Just got a new Tech support job...not liking it too much

Talonize

Hello everyone!

Just looking for some more words of wisdom,

So i dont know if anyone remembers me posting about getting a new job, but I was super excited when I got the offer that I wouldn't have to work at my retail store anymore and would finally be working at a help desk position in an office and learn so much for my career.

I accepted the offer on august 22nd, I had school starting on august 25th. So I was in the quitting phase for my retail job. As school kept adding to hw and picking up the pace after the first week, I found myself getting behind because I was working a full time job and am now doing two cisco classes, a security+ class, and a physics class (my last gen ed to graduate and I just happened to have not taken any math classes in over three years). Anyways, after week two, I suddenly remembered how last year I was considering switching to part time for the next school semester in order to have more time to focus on school.

Well after this week, I just started my new job. I am now working 8:30 to 5 Monday-Friday (yay!), and Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I have an hour to get from work to class. The drive ends up being about 1h 15m going back after 5pm. I have been late to every class this week, and every prof is frowning on that. This is also before any bad weather has set in, which I imagine I will be screwed once it rolls along. I also have class Saturday morning from 7am - 1pm, then work in my now once a week part time retail job from 2-11 (I kept it for the insurance because new job offers no benefits because it's a startup).

I have found that after this week, that I am very stressed to do well in school and perform well in this job. I barely finished my secu+ hw on time ( which are just the chapter questions at the end of a chapter). I had to skim for the answers, which is not a way to learn the material which I will need in order to pass the cert exam which I plan to do.

I will have to do the same for my Cisco class, and it's just really basic stuff for now, basically reviews from my Net+ studies. But once the subnetting comes into play I will be hard pressed for time I imagine. Also in 5 weeks the class is advancing from intro to R&S, which I imagine will be harder.

My physics class is the hardest for me because I have a really hard time understanding the math portion, since I haven't done any math in awhile and it never really was my strongest subject. For this week, if my girlfriend hadn't done my physics hw for me, I believe I would be screwed. But the hw doesn't count for anything in class, only tests do, which once test time starts, I'll be screwed since I'll be too busy doing the other classes and could possibly fail.

Now to the point, I don't know whether I should tell my new boss about this situation and see if we can work out a part time position (might be possible since it is a startup and they really do need people at the moment), or whether I should leave that new job and just work part time at my old retail job until I am done with this semester (last semester for my assoc degree btw). Or if maybe I should just leave the part time completely, but I would still have the issue of getting to class.

At this point, I don't think I'll be able to do well in school with this kind of balance. This is only my first week and I already feel like ripping my hair out.

The new job itself is actually very laid back, and it is a great opportunity to get better, but there is no training and almost zero direction.

I also cannot afford to not work at all, I need at least 25-30 hours of work at old job to keep me and my family afloat.

• Anyways tldr:
• Got new job
• kept old job at part time
• working and schooling
• not enough time to do hw
• drive to new job making me late to all classes
• want to either leave new job and go part time with old job with focus on school

I know many people would kill to be in my position, but I don't think I can handle this position at the moment. Any input would be greatly appreciated, even calling me a wuss =p

Thanks guys

dankentucky75

It is good that you have realized you cannot handle all of it together. Trying to continue this way and fail at both jobs and additional responsibilities would be horrible. I'd give it a little more time, since the job is very new. If the conditions don't improve, I wouldn't hesitate to quit.

bhcs2014

Personally there is no way in hell I'd leave the IT job. Actual work (getting paid to learn) trumps school (paying to learn) every time. I was in the same situation as you last spring, working full time and school full time. I had school from 10-2:20 M-F and work 3-11 M-F. Many times I worked many 50-60 hour weeks (10 hour days or weekends).. I studied during the weekend/work breaks. My grades suffered a bit but I finished out the semester. I used some of my free time during the summer to go over important stuff that I may not have completely learned.

My advice to you would be to stick it out. If possible quit your retail job. As a last resort I'd go part time with the schooling or ask for reduced hours at new job (even though this may look bad).

Just think about the end goal. It's just a few months.. and by the end of it you'll have your degree plus an IT job. This is the kind of stuff that builds self-esteem and work ethic man, just keep plugging away!

DoubleNNs

Edit: tl:dr - Quit the part time job for extra time in your week. Talk to your boss at your new job about leaving 30 mins early to make it to class on time.

