IT - Typical Day

Conor108

Wondering what the typical day of someone who works in IT is like. I know alot of positions are gonna have different tasks and whatnot but I'm considering this as a career.

Thanks in advance

feylya

What field in IT though? Different fields are drastically different from each other. Example, you can't compare a programmer's day to a sys admin's day.

ntlbell

feylya wrote: »

What field in IT though? Different fields are drastically different from each other. Example, you can't compare a programmer's day to a sys admin's day.

But in both cases they always look very busy when in reality do very little

run_Forrest_run

Me: Programmer:

1. Read mails about any changes or questions raised. Read any comments on documents i submitted for review. (typically use case documents).

Brekkie.

2. Quick meeting with fellow developers on the team along with the testers.

3. Begin some coding or updating design/use case documents (all really depends on what stage in the development cycle we are in).

4. Usually an overall team meeting once a week to discuss any issues and dependencies on other teams to try and avoid time delays etc.

5. Back to coding / design stuff.

6. If (coding)
{
writeCode();
testCode(); //JUnit if needed, otherwise do some white/black box testing where applicable.

if(codeAllOK())
{
commitCodeToCVS();
}

// inform fellow developers of my checkin if they are waiting for it.

}

7. coffee....& play some pool.

8. Review some documents if needed.

9. sit in crap traffic and collect the little one.

10. Done.

check mailbox/take calls and assign tasks accordingly if its my turn from 2 other people to be on the phone

if not continue with calls, which can be anything from a build, software installation, application errors, a production problem or general maintence such as backups etc etc
or continue with teh various project tasks

feylya

Sys admin:
Check Mails
Check backups ran
Check overnight network activity to see if there was too much traffic
Check all servers are up and running
Continue on with whatever project I'm working on
Deal with issues and requests that arise in the office
Go home at some stage

nads

Day in the life of an IT Desktop Monkey:

Go in check queue; see what late leavers with personal problems have logged due to them being whiny. Delete these calls, if they re-log then deal with them.

Replace a few mice because 'mine is knackered and i've tried cleaning the underneath of it but it's still jumpy(although i smashed it in trying to fix it)'

X 10

Deal with a ridiculously non-IT request, judged to be in the IT field since it has a plug hanging off it.

Remember that you have a 1.1 Honours Degree in Computer Science

Extended tea break

Do more embarassing tasks, unlock some late comers who are most likely coke heads since they're late and forget their passwords frequently.

Do some more tickets for people who are less qualified than you in their respective fields and are paid treble you're paid.

Extended Lunch.

B*tch with fellow IT monkeys.

Do nothing after lunch since no one else in the office/place of business is doing nothing.

Finish off day with dealing with more personal problems from people.

Leave the business.

zAbbo

feylya wrote: »

Sys admin:
Check Mails
Check backups ran
Check overnight network activity to see if there was too much traffic
Check all servers are up and running
Continue on with whatever project I'm working on
Deal with issues and requests that arise in the office
Go home at some stage

seems slightly re-active...

Ensuring there are proper traps and alerting systems, means more time to read other peoples emails

feylya

New office, still setting things up. Besides, that's not an highly detailed version of my day

markpb

nads wrote: »

Do more embarassing tasks, unlock some late comers who are most likely coke heads since they're late and forget their passwords frequently.

Until you've been a helpdesk monkey, you'll never realise how frequently people forget their passwords (even when they're the same as their username) and how shocked you can be when people forget their username even though it's something terribly complicated like firstname.secondname!

azezil

Desktop monkey:
- check tickets, check mail
- sign on to msn, say good morning to some mates
- browse net for about an hour
- go to brekkie
- more msn / browse more websites
- have a look at the work q
- ignore phone
- back to msn / web
- drop someone a mail about a job around mid day
- browse the web
- go for dinner
- check the q
- fix a computer or two
- home early

Job well done

Mantel

IT/IS Engineer:

Think about checking work mail and realise I have a blackberry and get to check it even when not being paid.
Check personal mail
Check boards.ie and some tech sites/blogs for intresting things
Check the calander to see how long it's going to be before getting paid again.
Do office jobs that need to be done (Format machines for later use, test hardware to make sure it's working since coming back/before going out)
Get asked to call out to client/install new hardware/fixed deployed hardware/replace old hardware, get lunch.
Get asked to work late during the week and during the weekend.
Take calls from clients and get them to restart their machine/router/bb modem/blame it on their ISP.

