan, but as you even state yourself the government really does not care about a company's bottom line. Their mposed controls and standards have nothing to do with a company's bottom line, they will continiue to impose them even if it bankrupts one business after another. How many business do you know of that have failed in the last five years because they simply can't keep up with all the bureacracy and federal guidelines? All you have to do is read the paper nowadays to figure that one out, and it is only going to get worse...it is what it is.:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
May 21, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I don't disagree that government will and has interefered with the private sector but I am not paranoid enough yet to beleive that policy will affect the kind of change that would literally cripple the economy. But then again I never thought the day would come when 500 SCIU member could be bused in to threaten a bank exec at his own house while his children were home and the main stream media would not even blink.
Dan
If only I could snap my figures and have all the correct indexes apear and the buffer clean and.... Start day dream here.
May 21, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Dan.Humphries (5/21/2010)
I don't disagree that government will and has interefered with the private sector but I am not paranoid enough yet to beleive that policy will affect the kind of change that would literally cripple the economy. But then again I never thought the day would come when 500 SCIU member could be bused in to threaten a bank exec at his own house while his children were home and the main stream media would not even blink.
Yep, it is a brave new world nowadays. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
May 21, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Ian Massi (5/20/2010)
Heck, even when I was a developer building Business Objects reports got too tedious. I would imagine that other types of jobs that didn't offer much of a challenge would have the same effect on me.
:w00t:, we have folks here that do that very task; write BO reports against our DBs. But hey, they're in IT and working under a roof. To me, that's big. There are people who probably make more than me in more stressful positions. Working outdoors year round, working in service oriented jobs, doing construction, maybe working on an oil rig. Not to disparage these industries but one advantage I find in working in IT is that we're sheltered from elements and physical labor which take a toll on people over the course of a lifetime. Maybe this is to state the obvious differences between white collar and blue collar jobs. Sure, we have issues with Carpel Tunnel and inactivity from being at a keyboard all day; but I'll take this over the alternative.
Ken
May 21, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Well.....since the U.S. and most of the world is in a state of depression it's not about what you want to do and be happy at it...it's all about if you're lucky enough to find any kind of work, and if you do be thankful because millions are out of work.
In those millions out of work many have B.A.'s, PHD's and other education backgrounds. So be thankful for whatever job you have and pray it's still there tomorrow.
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