8 ms·

You just described my job to a T. I'm a systems analyst at a university. This was a big, demanding job when I first started. But after being here for 2 years,

You just described my job to a T. I'm a systems analyst at a university. This was a big, demanding job when I first started. But after being here for 2 years, I've automated a lot of the complicated stuff. So now most routine tasks that took the other guy a week takes me about 15 minutes. To be fair though, the other guy was *really bad*. Like, couldn't even open IIS manager and restart a single website, bad. The pay is not fantastic / FAANG, but it does offer a decent salary in a mid/low cost of living area. Combined with my wife's salary we make more than enough. Also I get a free master's degree out of it. So that's awesome.

RationPhantoms 6y ago
Some University positions can be notoriously cushy. I know a few networking folks who have been in their position at the University for a solid 25 years. Kind of unheard of in the enterprise-sector for the same position.
- SamuelAdams 6y ago
  Yep, we recently had to give several IT staff very "motivated" retirement packages because they've been on payroll for 30 + years. One guy was here for 42 years. Literally his entire career.
- vharuck 6y ago
  Government positions are even cushier. Things move slowly, they value consistency, and the hiring process is such a pain that you won't be fired for anything short of malicious or criminal behavior. And if you automate a government task, there's a good chance you won't need to update it for at least a decade.
  - mywittyname 6y ago
    The pay is usually very noncompetitive. But the OP is okay with that. The local universities around me have some dev/it positions posted on various job sites, and they are all offering bottom 30% or so in pay, like $45-60k/yr
    - sevensor 6y ago
      It's interesting to look at this in the context of ballooning tuition costs. Could it be that part of the problem is that university staff positions attract a high proportion of unmotivated time-servers? How is this possible at the same time that instructional staff are being squeezed so hard?
      - ahi 6y ago
        The problem is the exact opposite. The unmotivated time servers fill unnecessary positions created by the ambitious climbers. Doing a better job would likely make the problem worse as the bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.
      - kevinventullo 6y ago
        How is this possible at the same time that instructional staff are being squeezed so hard? If I had to guess, supply and demand. There is a massive surplus of PhD’s looking for any job whatsoever in academia. Meanwhile, the demand for university IT jobs is probably low given that many other jobs in tech will pay more.
      - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
        Some tuition reimbursement is often baked into the salary.
    - gyc 6y ago
      >The pay is usually very noncompetitive. But the benefits are usually top notch (e.g. healthcare). If the position comes with a generous defined-benefits government pension, it can actually end up being more lucrative than working in the private sector.
      - bartvk 6y ago
        > generous defined-benefits government pension You have to make sure that this pension actually pans out. I've worked at a semi-government job for 10 years. However only 1 of the ten years, they indexed their current payouts with inflation. I'm a freelancer now, and I've been counting on that pension. But if this continues, that government pension will be worth a whole lot less. I'll probably have to work longer.
jcims 6y ago
I ran a small infosec shop for ~15 years and worked in many industries along the way. An IT job at a university was the first thing that came to mind. Not necessarily because the job is easy, because that's not always the case, but because the environments that I've been involved with at least are really chill and you stay in touch with young folks.
koheripbal 6y ago
I think the take-away here, which I've also experienced, is to get an IT job in an industry that does not appreciate IT - find a position that seems to involve a TON of manual work - automate all of it - and DO NOT TELL anyone that you have automated those activities. If you are working from home, you could conceivably do this for multiple jobs (in theory, ethical considerations aside).
- devtul 6y ago
  I know a UX/UI guy that worked for two big canadian banks at the same time. He was moving to Bank B, and did it for three months, just enough to lock in his annual bonus on Bank A. Oh, and he was praised in Bank A for his work in this period.
  - koheripbal 6y ago
    Stories like this is what will get to management and have them force everyone back in to the office.
    - cocire 6y ago
      I don't get this reaction by management- if the work is getting done, who cares?!
      - nataz 6y ago
        Because $/resources are fungible, and your task isn't the only thing in the organization that needs resources. Assuming you are on salary, if you can legitimately do something in half the time, great, you should then move on to doing something else that contributes to the company. If you are on salary you are paid for your time and talent, not by the task. The right thing for management to do would be to reward you for being efficient (doesn't just have to be simple monetary, people are motivated by all kinds of things), and then reallocate those resources that we saved to some other need. This of course changes if you are on some kind of contract work.
notesinthefield 6y ago
Ill echo this, (am also a SA at a mid-size US university) I am completely content with how slow my job moves. We have real, actual deadlines a few times a year. The bare minimum earns you praise, I think Ive done a month's worth of work since last march which has been wonderful for my physical health. Nearly every 4-year offers unconditional tuition remission. You will be underpaid. Id stay in this position forever if I didnt happen to dislike the location as much as I do.
- stopyellingatme 6y ago
  Geez this sounds exactly like my job. Senior SE at a large southern university. Nice and slow, but underpaid.
creamynebula 6y ago
How can I find a similar job?
sf_rob 6y ago
My buddy worked IT infrastructure at a major public university and would work 3 days a week but spread out his deployments for the write-ups that were used to evaluate his performance. The pay wasn't great so he left, but it was a great gig for a while.
908B64B197 6y ago
Next step is to get some undergrads to do the work for you... [0] [0] https://cat.pdx.edu/ https://cat.pdx.edu/

RationPhantoms 6y ago

Some University positions can be notoriously cushy. I know a few networking folks who have been in their position at the University for a solid 25 years. Kind of unheard of in the enterprise-sector for the same position.

