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  • how do you explain your job to your mom?

as simple as that, how do you explain your job to your mom? (or just to anyone not IT friendly)

i often face this problem when someone asks me what i do, and in networking, it's not as easy as it sounds to explain it. for most of the jobs, you have an end product that people see or use. advertisement, you see ads everywhere. doctor, you go see one. even programming, you use the program so all you have to say is that you make it. but in networking, if people see the switches, routers, .... then there's something wrong. it's a whole hidden world from the end-user. people use the internet for example, but all they know is their pc and their browser. most people have no idea what a switch or a router is and everything that happens in the background after they press enter in the url bar. and the ones who know what routers are think it's a linksys router.
My mom is IT engineer :-D No problem to explain, because she teach me all that :-)
So how do you explain it watermelon :D ? I'm interested to know haha!
I like to compare the internet with the phone network... I mean most people at least have a vague idea about phone exchanges, used to connect phones to each others, and they know theres a lot of cabling involved in connecting the phones across the world.
That can help.
I never bothered explaining, but maybe I should try.
rolf wroteI like to compare the internet with the phone network... I mean most people at least have a vague idea about phone exchanges, used to connect phones to each others, and they know theres a lot of cabling involved in connecting the phones across the world.
That can help.
I never bothered explaining, but maybe I should try.
mmmm, well i actually struggle to. my parents are already used to not understand clearly what we do as my sister did biologie moleculaire et cellulaire, and for them maybe only the word "biologie" makes sense... well, they're also both more into literature fields so it also doesn't help... for my grandparents it's worth, they think she's a doctor. as she has a phd, no one bothers to tell them no :P so for them my sister is "dactoura" :P
for my parents and me, all they know is that i'm in the IT field, that my work has something to do with computers/internet/telecommunication and that we work on projects, they stopped asking for more details a long time ago :P i guess my grandparents should be thinking that i fix phones :P

as for other people, when someone asks me what i do i usually just say "i'm in IT" hoping they're just asking just to be polite or just because that's what we do when we meet new people, hoping they'll just say ok and move on without asking for more details. if they do ask for more, i always struggle when trying to explain. i don't like to say that i don't want to explain or that they wont understand as i don't want to look arrogant and sheyef 7aleh and mestahbelon, so i do try... but i end up being someone who just installs linksys routers which for them is a thing that THEY could even do on their own... so i just say yes and cross my fingers for someone to change the discussion :P
then there's the problem of the company name. they ask while assuming that it will be a name that they will know. and when i say "GBM" they have this weird look, the what-the-fuck-is-that look... well yeah, if you're not in the field or one of our competitors, you wont be hearing from us... we don't put adds on tv :P then to remove the what-the-fuck-is-that face i have to explain that we are a sister company of IBM, which works, they then have the ecstatic face, but they still have no clue what i do and assume that i'm super rich, so then they get the sad face (or maybe a pitty one) when i say no to their "oh, so you make lots of money".
I didn't know there was much struggle behind the question.

Just to have a little fun... tell your grand parents that you have "Master in communications"...that would make you m3alem itaselet w talifonet... as in m3allem l baton and m3alem njara :P

You can try to find a generic word that ppl are usually familiar with... for example network engineer or shi heik, maybe that would create familiar images or give ppl something to compare with and make you a mhandes near your doc sis.

and you know, sometimes you can not correct ppl :P, let them think that you are a rich dude, sometimes it is fun to play along and see others reactions and compare the behavior on before and after finding out the truth (specially if you are talking girl wise, you will get the ohhh i wasted all this time face :P )

other than that, take care w good luck ya m3allem :P
I always say that I sweep the floors and sack the potatoes. This puts a stop to further questions.
Regardless of how you explain it, your parents/relatives will still contact you to advise them on what computer to buy, where to buy it and/or how to fix it.

Pet peeve of mine.

"Leik, 3ende labtob 3omro khams snin, fina nzabto hayda wou nmashi. Annnn la'? tab fina nbi3o?"

"el camputir 3inde bati', kif fiyye sar3o?"

"Jebet camputir jdid, mnih?" <---- Definitly the worst, granted they do not provide you with any description whatsoever assuming that you would magically figure out what the specifications are.
lol yeah xtrem.. IT l bineyeh or 7ay
w ya dillak shu bisir fik iza ra7et l internet and ppl want to check their facebook or msn !
you HAVE to fix it... and NOW !

So for them, it is all the same.. u know how to work with their piles of plastics aka computers when they go down


ohh and welcome to the forum btw
mir wrotelol yeah xtrem.. IT l bineyeh or 7ay
w ya dillak shu bisir fik iza ra7et l internet and ppl want to check their facebook or msn !
you HAVE to fix it... and NOW !

So for them, it is all the same.. u know how to work with their piles of plastics aka computers when they go down


ohh and welcome to the forum btw
Thanks, its relatively calm though on the forums.