The Big Suck and Swallow in IT

I've been in IT for over 11 years in many forms and this is my take on it so far. I've worked at an enterprise environment for almost 5 of those years as a (Contractor). During this time I saw many things. I'm currently unemployed and this is in large part due to the company that I was working for came into hard times and disposed of their disposable workers (Contractors). This worked on the (last in first out) method. I still currently work for my Contract Company but it's now been a year without a single job from them and I've spent this last year working doing swimming pools with a friend of mine to get by until something comes along in IT.

I was making a good living and was doing my best at the job I was doing at the time, which was working for a large utilities company as a Technician, Lead Technician on their End of Lease project (EOL) - (2 1/2 years) and in their Support Center - Support Systems Analyst - (2 1/2 years) as a contractor. The job was great and was right up my alley and paid very well, at least to my standards (40-50k).

While doing this job I saw what really goes on in the IT field and Corporate America in general. You see all the paper MCSE's and those with BS degrees in Information Technology, my take on these is (Bull Shit Degrees) all making even more money than yourself and not knowing a damn thing about computers, software, hardware, network, "you name it" (Most Full Time employees) and myself as a (Contractor) with no degree, an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional - NT 4.0) , CNA (Certified Novell Administrator - Netware 4.11) and 2 Diplomas from two different Technical Schools and multiple years of hands on, real world with all of the above mentioned (more or less equivalent to an MCSE and BS or even higher degree without the pieces of paper).

I started out as what was called a Logistical Resource, more or less a lower paid Technician for their (EOL project) or End of Lease (all computers were leased and needed replaced on a two year basis). Doing paper work , shipping and receiving for the EOL team (This was my job description), but things were added to my duties weekly if not daily. Reblasting (re-imaging of machines) was added, this was what happened when the support center or second level couldn't fix a pc or problem,"which seemed to be for everything". "As they say shit runs down hill and who sat at bottom of that hill, me. This was 2 guys jobs that had worked as contractors for this company for a few years already, "acting like (Full Timers), soon after this addition to my job description another was added, then doing (New Orders) which was another duty of these two guys which was put off on me as well - (this was if someone ordered a pc or software or peripheral you would image or install the item or software for the client).

This equated to pretty much me doing my job and now 2 other guys jobs while one played Solitaire or dosed off all day and the other sat with thumb up ass and feet up on desk, still wondering what he was doing? I had more certs and knowledge than the guys they had doing the Technician, Lead Technician jobs on EOL and the two contractors who sat around with a few years under their belts, after a bit of complaining to my contract company I was moved up to Technician wage which at the time was 4 more dollars an hour but I was still the low man on the totem pole. My job description now was a page or more longer and the two other guys now got to sit around and take questions when asked and pretty much do NOTHING... Who says there is no I in team? There is a M and E in team and I am me.

I don't mind work it actually made your day go much quicker but knowing that while I was doing all these jobs that 2 people were doing nothing and getting paid much more than I was. I don't blame the manager for giving me all of these new found duties because I was his ACE in the hole and he probably knew the work would and was, actually getting done with it set up this way. I don't think he knew what was really going on in our little world down under in the basement of the company where very few people would ever frequent. This of coursre gave me more knowledge and made me a much stronger person overall but it also gave me one heck of an atitude and serious high blood pressure.

During my time on this job many things happened within the company, the company went through a Token Ring to Ethernet upgrade and from NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 roll out (which I was a part of both) working overtime and learning a bunch on the way and helping in any way I could. Trying to prove myself and to possibly find my way up the ladder by my work and actions and to finally land a (Full Time) position.

Here are a few great stories along my journey of being the low man (Contractor in the old IT field). Before the Windows 2000 r0ll out and still running NT 4.0 the company had many issues with databases on the programming side of them and no one could figure out why? - (this is where I came in) - I was a good friend of one of these people working with databases and I told her what I thought the problem was, now remember I'm a nobody here within the company the only people heard, were the (Full Time) employees or those known as higher ups. (Contractors) were considered scum and I know now what racism must have been like in the 60's. Our words or knowledge meant nothing, we had to park on top of the parking garage or in the back of the parking lot and you were just treated very poorly and looked down upon in general.

