"So you used to work in the tech field?"
Oct. 6th, 2004 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorIf you've ever wondered why ex-techies snarl when they hear that here is a little story/diatribe for you.
The other day at work I got the standard line of questioning. I knew it was coming when one of the new guys said, "so you used to work in the tech field?" That's the way it always begins. Then it takes one of two directions: amazement and wonder or how can I. The amazement and wonder I find charming and nice. I'm often amazed by the variety of experience of my coworkers and usually it's fun sharing histories.
I knew from the start though that this would be going the other direction so I wasn't at all surprised when his next words were, "I'm trying to get into the technology field and was wondering what I could put in my resume to make it look better." This is the way it often goes. I've been through this conversation maybe a hundred times. They don't want to hear how you really got there. They don't want to hear how much work it really was. They want a magic pill that will give them a cushy job with lots of pay where they don't have to do anything or know anything.
I find that so utterly insulting I can't express it.
There were very smart people who worked very hard for little or no reward. They built things. They learned things. For the most part no one was there to show them the way. Part of the experience was making it up as you went along. You tried to patch things together with inadequate equipment, no budget, and ultrashort deadlines. You tried to figure out which part-time minimum wage employees might drink the kool-aid. Every now and then you were lucky enough to find one who didn't leave, become disillusioned with the hours and lack of pay, or turn out to have a the memory like a sieve and mental acuity of a potato. Yes, there were lots of funny things that happened. There were lots of things to learn. There were occasionally really cool things to do. But I have never worked so hard in my life and I doubt I ever will again.
The only people who didn't have to work hard were the ones who came in at the end after the venture capital infected the place. I used to call them carpetbaggers. They would come in attracted by the smell of money and disorganization, take up space, and suck up salary. If at all possible they'd bring everyone they knew in with them. They'd all leach off the company until the corpse was dry and then move on to the next company. When the day came for payouts and rewards most of us who'd been there all along got kicked to the curb hard.
"I spent the next two years or more just staring at the wall." The Pogues "Drunken Boat"
You want the same experience on the quick and cheap. Take about 40 Tylenol. If you live, you'll shorten your lifespan considerably, and you'll have another story to tell. But I was too polite to say that to my inquisitor. Instead I explained to him that I made my opportunity through many years of incremental experience and the industry that I learned the most in isn't the same industry anymore.
Would I do it again knowing what I know? Honestly, I don't know. My logical mind says I would have been much better off it I hadn't. But sometimes I pay no attention to my logical mind. I know what it has to say and I simply ignore it. Hard to say what I'd do. Who needs life, when you've got an honest tech habit.
Oh, today I was supposed to train my mundane inquisitor on a different job. I think he was hoping it would be easier than the one he had been doing, which I think is one of the easiest we have. This morning he showed up and I started showing him what the new job involved. After about 30 minutes he said he had to go get some tissues. Colds have been going around so I wasn't surprised. I wasn't even really that surprised when he didn't come back. On his way out the door he told someone he had a family emergency. That may be true, but why bother to come in at all if that's the case and why not tell the person you're working with when you leave.
The other day at work I got the standard line of questioning. I knew it was coming when one of the new guys said, "so you used to work in the tech field?" That's the way it always begins. Then it takes one of two directions: amazement and wonder or how can I. The amazement and wonder I find charming and nice. I'm often amazed by the variety of experience of my coworkers and usually it's fun sharing histories.
I knew from the start though that this would be going the other direction so I wasn't at all surprised when his next words were, "I'm trying to get into the technology field and was wondering what I could put in my resume to make it look better." This is the way it often goes. I've been through this conversation maybe a hundred times. They don't want to hear how you really got there. They don't want to hear how much work it really was. They want a magic pill that will give them a cushy job with lots of pay where they don't have to do anything or know anything.
I find that so utterly insulting I can't express it.
There were very smart people who worked very hard for little or no reward. They built things. They learned things. For the most part no one was there to show them the way. Part of the experience was making it up as you went along. You tried to patch things together with inadequate equipment, no budget, and ultrashort deadlines. You tried to figure out which part-time minimum wage employees might drink the kool-aid. Every now and then you were lucky enough to find one who didn't leave, become disillusioned with the hours and lack of pay, or turn out to have a the memory like a sieve and mental acuity of a potato. Yes, there were lots of funny things that happened. There were lots of things to learn. There were occasionally really cool things to do. But I have never worked so hard in my life and I doubt I ever will again.
The only people who didn't have to work hard were the ones who came in at the end after the venture capital infected the place. I used to call them carpetbaggers. They would come in attracted by the smell of money and disorganization, take up space, and suck up salary. If at all possible they'd bring everyone they knew in with them. They'd all leach off the company until the corpse was dry and then move on to the next company. When the day came for payouts and rewards most of us who'd been there all along got kicked to the curb hard.
"I spent the next two years or more just staring at the wall." The Pogues "Drunken Boat"
You want the same experience on the quick and cheap. Take about 40 Tylenol. If you live, you'll shorten your lifespan considerably, and you'll have another story to tell. But I was too polite to say that to my inquisitor. Instead I explained to him that I made my opportunity through many years of incremental experience and the industry that I learned the most in isn't the same industry anymore.
Would I do it again knowing what I know? Honestly, I don't know. My logical mind says I would have been much better off it I hadn't. But sometimes I pay no attention to my logical mind. I know what it has to say and I simply ignore it. Hard to say what I'd do. Who needs life, when you've got an honest tech habit.
Oh, today I was supposed to train my mundane inquisitor on a different job. I think he was hoping it would be easier than the one he had been doing, which I think is one of the easiest we have. This morning he showed up and I started showing him what the new job involved. After about 30 minutes he said he had to go get some tissues. Colds have been going around so I wasn't surprised. I wasn't even really that surprised when he didn't come back. On his way out the door he told someone he had a family emergency. That may be true, but why bother to come in at all if that's the case and why not tell the person you're working with when you leave.
