IT staff treated worse than others?

youcancallmeal

Not sure where else this should go but this seems like the right place. Anyway is it just my own personal experience or are IT people in general treated very poorly in comparison to their colleagues in say the finance, HR, operations departments? I've been in IT about 4 years and I enjoy what I do but I've encountered a lot of distrust, disrespect and outright hostility. I like to think I've seen a fair bit with working in both a call center environment and a deskside support role. Its almost comical sometimes how much some people can barely hide there blatant disgust at IT professionals

Spud83

IT Staff = No.
Support Staff = Probably yes.

RedXIV

Depends what you define by IT. I work with computers all day in a large games company, best fun in the world. My cousin is the network administrator in a large solictors office, handy number also coz they need him badly. IT support? no amount of money is worth it

seamus

People you see, have trouble depersonalising the computing experience. You hear all the time stuff like, "Computers just don't like me", or, "I just can't figure these things out".

They also have trouble accepting two universal truths:
1. **** happens
2. Otherwise, it's usually your fault.

Thus, when they're talking to an I.T. "guy", you'll find that not only do they not accept that perhaps the thing is just faulty, but they'll usually not accept that it was their mistake. Because the IT guy is there, and he should know what he's doing, then it clearly must be his fault.

In all seriousness though, the real reason is because you're dealing with bad people at their worst. People who are easily frustrated, get frustrated by computers because they lack the ability to troubleshoot for themselves. They see a problem which is preventing them from working, not a problem which they can figure out. So when something "isn't working" (a catch-all phrase for anything from, "broken" to "I typed in the letters wrong"), they can't really get annoyed at the machine, so they have to vent at the person on the end of the phone or standing at their desk.

Other internal functions in companies generally don't have to deal with people in such circumstances.

Usually if you just act calm, most people will realise they've been acting like tossers and apologise.

AARRRGH

There are a lot of freaks in the IT industry. As a result, "normal" people are a bit suspicious of us.

Personally I've found non-IT people respect the work I do, and treat me well.

I don't work in support.

Raekwon

It depends on your role in the company, if you are a higher level staff member then respect usually comes with the territory but if you are in an entry level position then expect to receive a certain amount of flack.

You could actually nearly double the amount of flack received by IT staff if you consider that old chestnut; "When it works nobody praises you but when it breaks you are snowed under with complains", it kind of makes the job harder and there is definatly less job satisfaction then other fields.

Tom Dunne

Raekwon wrote: »

It depends on your role in the company, if you are a higher level staff member then respect usually comes with the territory but if you are in an entry level position then expect to receive a certain amount of flack.

I would agree with Raekwon 100% on this.

I've worked at all levels from lowly IT telephone support to my current role as a consultant and respect is directly proportional to role.

Having said that, in IT support, attitude matters considerably. When I was training in IT support people for level 1 phone support, I always made the point of saying that end-users aren't ringing you for a chat, they are ringing you because they have a problem. As such, IT support staff need to convince end-users that they are there to help. Getting defensive and dismissive does not do IT support people any favours. Especially when you have end users who don't know the difference between Powerpoint and a Mainframe computer (I kid you not, long story, I should write a book).

seamus

Raekwon wrote: »

there is definatly less job satisfaction then other fields.

The other issue with front-line support that adds to this is that it's tough to feel like you're actually making any difference. One guy might ring, and you'll talk him through his problem and he'll understand and he'll never ring again with that problem. But next week he leaves and five new people join who will have the exact same problem and will ring you.

You also have the problem of explaining something to people and they choose not to listen. So they ring constantly with the same questions.

Which makes it feel like you're wasting your time.

As you move up the chain, you get into positions where you can actually look at common issues and fix them for everyone, permanently. Which is a whole heap more satisfying than one user at a time.

NinjaTruncs

In my last company the Engineers(IT) were probably treated the worst of all the employees, the Project Managers had it cushy, there were actually more PMs than Engineers/testers.

In my current company the Engineers(IT) are core to the business and are treated very well.

Doctor DooM

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I would agree with Raekwon 100% on this.

I've worked at all levels from lowly IT telephone support to my current role as a consultant and respect is directly proportional to role.

Having said that, in IT support, attitude matters considerably. When I was training in IT support people for level 1 phone support, I always made the point of saying that end-users aren't ringing you for a chat, they are ringing you because they have a problem. As such, IT support staff need to convince end-users that they are there to help. Getting defensive and dismissive does not do IT support people any favours. Especially when you have end users who don't know the difference between Powerpoint and a Mainframe computer (I kid you not, long story, I should write a book).

Alot of college courses etc really don't prepare you for the (considerable) amount of customer care skills needed for support roles. Little things can set end users off for apparently (to you) no reason- remember they are already stressed- like for example using the word "problem" to an American. Some of them really don't want to hear they have a problem.

