What kind of businesses have the best and worst I.T. departments?

Question

I'm looking for a new job. I'm a programmer/developer and tech writer. Currently I work for a transportation company and am trying to get a feel of what the I.T. departments in other companies might be like. I realize all companies are different, but are there some I.T. groups that are better to be in than others, such as hospitals, banks, government, etc.? Which ones have the most growth opportunity? Which use older vs. newer technology?

Answer 1

Whether an IT group is better or not depends on what you want in an IT group. Non-IT companies like investment companies, insurance companies, hospitals and so on have more traditional work environments, business casual dress, usually regular hours. Process and standards are usually in place, and the IT group has people of all ags. There is a definite hierarchy of management. they have invested lots of money in their technology, so they tend to keep it for as long as they can. Which is not to say that it's always ancient, but it's not always state of the art, either.

Non-IT industries differ, though. Companies within an industry differ, too. So think about a financial company - more traditional usually, but some of the best pay rates around if the company is doing well. Then think about advertising companies - they're constantly trying to come up with creative ads, so the IT departments tend to be funkier and more playful as well.

IT companies, like software and computer companies, tend to be looser, have more flextime, casual dress, and if they're newer or smaller, there's more chance to grow in the direction you want. They also tend to have younger people on average. They are kind of pressured to keep up with the latest technology, so they often have newer tech as well as whatever their clients are using. But again, there's a huge difference between, say, IBM and Google.

Worst IT departments are probably those that have been coping with low budgets, or low morale from having jobs moved to India, or old-school managers that have been there so long they're behind the times and won't listen to any new ideas. These aren't common to any one industry.