Make sure you know where you're landing and avoid Shared Services ICT like the plague
Pros
Applies to CMTED - Shared Services ICT (SSICT) - Helpful, friendly peers, officers and directors (up to SOGA) - Open to change, both new technologies and processes - Most full-time employees are genuinely interested in the outcome of their work for the benefit of citizens. Some at great personal cost.
Cons
- Shared Services ICT (SSICT) is the punchbag of everything goes wrong with ICT projects in other directorates. When the business has an issue with a project they escalate all the way up to an executive band 4, SSICT only goes up to executive band 3. In the end SSICT has to fix the mess and take the blame for what went wrong with the client. - Some (not all) Branch executives at SSICT are just simply bullies. Part of this is due to the treatment experienced from other directorates. In my opinion, only a bullies can handle so much harassment from clients and take pride/pleasure on their work. - Business ICT directors under Health, Education and Access Canberra are very overworked and too politicized by ministers. In several occasions they become disrespectful and abusive towards me and other directors at SSICT. During my tenure of less than 2 years I witnessed three formal complaints from my own direct reports, all of them warranted. In the end the lack of professionalism and respect generated too much disruption to my team and I gave up trying to be the peacemaker. A few years later (August 2022), I thought about re-applying to another job as a program manager but to my sadness, some of those abusive directors are now occupying executive level positions. No wonder, the vast majority of my peers (directors) from 3 years ago left the organization
