|
So the network guy asked me to write a batch script to make his upgrading easier. He has push out stuff to all the Citrix servers tonight, there are like 40. I whip it up in a half hour. Batch's xcopy isn't really cool with writing to UNC addresses, so I ended up making it mount a folder, drop payload, dump the mount, move on to the next. I then ported that script to Powershell. I had never used Powershell before then. It was much more clean, didn't require the hackiness of mounting drives, and accounted for leading zeros in the naming convention all within one loop instead of 2 successive ones.  I think I should have sacked up and gone into programming. I got the basics down cold in college and never had any trouble with it. I imagine once I got to anything requiring pointers the Dunner-Kruger would fall away. Although a case can be made for having some natural talent based on the fact I can belt out a for loop after not touching any sort of code for over a year as fluently as I can order a cheeseburger.
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2014 04:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:19 |
|
|
I work in healthcare IT as a desktop support and I have an opportunity to jump over to the applications side and supporting a particular department especially. While I've been dying to get a pay bump so I can move out, I'm wary of it. The last guy left because the facility is getting bought out and he didn't want to end up without a chair when the music stopped. At least when I'm desktop, which I actually enjoy, I'm fungible and can just park and ride. Why bother spending the money to fire me and hire someone else? They however can decide to change applications (and we already know they are going to change the main one) at any time, and then I'm out of a job. That department also has a reputation for being very ornery and nutty. The last guy handled them on his own, so we never had to deal with them and the rest of the facility is super chill. I'm also hesitant to jump out of desktop and into the more specialized roles because poo poo actually matters there. If they lose a printer for a couple hours, oh well, if they lose an application or the network for a couple hours, I'm personally responsible for it until it gets fixed. I also don't like the idea of being on call permanently, even though realistically calls will probably be less frequent than desktop overall if only with higher stakes. As far as career path, I think applications is more flexible than network and has a lot more room to maneuver. Network seems more sexy, but I sit next to one of them and he's mostly on conference calls all day and there is very little room for advancement since people tend to dig in and stay put. At least in applications, I can learn a programming language and fork some other stuff on my plate if I felt like it. Part of me wants to stay in the comfortable womb of desktop, while the other part thinks I'm being a fool and could piss away a good chance. I like desktop and I love this client, so I'm hesitant to start pigeonholing myself and leaving myself open to being checkmated and forced to leave if they eliminate my niche in the future. If I didn't give a poo poo about the facility or actively loathed it, I'd absolutely take the higher pay and get ready to do the jumping around thing, but that isn't the case. I can't believe I'm about to hit 2 years in desktop already though.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2014 08:34
|
|
|
psydude posted:What. People will dig in and stay put in every job in every industry. I have no idea about application development because my experience with developers is limited to yelling at them for making their applications insecure as gently caress, but moving up rapidly in the networking world is insanely easy because there's such a huge demand for the skillset relative to the labor supply. In the end, it comes down to what you want to do: if you're interested in development, then obviously pursuing a development position makes sense. If you like networking, then pick up the CCNA book and start cranking. But get it out of your head that there's "little room for advancement" anywhere in this industry. It just takes you getting out of your comfort zone and being open to moving between companies and even geographic locations. Ah, I should have been more precise instead of rambling like I did. I was referring to network jobs within this particular account. Obviously I would do far better on the open market. However, I like where I'm at because the people are likable and the drama is minimal. Tab8715 posted:Huh? They absolutely are going to train me, though my would be predecessor found the training and support to be lacking, especially at first. After talking with my manager about it, I'm going to give it a shot. They made it very clear that I'm not expected to take the position simply because it's offered. She also said the networking manager likes me and wouldn't mind having me on the team once things settle down . I'd obviously need to get educated before any of that happens, but it's nice to know I'm making a good impression overall.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2014 09:24
|
|
|
