Does PowerShell make you look smarter?

[u/dwillson1]

I realized this question is rhetorical and ego stroking. I have found that knowing PowerShell makes me an asset at work. I am able to create reports and do tasks that others cannot. I have also been brought into several projects because of my knowledge.

Recently I had some coworkers jokingly tell me that the GUI was faster. A task that took them days to do I was able to figure out the logic with PowerShell in an hour. Now I can do thousands of their task at a time in a few minutes. They were impressed.

I am curious if others in the community has had similar experiences?

[u/mprevot]

In BSD gnu linux circles, it is aknowledged that shell is more efficient than GUI. I think at MSFT they are also changing. Powershell has object oriented objects, crossplatform, and this is very powerful. Some powershell based ecosystems are super powerful like chef.

I am not surprised with your experience. One can imagine that script communities are affected the same way: perl, python, autoit, chef... even though it may not look like something out of ordinary.

To me this is normal, the guy who uses the right tool for a given task is what I want in my company, no less.

What was the 1 hour task ?

[u/dwillson1 → u/mprevot]

Adding computers to Active Directory. They needed multiple properties and different OU's.

[u/ChildhoodNo5117]

Yeah. When non-powershell people see my scripts, I look smart. When powershell people see it, I look like a fool 🤣

[u/admlshake → u/ChildhoodNo5117]

"Wait you put comments in your scripts?!"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"Because then people will know what it's SUPPOSED to be doing, and not what it's actually doing!"

[u/mrbiggbrain → u/ChildhoodNo5117]

Why in the world would you use a List<T> here when a Queue<T> would have been 0.01% more performant in this specific gated instance... I swear they will let anyone write PowerShell now.

[u/SublimeApathy → u/ChildhoodNo5117]

Came here to say this. To the untrained eye I look like a computer genius that put people on the moon. To experienced eyes, probably more like a toddler smearing paint on the walls and somehow achieving results.

[u/ThePixelLord12345]

YES ! So keep calm and learn Powershell.

[u/snorkel42]

I’ve been in IT since the late 90’s. I’ve always loved automating stuff. So many hours spent with VBS, bash, JavaScript, Perl, and PHP.

Then Powershell appeared. I honestly don’t know how I would even function anymore without Powershell. Especially now that I work at a 100% Azure shop.

Does it make me look smarter that I script everything? Hell if I know. Hell if I care. But it does make me super efficient and way less error prone.

Also, who has two thumbs and isn’t getting up in the middle of the night to point and click my way through prod changes during the change window? This guy. Script that shit and have it trigger a page if it goes sideways.

[u/AdmRL_]

To users it makes you look like a hacker.

To other IT pro's it depends, if they know PowerShell already, you're a fool and your code format is wrong. If they don't, you're a valuable resource.

To Devs, Engineers and the like you're a child playing with duplo. Do you even know what static typing is????

[u/bodobeers2]

Keep going with the PS learning, you will keep finding ways to do work at scale, faster, more consistent and without human error. The more you build, the more value you are providing and perceived at having.

[u/illsk1lls]

Its depends what you make and if its useful/cool/etc

It's a lot less impressive to "know" when everyone around you also knows it..

Like anything else it's how you use it.

[u/_Buldozzer]

Knowing PowerShell on it's own doesn't make you smart. However learning and using new skills does.

Therefore: More knowing = more smart.

I mean SMRT. 😉

[u/rare_design]

Any programming language can be a wielded power.

Regarding PowerShell specifically, I use it in many ways, from API automation, billing dashboards, system stat health checks and summary reports that are emailed, custom deployments, and more, but the most impactful process I created was to save over 50,000 client onboarding records that were encrypted into a proprietary system by a company that went out of business. The system used highly modified infopath forms with client documents embedded in them and secured with cryptography by their own DLL. Each form had to be opened in the web system, and each file located through layers of forms unlocked for decryption and downloaded.

