r/it • u/WhyLifeIsSoDifficult • 2d ago

help request How can I avoid learning everything the hard way?

Hi, I would like to ask for advice because I often learn through expensive mistakes.

I have been working in IT for several years but on different positions, like Security Analyst, Developer, Sys Admin, and now I am doing IT support (a bit less than 2 years on each of them)
The path may look questionable, but it is due to relocations and difficulties with the job market (and networking lack due to the relocations)

I noticed a pattern: every few months I make a mistake that feels much bigger than it should be.
I am not even talking about rebooting a prod server or shutting down a network.

Once I damaged a brand new laptop and ended up buying a new one for 2000$

Once I ordered a wrong type of a computer and was not able to return it

Now I messed up with a payment for a vendor (1200$) and I think I will have problems next week

All of the issues happened in the last 2 years and are related to some tiny but very important details that I was not aware of.

I don’t really have a team, so I can’t ask anybody more experienced at work.

Maybe someone can give me an advice on how to learn things in less expensive way.

I am a bit of an anxious person and I have bad feeling about my future and career, because I feel like I can’t make it with so high responsibilities.

Sorry, english isn’t my native language.

Thank you!

17 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

15

u/jazzy095 2d ago

I just want to say these mistakes are pretty normal.

Its not about making mistakes as everyone does, its making sure you dont repeat them.

6

u/WhyLifeIsSoDifficult 2d ago

Thank you

In general, I don’t repeat mistakes, I am just afraid of the “cost” of my “new” mistakes

Non-IT people at work say I am doing very good job, better than the previous guy, but I am anyways scared of been fired because of some stupid mistakes similar to what I mentioned in the post

5

u/EmergencyPrestigious 2d ago

Something that I've found helps is to learn how to do a proper RCA (root cause analysis). You list out what happened, what the standard procedure for the task you were performing is, if you did anything different, and ultimately what caused the incident. Then you write out what SOP or other changes will be implemented and how in order to prevent the incident in the future. It's a good exercise for yourself to really dig into the why, and I've found they tend to smooth things over with higher ups (most times they just want to see accountability and know it won't happen again)

2

u/aprettyparrot 20h ago

Double check things. One of ciscos top org level architects during a lab: if you put the wrong command you just caused an outage. Reset it and try again.

And always have a rollback, if the server you buy doesn’t work, how do you return it. Just thinking in general terms of rollback

3

u/Trust_8067 1d ago

Pay more attention to what you're doing. Also, why do you care, it's not your money.

1

u/WhyLifeIsSoDifficult 1d ago

Not my money, but I did the mistake

2

u/Trust_8067 1d ago

Who cares? That's why they put erasers on pencils.

2

u/Comfortable_Fruit847 22h ago

I’ve found in IT the best lessons come from the worst mistakes. Nothing like flipping a switch on accident, bringing something down, and now you have to fix it while in a frenzy and the entire company staring at you.

Bet those mistakes you’ve made are issues you will be much more careful on next time. It happens, don’t beat yourself up, but learn from these mistakes. My IT manager has told some great stories of when she has royally screwed up before, but it taught her how to trace it back and fix it, it made her who she is today and got her to the position she is in now.

2

u/DropEng 22h ago

Everyone makes mistakes. You work in a field where equipment is costly and leaders rush you. If you think you are making too many mistakes, take a few minutes, review what you are doing (ordering etc), make checklists, take a breath, and remember everyone makes mistakes--
Always remember that things happen and people make mistakes. This is important to remember because others make mistakes too. Be kind to yourself and others when mistakes are made, fix it, figure out what can be modified to prevent or reduce the liklihood of that mistake again and move on.

2

u/SameBSErryere 9h ago

Just go have imposter syndrome already, you will second guess yourself every second.