[TheForge] OT - Telcom stuff

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Charle B Vincent wrote:
>
> Mike, he was talking about IT workers in the telecom industry.   Trust
> me, there it IS all about the bill.  When I started in the industry
> years ago, it paid OK(on par with engineers), but the real attraction
> was doing really neat shit with neat people - probably same as
> engineering years ago.

I designed voice switching systems for 11 years, 75-86.  The industry really
changed during that time.  It went form the customers just being happy to
make a call (without the bell system) to where if you didn't offer 50 to 75
features they wouldn't even consider your system.  On private networks the
bill wasn't the important part the call rate was. They liked reports to plan
expansion and fire lazy operators, but that was secondary to call through
put.

Rant---
In 86 I changed career paths and got into designing data switching systems.
The VP that hired me had the policy that you were hired for a 40 hour week
and unless there was an emergency thats what he wanted you to work.  If you
had to work a lot of overtime to bring a project in the manager had screwed
up.

By the time I left to blacksmith full time in 2000 there had been several
management changes and we were told that all the big raises and promotions
would go to the engineers that put in the most overtime. (It was obvious,
but I still can't beleave they actually told us that.)  At the end we had a
Senior VP that would run a report against our hours and you got a
motivational "talking to" if you weren't putting in more than 40 on a
regular basis. That combined with the fact that our project development
cycle was 15 months and the life expectancy of a program was around 3 years.
I got a little depressed that I had been writing code for 25 years and there
were only 2 or 3 programs still in use (I'm sure they've all been retired by
now).  When I mentioned this to my boss at my exit interview his response
was that I should look at the income I made all those years and that should
be satisfaction enough.  It wasn't for me, I wanted to do something real.

I had one coworker that had 4 projects in a row get cancled right when they
were ready for implimentation.  He was near suicidle (sp?), 6 years of his
life where he came to work every day and had nothing to show for it (but
money). He could have just a easily stayed home or played vidio games the
whole time.  I hear he got a big promotion since I left, so they must have
finally taken a project to completion. I also hear that the last project
that I was on (and stayed an extra three months to complete) was never
implimented.

End Rant --- Sorry I got a little carried away.

Now I work a lot harder for a lot less money, and wouldn't go back if you
put a gun to my head.  I miss the money and the paid vacation, but not all
the BS.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.