Tails142

People dont like IT - various reasons, they cant browse boards.ie, their favourite sites are blocked, gmail blocked, stupid access restrictions like not being able to edit your start menu bar and do other various short cuts they're used to.

All these stupid restrictions piss people off several times a day, they dont know exactly who to blame so they just generally blame the IT department. Even though its just some abstract company policy that was dreamed up.

So when they enter their password wrong three times in a row or something and realise they have to ring up the IT department, and feel like a spa for saying, I'm in idiot I enterred my password wrong three times, and you can hear the disdain in the IT guys voice cause he went to college to get a degree and all he does every morning is answer calls from people who were to hung over to type properly, well that lowly IT guy becomes the conduit for all the hate you have built up every time you hit the windows button and r to open up a website only to remember that you dont have access to that shortcut.

NUTS I tells ya

feylya

It's definately something I find happening. As I've said to a few people when asked how busy I am, "if I'm doing my job right, you should never see me". As long as all the systems are working, people don't think of the IT department and when they do see us at lunch or whenever, they think we're just sitting around playing games.

And then there's the idea that people have that seems to run along the lines of if electrons run through a device, the IT department should be responsible for fixing it.

I think the bottom line is IT is a field that a lot of people don't understand and are either scared or jealous of the people that work in the IT Support area. In most companies, IT doesn't make the company any money.

I would be more coherent but my head is in the bottom of a pint glass this morning

AARRRGH

feylya wrote: »

As I've said to a few people when asked how busy I am, "if I'm doing my job right, you should never see me".

To be honest, if someone said that to me I'd be thinking he's a bit rude/cocky.

I work in IT. Imagine if I was in accounts or sales...

feylya wrote: »

they think we're just sitting around playing games.

You should never be seen playing games...

Raekwon

feylya wrote: »

It's definately something I find happening. As I've said to a few people when asked how busy I am, "if I'm doing my job right, you should never see me". As long as all the systems are working, people don't think of the IT department and when they do see us at lunch or whenever, they think we're just sitting around playing games.

I actually interviewed for your current job feylya..............I'm actually still pissed off that I didn't get it

feylya

dublindude wrote: »

To be honest, if someone said that to me I'd be thinking he's a bit rude/cocky.

Bare in mind, I don't just randomly say to people. It would be during a discussion with my mates in here about IT and peoples perceptions of it

dublindude wrote: »

You should never be seen playing games...

Seen or not, people will still assume.

Raekwon wrote: »

I actually interviewed for your current job feylya..............I'm actually still pissed off that I didn't get it

0ubliette

Ive worked in proper IT jobs now (network admin) for 2 years, after a previous 2 years of tech support jobs rom eircom to HP.

Tech support = treated like scum. The customers hate you, and dont mind letting you know. The managers dont care about you because they know if you quit theres another 10 people queing up to take your job. Its completely thankless work and made me genuinely conider leaving IT altogether. It really i bottom of the barrel work but sadly its a necessity as without that experience you probably wont get into any higher level jobs.

Proper IT job, deskside support/network admin i think really depends on the company as to how you're treated. After almost 2 years i left my last job to move onto something else and i have to say that the IT dept were very well liked and i was given a big send off complete with presents, cake and a night out!
Again, it all comes down to how you are around users too. Ive worked with a couple of social lepers in IT and you can tell the users just dont want to deal with them as they're uncommunicative, aloof and just your completely stereotypical IT geek. Ive always made the effort no matter who im dealing with to be personalble, as helpful as possible and it really showed in my last job, the arrogant it geek in the office left, we got a new manager, and the IT dept went from being viewed with suspicion and distrust to being well liked by everyone, and im sad to say i made alot of friends there ill geninely miss.
I think another big reason users are suspicius of IT is, everyone kept asking me on my last day when we were in the pub 'can you REALLY see all the sites we visit?? can you read our emails??' they think were all CIA stooges spying on them

Raekwon

feylya wrote: »

Oh behave!

Besides, with two boards mods running the IT in that place I'm surprised anything gets done Btw do you need an extra pair of hands in there? *cough*

irishpartyboy

Various factors:

• Type of customers
• Type of business / environment - sector
• Type of analyst i.e. phone manner, demeanor
• Stability of environment
• Perception of IT

I think probably a combination of all of the above and more play major roles. In non-IT companies, IT is not perceived as a key component of the core business. IT is often just considered an expense or overhead.

I think the reality is, more often that not, the 'customer' is calling with with a live issue. The customer themselves may be under pressure.

Like someone has already mentioned above, IT are rarely acknowledged of doing a good job, only when things go wrong we take the brunt of it.

