It's a man's IT world?

July 13, 2008 7:45 AM

New to IT department- what to expect?

I'll soon be joining our company's IT department - the culmination of a series of events in which I saw an opportunity, seized it and impressed enough people that they created the position for me. It's awesome. I'm nervous but excited about the job-specific uncertainties.

Aside from that, my question is- as a non-IT (female) person, what should I know about dealing with IT types? I come from the admin, executive world in which I had reason to interact with IT on occasion, but that's not the same thing.

Will there be more of a "no nonsense, head down, get to work" mentality (which I want) vs. the office politics/brown-nosing/playing favorites that's been the case in my past non-IT positions?

The 25-member department is 80% male. This doesn't necessarily faze me but I just wanted to get some perspective. My plan is to lay low for a while but I'd welcome any advice.

posted by I_Love_Bananas to technology (16 comments total)

I'm the IT manager of a dept of 12 guys and we LOVE having women around for obvious reasons! We have a temp who joins us every summer, she's 19 and she admitted later that she was terrified when she first walked in. Now she shames us all in many ways!

Give as good as you get, IT types are often quick witted, and in my experience almost never nasty, (unlike the banter I've seen in sales & marketing departments), I havent been in a bitchy IT environment ever. You'll be judged on your merits, and your intelligence but dont be afraid if you don't know something - just ask. IT guys (good ones) love to explain things and (again, good ones) wont be even slightly condescending. You'll learn a lot, more than you've ever done before.

Your handbag and shoes impress no-one remember, if you watched last nights Lost/Heroes/Battlestar Galactica/30 Rock etc you'll have them eating out of the palm of your hand.
posted by daveyt at 7:57 AM on July 13, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

There is no 'cookie cutter' example of an IT department -- they vary as much as any other position do (there are good exec assistant jobs, and horrible ones). From my experience, IT positions are not in anyway exempt from the office politics crap that inevitably happens. Those things occur because people want a leg up, and in a large department I am sure you will see some of the same.

My only advice (and you didnt ask for job specific advice) would be to make a niche for yourself - document things that haven't been documented; ask questions (geeks love to explain things that aren't trivial -- ie, "why do we do level 2 switching on the 7th floor?", not "why do we use USB keyboards?").

Its easy to forget what an IT department does, since they are commonly a break-fix, or process improvement cost center. Documenting projects/your work/your abilities will benefit yourself and the organization.

Good luck.
posted by SirStan at 8:01 AM on July 13, 2008

See this and watch some of these.
posted by whiskeyspider at 8:05 AM on July 13, 2008

You will be a rock star. IT departments are like all-boys high schools. It definitely will not be "no nonsense, head down, get to work." There will be lots of goofing off. And many references to The Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Slashdot. But if you're not good at your job--or exceptionally good-looking--they'll turn on you.
posted by mpls2 at 8:06 AM on July 13, 2008

IT departments can vary greatly. Is it a shirt-and-tie IT department or a T-shirt IT department? That's your first clue about how people will behave. Generally IT departments work in bursts. There'll be days where everyone is nose down in their work, and there'll be days when they're shooting nerf guns at each other. Join in the fun, it's expected of you.

The best part: IT is usually a meritocracy down in the trenches. (As you've seen from your successes at getting noticed by doing good things.) If you challenge people and you're right, you win. If you don't challenge them at all, you lose. The person that works the hardest to learn new things and is the most detail oriented will always win. That's in the trenches, though -- but you HAVE to be able to work with those guys. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and if they stutter and act weird around you it's because you have boobs and they're not used to that.

Managers in IT departments are just like any other manager... they generally have an idea of what they want, and it's your job to deliver it without their constant oversight. *good* IT managers maybe have a leg up because they understand the art of herding cats ... they understand that the way to manage IT people is by seeming to not manage them. But that's -only- the good ones and every shop has a bad one.
posted by SpecialK at 8:20 AM on July 13, 2008

mpis - "But if you're not good at your job--or exceptionally good-looking--they'll turn on you".. harsh much? I assume you mean "not good at your job nor exceptionally good looking.". Either way, like I said before, you'll be judged on your merits not your looks. Like in normal life, you know, one with adults in it and all.
posted by daveyt at 8:31 AM on July 13, 2008

...what should I know about dealing with IT types?

