Professionals wanted, No experience required.

Professionals wanted, No experience required.

After 13 long drawn out years in the IT field I have done and seen a lot. I worked for a local ISP for almost 8 years, worked at three computer repair shops, Substituted at a college for IT classes, and built, fiddled with, and customized countless devices and servers.

However with all this background there are tons of things I have not even thought about getting into, such as printer repair, tv repair, phone wiring, and a mountain of other items that I am now being asked to do. Its not a point of "I can't do it" its a point of these are not things I want to do, nor feel the need to learn. Some of you reading (if any) or possibly thinking "More work equals more pay right?". Wrong, I get paid the same hourly rate no matter if I'm doing a job that pays a flat rate $100.00 bucks no matter how long it takes, or working at a large project bringing in $50.00 plus an hour.

Its funny sometimes to see some of the things that come across my desk, but the one thing that always sticks out is the one liner that read "DO NOT ACCEPT IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL" To me this means I shouldn't even be asked to carry out these jobs with the expectations of professionalism if I myself have never even put finger one on them before.

But in the IT biz, all this line seams to mean is "FAKE IT UNTIL IT WORKS". Which does not always sit well with me. So far most of the jobs have been simple enough to figure out, but is this why so many people are getting into the IT business without a clue. When we knowing allow people who have no training or experience in these areas to go off alone and fix (or possibly break further) problems that should be left to a real professional.

I consider myself a professional in one area and one area only. Hacking, and no not the break into your friends email account to see who they are talking to. But the hacking terminology that applies to those who can sit down at something and make it do what I want. I have been given more than a few dozen tasks over the years that most people would simply give up on. But once I have finished that task I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride no matter how small the task was to complete. And when asked by others "How the hell did you figure that out." My answer is almost always the same. A lot of trial and error.

So is it enough that we have drones of eager people who need money so bad that they will take on any task better suited for a real pro, simply because they need the money. For me the answer is yes. I'll continue to do whatever is asked of me from my employer until I either find another job that does not ask me to do what I do not know. Or until the day comes I run my own business and can make my own decisions as to what work I take on.