We're geeks. That carries a lot of freight, but let's start with a few things I've noticed:
1) geeks tend to like to concentrate on problem solving, and work through problems to their own satisfaction, though not necessarily to completion. 2) geeks tend to devalue personal interaction on the job - they're more about getting the work done, rather than the office politics - this is related to the above, but not the same. 3) geeks tend to be more honest than most - a controversial point, I know, but I believe it to be true. This means they don't like to let others down, and will work to get things going longer than others. 4) geeks like to be seen as heroes - uber-competent, and able to save the day, when nobody else can. 5) geeks tend to underestimate how long any task will take, because the field of network/systems administration is still in its infancy, and metrics are very hard to come by - leave aside the fact that we're doing some of the most complex work in the work force. It's not that non-geeks don't have these traits, but that I've noticed a confluence of these traits in geeks, which seems to compel them to work the extra hours. I've oversimplified a lot of this, but it's a start... Kurt On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 11:05 AM, John Hornbuckle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was recently talking to a technician who works for a company we sometimes > hire for projects. He's salaried, but working just 40 hours in a week is > pretty rare for him. Looking at the poll in another thread and how many of > us are basically on call 24x7x365 for no additional compensation, I have to > ask… Why? Why, as a profession, do we allow ourselves to be treated this > way? > > > > Is it that the pay is just so good that it's worth it? I know a few folks on > this list have indicated that they get compensated pretty well, but my sense > is that most of us just earn average pay and aren't living the high life. > I'm not really sure why. We have skills that are in high demand, and take > years to develop. Why are we selling ourselves short? > > > > Personally, my pay is just so-so. For the area I live in (poor, rural, and > with a low cost of living) it's decent, and I do work in the public sector > rather than private—that's always going to hit you win the wallet. But I > generally get to make up the extra time with time off, a long lunch, maybe > going in late or going home early. Plus I get vacation and sick leave that's > pretty generous by American standards, and participation in the state > retirement system. So all in all, I can't complain much. > > > > But I know a lot of people who work in the private sector for pay that's > only so-so, and regularly work 60-hour weeks. > > > > Why? > > > > > > > > John Hornbuckle > > MIS Department > > Taylor County School District > > www.taylor.k12.fl.us > > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
