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Pretty much every computing related job I have ever had required weekends and nights. From my view, it has more to do with how workload is managed. If management purposely cuts corners and understaffs, I can expect more work than can fit in a typical workday/week (same pay too as an exempt employee...grrr). This pretty much means more weekend and nights.
My most "predictable" work schedule was with jobs that were shift based. Even for support or critical components of business, you were typically not bothered off hours... unless things were bad and they needed guidance. I actually enjoyed these types of positions..a lot. You were in and out. You can leave the current work issues behind you as you pass it on to the next shift. You can easily plan your life around this fixed schedule. Employees also got shift-diff and overtime. I charged an hour when an non-shift call came in for for my guidance and assistance. Managers liked it because they can staff for "typical" load and call in for reinforcements during "high" load times agreeing to pay over time. Some managers would slightly understaff knowing that certain individuals were happy with overtime on a regular basis. This was cheaper than always staffing for the worst case scenario.
Unfortunately, the company got merged with another and they converted everyone to exempt status which didn't translate to that type of job very well. Basically the same thing without the incentive of shift-diff and overtime. No one would help current shift because they were no longer paid to. Management couldn't staff for high load times (upper management didn't want to hire) nor could they easily call people in to reinforce the current shift. A call from your manager off hours essentially meant working for free. Moral plummeted and loads of people quit. People who typically were happy on night and weekend shifts suddenly got paid on the same scale as those working typical business hours. Some managers tried to compensate with comp-time. But you could never find a time to take it. It was a complete mess.
I personally wouldn't want to be in an IT position that wasn't considered business critical. That's just asking to be laid off.
If you are referring to actually having to participate on an "on call" duty. I've not had to do that since I stopped working as an engineer.
It's mostly the technical staff (jr./mid engineers). If you are in project management, systems development, analyst, or leadership. It's more likely that you won't have to be part of the "rotation".
That being said, this doesn't mean you never have to worry about being called. We have staff that are on-call every night. They are the first line of contact for off-hours operational issues/alerts. However, everyone is on the escalation list (depending on situation).
Customer service manager or something along those lines. Our helpdesk/admins have a customer service manager who develops policies and procedures to make sure that we provide the best service we can. They also take on the part of working on software licensing agreements with vendors as well as "big picture" stuff.
If you want a job like that in my area it really helps to have system admin experience first which will need to work nights/weekends.
Customer service manager or something along those lines. Our helpdesk/admins have a customer service manager who develops policies and procedures to make sure that we provide the best service we can. They also take on the part of working on software licensing agreements with vendors as well as "big picture" stuff.
If you want a job like that in my area it really helps to have system admin experience first which will need to work nights/weekends.
No like almost never worry about working weekend nights holidays or being on call 24/7?
A school system admin maybe or like a health clinic computer technician?
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