People Who Work in IT. I Have a Question.

"Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis" (Dwhite95)
04/17/2015 at 16:21 • Filed to: None

Have a rally 911 for your time.

What does working in IT entail? I pretty much just got offered a position in IT at a financial services firm and that wasnt was the plan was at all. I am technically a double major in Finance and MIS, but I’ve only taken three computer classes in total. And I have no clue what I would do. So any ideas?

EDIT: People are asking me to condense. And maybe I shouldnt have asked in the first place, but this is the sum of all my knowledge. I was called today and in under ten minutes moved from would you be interested to heres our formal application come down for tour of our building and meet the head of IT. The entire ten minutes consisted of no questions of what I’m familiar with, where my tech skills are, or anything like that.

DISCUSSION (21)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:23

Too much missing information. What aspect of IT? I work with medical documentation software which is pretty specialized, but lots of paperwork to get approval for changes, analyzing data in excel spreadsheets, etc.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:23

.......this might better in some kind of chat tool just because the rapid nature of questions and answers does not suit kinja

CalzoneGolem > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:25

That’s a pretty broad topic to try and condense.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:27

How the financial sector operates:

1- Give finance graduates IT jobs
2- Give IT Pros the financial jobs
3- Sit back and see what happens

Just kidding around, I have no valuable input but good luck with your situation. There’s a possibility that it won’t be that intensive of an IT position as some are not. Press them for more details to help you make your decision.

Tareim - V8 powered > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:27

as others have said, IT is a very broad department, you need to be more specific as to what role you have been offered before we can help

itschrome > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:28

eh, if I could do it over again I might not have taken this career path. I mean it satisfies my need and love to trouble shoot and fix stuff. as well as learn new things and try them out. It’s great in the regards, there’s always something to do, learn, solve, fix, implement, it’s great!

but then there is the fact that you will deal with less than intelligent people who will never respect you cause your more or less the same as the janitor/maintenance/cafeteria staff to them. they will question everything you say and respond to every question you ask them with a lie. but it’s also super rewarding and fun! also the pay has dropped vs responsibilities over the years.

I dunno if i coul dmake the same pay getting slapped with dead fish for 8 to 10 hours a day. I think I’d go the fish route tho to be honest.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/17/2015 at 16:28

To be honest I have no idea.

I was totally surprised by the call. I specifically avoided tech due to my lack of experience right now.

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:32

I have a friend who works in an “IT” position at a finance firm where he just answers questions from investors using their investment terminal software all day.

I guess the question is, are you working as internal IT, or are you going to be providing technical services for you firm’s clients? The first is more traditional IT, the later is more technical customer service.

The only person who knows for sure what you will be doing is your employer. It’s not like they will rescind the offer if you ask what the job entails.

Takuro Spirit > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:37

All you need is Google.

Textured Soy Protein > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:37

Do they have any jobs posted on their website that sound like what they were talking about on the phone and when you met them?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:37

Just bullshit your way through the interview. A job’s a job, and if they aren’t worried about your lack of experience, it’s probably the kind of job where you can learn most of it on the job.

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:38

Chances are training is offered as well. maybe.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > itschrome
04/17/2015 at 16:46

Yeah, this most likely has nothing to do with what I’ll end up doing. The school I go to has one of the best SAP programs in the country so there is a high demand for that plus I’d like to make a run at consulting. But for now experience is worth its weight in gold and I’m not going to turn down solid resume filler and a full time job.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 16:54

Also, most people in IT departments are pretty inept, so keep that in mind and don’t feel bad if you think you aren’t qualified. Someone who knows ctrl+c and ctrl+v and has something resembling a work ethic is probably an improvement over most of their hires. Just having grown up with computers puts you at an advantage here.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/17/2015 at 17:00

That sounds good to me. My main concern is that having only taken a Microsoft Office class, a Visual Basic class, and a basic management information systems class that I wouldnt have the skills I needed to do what they might expect of me.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 17:03

You’ll be fine. I seriously doubt that they’re going to have you programming or anything like that. You’ll probably be troubleshooting “problems” that are really just old people not knowing how to use a computer. If you’re worried about it, just ask. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions during your interview. That means that you’re interested.

wiffleballtony > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 19:17

If it’s a help desk then you’ll probably be able to pick up whatever you need on the job. If it’s something more specialized you might want to reconsider. Ultimately if it is a help desk style job, the best career path is to get some certificates and get to a different position. Also your major is irrelevant. I’m a business political science major who works as a network engineer.

wiffleballtony > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
04/17/2015 at 19:18

Not enough stars that I can give.

Foo2rama > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 20:43

MIS major and no computer classes? HAHHAHAHAHAHHHAAHHAHAHHAHAHA can I get an MBA from your school I ran a lemonade stand once.

And you want to consult right out of college with no practical experience? wow....

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Foo2rama
04/17/2015 at 20:50

Poor writing on my part. I’m still in school, technically only a sophomore, Junior on credits but whatever. Most of the relevant courses other than the intro courses are high 300 and 400 level courses. So simply put I havent gotten there yet, taking 4 next year and another 4 the year after that. That is where my concern lied, I simply didnt know if I had gained the skills that I would be expected to have.

Consulting is purely an avenue I’d like to explore eventually, obviously not right out of school. But eventually.

I should have emphasized that position meant internship, but I didnt. My bad.

Foo2rama > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/17/2015 at 22:14

Huge difference between Job and Internship. Internship assumes you know nothing. This entire thread would be totally different if you had said it was an internship first. Sorry if I came off snarky just sick of kids exiting college and not understanding why no one is offering them a senior management role after just getting a piece of paper.