The 7 dirtiest jobs in IT

Somebody's got to do them -- and hopefully that somebody isn't you

 

Working in IT isn't always pretty. After all, we can't all work on the cutting-edge technologies all the time. Some of us have to get dirty -- in some cases, literally. 

Unfortunately, dirty jobs -- whether you're being chained to a help desk, hacking 30-year-old code, finding yourself wedged between warring factions in the conference room, or mucking about in human effluvia -- are necessary to make nearly every organization tick. (Well, maybe not the human effluvia part.)

The good news? Master at least one of them, and you're pretty much guaranteed a job with somebody. We don't guarantee you'll like it, though.

Here are seven of the dirtiest jobs in IT, and why your organization needs them.

[ Talkback: Got some dirty IT jobs we missed? Post your nominations for the worst of the worst below ]

Dirty IT job No. 7: Legacy systems archaeologist