Angelus Errare
Banned
Having done both the only advice I would offer is this:
- I find programming to be more fun and creative. I never stop learning.
- When you're in general IT / admin or networking you're always learning too, but in my experience the overwhelming pressure is to just make things "work".
The enjoyment to be derived from the latter probably depends a lot on your level of responsibility. Too much responsibility and too little time, or too little resources (too small a team) or crap understanding of the topics at hand from above is a recipe for the kind of stress that is just not worth it. If you're going to take work in a technical discipline, make sure the people above you understand it and what it entails. I've worked with too many managers who don't have a fucking clue. They don't want to be "blinded by science", or tricky things like licensing or feasibility, they just want it done.
For me, it felt like there was a wall with sys admin and networking. I either knew how to set up the network the way they wanted to or I didn't. Programming is different. It feels like the sky is the limit if you have the imagination, and the only inhibiting factors are time and resources. I enjoy the challenge of programming more.
In general both are well suited to people who like finding 'solutions'. When you're in a good environment, the feeling of satisfaction for finding the right solution, and in such a timely way that it impresses people - there's nothing quite like that. But another piece of advice, or more of a warning, would be: when you're good at something, people want more from you. More work, same amount of time. Be careful of teams or management who have you creating things too quickly, at pace, and leave you little time to support what you've already created. And be careful of teams that don't have a proper planning, iterative agile system in place, and teams that never sign anything off as complete or finished. Be careful of teams that don't involve the technical roles or development staff in decision making. Scope creep is a nightmare when it's not your fault.
I think what I'm trying to say is - the company and the environment are almost more important than the career you choose. The career you choose is still important, but try and go in to something where you can actually be happy and productive. If you enter a job and its shit and unenjoyable, don't waste your time like I did, get out, move on to better things and let some other poor sap do it.
This so much! Like it makes a HUGE difference in your enjoyment of your job and the career itself. You can love software development but land at a company that makes you think about killing yourself, and likewise you might be indifferent towards the IT but land in a company that helps you grow in so many ways.
It's really all about the company and environment.