heres one for the IT guys on here...
Some one slashdoted a story that had their own idea of the worst points of IT a while ago.
With my current health scare (I'm waiting to find out if I have a tumor in my head) it's made me think, is it really worth it?
Do I really wanna spend the rest of my life watching a windows bar load? or staring at code?

Well heres my take on the top 10 thing thats screwed about IT, what are your thoughts?

10. you never have a name, your just "the IT Guy"

9. your under appreciated, you spend years learning the ins and outs of a computer system, your good at your job, and you do all of your work as fast as you can... and a client still hates paying $50 for rolling back a driver. shit if a plumber was to charge that much for changing a washer on a tap it'd be a bargain!

8. Every one expects you to help for free. the second your job comes up in conversation with new friends or in a group of people, the first thing they ask is "oh maybe you can help me?", and never expect to pay for the "favor".

7. over saturated market. good luck finding a job without at least 3-4 years of tafe or even longer at uni. and even then there'll be 50 people applying for the same job.

6. sitting threw useless tafe courses to get to the valuable classes. you have to complete cert 1,2&3 before you actually start learning things you don't already know.

5. the disgruntled clients. how many times have you fixed something, and 2 days later the client has done exactly what you told them not to, then they blame YOU and expect you to come fix it again for free.

4. job security. non existent unless you get into government, or have a uni degree, and even then theres always the chance that you'll be "out dated" and be replaced.

3. bad life style habits. when was the last time you exercised? how many people in IT are over weight or have poor diets?

2. no feeling of pride in your work. say you work on a big project for 2 years (a website, or a program, or a game...etc) by the end you have something that probably fits onto a thumb drive and will be outdated in a few years and forgotten about. work in say carpentry or masonry for 2 years and you could build a hospital, or a shopping center, or a church... all of which will still be standing for decades if not CENTURIES!

1. Stress and health issues. for those of us lucky enough to find a job in IT somewhere that is stable with good pay can look forward to things like, high blood pressure, ulcers, heart problems, the list could go on and on...

I know I sound like I'm exaggerating every point I've made... but let me ask you this.

will you look back on your life and be able to say "I made a difference? I feel proud to have worked for 25 or more years behind a keyboard?"

I asked myself that question recently, and all I came up with is... "I'm wasting my life..."

*goes off to write poetry about pain in a dark corner while crying... in a non conformist way of course*

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Dude... which any job I would feel like I'm wasting my life.

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no way, anyone can make a difference in any field to better their fellow man, but IT just isn't one of them unless your a scientist or engineer.

I actually think its the laborers that have made the biggest impact in history.

ever seen worst jobs in history?

some things that everyday people did that changed the coarse of history were, rail workers that connected countries and crossed thousands of miles making 3mth trips able to be done in less then a week.

carpenters and stone masons got us out of caves and huts made of shit, and into warm homes.

electricians/lines mans that connected our countries with things like telegraph, then phone and now internet(not saying that he net is a good or bad thing, but we wouldn't have it without a lot of hard work being done by allot of relatively unskilled people.

an of coarse miners and loggers that raped our land and forests to provide the things we take for granted like power, and houses (take THAT nature!)

I'm just saying I feel like IT is a dead end for me, and I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life.

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I guess the lack of interest in this thread proves my point.

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Do something else. IT'S not the end of the world

I'm kinda trapped is all...
I can either stay in an industry I hate being miserable (but I'm one of the lucky ones I am fairly well setup from saving and investments), or I can drop everything and go do an apprenticeship/traineeship and have fucked wages for 4years and at the end I may (or may not) be happy and have steady employment.

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Yeah dude, I feel the exact same way. All I seem to do nowadays is fix fucking computers.

Now when friends ask me to fix their PC I just simply tell me no.

I dont completely agree with #3 though. I'm underweight <.< Yep, my health is shit.

And it sucks if you work too fast. they dont think you did much work, and if you take too long they think your a complete amateur.

But the worst part is the classes. Gawd, I am fucking teaching the teachers! I felt bad for the them.

Man, hope you find something you like man. Good luck.

Hmmm interesting, i'm getting my degree in cs but after i graduate i'll probably just be a bum and grow weed. I think what I really wanna do is flip houses, you know ... have you seen those shows on tlc or a&e? It looks fun and not so hard, usually the people doing em are boneheads though and don't gain much money. And if that falls through I'll always have my degree, but i guess being outdated may cause problems if I wait too long. I can even write code for a website design company and make some extra money on the side while I'm flippin' my houses!

The job security gets me, I am self employed and the new trend is to outsource to India. Why would we pay you when we can get some Indians to do it for 5.00 an hour...silly. I wish something would change cause a new career could be in the workings....sooner rather than later. I can't compete with India.

Been there done that...Still doing it...lol