Now here is what I told my friend the problem was. The problem was the way the company had their servers and computers set up. On the servers they had Service Pack 4 and all client pcs had Service Pack 6 (creating a conflict) this was my take on the problem and no one else's. The higher ups said I didn't know what I was talking about at least one of them - this coming from a top (Full Time) employee in Second Level - (MCSE). The company upped all the Service Packs on the Servers to 6 and viola the problem with the databases was fixed - the (HERO) the (Full Time) employee who relayed this from my friend to a higher up and after telling my friend I didn't know shit, lol, well now you know the true story.

Another good one was when a lot of network problems arose with computers crawling along yet others would be zipping along - again I'm not a network guru or should I say I'm still nobody. I'm back for the rescue again - all the pc's that were crawling were set to 100 Full Duplex? I suggest why not set all the pcs to Auto Negotiate and this way they will get the proper information and run at what they negotiate at. Again I haven't a clue (Second Levels take on my suggestions) but after my mentioning of this and a Second Level (Full Time) employee passing the information to higher ups all pcs are now switched to Auto Negotiate - another great problem solved - (HERO) the (Full Time) employee who brought this up, lol, again you now know the true story.

Last but not least the BSOD problem with NT machines - now mind you I'm the one having to reblast up to 5 pcs a day because they are un-repairable by second level and tossed down to me to re-image more or less given up on, (NT repair not working). Now not understanding how there can be this many BSODs daily after my reading that it would take an apocalypse or nuclear holocaust to Blue Screen an NT machine (Sort of) - the wheels start turning in this little head of mine and after looking inside these BSOD machines and other machines they have mixed memory in them (ECC and NON-ECC) in the same system (notice the word AND)? You'd think by now I'd learn to just keep my mouth shut? "Oh no, not me", I bring it up, how can this be? You can't mix both within the same PC (Sure you can, they did, but it's a NO, NO). Here I come to find out that all the BIG WIGS (Masters, BS Degrees), Second Level (BS Degrees, MCSE) all went to some kind of meeting when leasing the PCs and were told that they could use ECC or NON-ECC RAM within the PC. When I brought this out about NOT mixing them I was of course clueless again.

They missed something, all of them, while in this meeting the word OR. Which anyone with any sense knows means either ECC or NON-ECC within the system but not both they didn't say AND. I was the only one (Not at meeting mind you, not even knowing it ever happened but I heard what was said later and knew what they meant). From this point on they stopped mixing the RAM when placing orders and even put only ECC and NON-ECC by switching from one system to another to make things right - the BSOD problem was remedied. (HERO) - a contractor who was a Lead Tech for EOL whom had sucked his way up to a second level position mid-stream during EOL. Thus the moral of this story - sucking and swallowing.

You may be asking what do I mean? Well sucking up, kissing ass, what ever it takes to get ahead - this is what I coined as Sucking and Swallowing - something I've never done or ever plan on doing. This individual happened to be in the room at the time of my discovery (RAM issue) and when I spoke out loud he sponged up my information and took it to higher ups and received the congressional medal of honor (Just kidding) but he became the (HERO) in this scenario. This individual went to one of the same tech schools as I did and graduated around the same time as I did and was offered a Lead Tech job with the EOL at the same company my contract company placed me at. He was once a Foot Locker manager and had no computer background other than what he learned at the school we attended which he didn't learn much, but he was good at sponging, this is a term I use for those who sit around and take what is said or can hear something and take it in (not really knowing or comprehending what is said) but able to pass it on as their own. He also got a lot of praise as a Lead Tech and this was only because the guys he had on his team they are the ones that made him look so good. I was on this team for the first week of EOL and later placed at home base doing all those other jobs mentioned earlier. He later sucked, swallowed and sponged his way up the ladder to a (Full Time) position. First as mentioned earlier on Second Level still as a contractor but later becoming a (Full Time) employee within the companies Large Systems Team, more about this tidbit later.

