There are no more baby dinosaurs.
I get a laugh out of that whenever my friend from the neighboring agency I work with mentions that.
He’s referencing the reluctance for some to change with the times. Many legacy systems operate within the city and maintain and support city services. Civil servants working on these systems know them like the back of their hand. These systems chug along and, when an issue comes up, these guys can jump in and get things going in very short order. With backups and, in some cases, secondary backups, the end user doesn’t even notice that any outage occurred nor have they seen a reduction in performance.
But sooner or later, something changes. Parts are no longer available. Equipment is no longer supported by the manufacturer. Maybe the methods used by industry have changed. Maybe efficiency can be gained by changing equipment. Reduced power consumption and increased performance reduce the costs and footprint of the older equipment.
As they look for young guns to come in and take over support of their legacy technology, they find there are no candidates. There are no more baby dinosaurs.
As with private industry, if you are looking to work for the city, or already work there, it is important to keep your skill set updated with the latest tools, techniques, and methodologies. Whether you’re in the IT industry, working as an auto mechanic, or employed in Facilities Maintenance, private sector requirements and expectations of performance are as relevant in city service as they would be working for a private entity.
A statement bantered around the recent Verizon strike was a comment from the Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam stating “Nostalgia for the rotary phone era won’t save American jobs, any more than ignoring the global forces reshaping the auto industry saved the Detroit automakers”.
However, Verizon workers have stepped up their game so, really, the survival of legacy technology is not at play here as much as, maybe, the distribution of wealth between management and the workers. It seems that Verizon (as well as the other telecom companies) have been moving with the times to keep up on technology. But I digress…
Just as the Verizon, AT&T, and other high-tech companies have employees that are knowledgeable with the latest technologies, the city, especially these days, are looking to insource tech-savvy and enthusiastic persons for the deployment of new services supporting the citizens of the city, such as Wi-Fi hotspots through LinkNYC as well as maintenance of city-purchased assets like fire apparatus.
So, how to keep up with technology as you progress towards that city job? Well, a few tips here can give you some low-cost techniques to keep abreast. There are few entry-level jobs so it is presumed that you’ve gathered knowledge and experience from the private sector or worked for another municipality. The equipment, software, products, and services used by the city usually come from private sector companies. The HVAC mechanic that is working in the Building Maintenance division is maintaining the same equipment found on a private building. The IT persons are configuring Cisco ™ routers and appliances on Dell™ computers running Windows™ software.
Once on-the-job, some agencies provide training opportunities or support further education. DCAS offers the Mayor’s Graduate Scholarship Program and agencies may offer localized specialty training for trades, technologists, professional and administrative personnel.
Existing civil service workers need to understand, if not embrace, new technologies and stay current with the technology in their chosen field. Otherwise, they’ll have to keep watch for that asteroid.
Questions and Comments welcomed below.
Dino Man Image Courtesy of Gratisography.com. Buy the man a coffee!