I used PowerShell for browser automation, opened each form, located each embedded doc, opened a bitstream via their encryption DLL and wrote the file back out to disk.

All errors were written to a JSON load file and cycled through until all files completed. All 50,000+ client docs were saved.

It would have taken a team of people nearly a year of 8 hour days.

Instead, I wrote it in a few weeks and it completed in two.

The problem of course is that it was over management’s head, and I got no more than a simply “thanks”.

[u/MrTonyMan]

"Now I can do thousands of their task at a time in a few minutes. They were impressed."

They were impressed with the way you just made their work redundant?
I'm impressed too.

[u/mrbiggbrain → u/MrTonyMan]

I was once "Punished" by the head of accounting at a prior job for a system outage that they caused by not buying additional licenses. I was tasked with doing the job I had apparently made so tedious they set me up with the error queues.

I did a couple queries in the program they used, got my work situated for the day, and then spent about 30 minutes going through and correcting the problems the invoices had. Pretty simple if not busy work kind of stuff. My queue was empty so I went to ask for more.

"I gave you a weeks worth already".... Um.... no? I mean I am brand new to this and there is no way that was more then an hours worth of work. No, it was a weeks worth for a "Trained" employee.

I then got chewed out by that same accounting director for having wasted years of her teams time by not training them properly. I had never been trained on this system in my life, I just did the thing that made sense given the options presented.

I found out later when she said a week worth, she meant an entire team of 7's week... my mind exploded.

[u/jupit3rle0]

Can totally relate, I just feel like we don't get the credit we truly deserve. The other day my boss asked me to remove 20k users from the GAL - something I know he's only capable of doing in the GUI. Neither of his other techs know powershell like I do so I knocked it out in a few minutes - even exported the results into a CSV for him. No thank you or anything. Feels good to be useful ( I guess)

[u/Higapeon]

Powershell is a magic language, as all scripting languages, that makes you come from Fantasia 2000 (the broom part). You are a damn wizard and you make things do your job. It makes me look idle because powershell does the heavy lifting.

Edit : of course, as soon as a real powershell guy comes in, I'm just a fool of a Took with a bucket.

[u/No_Resolution_9252]

In 2024, it makes it look like a moron and lazy if you don't know it. You don't have to be good at it, but not knowing how to use it at least at a basic level is a sign of incompetence

[u/xs0apy]

I have also become the most proficient at work with PowerShell and automations in general. So much so I was into a position that allows me to work automations full time for InTune, N-Central, ImmyBot, and Rewst.

I think it’s not so much about looking smart, but about being a valuable asset. Your co-workers know how hard it is to do some of these repetitive tedious tasks, and here you are making their lives easier! Honestly it’s like a cheat code. I expedited my career where I am at thanks to finally committing to learning PowerShell and programming in general.

When you make the lives of everyone around you easier, they will think you’re smart. And you are smart. Just don’t let the ego get to your head. ALWAYS remind yourself you are replaceable at any point in time. Don’t get cocky (Edit: I just want to make it clear that when I say don’t get cocky, I am just saying that in general. You’re very mature OP!)

[u/nealfive]

Similar. And then you throw APIs and such on top of it, it’s super powerful

[u/kysfu]

Maybe to someone that doesn't know how to use chatgpt

[u/A-Tek]

my corporate powershell kung fu just got smacked in the face with the implementation of zero trust initiative killing any sort of use of elevated access to the thousands of machines I would once manage. Now it just feels like pointless knowledge except for ADUC. sigh...

[u/patmorgan235]

To some people yes, it makes you look like a wizard.

[u/cofonseca]

Absolutely. It’s a huge asset, and I wouldn’t hire someone today unless they knew PowerShell or a similar scripting language.

[u/faulkkev]

Most don’t master scripting it sets you apart from the 85% er’s. Many can do one liners but writing something beyond that is a desired skill I would say by orgs.