Job Rant

IT_Admin

/Rant

Ever had a job that when you took it you thought "wow, this is perfect" then after a few months you're banging your head against the wall in frustration?

My previous was job was great I learned so much about 2003 server in general, AD, creating and problem solving issues with deploying gpo's, It was by far the best hands on job I've had. However the pay BLEW, I was making as much as someone working drive thru @ McDonalds. I stayed for the experience however.

After 3 yrs I decided to move on and started my year long process of looking for a new job. After several interviews where I was the "in the running" I finally landed a job that sounded perfect.

Sys Admin of 2 sites, the job description sounded great the management sound good. hands on experience with exchange 2003, cisco equipment, somewhat close to home, and the pay was a lot better. It all sounded good.

So I took the job and was excited.

fast forward 6 months and I think I'm starting to really despise my job. I get the feeling that a monkey could do my job. This is no more than a glorified pc tech. I have very little to actually do with the servers, I have access to hardly anything, it has all be outsourced throughout the company. If I want to create a gpo to deploy, I have phone 3 different dept, then wait and restated the machine periodically to see if it has been applied. Grrr..... We're not allowed to have test accounts created, we have to phone support and give them a reason why. Which then every couple of months they do a "AD cleanup" and disable all the test accounts, they I have to go through the cycle again. VERY VERY annoying. There is just so many little things that piss me right off, I want to scream some days.

Time to go move some machines around and then phone to have the "AD team" apply some gpo's

This was just something I had to get off my chest,


/end rant

Mishra

I'm going through the exact same thing. I can't switch jobs either due to the job hopper thing. Just enjoying my money and it IS easy so I can't complain.

scheistermeister

Mishra wrote:

Just enjoying my money and it IS easy so I can't complain.

That's what I have done when I was in that type of situation. Also if they were real picky about letting me do other things I would make it a point to ONLY do my job and nothing more.

Mishra

scheistermeister wrote:

Mishra wrote:

Just enjoying my money and it IS easy so I can't complain.

That's what I have done when I was in that type of situation. Also if they were real picky about letting me do other things I would make it a point to ONLY do my job and nothing more.

I think about that. Only doing the things I am responsible for... But then I know I'm just kicking myself at that point. I need to be involved in things.

For example, I was responsible for a CX340 and CX500 EMC SANs... But the new SANS coming in I can't touch due to politics... But I need to try anyways because it would be great experience for me to build a SAN from the ground up.

undomiel

My recommendation, next time there is a job offer on the table, grill them about the job duties and responsibilities. Get it all in writing what you would be doing day to day, month to month. That should help with clearing up any inconsistencies such as this. Also ask for a tour to show what you would be working on and who you would be working with.

As for this job about all you can do is either sit back and suck it up, or come up with a business proposal for how having them stop outsourcing the IT work and bringing it all back in house will help improve their bottom line. They'll listen to that. They might not agree to do it, but they'll listen if you approach them as you're trying to help cut expenses.

Kaminsky

xntrix18 wrote:

... I get the feeling that a monkey could do my job. This is no more than a glorified pc tech. ...

Welcome to the world of server support. Once it's up and running, the day to day admin can be very tedious and you eventually get to the stage that if you have to reset one more password you will scream !

xntrix18 wrote:

... I have very little to actually do with the servers, I have access to hardly anything, it has all be outsourced throughout the company. If I want to create a gpo to deploy, I have phone 3 different dept, then wait and restated the machine periodically to see if it has been applied. Grrr..... We're not allowed to have test accounts created, we have to phone support and give them a reason why. ...

Now this is a different thing.. This is the way IT is heading with the larger companies offering ITIL certified, change managed and offering financial SLAs to boot. From the companies (customer) point of view, they get cheap, highly professional levels of support with financial remuneration for any SLA breaches for disruption to their service that may happen. They just need a handful of people their end to "manage" this support function for them.

This is the way IT support is going more and more. Even in those outsourcing companies, there are very few people that actually get their hands on the nitty gritty classic server admin work and the first, second, third line support staff get paid relative peanuts if it's any consolation.

I know as I work for one of these companies but not in the lower levels of support.

The classic jobs where the server admin has his fingers in every pie are growing ever more rare and for less money as the IT Support industry is becoming more profesional and being treated just like any other company support function alongside the cleaning and the catering.

I can understand your frustration. With ITIL level change control, it once took me 3 weeks to change a 1 to a 0 and it seemed everyonee (even those completely unaffected by the change) needed to have some input into what I proposed to do. I half expected them to ask the car parking attendant what he thought too. This is Change Control and is an ITIL function and is another sign of the industry becoming more professional. Yes it can suck but it is there for a reason.

On a positive note, you should be using the extra time to learn and get ready for the next step up in the food chain. With the contacts your makinging, maybe even to one of these bigger places higher up the food chain.

zen master

Is the pay worth the stress? From your last experience, you know how rough the IT field can be pay wise, so I suggest you stick with this job until you can find something better. Get more certs, and keep your eyes open for possible opportunities.

Megadeth4168

Oh man! That would drive me crazy! I have access to and get to do everything on our network. i have the freedom to constantly try or develop new software and techniques that I think might improve the way things work here....

What do you do all day?

IT_Admin

Thanks for the feedback,

Undomiel; I have made a brief mention about the downsides of phoning 3 dept's to have an gpo applied, although it was only a face to face conversation nothing formal. It seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Kanimsky; I have been learning the software/tools that we use and making doc's as I go. There was nothing like that here when I came on board.

BD; somedays the pay IS worth the hassle, and then other days it’s not. I have a baby and mortgage to pay for so I have to suck it up and push forward. If it was just me (no wife, baby, house) then maybe It'd be different.

Megadeth4168; I try and find things to do. lol. I monitor the network the best I can with what I have access to. I have been studying and watching cbt nugget training videos for my upcoming exam. I also remote into my other site to take care of some work there. That's about it. Not much really to do. Just try to look busy..