Reply to: Are there any IT Skills that require high intelligence

[Paracelsus]

I think programming at a high level does. Like, complicated assembly-programming, cutting-edge Google/Facebook type work, very mathematical finance stuff, writing compilers etc. Whereas more basic programming like accounting software or simple website work requires moderate intelligence but mostly learning and practising standards and APIs etc. The same for tech/application support, DBA - that's mostly knowing a product really well along with troubleshooting techniques as opposed to understanding and putting into practise really complicated concepts.

If you have that basic IT intelligence of generally knowing how computers work and, importantly, knowing how to look for an answer on the web, then lots of IT jobs are just layering knowledge on top of that and don't require big-brain IQ IMO.

I dropped out of University doing Comp Sci because the maths was too hard, so I'm a bit clever but nothing more, I could (I assume) never be a quant programmer, but I've done basic development, app support, Windows stuff, networking, none of which were terribly difficult for the grey matter.

I do Advent of Code every year, get so far in and then completely stall because of the maths/concepts involved. There must be jobs which the people who get 100% (and in a much, much, much faster time) can do that I can't, and I assume these are all high-level programming jobs.

[ladymuck]

My older brother is a data scientist contractor. Interestingly he says his chief problem with contract roles is that he tends to get diverted away from doing data science, which he wants to do, towards data engineering which is less interesting. I wonder whether this might be happening because there might be more demand for data engineering skills in the marketplace, than data science, despite it requiring a little less brain-power. Which might undermine my reasoning for going after a job requiring high intelligence...

...

I suspect it's because the client doesn't actually know what they want and think data engineering is the same as data science.

[GJABS]

I'm not sure how you could do that job for 20 years without becoming incredibly frustrated.

I would not describe myself as particularly smart, but after 1 year of specialising purely in high performance tuning of Oracle databases in the late 90s, I was becoming frustrated. After 2 years i had had enough, and needed a new challenge. I lasted 1 more year as I transitioned over to different skills. I cannot imagine 20 years of this.

If your thinking velocity is still high, I would suggest participating in some coding dojos or codewars/ competitions. Not necessarily a destination to what you want to achieve, but perhaps a gateway to something more fulfilling you will discover along the way.

Good luck.

Discipline, I think, was what has kept me going. But not going very well, I'm coming to realise.

[GJABS]

Wrong!

You have self-awareness. That is part of emotional intelligence.

I do sometimes

[GJABS]

I was talking in broader terms, not just your individual case.

Several people have suggested data science/AI/machine learning as a topic that you might find intellectually challenging. Maybe take a look at some online courses with EdX or Coursera. There are supposedly some good ones from the likes of Stanford and Harvard universities and they don't cost much to do.

My older brother is a data scientist contractor. Interestingly he says his chief problem with contract roles is that he tends to get diverted away from doing data science, which he wants to do, towards data engineering which is less interesting. I wonder whether this might be happening because there might be more demand for data engineering skills in the marketplace, than data science, despite it requiring a little less brain-power. Which might undermine my reasoning for going after a job requiring high intelligence...

Anyway, I've started on an AI course, as you suggest, a course for a Microsoft exam in the subject. I like doing exams because they provide a discipline and a target to work towards. Looks interesting.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cr.../exams/ai-900/
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/tr...1-introduction

[GJABS]

In my experience those who treat software development as an academic exercise are doomed to spend their careers working on tedious projects for poor pay.

I think you might be mistaken about this. Isn't it best to adopt a working style that is the best fit to your personality, academic or not?

[edison]

I think, what with having autism, I've got no chance of having any emotional intelligence

I was talking in broader terms, not just your individual case.

Several people have suggested data science/AI/machine learning as a topic that you might find intellectually challenging. Maybe take a look at some online courses with EdX or Coursera. There are supposedly some good ones from the likes of Stanford and Harvard universities and they don't cost much to do.

[TheDude]

In my experience those who treat software development as an academic exercise are doomed to spend their careers working on tedious projects for poor pay.

[PerfectStorm]

I've noticed that I'm surrounded by people who know their job is 'to do' something, but not 'why' they should do it or being particularly inquisitive about it. They just do, like robots.

[SueEllen]

I think, what with having autism, I've got no chance of having any emotional intelligence

Wrong!

You have self-awareness. That is part of emotional intelligence.

[edison]

I think, what with having autism, I've got no chance of having any emotional intelligence

I was talking in broader terms, not just your individual case.

Several people have suggested data science/AI/machine learning as a topic that you might find intellectually challenging. Maybe take a look at some online courses with EdX or Coursera. There are supposedly some good ones from the likes of Stanford and Harvard universities and they don't cost much to do.

[GJABS]

I don't agree with that. As has been mentioned many times styles of thinking can vary greatly. This an argument that high intelligence people can often be lacking in common sense so if they are in a role that isn't aimed at their level they may struggle to apply other skills/common sense that a lower intelligence person would have.

It's a massive area to cover with just two sentences but I don't think that's true as you've stated. Doing a better job doesn't always mean apply more intelligence. You could need to apply other types of thinking like time management, risk, stakeholders and other ways of thinking to do a better job and high intelligence isn't likely to help in those areas. Competency approaches can help more than intelligence for a start. Depends on the job I guess but I think, having a son similar to GJAB's, doing the wrong job for them, better, isn't the answer in this case.

I think that's right.
I can see where the other guy's coming from, in that you don't want to fall into the trap of thinking "I am highly intelligent, so this is why I'm crap at A,B,C etc", which might be demotivating and lead you into doing nothing and slacking off. But as Clint Eastwood once said "A man's got to know his limitations", and by investigating my own limitations rather than sticking my head in the sand and hoping for the best, I am hoping to home in better on what my real assets are, such as I hope they might/should be.

[GJABS]

In a broader sense, emotional intelligence is the skill to work on IMHO. It's often in short supply in IT and if combined with business domain knowledge along with your functional technical skills, it makes you a very rounded individual.

I think, what with having autism, I've got no chance of having any emotional intelligence

[edison]

As per some previous replies, many IT roles don't require 'intelligence' per se, at least not in a traditional intellectual sense.

Based on recruitment I've done with several clients across all of IT, I'd say the data science and AI/machine learning areas are the ones that hiring managers wanted 'intelligence' in the form of higher qualifications like masters degrees.

In a broader sense, emotional intelligence is the skill to work on IMHO. It's often in short supply in IT and if combined with business domain knowledge along with your functional technical skills, it makes you a very rounded individual.

[SueEllen]

someone with high intelligence will do any job better than someone with low intelligence.
If you think you intellect is not being used, try harder to do a better job.

You don't want someone with high intelligence working on a factory production line as you don't want someone who will daydream or trying to find a shortcut to doing what is a very mundane task.

And in some jobs you can't try harder to do a better job. For example with many creative jobs people don't tend to try harder.