Do you think you'd be using your insurance for this semester? It might seem like a gamble, but maybe drop the extra part time retail job to free up time to study. Then talk to your new boss and see if you can maybe come in 30 mins early and leave 30 mins early to make it to class on time.

You're probably going to have to talk to people involved - professors/bosses - and see how best to balance things. Then once you've gotten things ordered a bit better, tell yourself that it's only temporary and try your hardest to make routines out of everything. Go to office hours for extra help. Use sick days every now and then to catch up on studying/classwork.

Good luck.

N2IT

First set your priorities. Then organize them. Then execute them. I would focus on work first, unless I was young and living at home. Try to build up some clout and see if you can move up in your company. Maybe try to transition into a part time student and take your time getting your degree.

Qord

I would start by asking the new employer if you could work either different hours (8-4:30 for example) everyday, or if you could work an earlier shift on class days. I bet that if you explained why you want to, they'd be willing to adjust for that.

snunez889

Dude I dont see the issue. Tough it out, its your last semester and you just landed a job in the career your striving for. I would have killed to be in this boat a year ago. When I finished my AA degree it took me a long time to find a job in IT, and I had a few certs too. I understand its tough, im working on my BS degree and working fulltime. I feel really burned out, but it needs to get done. In the end it will be worth it.

N2IT

No question about it what you put in you will get out. Well it depends, but usually you get something out of it. I put a ton in about 3 years ago, I went on a terror for those 3 years and to this day I am reaping the rewards from it, even though my studies have come to a stand still, (not including while working). I still have doors opening because of the effort I put in. @Snunez good posted.

bhcs2014

snunez889 wrote: »

Dude I dont see the issue. Tough it out, its your last semester and you just landed a job in the career your striving for. I would have killed to be in this boat a year ago. When I finished my AA degree it took me a long time to find a job in IT, and I had a few certs too. I understand its tough, im working on my BS degree and working fulltime. I feel really burned out, but it needs to get done. In the end it will be worth it.

Lol you make it seem as though it needs to be a miserable experience. Yea it's gonna be somewhat tiring but try to enjoy it OP.. I mean if IT is what you wanna do you're taking all the right steps.

stylezunknown

I would quit the part time job. If its low risk and temporary.

Krones

It sounds like the job is not worth the sacrifice even though it is an IT job. In the IT field if you don't want to peak at helpdesk or be complacent you will always have to be learning, and in this case, your degree is truly blocking you from your education that is more pertinent to your current career and or future goals. Finish your degree now, since you are fairly close and worry about work later. IT technician jobs are not that hard to come by with - and with your degree in hand and the certs you are more likely to move up faster than being stuck on the helpdesk and struggling for time to finish up school. There will be plenty of time for work and you are just starting your career.

Jon_Cisco

I would consider why you are attempting to get your Associates. My guess would be it is to get a job in IT.

If this is the case then I would quit the part time job and consider dropping the math class as a last resort.

I am very comfortable predicting you will regret quitting the IT job in 6 months. Even if you find another one right away you still loose valuable experience at a critical point in your career.

Talonize

Thank you everyone for your valued responses.

After speaking with friends and family and after reading your responses, I have decided that I will tough it out for at least a month and try to learn as much as I can from my IT job. Then I'll see if I can still do well in school or not.

To some people telling me to drop my math class, I cannot, every class that I'm taking right now is required for my degree.

Thanks guys!

HailHogwash

I think DoubleNNs had the best advise especially with working with your employer to come in a little earlier so as to leave a little early and make it to your classes which as you have indicated cannot be dropped. Good employers would work with you on your educational/career dev.

Jon_Cisco

Talonize wrote: »

To some people telling me to drop my math class, I cannot, every class that I'm taking right now is required for my degree.

Thanks guys!

My reason for suggesting dropping the math class is that I feel the job is more important then the degree in the short term.
Long term the degree will be important but you can push off graduation for a year if you are already working.

Good Luck!

Talonize

So I spoke with the boss, he told me that I can come in early and leave at 4:30 on school days.

It turns out that I'm gonna need about 4 more classes to finish off degree, and with on call IT support starting in a few months, I may not be able to even do part time schooling, so I'll definitely have some thinking to do. I also have my first set of tests this week, yay.

