The job frustration continues, but with some progress......

Cardboard

Hi, I've been away a while, I gave everyone here a break from me. I was just reading a few topics here for the first time in months and decided to give an update on my current job frustrations. I just came off my first full, true, data center technician job. And it was good. First part of the job was to do an inventory of the entire data center, they wanted to start using the Nlyte DCIM program. So me and another retired network engineer (back out of retirement for the contract job) did it. 8000 lines in an Excel spreadsheet. Everything in every cabinet. Patch panels, cable management, power strips, specify A and B power, all the model numbers, serial numbers, position in the racks, amount of U spaces it took, etc. That was a good 7 weeks to complete. Then my contract got switched to hardware support for 6 months, and I was happy to do it. First thing, I got $25 an hour to sit around and DO NOTHING 90% of the time. Completely NOTHING. I could web surf on my laptop, but due to being in one big room, I couldn't play sound on youtube or take naps (ah, I miss that about desktop support). My trainer spent most of his day playing solitaire on his laptop for the 3 months I was there. I did get to do some HP rack server set up, then use iLO to set them up some more, I enjoyed learning that and doing it. Helped the engineer put some HP blades in as well and set them up. This went on for another month and a half. I got along well with all my co-workers, I was always happy to do whatever work needed done, things were good. Then... the next higher level manager above our data center manager retired, and a new, non-IT idiot with a management degree named Joe took his place. Joe and the data center engineer I worked with had a few good arguments on speakerphone that we all got to hear. Joe wanted him to do more inventory work, not just break/fix. The engineer often said "That's not my job". We all know how much managers love to hear that! So long story short, Joe decided to take work hours away from 2 work sites and give them to a third site. Bye bye, $25 an hour data center job. As usual, the lip service saying it'd last till the end of the year meant nothing. The managers in my office were screaming for Joe to hire more people for shift coverage, I was there, I was happy to work, but still, I am out on my ass. So, I applied for a NOC specialist position at a new nearby data center that is being staffed soon. Went through the application, went through the personality test (and somehow passed!!!), went through the phone interview, went through the in-person interview and... I've been waiting 5 days with no news. I really am overqualified for the job, based on the description, and $16 an hour will SSSUUUCCCKKK, but still, it is direct hire, no contract, no temp agency BS. I'll take the pay cut for the opportunity to get in and work my way up. Waiting for news now if I got it or not. Then I got a call for a short term, 4 week, $20 an hour, desktop support job. Meh, don't want it, but it's a paycheck. Will do it begrudgingly. Starts on Monday. And just today (Sept 6), I first got an email then a phone call for a good paying data center project. A big company is moving their DC to the new DC I just interviewed at over the next few months. Someone has to inventory the whole place, label all the cables and networking, put it in a spreadsheet, etc. They put me in at $30 an hour for it. I hope to get it and work my way into a job that lasts until spring, maybe even join the data center during the transition. So this evening, I am a bit tense. Want to hear some good job news immediately, this $30 an hour job is a rush order, hoping for good words on it tomorrow. You know how they say "always the bridesmaid, never the bride"? Well the story of my life is "always the IT contractor, never the hired employee". Oh well, only another 40-50 years until I die, then it'll be a non-issue.

NotHackingYou

Sounds like quite the whirlwind. What type of IT work do you want to be doing?

volfkhat

my 2 cents:
Working is a lot like Dating.

Everything is Great at the start... but they can eventually go Sour.
(Such is life)

So... Love 'em & Leave 'em
:]


(keep us posted)

kurosaki00

volfkhat wrote: »

my 2 cents:

Everything is Great at the start... but they can eventually suddenly go Sour.
(Such is life)


(keep us posted)

FTFY

Thats why in IT, always keep going for more certs, more knowledge, more, more.
When stuff hits the fan, dont go back to the unemployment lines with the same skills, go back with more for more.

NetworkNewb

Paragraphs please! I'm surprised some people actually read that wall of text.

TechGromit

Cardboard wrote: »

Then my contract got switched to hardware support for 6 months, and I was happy to do it. First thing, I got $25 an hour to sit around and DO NOTHING 90% of the time. Completely NOTHING. I could web surf on my laptop, but due to being in one big room, I couldn't play sound on youtube or take naps (ah, I miss that about desktop support).

While it's certainly nice to kick back and take it easy for the day every once an a while, 6 months with nothing to would be a golden opportunity to study for a certification. If you want to stay employed in the long term, you need to learn as much as you can to make yourself valuable to an employer and certifications prove you know something. You could have single handily invented the Internet, but without a certification or a rep in the industry, your next employers not going to know that, and there are a lot of Resume BSers, writing on your resume doesn't make it true.

You goal in IT is really two fold. You want to land that good paying $25 to $30 IT job, your second goal is to keep that $25 to $30 a hour job. In the long run, people who do not keep up with the rapidity changing world of IT, get replaced with people that do. Then they whine about the good old days when they were making a good wages, before XYZ company laid them off and they couldn't get another comparable paying position. Stuck saying "Would you like to super size that order, sir", all day.

yoba222

Have you considered studying for a cert/degree during downtime instead of sleeping or watching Youtube? That way you don't have to put up with settling for $16/hr.

Cardboard

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Paragraphs please! I'm surprised some people actually read that wall of text.

Yes, I know. I typed it all out in paragraphs nice and neat. Then when I hit the Submit key, it smashed it all together. Then I went back and edited it back into paragraphs, submitted it, and again .... wall of text. I typed this response all out in spaced paragraphs, see if it gets smashed together again. This is the ONLY site I have ever been on that does this, when is some site admin going to fix this? And to answer the other question, I am trying for long term data center / networking work.

JoJoCal19

Question, what certs do you currently have? IMO, you made a huge mistake in wasting those 6 months doing nothing. As has been mentioned, that was a prime opportunity to knock out certs. You could have knocked out CCNA DC or VCP-DCV in 6 months. I'm sure DC experience coupled with either of those certs would net you a perm job making well north of $30/hr.

greg9891

I agree completely Kurosaki00! Got to get those certs!

kurosaki00 wrote: »

FTFY

Thats why in IT, always keep going for more certs, more knowledge, more, more.
When stuff hits the fan, dont go back to the unemployment lines with the same skills, go back with more for more.

Cardboard

I have CCNA R&S. Slowly working on CCNA DC.

DatabaseHead

Cardboard wrote: »

I have CCNA R&S. Slowly working on CCNA DC.

Over achiever! That should set you up nicely, not joking...