jim truds posted:Someday I want to go into the doctor's office, tell him my butt don't work, it ain't been workin for a month, and why can't he just fix it. No you can't look at it, I'm too busy doing butt stuff. I complained of butt stuff and he just ordered a test and told me to keep taking OTCs. Test came back negative and I never really followed up on it. I ended up taking probiotics for a while and it got better after like, 9 months. If a user came to me with a problem and told him to keep using a workaround forever until the user tried something himself that worked, well, I wouldn't be a very good IT. Speaking of Doctors, I have a nice steamy rant bubbling inside me, but that's for one of the other threads.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2015 07:31
|
|
|
Drunk Orc posted:What are some useful programs I should have on a USB for general windows desktop support? http://www.reddit.com/r/tronscript Give that a shot, at least for anti-malware stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2015 20:53
|
|
|
fromoutofnowhere posted:So in an effort to get people to shut down their computers here at work, I told several people that if they do it, it will stop bad things from happening. I was hoping that they would spread the word since they tend to listen to their friends rather than IT. At first, nothing really happened, but then we started noticing that many systems were finally getting shut down, either daily, or after around 4-5 days of uptime. We were happy, it wasn't all of them, but a decent amount. Later today I walk into a room and over hear a user say to another user if he shut down his computer that IT couldn't track him and his "activities". "OH, I guess I should do that as well." Reminds me of when I went into a lab at work, a doctor had Netflix open but shut down when I walked in. I then found Google with "How to clear web history" on it. 1. I don't give a poo poo what you do down here, that's between you and your boss. 2. It doesn't even matter since everything goes through Websense and we have logs there. 3. lol users
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2015 00:14
|
|
|
SaltLick posted:Have an interview lined up with KPMG for some sort of consulting job. Anyone have experience with that kind of work? Lots of travel and interacting with CEOs and such could be exciting but I don't know what I may be getting myself into. Pay raise and bennies are what I'm mainly looking for here. I interned with a competing firm as an IT Auditor. I am no longer in that industry. Be advised, just because you're not doing the accounting doesn't mean the expectations of long hours goes away. It's not as hardcore as the tax and audit people get, but don't expect a straight up 40 hour work week. Also expect them to play games with your reviews to cheat you out of bigger raises. Of course consulting could in fact be vastly different, but on the audit side that's what I heard.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 1, 2015 08:02
|
|
|
Ahdinko posted:Its actually pretty awesome. I used to work at a company that had 90-100 HP Laserjet 4200-4350's back in 2007-2010. I'd never fixed a printer in my life before I started there and we had all the support outsourced at a hefty £250 callout + £100 an hour. I stayed with the engineers that used to come out as we couldn't leave them roaming around the building on their own, and within two months I could diagnose or fix 95% of issues myself within 0-3 minutes of being at the printer. I became "the printer guy", we cancelled the contract and I spent probably 25% of my day fixing printers. I've been doing that too. The printer guys themselves don't really give a poo poo since they are paid hourly and not piece-wise. I try to only call when I need a part or when they thing needs to be completely stripped.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2015 05:07
|
|
|
Docjowles posted:Important rule of email troubleshooting: the chance that the root cause is "user typed the wrong loving email address" is directly proportional to how loudly they declare that they definitely typed the right email address. I had a user complain that mail wasn't going through. Turns out their iphone was putting mailto:ellen@contoso.com instead of just ellen@contoso.com
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2015 06:17
|
|
|
I'm tempted to Archerize my phone's greeting. Blah blah blah IT this is Skooma (sleep 20) Sure I can help you out with that! What's the issue? (sleep 30) Alright then, could I please have the VNC (sleep 20) Got it! *beep*
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2015 17:55
|
|
|
I always volunteer for night shifts. Generally desktop isn't expected to do poo poo all night and I can just veg out. They are always light duty and I have no problem staying awake (the opposite in fact, I can't sleep outside of a bed no matter what, I've tried). When I'm on night shift desktop is always just being used as a reserve army, so basically I'm just a warm body. And that sweet OT 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2015 07:01
|
|
|
OWLS! posted:
I let mine know I was interested in moving up to network and that I was studying for the MCSA. Maybe it'll result in something, but he probably forgot I ever said anything the next day  We're also not getting even our usual token raises this year, even though an email was sent saying how the company made its fiscal targets. Yeah guys, I'm sure even the 1% raise would have just totally blown the budget. skooma512 fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Mar 28, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Mar 28, 2015 17:50
|
|
|