@jon_cisco
The reason why I really want to get the degree is because it is always an awkward subject to explain whenever I'm in an interview, because I have been in school longer than I should have due to my switching of majors as well as some needed time off school to make $$$. Right now I'm in a steady enough situation where my family can support itself with 30 hours a week of my retail job, life won't be luxurious, but it's doable.

I really want to finish off the assoc degree so I can get on with my bachelor's degree. Another reason I want it is so I don't have a panic attack on whether my interviewer is gonna think I'm lazy or bsing on my reasons for not having a finished degree by now. I don't want to be stuck doing nothing but help desk, which without a bachelors degree, is tough to do from what I've read here.

Mostly I want to be done with the degree(s) as a personal milestone, I feel better with every homework assignment and class that I complete because I took the time to study my butt off. That and I love the school environment and don't want to give it up until I really have to.

markulous

Maybe not what you want to do, but can you transfer schools? It's unlikely you're going to find an IT job that is really going to work around your school schedule a ton. If you went to WGU, it'd be 100% at your own pace and online. You can just transfer right into the Bachelor's program. Having an associate's degree on your resume is a temporary endeavor anyway if you are eventually going to grab a Bachelor's.

John-John

This brings back memories of when I had to get through physics in college. It was tough and I had to put in a lot of time to get it down while at the same time doing 50 hours a week at work and having to drive every day 70 miles round trip. I had no time for anything but work and study. Is the Cisco class for the Cisco Academy? If that is the case I would just put that on hold.

Talonize

Gonna try to stick with the job till next semester before my on call support starts in 3 months. I'm getting to lab with smb routers and firewalls right now and its pretty fun. Got my first physics test tomorrow, gonna see how that goes.

John, it is the network academy. Why do you say put that on hold?

LinuxNerd

Phone Tech Support is HELL ON EARTH.

N2IT

No one who answers the phone at my place seems happy at all. They sound like they wish I was dead or the phone system would break.

powerfool

Well, I have another vote to add to the "suck it up" tab. People have gone through worse. You need some perspective. It is a temporary situation that is going to pay huge dividends throughout your career. You are going to learn so much this first year on the job and all of the classes you are taking at school.

Now, I don't know what kind of school you are attending, but many university offer relatively cheap insurance for their students. So, if things are too rough, look into that and ditch the part-time job. If things are still too rough, what about moving school to a part-time status?

Don't quit school or your new help desk job. Stick it out with both. In two years, you will be ready to get to a new job if that is what you want with better pay and more opportunity... and it will be because of your two years of experience and having this education out of the way.

And let me provide some perspective. I got married really young and had a kid. I started working to support my family and put off school so my wife could go to school (in retrospect, it was stupid because my employer would pay 100% without limit, at the time). I waited about four years and she never really got anywhere with school and we had another kid. So, I decided I was going to buckle down and do certifications and did my first MCSE. That helped immensely, but not as much as I wanted, plus I had kid number 3. I started going to school... and by that time, I felt I was behind and should have already had school completed... not be just starting school. So, while working full-time in a mid-level job, I went to school full-time in the evenings. After two years at my mid-level job (where I gained tons of experience), I went to a different mid-level job for a much bigger company and learned even more... and two years after that, I graduated from school and found a good senior-level job.

So, I am just telling you this so that you understand that I understand, from experience. You can do it.

Talonize

Thank you everyone for your motivational insights, I'm going to stick it out and work my ass off. The money I'm making in this job is a more than my previous job, I'm not doing any body breaking work or inhaling dangerous carcinogens. I'm literally getting paid to learn what I'm studying for. They'll even pay for my certifications along with training material after my probationary months.

Yeah the place is a little disorganized and its procedures are annoying, but that is something I will force myself to deal with. I don't enjoy talking on the phone and walking these users through these issues, not very good with it either, but these guys took a chance with me and are investing in me. I don't want to let anyone down.

I think in my time of hating my previous job and rising to a level of being above being accountable for my actions has made me stupid lazy.

The big motivator to succeed here is to not become lazy or put myself in a position where I cannot support myself or my family because I can't get a decent job due to hopping jobs. This will be one of the steps necessary for me to even start my family with my girlfriend, yay.

Hopefully anyone in a similar situation (same kind of conflict, job, distress etc) can read this thread and realize that what they have is a blessing and a great opportunity that should not be wasted.