IT Support - are we underselling ourselves?

[Ephelyon]

There has never been sufficient visibility into our roles to allow executives and higher-up HR types (or in a state school setting, the Local Authority) to gain a decent insight into exactly what it is we do, what we know, and what we're responsible for.

 

As long as we continue to be seen as merely putting into place other people's plans (which is only half the picture); as long as we are seen as merely supporting rather than actually doing; and as long as there is insufficient perception of our duties and responsibilities (such as having access to everything, which I class as a workplace hazard as it dramatically reduces your plausible deniability in law); then none of that will change. And as @witch says, yes, a lot of us go in younger and through the self-taught route so we accept lower-paid jobs and then stay in them for a variety of reasons.

 

But work is underway... @TrevorGreenfield is still working to set up an Association as referenced on page 2 of this thread. @GrumbleDook and I have attempted contact with the BCS (one interested response from their Director of Membership so far) and I'm interested in working with organisations like QA and the FITS Foundation to create a career entry and progression framework. Other things we can do in state schools include applying for a review of our job spec - I've done that and gone up a grade, plus it allows you an ample opportunity to sit down with SLT and really go through everything you do. I have oodles of resources on how to go about that if anyone is interested.

[pcstru]

There has never been sufficient visibility into our roles to allow executives and higher-up HR types (or in a state school setting, the Local Authority) to gain a decent insight into exactly what it is we do, what we know, and what we're responsible for.

 

Why should they want to? HR types are interested in the market. They can look at job adverts and from that, they can get a reasonable idea of the going rate. And when they put adverts out at that rate, they WILL get applicants, some of whom are likely to be suitable. Other senior managers will be interested in outcomes - not the detailed X,Y and Z required to deliver those outcomes. If they do have to worry about the detail, then they have bought a dog but are still having to do the barking. Some may not mind that, but the good ones will!

 

IMO most underpaid schools technicians aren't doing themselves many favours. A school is a fantastic environment for acquiring a broad operational skill set with depth in areas of pretty much your own choosing. The real value of that to the technicians is it's marketability. But to capitalise on that you have to work in a school for a few years and then MOVE ON. In fact, in most jobs if you want to move up the pay scale the way to do it is to MOVE JOBS every few (2-3) years. That's not what I see happening in Schools where IT support staff stick around forever. Maybe, despite complaints about low pay, pay just isn't the most important factor for them.

[Ephelyon]

I'd say it's more apathy than anything else. To be honest what I'd like to see more of is sector-wide reforms to make staying in school IT and becoming this concept of the "educational technologist" much more attractive to people in our position. That way, we get better employment opportunities here and the schools get to benefit from very experienced technical staff who have broad skillsets when they enter a new role (as opposed to just when they leave it) and who may also have picked up a passion for education, i.e. the uses of the technology in this sector and not just the technlogy itself. Everybody wins then, but I'm afraid it'll cost more than they're offering at the moment.

[pcstru]

If it will cost more, then surely not everybody can be said to win? Schools would lose as they are forced to pay more and young under qualified folks would lose as the entry bar is raised beyond their qualifications.

 

And wouldn't it just be pandering to apathy?

[Ephelyon]

As I've said in other threads, the school would be reinvesting the money back into T&L in a different way. A more sustainable way, as opposed to the shinies they could otherwise have spent it on. At the moment schools are not winning with their IT anyway a lot of the time, because they don't train their staff up to do the tasks they want from them. So this is about making that situation better and moving some money around (not pulling it out of thin air) so that they're spending the amounts on staffing that they should have been spending anyway from Day 1.

 

Also, no, the point of the framework is that it covers suitable career entry points all the way up to Strategic ICT Management posts at SLT-level.

[ConradJones]

. When 3 of 4 engines are on fire, you want an experienced pilot at the helm. When your PDC explodes, you want an experienced IT techie putting things back together.

 

a really experienced engineer would have correctly maintained his equipment so as not have the problem to start with.

[Ephelyon]

Assuming SLT gave him the resources to do so. Often this is not the case and the inevitable problems will arise. It's the old myth that "a poor workman blames his tools", which considering the way our profession is typically managed - in all sectors - is a nonsense. A practical analogy would be that there are some screws you're only going to remove if you've got (read: been given) the correct screwdriver. Otherwise it's not happening, all other factors aside. Don't judge that workman.

[ConradJones]

Assuming SLT gave him the resources to do so. Often this is not the case and the inevitable problems will arise. It's the old myth that "a poor workman blames his tools", which considering the way our profession is typically managed - in all sectors - is a nonsense. A practical analogy would be that there are some screws you're only going to remove if you've got (read: been given) the correct screwdriver. Otherwise it's not happening, all other factors aside. Don't judge that workman.

 

I totally agree way more than you would ever know, I wasn't being serious if you were replying to my post.

[Ephelyon]

I see, my apologies. I've been dealing with a little bit of that today as it happens, so I think I over-reacted. All in the same boat and whatnot.

[ConradJones]

I see, my apologies. I've been dealing with a little bit of that today as it happens, so I think I over-reacted. All in the same boat and whatnot.

 

i didn't think you over-reacted at all mate, don't worry! was just agreeing with you that's all, my first comment was my light relief from the nonsense i'm currently having to deal with.

[Ephelyon]

True, it's difficult when we see expectations of that nature being laid upon us.

 

Until/unless we manage to change the fact that Leadership Teams are going to be composed primarily of people with a background in a single profession, we're going to have to accept the fact that they will mainly view individual professionals' results in terms of educational outcomes (that's what Performance Management means in their own profession, after all). The key is to find ways of drawing our activities back to exactly that, which sometimes means going round the houses to do so.

[Sheridan]

Whats the phrase I found on this site some time ago?

 

If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all

 

That sums our jobs up quite nicely!

[SimpleSi]

I used to but no longer do.

 

I was one of the oldies who "changed down" in life and took a tech job paying peanuts just to stop my wife from saying |when are you going to get a job again"

 

But I've risen up the scales (said bye to a few schools - said hello to a few schools) and now I'm actually sought after (10 years in the job mind) and get paid Net Manager/HLTA pay.

 

Youngsters have come along and took the jobs as part-time techys and are now Net Managers or living the high life down in London with Domino, troibleshooting around the globe on 100K a year

 

So, as with everything, start at the bottom, work hard and move on up and if they won't move up up, move out and go somewhere else

 

Si