IT Occupation

[broc]

I retired 2 years ago, after 40+ years in IT. Spent 30+ years working for IBM supporting mainframes, doing everything from operating to programming, systems design & field technical support and latterly consultancy.

I spent too much time living out of a suitcase & travelling so took early retirement in 2002. That lasted 9 months before I became bored so I got a job managing a secondary school IT network with 800+ PCs & servers.

Working in industry was very different from working in a school, the kids kept me & my team on our toes, with attempted hacking, accessing dodgy websites, playing games etc.

Fortunately there are tools that manage their access so it was largely a game of cat & mouse but it made life interesting... until the Labour Govt, briefed by IT industry 'experts' & seduced by PFI brought in "building schools for the future" which attempted to outsource school ICT to companies such as RM, Capita etc

BSF flushed most of the fun out of the job & I retired finally in 2013

 

[joxby]

Electrician / END

 

[kelack]

For me it's the complete opposite. Being techy all day, photography gives me a creative output. It's why you'll always see me supporting 'the image is the important thing' rather than the 'I need to upgrade because'...

That's exactly the reason I gave last week when asked why IT and photography!

I'm an IT Consultant, currently PM on a migration project

 

[steveb]

I used to work in TV repair, industrial electronics, defence electronics then for a large manufactures computer peripheral repair centre undertaking bulk repairs for ICL, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Radius, Archive Corp, Brother, NEC, Maxtor and more. First became Apple authorised in 1990, lapsed, then again around 15 years ago. My full time job is for a small but very busy Apple Authorised Service Provider involved with software support and hardware repairs. Looking to grow the photography work when I eventually retire from my current job and have a few pensions coming in to back me up.

 

[noneforit]

Current job title is Network and Voice Engineer.

10 years in IT.....started on a helpdesk doing 1st/2nd line support and then moved into Networks.

Work in a small team specialising in Networks, Firewalls and Voice.

My background in mainly Cisco stuff although I have worked with HP switches and a few other manufacturers.

Working towards my CCNP in R&S at the moment, hard finding the time to study between work and home life!

 

[JohnBradbury]

I've been in IT for 20 years, initially working in desktop support and quickly moving on to run my own business as an Infrastructure consultant. More recently I have taken up a permanent role moving back towards management, and I'm now the IT Operations Manager for a large UK public services company.

Still a techie at heart...

 

[Tobers]

I've got nearly 30 years in the tech world. Started as a programmer in PL/1, Fortran 77 and Cobol. Moved up the ladder and swapped industries to stay on the front of various tech waves (credit cards > smart cards > ecommerce > mcommerce > mobile ecosystems > smart phones). Now MD of the UK arm of a blockchain based digital identity company which is super exciting.

I do the photography thing as a creative outlet, to get out in the quiet landscape. I used to do a load of sport photography but that ended up as just too much time commitment and stress.

Occasionally do a bit of programming (java) when I need to.

 

[ianp5a]

Photography encompasses both tech and creativity. Even in the film anlogue era. I'm a designer, so I like that you can find just the right mix.

I work for a software company making 3D software for automotive designers in companies like BMW, Toyota, Honda etc. I write the software requirements, aiming to make designing curvy shapes in 3D easier and faster. I spend my time talking to customers or our programmers. I even do tiny bits of programming, but know very little about IT and system maintenance.

Ergonomics is of paramount importance, as designers should be focused on design, and not on memorising IT syntax. Vehicle body shell designers need it all to work comfortably via the best GUI available. You can't hack it in text. The attributes needed to be a good designer do not necessarily overlap with the geeky side.

Sadly a lot of the software available for designers, including operating systems and data management, has disastrous ergonomics or is focussed on the wrong user discipline. So it all has a very long way to go before it's acceptable for design. This keeps me busy.

 

[Flossyrockstar]

So i wouldn't call myself strictly IT but i work in the electronic security industry that involves IP CCTV, Access Control, Networking and IT Infrastructure for that type of schizzle!!

 

[noneforit]

So i wouldn't call myself strictly IT but i work in the electronic security industry that involves IP CCTV, Access Control, Networking and IT Infrastructure for that type of schizzle!!

The company I used to work for did that sort of thing on Super Yachts. Great area to get into if you can, plenty of money to be made.

I did the Networking for it all and we had another guy who did the CCTV and access control etc. Our technical director developed door access control systems for the yachts which was kinda cool to see working. All IP based.