Hello, I have decided to become an IT
Professional.

My financial Aid counselor ask me to interview 3 IT Professionals...I don't know any IT Professionals. Please Help me with these 3 Questions. You are also welcome to contribute a short paragraph of any other information about yourself, career, job satisfaction that relates to your daily life as an IT Professional.

1. How did you become an IT Pro?

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?

3. Do you love what you do?

1. I couldn't run fast enough so they caught me.

2. They said it was that or they'd put me in sales.

3. Down, not across. Err (owwww! ok, ok) Yes. It is wonderful. Management and all the others are wonderful, the hours are great, the compensation is embarassingly generous. Also, people are not stupid about IT, ever. Most days, I skip and sing on my way to work.

1. How did you become an IT Pro?

Networking. I knew a guy who knew a guy who got me a chance to interview for a job.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?

I enjoyed being an IT amateur.

3. Do you love what you do?

Yes.

Also, people are not stupid about IT, ever.

Spoken like someone who hasn't been in the field for very long. ;)

1. How did you become an IT Pro?

Answered an ad in the newspaper that offered a training position.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?

I had graduated from college, and there weren't many Math-related jobs out there for a guy with only a Bachelor's in Math...everyone wanted Masters or PhD. And, I was tired of slicing vegetables at the local sandwich shop.

3. Do you love what you do?

Yes. And no. Both, at different times, I guess.

My experience has been that the satisfaction of being an IT Professional is really dependent on what you specialize in. A guy who does desktop or help-desk support may get his satisfaction from dealing with people (or being able to feel knowledgable and superior!). A programmer may get his satisfaction from writing a really clever algorithm or solving a nasty bug. A management type might get a kick out of seeing high up-time statistics. The guy pulling network cable or racking servers might get satisfaction from surveying a well-ordered and neat data center. The network administrator or DBA might get satisfaction from seeing high throughput or traffic numbers. An analyst type might get satisfaction from producing an elegant process design. And so on, and so on.

Bottom line is that you should understand (at least at a high level) what the different facets of IT are, then gravitate toward the one that suits you. Hopefully, that one will also be the one you're good at. :D Good luck!

1. How did you become an IT Pro?

School, jobs, lots and lots of DIY projects, countless hours on daniweb and other forums, patience, and a hate for IE6 and perl.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?

I suck at everything else

3. Do you love what you do?

Absolutely. It's fun trying to figure out new solutions to problems everyday.

1. How did you become an IT Pro?
Was curious on how to tweak old DOS games. And so on as time went I started also few my own games and apps for fun.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?
They cauth me, when I finished school. But not really I was bored during school so I found me a job by Accenture.

3. Do you love what you do?
Yes I do. I don't have to be very social by my work. Also the work is like a puzzle. Every day there is a new think to learn fix.

1. How did you become an IT Pro?
I sent out tons of resumes and eventually got called for a junior linux admin job at a hosting company.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?
I don't know how to do much else and I detest manual labor.

3. Do you love what you do?
Not really. I loved when I was in networking but then some life decisions landed me in IPAM/DHCP/DNS track and it's not very exciting for me. Looking forward to getting back into networking. Enjoy programming too from the class assignments I've had but really only see that as a side hobby, not something I want to do as a career.

1. How did you become an IT Pro?

Was looking for a job. Got an opportunity to join a server administration company.

2. Why did you become an IT Pro?

Once i get in i understood it is one of the best stream. If you have a computer/laptop and an Internet connection then you can work anywhere. So i decided to continue with it. So i became a IT Pro.

3. Do you love what you do?

Obviously. Web Hosting is one of the coolest and best online business and job stream, so as server administration. You can meet new guys every day from different parts of world, can learn etc etc. :)

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