Are all companies the same as this when working in IT??

Incoming RANT -

I have to admit that for my age I have a pretty good job, and that I still have a world of possibilities that I can pursue. I work on the East Coast as a Junior Network Engineer and am currently CCNA and JNCIA certified. I have worked here for a little over a year now and I have to say I am becoming miserable with my job and the company as each day passes.

Despite the title I was given, I am by far not doing engineering work. Simply put, I support Sr. Engineers when they need cabling or connections traced, and assist in completing service requests related to the network for other groups, which is mainly cable installs but I can sometimes get lucky and be allowed to configure a port.

The company I work at is privately owned, and is extremely political. Rather than working through a problem and developing solutions, fingers get pointed and everyone plays the blame game. Certain groups are allowed to slack off, while others have their head against the cutting board. Certain groups have more resources, better support, and better coverage through management, while others are left to hang with nothing.

It's become evident that its not what you know, but who you know and how well you kiss ass that gets you through. The bigger b**ch you are, the better you are treated. And shame on you if you try to take initiative without clearing it through the department VP...

Rather than training and promoting from within, they hire above senior level employees with salaries over $100K and yet cant afford to give current employees their reviews or 2% raises per year.

And as far as network changes or support goes...all of our requests go to a QA department who have no concept of IT or networking or anything technical. To them, the longer more detailed the request is, the better.

Oh well...this could go on forever just for me to ask a simple question:

Is this how the IT field really is, or is it just my company? I had a plan to obtain my CCNP and JNCIS, and obtain my B.S. in Computer Science and eventually get into Information Security. This is completely discouraging, to the point where I dont want to get outta bed in the morning.

Someone please tell me there is a bright side...

Well, a lot of companies are like that. At least over here they are. It doesn't seem to matter how big they are (unless the are giant multinationals) or if they are private or publicly owned.

It is usually a culture thing amongst senior management that works its way down.

You really have to watch job titles as they are rarely consistent or accurate. Sometimes the rate of pay is a better indicator, as companies use fancy titles to attract staff:(

If I were you I would start looking, and don't be afraid to ask exactly what the job entails at interviews.


:)

hiya toxic.influx,

feels good to get it off ur chest...hmm?

I thought those things only existed in third world countries like ours! I have been living in an enviroment even worse than yours. Everything you said and then some more.

I used to get messed up in the head before, but now i've learnt to give 'em back their own medicine. I see a lot of peeps in my office not working and still ending up with good performance grades in their annual appraisals just because they were close to their bosses.

Traditionally, the first 1-2 years of your career would be a bit tough and don't expect that peeps would be embrace ya with open arms.

Just stick on and keep off distractors (who see your potential and try to discourage you to leave or some, who are just plain jealous)

At the same time, be polite and learn to say a firm no. Also identify atleast one senior guy who would support you. Take him out to lunch or whatever. It's all about lobbying well. Do maintain artifical but good relations since team members would also be asked feedback about you during your appraisals.

Oh yes, do try to get into a bigger company. Something which has good hr policies and processes.

i think..enough of my rantings..:D

Thanks for the replies. I try hard not to let the BS get in the way, but it makes me not want to function sometimes.

Oh well. I will keep pushing forward advancing myself and try to build my future since it's in my hands. One of my buddies wants to begin a business with me, doing management and monitoring, and eventually getting into engineering and security consulting and availability services. So I will be pursuing that with him on the side and see where things go.

Be well.