Something called lunch can occur during a day although it's apperance is random and unperdictable

End of month day: Write up expenses for lunch, travel expenses and any receipt I can get my hands on that can be remotely explained as work related.

BC

Technical Team Lead:

- Read emails
- Check everyone on team is doing what they are supposed to be doing
- Check progress on outstanding operational issues
- Project meetings
- Update documents based on meetings
- More project meetings to change the requirements
- Update project documents again

Jumpy

Then you get the IT people who actually work.
Those working in a department with too few people and projects coming out their ears.
All you time wasters should be beaten with ropes

JohnnyBravo

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

pclancy

Field Service...

9:30 checkin with office to see whats new, any outstanding issues.
10:00 callout to first client, we deal with SMEs so its usually simple stuff like install a printer/laptop or deal with an issue like no internet/email or a backup failed the night before
12-2 take lunch onsite or in some pub/hotel somewhere nearby or a good auld spa roll in the car
2-4 repeat morning work and head back near home or office.
5:30 deal with any orders or parts to be replaced and head home.

No two days are the same though with Field service work, I could be anywhere in the Midlands and could be dealing with an estate agent with only 2 PCs or a factory with 100, it means theres little boredom apart from the odd traffic jam and I love the freedom of being on the road. Plus nice meals etc had on the road are claimable! Ive done in house stuff but keep going back to field based roles as I love driving and the difference in each days work. Its hard when dealing with SMEs to get a chance to mess with high end stuff like SANs or Cisco boxes but the variety of logged call is certainly there!

qwytre

Systems Development

9am-10am: Check emails, read various programing forums to keep up with latest technologies, trends, learn from other peoples issues etc. Read various websites e,g, MS Ajax.net, and for a laugh read "The Daily WTF"

10am-5.30pm:
Some meetings with clients, build systems to meet their needs using sql server, asp.net, etc

Work from home twice a week, flexible hours. Also do some contract work on my own time.

tHE vAGGABOND

Software QA:

10am: Arrive into work, have brekkie
10.30: Read emails
11: read boards and other UBB's
11.30: read emails again
12: read boards agian...

rinse and repeat until the end of the day :cool:

Aglomerado

JohnnyBravo wrote: »

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Did you ever beat up a printer because it kept jamming? I've always wanted to do that.

Ah, Office Space... best film ever!

muppetkiller

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Software QA:

10am: Arrive into work, have brekkie
10.30: Read emails
11: read boards and other UBB's
11.30: read emails again
12: read boards agian...

rinse and repeat until the end of the day :cool:

Yup that sums mine up too

markf909

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Software QA:

10am: Arrive into work, have brekkie
10.30: Read emails
11: read boards and other UBB's
11.30: read emails again
12: read boards agian...

rinse and repeat until the end of the day :cool:

Sounds very familiar.

ToxicPaddy

Desktop/Helpdesk/Sys Admin/Facilities/General Everyday Gimp = Me :rolleyes:

Morning - Check email, check systems, check network activity, check logs for backups, fix any issues with desktops/servers/backups/blackberries etc

Lunch

Afternoon - Working on day to day issues thata rise, meetings about facilities issues/building upgrades/projects, meetings about server issues/upgrades/projects, meetings about desktop issues/upgrades/projects

Work on current projects

Home

Thats it really..

bill_ashmount

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Software QA:

10am: Arrive into work, have brekkie
10.30: Read emails
11: read boards and other UBB's
11.30: read emails again
12: read boards agian...

rinse and repeat until the end of the day :cool:

HeHe. Exactly the same as me, hope we don't work in the same company