IT professionals have lower carrier ceiling? (Part 1)

Being an IT professional is a really nice thing. Well, at least for me. I really love almost anything that has to do with the IT and being part of this "family" makes me feel good. I like IT peculiarities. It is a job that is never static. Well, the job itself can be static but you always can and should be keep yourself up to date. At least at your field. IT peculiarities do not stop there. There is always this love-hate relationship with the business analysts or marketing departments. There is always the feel of ownership to the project you spent so much time on. And then there is this peculiarity called carrier development.

IT people always feel they have this glass/invisible ceiling to their career development. This ceiling is not invisible at all. It is called -most of the times-  business analyst or project manager. All employees have a ceiling. You have to be on the top otherwise. But in our case this ceiling seems a bit lower than usual. Why is this happening? Who is to blame? The "arrogant and ignorant" guys at top management? IT personnel themselves? Or is it a weird conspiracy against us; the geniuses?

IT departments have one more peculiarity. They almost always have to be managed by people that do NOT do the job their subordinate do. Or in some cases, by people you have never done the job. You cannot be an IT manager and write code or maintain a system etc. If you did that (as part of your job) sometime in the past, you have to stop doing it now. Top management is never keen to having a "hero manager that still does the dirty job of <insert something here>". Or, to be more precise, they do love this guy as he is both still productive and satisfied with his promotion, BUT they will invariably put someone as "advisor" (aka superior) to do the managerial job you should be doing.

So why IT people find it that hard to be a manager? In my opinion, the main reason is our superiority complex. We do things that others cannot understand. We are given nicknames like "wizard", "genius" just like that. And we like it. And maybe we are right to feel that way. Especially the older professional who did their thing in an environment where resources really counted, code generators were non-existent etc. How can a wizard now do the "puny" duties of a manager? Well this is our mistake and whoever feels that way (and being more that 30yo) deserves his ceiling :)

To be continued...