I am an IT guys.

Before I start, I just want to ask one question for you. What do you think IT engineer looks like? Remember, please use positive words only. Just kidding, any word in your mind to describe the IT engineers is fine. OK, no one answers. Let me list some of them, such as lower EQ, hand monkey, over-time working, plaid [plæd] shirt, dirty jeans [dʒinz], sports shoes, and one more thing, the backpack. Yes, this is the typical IT style.

Unfortunately, I am this kind of IT guy. However, I was told differently about IT in my childhood. When I was 18 years’ old, I just passed [pæst] the college entrance examination with a good score, at least looks good. One day, my parents came to me, when I was watching TV. My father said, “Todd, come here! which major do you like to learn in the college?” I said, “Emm…” A few seconds later, he continued “Let’s choose computer science”, and “you will be never afraid of losing jobs, as IT is much more popular with higher salary, compared with other majors, after you graduate from the college. The more important thing is, you can easily find a girlfriend.” Then I said “Yes!” without any hesitation, “I want IT!”, you know, I am always a good boy, willing to follow the instructions from my parents. At that time, I just felt like a bird out of cage, vibrating the wings, and chasing the sun in the sky. Yes, I will be an IT guy with bright and beautiful future, that await me.

However, I was very disappointed on the first day of my college life. Because there were only 2 girls out of 32 classmates I had. Then I realized the most difficult task for me is to find a beautiful girlfriend in a technology institute, rather than passing the (college entrance) exam. The good thing of me is, I am always a positive guy. So I said to myself “Todd, what purpose do you study in the college? It is not only for girlfriend, right?” Yes, I am an IT guy with bright future, and I need move forward. Later on, I spent lots of time on learning computer games with my roommate, instead of computer science. You must know how nervous and struggling I was, just before each exam. The good news is, I was very lucky and I am happy to report that I got my bachelor and Master degree with even some scholarship, which is not the point.

Seven (7) years later, I graduated from college, and said Goodbye to the unbalanced ratio of boys and girls, which is 2 out of 32. And I found a decent job in a multinational company with many pretty girls. I thought my time was coming. But I was wrong again. A Friday morning, one of the most beautiful girls from HR dept. walked directly to me with smile, and said that “Todd, could please repair my computer? It is broken again. And I need it to login QQ and chat with my boyfriend.” “Yes, OK?!” I answered. You know, I felt very frustrated and embarrassed [ɪmˈbærəst], just like a bucket [ˈbʌkɪt] of cold water dumping from my head to my feet. That is just one example of how bad it is for IT engineer. As an IT engineer, the best character is patience, because you need listen to many complaints and support the users with smiles every day. And The best performance for IT team is, no one knows you, just because of no complaints to your team.

Now I’ve been working in IT industry for almost 9 years, and I manage 3 IT teams with 7 engineers. The IT is not changed much. There are still many complaints to IT team every day, and it is still difficult to get budget approved for IT systems each year. So IT dept. is still complaints center and cost center. But I want to change, and I want to transform IT to a profit [ˈprɑfɪt] center by lowering the operational cost and improving the work productivity for other teams with the proper technology and systems. Because I believe I am an IT guy with bright future.

Today Information Technology is growing very fast [fæst], and it is changing the way we learn, the way we work, and the way we live. We can join the online training for presentation, just like we do in GALA camp. We can use Instant Messaging tool for daily communication with our co-workers all over the world. And we are getting used to using Wechat and Alipay for quick payment every day. So please be kind to your IT friends. Because “Better IT, Better Life.”