The People Behind IT
IT services help with everything from recovering forgotten passwords, and tech support, to maintaining the building’s online functionality. They provide online class tutorials for those who need them, and they even handle emergency closure information like when PVCC had a snow day recently.
Anni Wilson works as a systems analyst in the IT department at PVCC. She said, “I do a mixture of access management and system administration for a variety of enterprise systems at the college. Additionally, I develop workflows and custom programs for some of our in-house processes.”
When asked what first led her to work in the IT field, she said, “I’d been working as an office administrator and sometimes folks came in with broken laptops, asking if I might know how to fix them. I didn’t know how to fix anything, but I consulted the internet about the various issues I encountered and was able to fix each problem that came my way. I was surprised to find that I found this immensely satisfying. I was looking for a career change and decided to study IT at PVCC. It was there that I discovered coding. Satisfaction from problem-solving was taken to a new level, and I knew that I’d found the right field.”
She explained the most rewarding part of her job, saying, “I most like the design and early coding phase of a problem. After the problem has been clearly defined, I love figuring out the best way (or best way I can think of) to solve it.”
Wilson also offered some advice for anyone interested in IT. She said, “Make sure you like it first. Don’t decide to be a programmer because the pay is good. No amount of pay is worth a job you loathe. Then, get your foot in the door. This usually means taking a part-time help desk position. Once people see that you are a hard worker and a good problem solver, chances are that when you apply for the job you want, you’ll get it.”