1. Watch the IT Crowd.

2. Keep an eye out for who's good at what. Don't pretend that you know something that you don't. if you see a gap in your knowledge/skills, approach the Acknowledged Master of that and tell him/her, "You seem to have amazing knowledge of switching/UNIX/whatever. Can you show me something?

3. Go out drinking with the others in the department. It's hard to overemphasize how critical this is to bonding. See IT Crowd, s01e01.
posted by StandardObfuscatingProcedure at 8:39 AM on July 13, 2008

Be yourself. Don't try to bullshit people with tech skills you don't have. Do good work; be willing to learn; praise others for their real skill & knowledge. While you're worrying about how to impress them, they're wondering how to impress you. In fact, as a female IT worker, I've found it to be a good idea to keep a few skill/certs quiet, and when they surface weeks or months later, it makes a bigger impression.

You don't have to be male, watch particular teevee shows, wear black tshirts, or young to be good at IT. You have to be smart, clever, a fast learner, and intolerant of bullshit.
posted by theora55 at 9:33 AM on July 13, 2008

A lot of fairly accurate comments so far. I would agree that every IT dept I've ever worked in was definitely "no-nonsense, heads-down, get-to-work" type of atmosphere (but that doesnt mean we dont know how to have fun.) I've very rarely had to deal with "office politics" or "drama".

1.) Ask if you dont know something. As others have said, IT types LOVE to explain things (show off their knowledge, and because the majority of us totally get off on helping others learn new things)

2.) The conversation sometimes flows very fast, is typically packed with many layers of information, and cliche IT employees make lots of little subtle (but innocent) jokes. (but once again, if you dont get the joke, ASK ... we love explaining) You will be expected to keep up with the flood of information in any given conversation, and to simultaneously mentally multi-task and plan your near future actions/ideas.

3.) IT types love challenges, and good-hearted teamwork competitiveness. I often race people to find the best Google answer to something, or better yet: to find the most creative answer to some problem. Even if your answer doesnt work, your teammates will be impressed you showed passion in trying and a passion for learning. (Bonus points if you keep a little notebook of "things I am interested in researching on my own time" and come back the next day with ideas or something new you learned on your own.)

4.) Over the years some of my favorite coworkers in IT were girls, because (in no particular order): 1.) the smell nicer ;P.... 2.) they learn and interact in unique and different ways, which often helps other team members appreciate problems from different angles, 3.) They tend to be more "touchy-feely/healthy" meaning they remind us of the human values and that we shouldnt be plugged into the Matrix for 16 hours a day.

5.) Once you start to get to know people.. and start to get comfortable with the atmosphere, definitely have a little fun. Make some jokes, invert someones mouse-sensor (moving mouse left moves pointer right)... swap someones wallpaper. Bring in homemade treats,.. share something funny you found on the web. (Bonus points for technology-fun like bringing in an LED message board hooked to your computer that people can leave team messages on.)... Leave funny IT related humor cards on holidays like 3/14 (PI Day), 5/2 (No Pants Day) or on our team we made one up "Robot Valentines Day"..etc..etc..

Be creative
Have fun
Learn Stuff
Work Hard
Girls on IT Teams are rare, so dont be shocked when some of them dont know how to act around you. :)
posted by jmnugent at 10:09 AM on July 13, 2008

There's no real answer to this question. There's no typical IT department. Its all generalizations coming from people with limited experiences and bias. Its like asking, "Hey Im being transfered to a new department full of Italians. Whats it like working with Italians?"

Like all things in life, the best approach is to be open and learn from its culture. Make friends and make the best out of it. Patronizing your new coworkers with stale Family Guy quotes or other manufactured responses seem like the worst thing you could do.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:28 AM on July 13, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

You have to be smart, clever, a fast learner, and intolerant of bullshit.

