A break between IT jobs 9

[tk808]

I really would like to take a break of a year or two to travel and work abroad for a while doing something not necessarily related to IT.

I'll have my MCSE by the time I leave. But I'm thinking I should work a while with the MCSE before I leave.


Any ideas, personal experiences, etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Stella001]

Do you have room to take an extra person with you, I would love to travel and work abroad.

 

[langleymass]

Actually you should get a certification that is actually worth something. I was an MCSE on NT 4.0.

 

[LadySlinger]

Just keep in mind that although you don't want a job in IT while you travel, but get a job that you can bring back and put on your resume that will help you get a MCSE related job.

My only advice is do the traveling now while you have your heart set on it. I've been saying that I'm going to move out of this state since I graduated college...and that was almost 4 years ago. Once I got a job, I just keep getting sidetracked. If you get a job now, you might not be able to go for a couple of years. Then when you get back, potential employers may ask why you left IT and want to come back. Just a thought though.

 

[jrbarnett]

Because IT is a very fast moving profession, when you choose to return to working in IT, you will need to do 2 years (or whatever) of catchup learning within your chosen field of work.

John

 

[Sympology]

Just think,
by the time you finsh, Exchange "12" will be out, Vista will be standard, 64 bit dual / quad core will be common place.
Internet 2 may be emerging, IPv6 will be more out there. Bluetooth2 ?

2 years is a long time in IT.

However, my fiancee has lived in Japan and Finland and seen 40% of the worlds countries and she wouldn't change it for anything.

Stu..

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[tk808]

Hi All,

Thanks for your valuable input. I agree that technology is changing quick. Yes, office 12, new databases for exchange, etc etc.

But would I want to be stuck in the transition stages or be where it's already in place and troubleshooting has already been done to the point where I could do a search on the MS KB site and find the exact solution or buy a book and study it for 2 months and take an exam to prove I know it. Or, just install a service pack and have it solve 90% of the bugs that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

When you guys started in IT, was the environment more like this?(testing/guess n check) or was it already in place and you only had to look forward to the next service pack?


Another question: What do you regret not doing since you started working?


Your posts are valuable to all of us trying to organize our thoughts!

 

[MasterRacker]

Technology has been very rapidly changing almost constantly for at least the last 20 years. If you leave for 2 years, you'll miss one or two transitions and simply come back into the midst of another one, most likely more foreign than the one(s) you missed.

Even working in IT, if you coast you'll have a hard time catching up. Things changing faster than you can learn it is a way of life.

_____
Jeff
_{[purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day}

^{"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me}

 

[Sympology]

What do I regret not doing since working?

Seeing friends and family more often.

It's only when things get at there worst, do you forget about possesions and only care about the things that really matter.

Stu..

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[srmega41]

Now I know right away that telecom is a part if IT that most peope may not even belive is IT, but thet shape of things in the last 10+ years has certainly changed, and is only moving faster. When I started, everything was TDM, and PC's were just starting to be put on the big guys desks in my company. Since that time, we have almost tripled in size, and everything that was standard then is obsolete now. One big part of this is VoIP and convergence within IT.

Again, when I started, voice and data people did not speak, let alone work in the same group. Now I manage the voice AND the data group, which is one in the same.

So what does all this have to do with your questions?

1) Things can and will change very fast (See Moores' Law)
2) We have no idea how fast they will change
3) We have no idea when they will change radically, not always for the better.

My $.02 would be that if you are getting out of the field for a while, KEEP UP TO DATE! This is not too hard to do. Make sure you know what is out there, so the transition back in will not be so foriegn. There will ALWAYS be "(testing/guess n check)", becasue if not, we not longer provide any value as analytical human beings. Anyone can just install a service pack, especially if there is no need to test and verify it works. If everything just worked, software vendors would make all the money (I guess they already do), but there would be no need for people in IT.

Again, just $.02 from some guy in telecom that loves what he does every day.

Scott M.

 

[LadySlinger]

To answer your questions,

Yes, it was the guess n' check when I started. Actually I officially started in IT a couple of months before Y2K. That was fun.
After 6+ years I'm still guess n' checking. Being a Systems Admin I cannot know all the software and why it does what it does. So I have to implement a variety of possible solutions. Whatever makes the user happy I keep that.

As for what I regret? Taking more time off for myself, my friends and my family. when I first started I was so focused on "being there" and learning everything that when it got to the end of the year, I'd still have 1 week left of vacation that I would have to give up. Now that I have 18 days I plan on using EVERY SINGLE ONE!! LOL

 

[audiopro]

Go travel - I.T. will still be around in some form however long you leave it. No I.T. professional knows everything so we all have to keep learning.
If you wait there will never be a right time and you will kick yourself later in life when commitments prevent any travelling at all.
Who knows, you may even discover a better life on your travels.

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[MasterRacker]

What do you mean "No I.T. professional knows everything"? Speak for yourself. The last time I was wrong was when I thought I had made a mistake... [LOL]

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[audiopro]

As my old boss used to say - "Nobody is Inflammable".
Let's all go off travelling, the chaos will mean rich pickings for everyone when we return.

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[dennisbbb]

Go and never look back.. oh and bring me with you please.. hahaha..

2 years is nothing of an effect. You'll catch up in 2 months. I believe 5 years is the freezing point.

 

[kHz]

Two years is nothing. I was away from AIX for over a year and recently got back on an AIX machine and it was like an old pair of tennis shoes. It just felt great and I was able to pick up were I left off without missing a beat. I had 10 years on AIX before, but you just don't forget. It's like riding a bicycle.

Two years away doesn't mean a thing.

 

[kHz]

And DB2 is on the recently discovered AIX machine, and I was able to hop back into DB2 (although it required a little thinking than AIX) even though I was away from it for 3 years.

 

[GlenJohnson]

Let's see. Decided I wanted to move to a warmer climate, so wife and I moved to Florida. Today got into the 70's, so I put the top down on the camaro, took a drive in the country. Still keep up with IT, and the best place to do it from abroad it here at TT. Go, enjoy life. You can have you're cake and eat it too.

Glen A. Johnson
If you like fun and sun, check out Tek-Tips Florida Forum
"Creditors have better memories than debtors."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790); US author, diplomat and inventor.