Our payroll system has been especially obstructive lately and people are getting stern emails to get their project codes logged even though people can't get in no matter what they do. One guy got salty with the manager asking to get their stuff in on an email thread with other managers on it. Layoffs are next month dude and you're going to drop the gloves over this 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2015 09:04
|
|
|
crunk dork posted:Yeah they forward the help desk to my cell number too. Your time frame seems more reasonable, our SLA is 1 hour but they are expecting me to do this from 5am Saturday to 5am Monday (my actual shift starts at 5am on Monday). This has a $100 stipend, but given what they are asking it doesn't seem like much. I figured on call meant if emergency happens then you work, not monitor the queue and field calls your entire weekend. Seems to me they need to hire someone to work weekends or at least adjust shifts to cover it and give someone a couple weekdays off. I work in healthcare IT where poo poo might actually be a real emergency one of these days and even our on-call is not nearly that brutal. gently caress man.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2015 06:38
|
|
|
Server guy let me rack a server and configure it It was fairly basic and nothing I wouldn't have done on a desktop, but hopefully this leads to big show. I'm studying for MCSA, still deciding on whether to do 2012 or 2008.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 18, 2015 02:52
|
|
|
Eonwe posted:Also I'm not against H1Bs themselves but it needs a huge loving overhaul, but that probably means I'm 'xenophobic' Americans are having trouble finding gainful employment in their chosen fields after racking up lots of college debt. There's no good reason to increase the labor supply unless you specifically want to drive down wages. It's irresponsible and the plutocratic overtones are plain to see and the program should be halted. I don't really care what that position labels me as. evol262 posted:Which is market forces. We are, as an industry, absurdly overpaid. Few other careers net you 6 figures with 7-8 years of experience and no degree. Few careers expect regular 10-30% jumps in salary every 18 months when you switch jobs until you hit that $100k+ market cap. I enjoy this. But maybe it's because there's a skill shortage that expanding the labor pool (via h1bs or whatever) alleviates. You see it as scabbing. It might be normalization. That seems pretty outdated. Not everyone works for Google and Apple. I work for [a major brand name] providing IT services and we get pretty average pay, almost no annual raises, 10% maximum (usually much less) raises on promotion. Not needing a degree is on the way out, and that's not even getting into why every middle class job needs to have college as a gatekeeper. I think we as a society need to stop asking "why do these people get paid so much?" and start asking "why do most people get paid so little?". Income inequality is a big deal, but why don't start we with people who don't even really work for a living and people who simply game financial markets all day?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2015 09:03
|
|
|
evol262 posted:Google and Apple like degrees. But your definition of "pretty average pay" is probably pretty far outside of what people in other fields with similar education levels and experience make. IT pays very well. We don't need to deny that. But, as skills become commoditized, should it? I make 44k as desktop support with a college degree and on-call expectation. People who got promoted from within to higher level, obviously I don't know what they make and can only infer, but the server guy still lives in an apartment. The consensus is that nobody started high here and nobody's finishing high either. This in Southern California, so cost of living is pretty high. Maybe I'm not quite a groveling peasant yet, but I'm certainly not going to shoot myself in the foot and advocate for an increased labor supply because "high" wages just aren't fair. For comparison, my girlfriend is a high school teacher that just started, and she makes more than I do. quote:The h1b program is explicitly intended for specialized workers with degrees. They're required to pay market wages as well as significant fees, and potentially more. You can think it's "plutocratic", but there are few advantages and many disadvantages to using temporary visa workers. What they're required to do and what they actually do are very different things. They're not supposed to replace Americans either, but that's exactly what Disney was trying to do and will eventually do. A company with that many lawyers wouldn't have tried unless they knew they would get away with it. I think it's plutocratic because it only benefits people who own these businesses. The worker, both the American and potentially the H1-B, is the one getting the shaft. Speaking of market forces, if wages are so good why hasn't there been a glut of people flooding into IT from universities? This is happening in nursing, all the drat schools are full and it costs an arm and a leg to get into some of them, and wages will come to reflect that. The word got out that it was raining money and people wanted in, and so they are coming in. That's [ market forces, not people coming in because the government and business cozied up and made a nice system for business to game.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2015 18:13
|
|
|