This is so true. I'm a female tech worker too, and once the novelty of having a girl in the office wears off, it's your IT mettle that matters. Do ask questions, but not before doing some research on your own. While the fellas love explaining things, they'll tire of it quickly if they sense that you're not putting effort in first. This is especially tough in the beginning when all is new and questions seem so basic, but as long as you're making progress the team will be happy to help.

Keep good notes. I installed WordPress on my PC to keep track of all the things I found while researching. Also, install and try out software that's mentioned by a team mate. Even if they don't specifically mention an application, keep a close eye out for what they're using as they maneuver around their PC while explaining things. Even if I don't regularly use the software, going through the process of installing, configuring, and learning a little about it helps me.
posted by hoppytoad at 10:30 AM on July 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

A large change may be the users vs. us mentality. While non-IT workers (sales, accountants, etc.) are trying to get their jobs done, IT workers have to worry about the business as a whole and making sure the whole system is working well (e.g. data is being stored in the right place). Bad IT groups hate the users, good ones tend to treat them like kindly shepherds.
posted by benzenedream at 11:37 AM on July 13, 2008

Take advantage of the fact that you are new to the department to ask almost every question that comes to your head. I think this is solid advice for any new job, but especially important in an environment where you may feel pressure not to look "dumb". You should be cut some slack on asking questions as a new person and you'll get up to speed much much faster, as well as learn a lot about the personalities of your new coworkers.
A 25 person IT department with 5 women is not particularly bad. Unless those women are all doing a certain kind of role, the guys should be well used to having a woman in the room and you should not feel like a novelty (even in an all-male team, making a female coworker feel like a novelty is totally unprofessional). But be sure to speak up in meetings (if you have something to say), in my experience they can be a bit of a free-for-all and if you aren't willing to interrupt and push your position, you may never get a word in edgewise.
posted by ch1x0r at 11:46 AM on July 13, 2008

I cant really disagree with all the advice to ask a lot of questions, but I think one step better would be (If you have a good definition of what you dont know) to try and set up a lab at home, and on your own time try and figure some things out on your own. A lab at home that you use shows you're serious about what you do, its not a 9-5 job.

We had a n00b start on our Email server team, and he knew nothing about DNS (which surprised us). He was asking really basic questions, which was getting old. We told him to buy the Oreilly DNS book and read it. To my surprise, he did cover to cover, learned the majic of nslookup and the questions got a lot more intelligent. We were happier answering those questions. So I guess Im saying ask for some general boundaries of what you need to know, do some serious research and come back and ask more questions.

On a separate note, most IT depts nowadays are very racially diverse. I work with people from every corner of the world (Id say 50% of the people I work with werent born in the US). Most dont speak english natively. Try to be understanding of this, although it does make communication difficult basically all the time. On a related note, most IT folks arent the "lets go out to lunch" types, but if you do dont be the one who "wont eat Sushi because its raw eww" or whatever, its part of accepting all different kinds of people you work with.

On the Male/female issue, while %-wise there arent really that many females in IT, this whole "geek that cant relate to females" stereotype is totally overblown (nowadays at least!). Virtually every guy I work with is married, has kids, and can relate to females just fine. Especially ones that like Battlestar Galactica.
posted by Spurious Packets at 6:25 PM on July 13, 2008

In my experience, you will be immersed into a group of people who all act like they know far more about things than they actually do.

Get good at smiling and accepting statements of facts but rely on your own (rapidly accreting) experience to form your own knowledge. Manuals can usually be trusted; anecdotes from coworkers often can't.

Corollary: recognize that most guys (especially IT guys) will confidently answer all questions even if they really don't know the answer.

Signed, degreed engineer snob
posted by intermod at 8:39 PM on July 13, 2008

I've worked in Fortune 500 IT departments for over five years and have yet to see the nerf guns I was promised. Yes, we have fun at work sometimes, and other times lunch consists of some Funyuns and a Mountain Dew at 3pm because we forgot to eat when the cafeteria was open.
posted by jeversol at 2:05 PM on July 16, 2008