So know those working around you in the IT field or should I say be cautious of those around you, learn to keep your mouth shut. Especially as a (Contractor) in an enterprise environment, only the (Full Time) employees or those on the SUCK SCALE (other contractors that will stab you in back to get ahead) get the credit when information from a person of some knowledge is properly used to their advantage. This is where you'll see you keep your thoughts to yourself in the IT field never giving up to much information or knowledge, only talk when spoken to (answer questions when asked) and don't let it just come out as I did because there could be a sponge at any corner ready to suck and swallow his way up the corporate ladder.

2 1/2 years later. Finally a position became available within the companies Support Center, thinking I could better myself and possibly get hired on (Full Time) (which was my goal) not sucking or swallowing on the way though. I took the available position but still as a contractor. Upon entering the Support Center, I now would have a new boss from the one I had when doing my earlier job. This new boss loved anyone who followed the path of sucking and swallowing. During my time in the Support Center two individuals were hired (Full Time) because they were just so good at it (sucking and swallowing that is) - one being an intern and another being a contractor who actually started in the Support Center around the same time I was hired for the EOL project.

During my years of doing this job I never missed a day of work and was actually a half hour early every single day but yet those (Full Time) employees missed constantly and while in the Support Center these same (Full Time) employees very rarely did their job and pretty much did nothing while the few (Contractors) were the ones doing all the work. Now over my 2 1/2 years in the Support Center I took the Highest Resolution Rate award EVERY single month but 2 and during those two months I did not receive the award, was because another (Contractor) who used me as his encyclopedia of computer knowledge edged me out by point some odd percent, those were the tickets I resolved for him.

Another great item about this was me and this other (Contractor) out of say, 120 calls per day took about 60-80 of these calls between us with a Support Center of 15 people (You do the math), but yet we had the highest resolution rates over everyone for that whole 2 1/2 years, and with the (Full Time) employees looking ridiculous because they couldn't compete with the contractors - it was mostly because none of them had a clue of support, but yet they worked in the support center. Before I entered the Support Center it was coined by many in the company as the SUPPORTLESS CENTER.

Upon entering the support center most people were using SMS to connect to people to fix problems, of course only those that even knew how would use this, did, which wasn't many. SMS has its downfalls especially if a machine is no longer part of a domain you can't connect; it was based on computer names and domains. Not sure how many out there have tried walking computer illiterate people on fixing things over the phone but sometimes it's impossible. I had my own trick up my sleeve for fixing peoples problems instead of walking clients through the fix, I'd just connect to them and fix it myself (much easier) but I used a program that is on every Windows client period (NETMEETING) which uses IP Address, just by using this the Support Center now could resolve hundreds of tickets a month because before they passed the ticket to second level to have them re-join a machine back to the domain whereas I was doing this all along and getting tickets resolved, if they had network connectivity you were set.

I originally used this to fix many problems when being the reblast guy that the support center and second level couldn't fix. I'd be able to connect to the pc from my desk without even going to the clients desk and fix problems that should have been fixed before the ticket made it to me (Pass it along method) because sometimes clients were in different locations which meant they had to send me their pc for the reblast or I'd have to travel to the more local locations for this. If I could save them the loss of their pc for days and for those I could travel to, I would save traveling, boy clients noticed and wondered and always asked, why couldn't the others fix this? They all just said it would need reblasted, I simply said they aren't me. Reblasts was something a client did NOT want to hear, it meant death of the PC and a complete and new re-image, a loss of all data, software, settings, you name it, just like starting from scratch.

