(no subject)
Feb. 21st, 2007 07:17 pmI've been working with someone in our company who has just transferred from a business unit that belongs to the company that we acquired and haven't fully integrated yet and to a business unit that belongs to my company. (I know, technically they both belong to my company.)
In order to get access to a number of resources, he needs to have his account moved from their domain to our domain, and then a new laptop needs to be built for him with all the tools he'll need.
I finished that up a couple days ago and shipped it out. He got it today and, since I'm the one who has the ticket and configured the system for him, I am of course the one he's working with as we iron out the bugs and climb up the learning curve that always comes with new hardware and software.
I've talked to him a few times today. As you might expect, we've communicated on a mildly personal level as we've waited for the computer to do various things. We've established something of a rapport. He seems to be confident about my knowledge and advice. I hate that.
See, now he will probably end up looking specifically to me for support. How do you tell somebody that they need to call or email the general queue rather than a specific analyst (you) without seeming rude and making a really bad impression?
More than that though, I don't like establishing friendships with people at work for the most part. Sure, I feel like I'm friends with one of the server team, but he's this cute teddybear-geek of a guy who's into ren-faire and has friends in SCA. That's an exception to the rule, the rule being that most people at work, if they were fully aware of my interests, hobbies, and even nature, would want absolutely nothing to do with me. I know this is true; it's the nature of our society.
Being friendly with people makes me nervous. I enjoy, at least mildly, solving problems for people, but knowing that they see me in a personal light, as more than just an extension of the help desk, makes me nervous. When I first decided that I wanted to work in IT, my idealized version of the job consisted of sitting by myself in my own little space where people didn't come in to bother me and I didn't have to talk to more than a few people. I just wanted my computers. I should have been a programmer.
As I may have mentioned, my company may be opening an enterprise-wide network operations center at my site. I'm kind of hoping to find a job on that side of things. I'd love to not have to deal with anyone outside a known circle of fellow geeks and just fix things when they break. That would be good.
At the same time, maybe I shouldn't think too hard about new positions where I am. I was talking to
serinthia on the way home last night and doing some quick arithmetic.
Let's say I find a job that's half an hour closer to home. That would reduce my daily commute to an hour a day. That would give me an extra hour at home every work day of the week that I don't have right now. Over the course of an 'average' year of 52 weeks, that would give me an extra 260 hours a year at home to myself to work on my own projects, or be with family or friends. Considering that a single day of vacation from work only give me an extra eleven hours a day (nine hours at work plus a two hour commute), it would seem to me that even if a job closer to home paid me a little less money, that reduced income would be compensated by the equivalent of over twenty extra days of vacation. How much of a reduction in salary would I be willing to take for twenty more vacation days a year?
I'm in no serious rush right now, but they always say that the best time to look for a new job is when you don't need one. I know that my company really seems to be going places and becoming a mover and shaker in its field, and it would be a good career move to stay where I am, but I need to look at what's really important. I'm going to brush up my resume over the next few weeks and maybe just see what's out there....
In order to get access to a number of resources, he needs to have his account moved from their domain to our domain, and then a new laptop needs to be built for him with all the tools he'll need.
I finished that up a couple days ago and shipped it out. He got it today and, since I'm the one who has the ticket and configured the system for him, I am of course the one he's working with as we iron out the bugs and climb up the learning curve that always comes with new hardware and software.
I've talked to him a few times today. As you might expect, we've communicated on a mildly personal level as we've waited for the computer to do various things. We've established something of a rapport. He seems to be confident about my knowledge and advice. I hate that.
See, now he will probably end up looking specifically to me for support. How do you tell somebody that they need to call or email the general queue rather than a specific analyst (you) without seeming rude and making a really bad impression?
More than that though, I don't like establishing friendships with people at work for the most part. Sure, I feel like I'm friends with one of the server team, but he's this cute teddybear-geek of a guy who's into ren-faire and has friends in SCA. That's an exception to the rule, the rule being that most people at work, if they were fully aware of my interests, hobbies, and even nature, would want absolutely nothing to do with me. I know this is true; it's the nature of our society.
Being friendly with people makes me nervous. I enjoy, at least mildly, solving problems for people, but knowing that they see me in a personal light, as more than just an extension of the help desk, makes me nervous. When I first decided that I wanted to work in IT, my idealized version of the job consisted of sitting by myself in my own little space where people didn't come in to bother me and I didn't have to talk to more than a few people. I just wanted my computers. I should have been a programmer.
As I may have mentioned, my company may be opening an enterprise-wide network operations center at my site. I'm kind of hoping to find a job on that side of things. I'd love to not have to deal with anyone outside a known circle of fellow geeks and just fix things when they break. That would be good.
At the same time, maybe I shouldn't think too hard about new positions where I am. I was talking to
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Let's say I find a job that's half an hour closer to home. That would reduce my daily commute to an hour a day. That would give me an extra hour at home every work day of the week that I don't have right now. Over the course of an 'average' year of 52 weeks, that would give me an extra 260 hours a year at home to myself to work on my own projects, or be with family or friends. Considering that a single day of vacation from work only give me an extra eleven hours a day (nine hours at work plus a two hour commute), it would seem to me that even if a job closer to home paid me a little less money, that reduced income would be compensated by the equivalent of over twenty extra days of vacation. How much of a reduction in salary would I be willing to take for twenty more vacation days a year?
I'm in no serious rush right now, but they always say that the best time to look for a new job is when you don't need one. I know that my company really seems to be going places and becoming a mover and shaker in its field, and it would be a good career move to stay where I am, but I need to look at what's really important. I'm going to brush up my resume over the next few weeks and maybe just see what's out there....