IT Job Talk: An Interview with a Government IT Systems Analyst

In the Job Talk series of interviews, we ask about working in IT within different industries. 

Through these interviews, we explore the pluses and minuses of working for industries like healthcare, automotive or entertainment.  Basically, each article will give you an idea of what it’s like to work somewhere else…

For starters, have you ever wonder what it’s like to work in a state-government IT job in California? 

Meet Brian…

Tom's IT Pro: What industry do you work in?  If there’s a specific sub-industry, then what is it?

Brian: I work for Government IT as a Systems Analyst in the California.

What does a Systems Analyst do in the county?

The class below, "Systems Technician" would be considered Desktop Support Level 1. Field tech work. A systems analyst can range from Desktop Support Level 2, to Server M&O, Network M&O, or Application support. A systems analyst can specialize in one of those fields, or, in the case of smaller departments, a combination of some or all of those fields. 

What state and region do you live in?

California - Specifically, Southern California, Inland Empire region (Ed. Note: The Inland  Empire is just outside of Los Angeles County). 

How long have you been in IT?  5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years?

10+ years.

How long have you been working at your current job?  5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years?

I've been with the County for 10 years, and with my current department for 8. 

Do folks ever stick around longer than 20 years?

Generally people in management or non-IT departments stay for 25 - 30 years. At 25 years you can get 87% of your highest annual income in retirement. It goes up from there. 

So do IT folks stick around longer than 20 years?  (This is the follow-up regarding IT staff)

In a sense, they are related. Usually people that are in for the long haul move in to middle or upper management IT positions. I have seen ONE non-management IT person retire after 25 years of service in my ten years with the county. It seems that people that don't intend to stick around or move in to management positions use their experience with the county to move in to better paying positions in the private sector. This is just an opinion based on my observations over time.

Julio Urquidi is the Technical Editor at Tom's IT Pro. Previously, he spent 17 years in healthcare-related enterprise IT. Julio’s most recent responsibilities centered around virtualization, but he is also well-versed in Linux, Windows and systems administration. Specializing in articles that help small companies with limited budgets leverage technology, he has been a contributing editor to Tom's Hardware.

See here for all of Julio's Tom's IT Pro articles.

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