At one point by the boss reading my resolutions or possibly someone he put on finding out how I could be resolving so many tickets compared to the others. I put in my tickets that I had connected to the client and the big question was "What do you mean connected" I told them with NetMeeting or at times I placed this within my resolved tickets as to what I did to accomplish my resolution, not thinking it could come back to haunt me. Once this came up they gave another guy who was in the suck and swallow crew of the support center to teach everyone how to use this - (Not me) - so more or less NetMeeting became implemented within the company (a free and easy support tool) of course saving them thousands again on support software. The best part of this was this person had to come to me to ask how to use it so he could teach the others. Of course this individual and the boss became the (HEROS) in this scenario. Once it was implemented within the company as a great support tool and (FREE) just about every IT group was using it to help resolve tickets. We were even told in the support center that our resolution rate had increased by 30% from the date of implementation and everyone using it the boss taking all the credit for such a great find. They even added the shortcut for Netmeeting to desktops within their corporate images so a client could just click on it when an analyst requested to connect to walk a client through a fix or even a how to for software.

You're Welcome - by the way never expect or think you'll get any praise or even a pat on the back, not even a THANK YOU when saving a company thousands, millions, or even giving your boss a hell of a raise and praise he never deserved - (Numbers are everything in IT).

Remember IT can have several departments or groups and of course more chiefs than Indians, also the same with Corporate America. The goal was to have a high resolution rate in Support Center which then took away from all the groups down the IT line (Second Level and other Support Groups) this was every groups routine, to look better than the other rather than working together as one IT.

I actually took more personal calls from clients than through the proper channels (Their Support Line) because they didn't want to talk to anyone else in the Support Center, we had our personal line number and then the support line which went through a queue system, but most only wanted to talk to me, they knew I'd try or do everything possible to fix their problem before passing it along. On a daily basis I had other analysts forwarding calls to me or coming back saying a person wanted to talk to me personally.

We used a system of ARS (Acquisition Request System) a program for submitting support tickets to proper IT groups within the company if it couldn't be resolved by a Support Center Analyst - pretty much all tickets got passed on regardless of simplicity except by two of us in the support center already mentioned above.

At one point our boss tried to tone down our resolution and tried giving us things to do so that we wouldn't be on the phone as much because the differences between us and them was like 30% which meant bump calls to the others to try upping their stats and to maintain ours but when doing this (bumping the calls) they always made their way back around the queue and at this point we ended up having to take them anyway it was like playing PONG between me and the other contractor I mentioned earlier - we'd just volley calls.

One PROJECT- (a way to get you away from doing your real job), me and the other contractor were put on, was what came to be known as their Knowledge Base which was to make it easier for new people coming into the support center (future people to take our jobs) (and those clueless wonders already in there) could use this to find the answers to most of the problems that came through the support center, in other words they wanted our knowledge etched in stone for others to use to up their resolution rates. Everything in this company was based on numbers and by keeping the numbers up the boss looked that much better. I'm sure raises; bonuses and the boss's overall success were taken into consideration by this as well.

The Knowledge Base was a program they spent thousands of dollars on that NO ONE used. They had a (Full Time) employee and the support center boss to thank for this piece of garbage and the higher ups wanted this thing implemented and to show it wasn't a waste of money. So they used the best two people in the support center to try and prefect it myself and the other contractor and make it fly because of the money spent on it and the (Full Time) employee in charge of it who usually just sat and stared at his screen all day (I'm still trying to figure out what he was looking at?). I can't say for sure if either of their jobs ever really depended on this thing flying or not, but it didn't while I was still there.

It was usable but not totally implemented. Between the two of us (Contractors) there was plenty of knowledge added and if someone used it right, it would work. Of course the clueless wonders of the support center could not use this without having their hands held and they simply did what they did best, pass the ticket on without using the Knowledge Base.

Needless to say they are both still there, the boss and the employee, the boss was actually promoted over time, wonder if any of the number increases by the Support Centers resolution increases had any effect on this??? The company then went through some very hard times they let go almost all of their contractors and many full time employees (early retirements) and promoted more bosses, lost all of the Indians and pretty much did away with all of what was good in their IT. Those that remained, not all, were those who had climbed the SUCK SCALE and SPONGED their way to more higher paying jobs.