Tis life on our sector anyway.

AARRRGH

Just to be fair though... a lot of people I know who work in IT (sys admin, network support) do spend a lot of their day doing nothing.

You know, when everything's working, there's nothing to do...

To an outsider this could be seen as "they're a bunch of lazy gits". Of course, I understand the network is running fine because you have it set up fine, and if something goes wrong you have to fix it.

I'm just trying to say I can understand how the non-IT folks think you do nothing. Whether this is the reason for some resentment, I don't know. I'd be more inclined to think it's because a lot of IT people are a bit weird.

feylya

Being weird comes with the territory though. And I do have things to do - Boards is a thing

youcancallmeal

irishpartyboy wrote: »

In non-IT companies, IT is not perceived as a key component of the core business. IT is often just considered an expense or overhead.

I think this is the key point, particularly in my situation cos I work in a finance company. Even the IT management where I work get treated poorly. Our last IT director pretty much got the heave-ho and when he did go his replacement's position was downgraded so that person doesn't even sit on the board of management. We now effectively have nobody to represent us to upper level management. I could go on with other similar stories but then again maybe its just the company I'm in? I reckon next job I aim for will be with a non-finance company or maybe just away from the support end of things.

pvt.joker

I worked in IT deskside support for 2 years and it turned me off IT completely., so much so that I am about to embark on a career that couldnt be more different.

Common things that I was asked to fix by users: paper shredders, jammed fax machines, their own home pc's , the list goes on.

It just wears you down. To anyone doing phone support/deskside support STUDY, get your qualifications (A+/ccna/ whatever) so you can get the hell out of support before it crushes your soul.

seamus

youcancallme>al wrote: »

I could go on with other similar stories but then again maybe its just the company I'm in?

I think it depends on the company. It would be rare enough to have the IT Director sit on the board, but it would also be normal for them to be present at any high-level management meeting.
I think a lot also hinges on who IT is answerable to. If there is no direct superior, and pretty much every board member/high-level manager can tell I.T. when to jump and how high, it can be very messy. In this case, trying to roll out company wide IT policies or software can be a complete nightmare because every department gets their own special veto.

In our company (which is pretty damn big), while high-level management can ask for I.T. to do stuff (and we generally oblige), our director reports to the elected head of the company as his boss. So if we need to roll something out which applies to everyone, once the big boss signs it off, nobody else has a veto.

hunnymonster

I have some problems with the IT people in my current job. They have established policies and set up systems that make my job more difficult. Surely the whole point of IT is to facilitate easier/faster/more efficient/more reliable.... work by those doing the core functions of the business? In my previous place, they couldn't have been better though. When we tried to do something new the I team were right there as a core part of the team pulling together to get the job done.

irishpartyboy

I agree, the function of IT is to facilitate the needs of the business. I think some problems may arise when an over zealous Sys Admin configures policies as he/she sees fit.

I think communication with stake holders and key management personnel is important. Let the business decide on policies (based on scenarios / options presented to them), then we simply enforce it.

If the user has an issue with certain restrictions, we explain these are driven by the business, not by IT.

AARRRGH

feylya wrote: »

Being weird comes with the territory though. And I do have things to do - Boards is a thing

Yep, I agree.

I used to be a Financial Controller, but I think working in IT suits me a bit better!

BobTheBeat

irishpartyboy wrote: »

I agree, the function of IT is to facilitate the needs of the business. I think some problems may arise when an over zealous Sys Admin configures policies as he/she sees fit.

Bad management in that case. A network admin should never have free reign to do what he/she wants. All we can do is make recommendations based on what is presented to us. Im working in IT nearly six years now and have seen far more poor management than poor network admins.
Its also important that an IT Dept has a voice at managerial level, so the appointment of a good IT Director, is as important as a good Network admin.

irishpartyboy

bobmeaney wrote: »

.
Its also important that an IT Dept has a voice at managerial level, so the appointment of a good IT Director, is as important as a good Network admin.

Agreed.

the_syco

Supporting general public(Gateway), general public = dumb, so they hate the tech support. Mainly cos they ring us when they fúck up, and expect you to fix their problems.

"Internal" support(HP), you still get some bunny-boilers, but you're more often seen as the person who can unlock their computer, fix their coffee cup holder, or give you that software you need, so they like you.

feylya wrote: »

Being weird comes with the territory though.

Agreed

hunnymonster wrote: »

Surely the whole point of IT is to facilitate easier/faster/more efficient/more reliable.... work by those doing the core functions of the business?

I can see what you mean, but "easier/faster/more efficient/more reliable" usually means less secure, and thus goes against "good business practise".

=-=

In tech support for 18 months now, give or take. 14 months in Gateway, and in HP since then. Big difference in how customers treat me.