We talked to Louise R, an IT manager in the ecommerce field, about her career in IT.
When did you start in IT and what was your first position?
- I started in the mid 90’s and I was a Jr Help desk tech
How has your career changed since then?
- I have wandered from being a tech, to a network and / or server admin to now the dark side of management
What excites you about IT today?
- As a youngling I was enthralled with how in Star Trek ( TOS) they could just ask the computer a question and get a answer. We now basically have that with Siri, AI bots replying to you in slack. We are on the cusp of automation revolution that sci-fi in the 60s promised us that robots and computers would do the drudge work and free hoomans to have a life of luxury
How do you stay up-to-date in a field that's constantly changing?
- It’s hard. IN my role as a manager I am more focused on leading hoomans. To keep up, I tend to skim the tech news for developments, various blogs, conferences and major vendor events
What advice would you offer someone trying to either switch careers or break into the IT industry for the first time?
- There are a couple of things that I would focus on
- Learn all that you can, be a sponge
- Volunteer to help out other teams; you will get exposed to new work and people and you might find something you like
Thanks for taking time to share with us, Louise. We appreciate you and your time!