Other site had a layoff and a voluntary termination, so they jacked one of our guys. On call rotation is shrunk by that much. This job is super chill, but it's starting to get less attractive. The pay is going nowhere, advancement isn't really a possibility, and the on calls get more frequent. I'm hitting my 3 year next year. It might be time to cert up and  . I love this site, but the money isn't cutting it.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 13, 2015 18:13
|
|
|
Daylen Drazzi posted:Not really IT related, but it does involve family - just got a call about an hour ago from my mom telling me that my uncle and aunt were driving on Sunday after picking up their son and his girlfriend when they were forced off the road. My uncle lost control of the car and rolled it a couple times. One of the cars stopped, but the other just kept on going. It infuriates -- no, it pisses me off. If the driver were in front of me I would be hard-pressed to not strangle the sonuvabitch and watch the life leave his eyes. My aunt has about a thousand cuts from the glass, and my uncle has 3 broken cervical vertebrae. He apparently seemed fine except for some numbness and tingling in his thumbs, and after they did a scan they found the damage and rushed him into surgery, which he's still in according to my aunt. Any hope on getting the other driver? There's still room in hell for his sorry carcass.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2015 05:27
|
|
|
2 out of 3 of our VMWare people are on vacation. A program is getting updated and people were shocked that I didn't have the VMs updated with the software last week. They only just provided the software install today. Did I mention I'm not one of those VMware people? So the remaining VM person offsite spent the whole day helping me update our images and showing me how to do it . Even started giving me access to things. I'd really like recompose rights since VMs once in a while go stupid and need it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2015 06:26
|
|
|
They also can't leverage a ton of cloud resources and algorithm gods to make it work either.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2015 05:23
|
|
|
Someone from a law firm here reached out to me on Linkedin. I know, yeah yeah I get these all the time skooma, but it's nice to know I'm attracting something. I'm wary though in that they haven't filled the position in a month and are actively trying to drive people to the position. It's a law firm with at least 3 offices and 90 users, so I smell a lot of concierge, remote, and on call support. Still, it's nice to know I have options. I've been chafing a little bit at my current gig. I'm going to politely decline, add her, and check back with them when I'm ready/forced to start looking.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2015 04:05
|
|
|
Judge Schnoopy posted:At least get an associates. It checks off "higher education" on HR's req list and gets you more interviews without a crazy financial investment. How long did it take you for your CCNA by the way?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2015 18:05
|
|
|
Neddy Seagoon posted:Also he should be paying you for being on-call and not just expecting it if you're paid by the hour. Not the full rate, about 1/3rd of normal to leave your phone on near you just in case. Oh, if only. [My on call week starts tomorrow - No extra OT pay]
|
|
#
¿
Mar 6, 2016 21:45
|
|
|
Re: dress code chat I have to wear business casual even though this is healthcare and everybody around is wearing scrubs and sneakers. Luckily polos count so I don't have to waste good shirts everyday. I kind of hate it because desktop is a physical job sometimes. I'm moving poo poo around and working in the dust after all. I ended up buying low top steel toe boots because I've already hosed up a toe from falling equipment here.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2016 18:34
|
|
|
Lord Dudeguy posted:Friendly reminder for you A recruiter for a major video game firm reached out to me about a job that pays 30k more and actually has room to grow The only thing that concerns me is the fact the role is specifically for executive support. The recruiter said that like half the time I'll be doing desktop/network stuff since the execs don't need constant care, but I'm worried that getting that much face time with C-suite is hazardous to my contiuned employment. I deal with C-suite and VPs at my current gig and never had a problem, but that's only because I could deliver and they aren't quite as big time as these guys will be. If I get a tough ticket and can't make good, who knows what'll happen. Anybody in an executive support role have experiences they want to share? Insights on how the job would work?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2016 23:38
|
|
|
I've been talking with that recruiter more and I think I have a shot. Gonna buy me a suit and get back into interview mode. It's for executive support/regular desktop and network stuff. I made sure to ask who gets the white glove treatment and they said only the C-suite guys and maybe every month, with warning, with no travel (no chatting with the pilot for me  ). I'd say it's a pretty sweet gig and I'm excited.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2016 23:50
|
|
|
Sefal posted:Passed the MCSA 70-412 today. I am now finally MCSA Server 2012 certified. gently caress yeah man! Congratulations that's not a small feat these days.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2016 15:10
|
|
|
