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I grew up in a fairly small town, a place where we all knew the owners of the corner stores and we all heard when families across town lost their jobs at the local plant. In such small places, there aren't many people who do the job you do, so your work is known, recognized, and appreciated.
Today I live in a larger metropolitan area, and my job is in IT--a job not only engaged in by millions of people around the world, but a job in which I'm necessarily exposed to many other people who do exactly the same thing.
In such a massive and communicative space, it's easy to disappear into the background. My work isn't really any different from what other people do. In fact, many people do it better than I do. The only people who even know the specific things I do are my direct coworkers and managers. Further, IT is a business that end consumers rarely acknowledge unless something goes wrong. Most of the communication IT professionals have with the public are when the public is angry or disappointed with something.
These two circumstances can make working in IT very disheartening. It probably also plays a major role in why so many people in IT don't find deep fulfillment in what they do. I've felt a similar discontent in my own job many times before.
HR departments around the world get paid lots of money to figure out how to solve these problems. I haven't heard of an effective solution yet. But then again, that's why I don't work in HR.
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[Last updated: 2021-10-28]