SamuelAdams 6y ago
Yep, we recently had to give several IT staff very "motivated" retirement packages because they've been on payroll for 30 + years. One guy was here for 42 years. Literally his entire career.
vharuck 6y ago
Government positions are even cushier. Things move slowly, they value consistency, and the hiring process is such a pain that you won't be fired for anything short of malicious or criminal behavior. And if you automate a government task, there's a good chance you won't need to update it for at least a decade.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  The pay is usually very noncompetitive. But the OP is okay with that. The local universities around me have some dev/it positions posted on various job sites, and they are all offering bottom 30% or so in pay, like $45-60k/yr
  - sevensor 6y ago
    It's interesting to look at this in the context of ballooning tuition costs. Could it be that part of the problem is that university staff positions attract a high proportion of unmotivated time-servers? How is this possible at the same time that instructional staff are being squeezed so hard?
    - ahi 6y ago
      The problem is the exact opposite. The unmotivated time servers fill unnecessary positions created by the ambitious climbers. Doing a better job would likely make the problem worse as the bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.
    - kevinventullo 6y ago
      How is this possible at the same time that instructional staff are being squeezed so hard? If I had to guess, supply and demand. There is a massive surplus of PhD’s looking for any job whatsoever in academia. Meanwhile, the demand for university IT jobs is probably low given that many other jobs in tech will pay more.
    - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
      Some tuition reimbursement is often baked into the salary.
  - gyc 6y ago
    >The pay is usually very noncompetitive. But the benefits are usually top notch (e.g. healthcare). If the position comes with a generous defined-benefits government pension, it can actually end up being more lucrative than working in the private sector.
    - bartvk 6y ago
      > generous defined-benefits government pension You have to make sure that this pension actually pans out. I've worked at a semi-government job for 10 years. However only 1 of the ten years, they indexed their current payouts with inflation. I'm a freelancer now, and I've been counting on that pension. But if this continues, that government pension will be worth a whole lot less. I'll probably have to work longer.

jcims 6y ago

I ran a small infosec shop for ~15 years and worked in many industries along the way. An IT job at a university was the first thing that came to mind. Not necessarily because the job is easy, because that's not always the case, but because the environments that I've been involved with at least are really chill and you stay in touch with young folks.

koheripbal 6y ago

I think the take-away here, which I've also experienced, is to get an IT job in an industry that does not appreciate IT - find a position that seems to involve a TON of manual work - automate all of it - and DO NOT TELL anyone that you have automated those activities. If you are working from home, you could conceivably do this for multiple jobs (in theory, ethical considerations aside).

devtul 6y ago
I know a UX/UI guy that worked for two big canadian banks at the same time. He was moving to Bank B, and did it for three months, just enough to lock in his annual bonus on Bank A. Oh, and he was praised in Bank A for his work in this period.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  Stories like this is what will get to management and have them force everyone back in to the office.
  - cocire 6y ago
    I don't get this reaction by management- if the work is getting done, who cares?!
    - nataz 6y ago
      Because $/resources are fungible, and your task isn't the only thing in the organization that needs resources. Assuming you are on salary, if you can legitimately do something in half the time, great, you should then move on to doing something else that contributes to the company. If you are on salary you are paid for your time and talent, not by the task. The right thing for management to do would be to reward you for being efficient (doesn't just have to be simple monetary, people are motivated by all kinds of things), and then reallocate those resources that we saved to some other need. This of course changes if you are on some kind of contract work.

notesinthefield 6y ago

Ill echo this, (am also a SA at a mid-size US university) I am completely content with how slow my job moves. We have real, actual deadlines a few times a year. The bare minimum earns you praise, I think Ive done a month's worth of work since last march which has been wonderful for my physical health. Nearly every 4-year offers unconditional tuition remission. You will be underpaid. Id stay in this position forever if I didnt happen to dislike the location as much as I do.

stopyellingatme 6y ago
Geez this sounds exactly like my job. Senior SE at a large southern university. Nice and slow, but underpaid.

creamynebula 6y ago

How can I find a similar job?

sf_rob 6y ago

My buddy worked IT infrastructure at a major public university and would work 3 days a week but spread out his deployments for the write-ups that were used to evaluate his performance. The pay wasn't great so he left, but it was a great gig for a while.

908B64B197 6y ago

Next step is to get some undergrads to do the work for you... [0] [0] https://cat.pdx.edu/ https://cat.pdx.edu/