Thinking about switching jobs...but ....

xocity

Currently Working at a Call Center doing support for Point Of Sale Systems. Been Doing it for about 6 months now and I feel like im wasting my time. A lot of it requires to do things that I would really never ever use at any point anywhere in my career unless I stay here. I do get some networking/windows/printer issues here and there but its just not enough or broad enough for me to really get anything out of it. Its not that I cant do the job and im really good with my managers/fellow employees and they know that Im not going to stay for a long time. But just recently they have me working with a veteran project manager and teaching me some new things and going to give me more responsibilities. Ive been working hard and have definitely proven myself and have gained the respect of a lot of people, but the job is not really what I want to do. Im 22 yrs old and have alot of life ahead of me but I dont want to really waste my time. Before this I worked 5 years in a little computer repair shop doing Pc upgrades and laptop repair. got my N+ and A+. Took a MCITP/CCNA course through New Horizons and plan on completing all those Certsthroughout next year , then finishing it all off with WGU afterwards. My thing is, The job is like a 45min/hr drive each way. Im here 9hrs a day and I dont get time to study at work, I try but I don't want to give the impression that studying at work is o.k. I get paid well here but I would rather take a paycut and work at something that would benefit me in the long run instead of working somewhere that I would get paid more and work on different things, but none of it is really anything that I would use in the future, just all is really Restaurant Point Of Sale System Software. It is good to know, but its not really my type of business.

Would it be a good Idea to update my Resume and put it out there and look for something more towards what I want to do and apply my skills in? or stay in this company , maybe move up or maybe a raise and deal with this until I get some more certs/education done? I would kind of fell bad leaving because we are a really close family kind of here and everyone loves me here. But at the end, I think I have to do what I want to do. Plus if im here for a long time and gets all the certs/Degree, Ill have no Exp in it...hmmmm

Im in Miami,Fl and the job is way in north Fort Lauderdale, people in my area would know the traffic that I have to deal with everyday ... gets me frustrated knowing im in traffic going to a place where I dont think would help my career.

Any input would be appreciated.

Krones

Personally, I would update the resume and look for a new job. I would not expect to study on any job though unless you are working the night shift at a network operations center. I recently rejected a job offer that was 80% graphic editing and 20% IT support. Great people, and I would be exposed to Linux but I did not want to spend 80% of the time editing images in Photoshop and Illustrator since in the long run it is not the career I want and frankly my time would be better studying and looking for employment that is going to solidify and grow the knowledgebase in my chosen career path.

ptilsen

Switch ASAP. No sense in wasting any more time. Certs, education, self-study are all great ways to get ahead, but you can't match 40-50 hours a week of solid production experience. You just can't. You're missing out on that right now.

I wouldn't say you should take a pay cut unless you're really overpaid and aren't having much luck in the job hunt.

xocity

Thanks for the input guys, Will be updating resume and start job searching on free time, going to be hard to find a decent job in Miami but ill just keep my eyes open. Thanks again

pizzaboy

I know exactly how you feel. I went through the exact same situation 4 years ago, did work with pos systems setting them up in conjunction with active directory and non AD networks, realised that I wasn't learning anything after about 1 year but got comfortable and spent 3 years there. But got out eventually and now doing hard core IT. So get out as fast as you can especially at your young age.

sieff

Bail ASAP. Miami isn't known to be a great paying place for IT either... finding a decent job may take a few months.

xocity

Yea i know, here in Miami you definitely have to know someone to get a good position, but I might get lucky. Thanks everyone for input

Santa_

I could understand your frustration where it feels like you're putting all your effort into something that seems to be thrown away.

Have you raised your concerns to upper management by asking simple requests? I'd like more exporsure to networking, or maybe I'd like to move into system administration, would it be possible to allow me some more responsibilities with AD and etc. ?

If you don't make your concerns known how would any one know? I'm sure you won't be looked down upon for asking, especially since you're really good with your managers.

The veteran project manager seems to be a good starting point, but since you were recently assigned to them why give up now? Give it some time and see where that goes.

My drive is similar, 45 minimum without traffic. With traffic I'm looking upwards to 75 minutes both ways. I used to work only 10 mintutes away with my last employer, and this was my break-in through IT at a legitament company that happens to be one of the largest/well-known IT Outsourcing in the area.

I wouldn't study while on the job,manage your time and find whats the best time to study.

xocity

Unfortunately in my case, we don't setup and Active Directory or anything really networking. We just troubleshoot small networking issues like changing and IP or connecting a router , and that is 1 call every 3 days about that. The work that I'm doing with the Project Manager Is nothing networking or even Microsoft or any known software related. Just really showing me the procedures to setup a POS system for a restaurant. Its taking a lot more of my time and I don't want to get into real specifics but i'm 110% sure that I will never use this knowledge in the future. Of course I will get more experience dealing with people and more of a management exposure which is always great, but nothing technical in any way of what i'm studying.

And I don't study on the job but my manager knows that im doing studies and says that If its slow, I can read my notes, lol I'm not just putting work to the side to study at the job, I have better work ethics then that. I might just tell them that I would like to work part-time and just get 1/2 more certs and look for another job. The company isn't big enough to actually move up, the people who are at the top have been at the top since the start of the company and by the way it looks, unless I'm here 5/10 yrs there's not much room for improvement.

My main thing is that the market here in Miami is really bad and finding another job is really hard. I need an income so i'm not going to quit but I don't mind taking a pay cut to get the exposure to better things.
/sigh this is tough, but im sure something will come up

FloOz

I am in a similiar position as you. I am also 22 years old and I love the people I work with at my job. However I am going to be putting up my resume online soon because I also feel like I am wasting my time at this job. I do desktop support as well as some light networking work.