The Static Page

Would you ever leave IT?

I presume everyone in here is employed more-or-less in the IT industry (and no slight intended to those who are not). That was basically the point of the original community or at least its premise. But have any of you thought about leaving IT and working in something else entirely?

Think about your interests. What do you enjoy doing? What things are you good at? It is regrettably common in the IT industry for workers to not have much of a life outside work. Admittedly, this is most likely in a support arrangement, but other positions that are more results-oriented expect your life to revolve around what you do for a crust. And as I mentioned last week, some people need more diversions to satisfy them than mere employment can offer. I am one of them.

However, Information Technology is almost everywhere. What could you do to get away from it? Write articles on cooking? Magazines would probably have some sort of computerised DTP system. Do physiotherapy? At the very least, you will probably have a terminal for accepting credit card payments. Drive a train? Modern transport systems often have considerable embedded computer-systems. Be an electrician? You'll probably get jobs running computer cable!

There is not a lot you can do to get away from computers. In my current job search, I've thought about it. But then computers are what I'm good at. And I'm wary of my hobbies becoming more than just hobbies. There's always a line, this side of which is called "amateur" and the other side is called "professional". In too many instances, this line of division is more a gulf than a mere line.

So have any of you considered exploiting your non-computer hobbies for employment? Is moving out of Information Technology anything more than a remote possibility for you?

Wade Bowmer, aka Static

Comments? Email me at static dash page at yceran dot org.