I was considered LAST IN - FIRST OUT within the support center but my original boss had a trick up his sleeve he could get me back downstairs to work for a bit and to do another project with another contractor by going to New York and closing down one of their offices. Now mind you this boss would hire me (Full Time) yesterday if he was able but he just doesn't have the pull to do this and isn't on any suck scale. So myself and this other contractor went to this New York office and we ended up as 2 men doing a 10 man job. We did EOL, Networking, Telecom, inventory, clean up, shipping of all equipment and the closing of this 130 some odd client office within a week long period of course saving the company thousands more dollars in process. I'm happy for this only because it kept me working in IT and making a pay check only problem was my contract company had to cut my bill rate which in turn cut me 4 more dollars per hour just to keep me working for a total of 3 more weeks. Once this project was completed I was left to the dogs and sent on my merry way to the world of unemployment.

For about a month or so of unemployment I was receiving phone calls at home from people who still worked at this company asking for support because they didn't want to call the, now that I was gone, SUPPORTLESS CENTER. I had become quite a name to some within the company for resolving many problems and from my home I became their tech support guy. To bad I wasn't getting paid for this. I'm just that kind of guy; I even support people over the internet to this day with good old NETMEETING and WINDOWS MESSENGER and its Application Sharing.

The one contractor still remains there that I helped on a daily basis and the boss even told him to actually smoke more to keep him off the phone more because now he's taken over where I left off taking the highest resolution rate on a monthly basis and since him and I were the only two that actually took any calls and resolved anything in the support center, my job was replaced with a (Full Time) employee that became misplaced due to the complete overhaul of the company.

It's now been a year since working at this company and my contract company not calling me with any other positions or prospects, makes me wonder have I been blackballed somehow for not following the good old SUCK and SWALLOW of IT???

Remember earlier in this article I mentioned I'd get to a tidbit later, well here is that tidbit. The one individual who I might add was a JEDI and MASTER of the suck and swallow. Since quit this company after SPONGING all his knowledge from other Contractors, Second Level, and Large Systems to go to another company for more money doing Mass Storage Systems.

Needless to say I thought this was funny, it's more or less a kick in the balls to the company and to those he used to get ahead, but to finish this off was this job then became available and they were hiring to fill this position. Now remember they hired him (Full Time) not knowing shit about computers or Mass Storage, no degrees, no MCSE, for that matter and whomever they hired would be a Full Time employee not a contractor for this position. I figured since I worked at this company for 4 1/2 years and the knowledge of the company's internal structure etc. I could land this position, and would probably be there until my dieing days.

I sent my resume in for the position and with my name and knowledge thinking I should be a shoe in for this position and with people who knew what I've done while I was there and could vouch for my work ethic etc. hands down I could finally have a (Full Time) job, no more contracting, higher pay and a place I've always wanted to work for, for the rest of my life. Once my resume was received it got scanned as do all resumes within HR and sat waiting to be retrieved for a possible position I knew I could do and 1000 times better than the man that left it behind. I come to find out that my resume would NEVER be seen, WHY??? The HR department has filters they place on resumes for certain positions and for the position they were hiring for, you needed a BS Degree (This could be in basket weaving it didn't matter) - So I was sunk again by BULL SHIT. Strange how originally none of this mattered for this position when hiring the other individual he just was so good at SUCKING and SWALLOWING his way up the SUCK SCALE.

I live in the Pittsburgh area and I'm currently looking for that Full Time job at a respectful company that doesn't want BS Degrees or MCSE or should I say pieces of paper from those that really don't have a clue and simply want a person with knowledge and that can get the job done with their actions. I have 11 years of Bull Shit already under my belt within IT, I just want IT not the Bull Shit and a company that doesn't follow any of the practices mentioned throughout this article. If I was to include everything within this article it would never end and there are countless other things not mentioned that have happened along the way, more stories on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis, this is the short version and while only at one company as a contractor. And boy what a long story this one has already become. LOL.

Feel free to reply to this with any offers of condolences or job offers and thanks for reading and learning what goes on in the IT field and what it takes to get ahead in both IT and Corporate America. Now you have a few more terms you can use to describe that individual sitting beside you that has stabbed you in the back on countless occasions and those who've moved up the good old ladder. Who says sucking, swallowing, sponging, kissing ass, doesn't get you ahead in life?