So I had a couple calls with recruiters last week. They said to wait for updates. This company is notorious about taking months and having a million calls and interviews before they pull the trigger and they were upfront about that. It'll be 7 days tomorrow. Would a status check be in order or is hitting them up too aggressive?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 31, 2016 05:30
|
|
|
I make 44k before overtime with 24/7 on call weeks in healthcare as desktop in L.A  I'm looking jump soon.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2016 22:30
|
|
|
Yeah, I just tell my lead I'm going to duck out for whatever amount of time or just simply take it in my car. Now that I'm getting deeper into the interview process I actually told him what I'm doing and I've been granted complete flexibility to handle phone/skype interviews. Is anyone getting what seems to be autogenerated content from LinkedIn? My 3 year anniversary was 3 weeks ago and random people are messaging me the exact same email congratulating me. I also get phantom endorsements from people I added but never actually met, or at least weird times like at 4am from people that just got a new job (so why be on LinkedIn?) and are in my time zone. I figured it was some automatic thing LinkedIn sends out if you click a button somewhere like a like button, but I haven't been able to replicate it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2016 01:27
|
|
|
Sheep posted:I have a laptop with serious issues that cannot be resolved without replacing internal equipment. I made it part of the interview process for entry level helpdesk hires just to see what steps people take and in what order since there's literally no way for them to fix it. Has been really useful to help me figure out how people approach problems, and even better, what they wind up doing when they can't fix something. I had an interviewer recently do that. I had to go through the steps to fix something weird with a program, even though most people including me need to feel around for it. The answer is really obvious if you could look at it and not be bindfolded. I actually knew the answer already, because a previous interviewer gave me the exact same question. What's more important is that I knew what they were looking for by asking that question and could focus in on that.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2016 05:37
|
|
|
Got another interview! Not a moment too soon. Current gig is getting pretty crazy. This is basically me now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdsJDLSI_Mo
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2016 05:19
|
|
|
I had an interview earlier this week and they seemed to expect me to be way more experienced than I am. I'm a desktop support guy who likes to try out more advanced topics whenever he can, and never said I was anything more than that. The interviewer seemed confused too, even going as far as asking me of I knew what I was interviewing for. I was given a title but no description. The title sounds like desktop but apparently this includes stuff that falls above my pay grade at my current gig. He did make a valid point when I asked for feedback. I don't have a solid skill and I should focus on getting one. My current job has me fixing a lot of bullshit and rarely seeing some advanced stuff. My lead touts the fact that we touch a lot of different stuff as good, but nobody considers "worked on a VMware image and racked a switch once" to be useful. I feel like I've wasted 3 years. So I guess I absolutely do need to get the CCNA and let the random linux and scripting dabbling be a bonus.
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2016 17:36
|
|
|
Seriously. This is not a problem that needs a technical solution. If they aren't getting their work done that conversation can be had without needing to involve IT.
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2016 17:46
|
|
|
Thanks Ants posted:Does the fact this company scans emails for profanity say all that needs to be said about the type of company and where it's located? Yeah seriously. Why even bother when the offended employee can just file a report.
|
|
#
¿
May 6, 2016 15:37
|
|
|
Chickenwalker posted:Guys thoughts on this quote: better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. That's fine, because to get anywhere pay or position wise you have to jump anyway. This way you can hopefully learn from people who know what they're doing.
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2016 18:18
|
|
|
Glorious
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2016 19:06
|
|
|
I just realized, you weren't kidding about the 1984 stuff. What the hell is up with the family room?
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2016 20:21
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:19 |
|
|
Internet Explorer posted:It's the same in the US. I'm not sure you could pay me enough to take a job that requires a security clearance. I would rather slam my dick in a car door than do IT work for the government. I don't know. I like the idea of 5pm rolling around and being told to gtfo no matter what. I'm the last guy out so that effectively makes me a little bit on call everyday, something happens and I'm responsible for it. Although does this apply when it's a security clearance job? I would imagine when national security is in the cards it's little less lax than the Pawnee City Hall.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2016 07:59
|
|