Ben,
"...Techs are still struggling to find work, and experience rules more now than ever before. ..." "...Reports further say that IT is slowly being absorbed by other departments. Meaning that to get a job in IT nowadays you need to have cross-disciplinary skills. (This takes on an entirely different meaning if you hang out with AJ Axline in his Closet Universe lol) Accounting, sales, administration, operations and other similar skills are more commonly needed as companies look for ways to assign a monetary value to the skills an IT professional brings to the table. As if you needed even more piled on your plate, right?..."

You have hit something right on the head here. I've been involved in the high-technology and some aspect of a technical field for more than twenty-five years. Through this period I went from a bench-side technician repairing circuit boards to computer operations. My current role at the small company, Latran Technologies is even more convoluted. I was hired as a network administrator responsible for the teleco, Internet, desk side PCs, and application support. Well I'm not just the network administrator here anymore. The Information Technology department was absorbed into Finance, and in addition to all of the above, I now help out Customer Service by placing orders and handling support calls among other things.

What I find interesting in all this is that technically I've become stale right now, which scares me, but at the same time I have learned a ton of other skills that could easily be used in the future. First of all, the people skills. How many technicians do you know that can talk to the general public (my case dealers)? This has forced me to think clearly before opening my trap, not throw techie terms up in the air, and speak clearly. Second, I'm learning the business side of the MS-Sql business application we use. For the previous five years, I did nothing more than back up the server, and occasionally perform hardware maintenance since we hire a consultant to handle the database maintenance. Well anyway now I am now working with the application, learning the ins-and-outs of what happens when orders are placed, and how the different tables are affected through the process.

So what's the point of all this? As a person be flexible and be willing to learn anything and take on any challenge that comes at you. You may have been hired for one role in an organization, but as you've said due to restructuring and reorganization, one has to be able to perform and adapt as organizations change. John Citron

Network Administrator/Customer Administrator/Contract Billing Administrator

Ed. Note - The pro's and con's of working at small companies. On the one hand, if the business model is stable, job security tends to be much stronger. You are more valuable and harder to replace, the more they rely on you for a variety of roles. Although it may not be exactly what you signed on for, its better than handing out carts at Walmart.