Come on, we all know the downsides, low wages for some, poor management, low budgets, rude staff etc, but what about the positive points?
An entire network which is yours!
The chance to gain experience far beyond that of a corporate helpdesk idiot.
A fair degree of autonomy.
What else can we add?
As soppy as it sounds, last week with the 6th form results, the smiles on their faces with their results. You can't beat it.
Especially one pupil who was really struggling and stayed behind most nights on the computers. He passed with a B.
Sorry, I know it sounds sad, but that's my no.1 highlight.
I like when the students are away from the school and it is nice and quite and you can get to play with new eqiupment
The best bits for me have to be the autonomy and having the opportunity to choose and manage the systems myself.
In a corporate environment you may only ever be exposed to a couple of systems (e.g. you're the Exchange guy or you're the SQL guy, etc.). It's good to be able to gain a broad knowledgebase - even if you do have to learn as you go along sometimes.
The BEST thing is no annual apprasials, where you have to prove that you exist, work hard, and make no mistakes, for them to "award" you a £ a week payrise!!!
welel dont get use to as I suspect soon most support staff will have to do annual apprasials.
As for me advantages are combo of above being to use lots fo different systems,
The look that kids get when they get exam results and seeing hard work payoff.
The feeling of making a difference..
russ
You're right. I could earn more in the private sector (and probably will have to soon), but it wouldn't be the same.
The best bit is being the one and only domain admin. I have total control over the domain, active directory and all that. That wouldn't happen in a big firm.
For me it's the chance to try new ideas, to talk with like minded people and share information ...
It is a real chance to optimistic about things ... a lot of blue sky thinking ... "wouldn't it be nice if ..."
I can happily say now that I rarely get stressed now and look forward to coming to work. (Then again ... tomorrow is going to be a fun day ... crunching numbers!)
@overworked
get the same feeling every so often with thinking going to have to move of commercial world but keep finding reasons to stay and at moment now got a payrise out of them after year and half more inclined to stay...
basicly if hadnt got payrise would have had to find a better paid job..
russ
@ Russ
I'm going to make my case for a pay rise when I get back in September. (I get school holidays - another reason to stay). If I don't get anything by Christmas, I'll have to go.
It's more a case of having to than wanting to. I just can't support a family on this for much longer.
As has been said, the autonomy and the benefits of a small department - where you get to control everything and decide and plan what happens, and what money gets spent where.
Having the opportunity to learn so many aspects of the industry, apart from that mega big stuff, that's invaluable if you want to move up into a more specialised post.
Speaking at meetings representing the department and making policy descisions.
Being in charge of a £60k budget one year.
I run an after school club and thats pretty rewarding. I like the vast majoity of the kids and you feel after a while some responsibility for them.
Teaching staff are easy going I find. The pressure hasn't been the same as 'normal' business, but like has been said, that'll change as schools take on IT more seriously - it's already happening. I personally missed the self evaluation of my previous job.
The way my days and years break into school hours - after school club hours post 3:30pm, and school holidays when the atmosphere is completely different and you can focus on bigger jobs.
Well for me its a combination of several reasons.
Working with idiots, muppets and fools always makes me smile and the teachers seem to fill all three categories.
Getting the genuine "Thank god you are here" and the appreciation when you save the day.
The ability to use verbal retorts while smiling that leave people looking confused.
I work part time for the school so a flexible approach to hours is great. Means I can look after my son who himeslf attends an other school.
No coporate pressure, no driving up and down the country all day, no staying away from home in dodgy B&B or hotels etc.
The smile on pupils faces.
The biggest plus side I have found though and was a suprise for me was to work some where that has every one working on the same side including teachers, techies, cleaners, catering staff etc with a common goal of the well being and education of pupils. For me that vastly outweighs all other niggles, even RM just.
Could waffle on for ages, love working in a school, hope not to have too change for a long time.
The best bits...
1. Not have to do on-call and nights... those 2am calls from the operators when the batch runs had failed were a killer! I struggled to remember my own name let alone where I'd put the error code books!
2. The kids interest and curiosity
3. Trying to install software with a couple of 2 year olds climbing on your lap for a cuddle... I love doing things in our pre-school
For me...
Regular income, 10 minute walk from home, gain lots of experience in wide array of IT-related things, playing with new technology and working in an excellent team. In no other job could I imagine myself turning my hand to PC repair, server maintenance, web development, wireless, training, documentation, cabling, graphic design/media work and desktop publishing.
IT in schools is fast-paced, exciting, challenging but also rewarding. Most of the timeI don't get stressed - it's just not worth it.
Pretty much as everyone as said above...
1) No Pressure, no targets, nobody breathing down your neck to perform. I used to work in sales and the content pressure of targets and selling insurance was more than I can bare.
2) Total Freedom. Lets face it who else in the school besides yourself actually knows what your job entails and what your supposed to be doing one moment from the next. So long as the toners are replaced the the computer boot, nobody'll blink an eyelid if you spent the day surfing the net and playing solitaire.
3) The range of equipment. In the corporate world, as far as I've seen, everything is standardised around one platform. It's the same PC, monitor, version of Windows and software on every desk. In a school I could have a classroom of full of the latest Vista Quad-cores in one room and Win'98 Pentium-III's in the next.
4) The Technology. It's a play ground. Over the past 18 months I've been lucky enough to play with VMWare ESX, Terminal Servers and SAN's.
Now I'm in charge of my own network and budget, wow! can life get any better!
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