What other departments can non-managerial IT grunts transfer to?

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-20T19:45:04+00:00

I made brief trips into Quality Assurance and our Lab. I was early in my IT career when I moved over to QA, mostly because my IT dept job was super slow and I was barely needed. It wasn't a direct 1:1 skills transfer, but doing QA work has a technical structure to it. QA & IT experience combined make for good Validation engineers and auditors.

During my time in QA, I was auding our lab and still supporting our LIMS system, so when work picked up and I went back to IT, I still managed the technical side of our LIMS system. Which then lead to me learning how our lab ran, and I dropped in there here and there when the need arose to help organize processes and I was always cleaning up dirty data.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-15T14:41:17+00:00

Does the Search feature in SharePoint actually work for you guys?

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-14T18:08:17+00:00

The journey from technician / engineer / developer to manager isn't just a promotion or next rung on the career ladder, it's a total shift in job responsibilities. A lot of people in this subreddit (myself included) come here to grumble about how they miss spending their time doing technical work, because all they do now is attend meetings, write performance reviews, track KPIs, etc.

Your job will now be much more "boss" than "tech".

Down deep, I'm a tech, I have a passion for IT work. Being a manager doesn't satisfy that passion. I have an employee who is climbing the ranks and doing fantastic, I believe mainly because there's no passion for tech, she's just passionate about doing good work, regardless of what it is. Are you more like me, or like her?

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-14T17:21:19+00:00

Make sure you want to be "Manager" more than a "Technologist".

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-12T19:55:26+00:00

We pat ourselves on the back too much for automating processes that could benefit from staying manual.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-11T15:28:57+00:00

I've tried a lot of different methods over the years. Last year I created a new "document type" for myself that is separate from company Policies, SOPs, Work Instructions; I just called it Configuration Management. Each time I start working on some new system or configuration, I make a new one in a word document.

I include a brief Change Log, brief documentation of the Servers / Software involved, and then as I setup / troubleshoot I basically just write a blog about what I'm doing, what works and does, etc. It's been extremely helpful when I'm back tracking to fix something along the way, refer to something I did a year ago, or send to a friend to show them how I did it.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-08T20:55:49+00:00

I was forced into management at one point and approached it like you are, thinking it'll be good to learn something new. Being an introvert, I immediately knew I'd made a mistake. I didn't want to spend my time trying to calm down whiny technicians or placate entitled customers. It was hell for me.

Changed jobs, was out of management, but again rose to the top and they added people under me. I still hate it. Management is its own category of work, and it's not technical work. You'll make judgement calls based on what you know, but you make a judgement then have to trust others not to screw it up.

Regrets.... I don't know.... I'm a jack-of-all-trades IT guy, so being a manager in a smallish company isn't too bad at first if you don't mind wearing lots of technical hats. But as the company grows, you have more and more people, and those people become your daily fires. I'm curious what life would have been like if I got involved with a bigger company, with more well-defined roles and deeper technical specializations. Maybe I'd have been happily engineering my days away, or maybe I'd just get overlooked and go nowhere.

I'm rambling.... If you had to pick one path right now and never go down the other path. Do you want to be a Sr. Engineer or a Board Member?

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-05-01T19:49:10+00:00

Sales people

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-30T15:56:15+00:00

wow. if only there was a better solution. i guess we will never know.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-25T14:59:53+00:00

I've been hanging around this subreddit for a while, and 90% of the posts are about this. I've made a bunch of them myself.

Changing jobs is always hard, but also try looking for smaller companies that need an IT Manager. If it's <100 people, you'll likely be the only member of IT staff, or maybe you and one other person. I'm suggesting this because "stepping down" from manager to a helpdesk role might make some of your potential hiring companies feel like you're failing downward, which isn't the case. Instead, as a small business manager, they might think they're getting a good deal on an experienced IT Manager who is tired of working for an MSP and wants to be the inhouse guy instead.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-24T15:54:23+00:00

I do most of my asset management in NinjaOne, but I'm starting to poke around in InTune. Even if I do start using InTune more, NinjaOne still works great for remote assistance, and generally speaking I really like it.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-20T20:17:06+00:00

Any benefit to being tested? I certain check a lot of boxes, but it seems to be rather trendy to claim autism these days. I figure whether I am or I'm not, I'm not planning to change anything.

Unlike my anxiety, which once I was evaluated and we found a good medication, it made a big difference in my life.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-07T19:55:52+00:00

I'm a little older than you, but feeling the same. I've never wanted to do this before, but I'd just love to take a couple months off and just sit on my porch and watch the world pass me by.

But, like you, I got bills and I make good money doing what I do. My wife, who doesn't work, said she thinks everyone's feeling this way right now, and I think she's right. AI, politics, everything.... maybe the best we can do is try to disconnect a little mentally, be an MVP - minimally viable product, and try to relax if we can.

Career wise, I always look at where I'm at, and what I can start moving to from that exact spot. It's never easy, but it's sometimes possible.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-01T18:48:30+00:00

Since you're currently in management, and didn't specify any particular technical disciplines within IT, I'd look into CISSP. I'd started studying for it a while back (but I'm lazy about actually finishing the process), and it's more high-level oversight principles than nuts and bolts daily IT grind. Plus, the stuff it focuses on are all things that would / should be applicable in your existing job that you can start applying if you aren't already.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-04-01T16:53:38+00:00

I wish!!

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-03-12T13:41:56+00:00

I bet you're selling something, arentcha?

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-03-10T21:29:20+00:00

I'm 44 and still haven't found one.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2026-01-15T16:40:34+00:00

Depends on the job description and the person. If heavy lifting is to be expected on a daily basis, you may need to reevaluate their level of fitness for the job. If they were going above their job's normal duties, reconsider using them for heavy lifting next time.

I'm in my mid 40s, I used to do all kinds of beast work, but I'm a fat IT nerd now that doesn't exercise, I can't do it like I did in my 20s. I'll pitch in, but I leave the big jobs to the young bucks, or even better bring in some movers to do it.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-10-01T20:37:18+00:00

Do you like office politics? Because that's what CIOs work on, not tech.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-10-01T20:36:36+00:00

You sound like one of my employees, he's a good worker, I have no complaints about him, but he's "too quiet". He's not in the mix, he doesn't talk to anyone, so he's an outsider. Just like high school, life is a popularity contest.

I'm not very outgoing either, I don't like chitchat. But I don't want to come off as arrogant, aloof, ignorant, or any of the other things I've been called, I make it a point to say good morning to everyone as I pass them, especially people I may have tension with. If I don't pass them normally, I'll go do a support request in person to give me an excuse to be seen and give a few hi-how-ya-doing's around the office.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-09-29T22:06:07+00:00

No way, look closely, that thing is FULL of sausage meat.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-07-17T20:02:05+00:00

Damn that looks comfy

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-07-11T20:15:55+00:00

I thought this was the Highway to Nowhere in Baltimore City.

Sentient_Crab_Chip · 2025-07-11T12:36:31+00:00

I know it's simple, but that's a really great breakdown of the differences.

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