Born to be geek, even if it's thankless and with a messy desk

CHENNAI, INDIA: It may come as a surprise but a survey tells that more than half of IT admin staff (55 per cent) are not thanked by colleagues for carrying out essential IT tasks on their behalf.

A poll by ManageEngine, a real-time IT management company tries to give staff in other roles an insight into what a system administrator’s job entails.

Debunking a few common myths, the poll of over 2,000 IT workers revealed a few perceptions were actually true: 44 per cent said that being a geek was written in their DNA, while 38 per cent said they left their private persona at home and morphed into a geek at work.

However, despite having a reputation for working long hours, 46 per cent of the system administrators surveyed claimed to be party animals and around half (48 per cent) worked within a nine-hour day.

“While some myths were busted, it was a surprise when some turned out to be facts”, said Vidya Vasu, head of the ManageEngine Community. “For instance, 55 per cent had messy desks and the majority conformed to the ‘geek’ stereotype.”