Pressure Cooker

After a couple of years in the barrel, I’ve come to the conclusion that the place where I work is meets the criteria to be considered one. It does vary from department to department, but overall the stress level is very high. I seem to be given more and more everyday. I enjoy a large portion of the work, but not the politics or intensity. It’s not the same for everyone though. It seems like I turn around an extremely large volume of work while the guy seated in the same office area, but with a different job function, spends 7.5 of 8 hours on Facebook without a word ever being said to him. They’ve given good raises in the time I’ve been there and promoted me, but it’s still not the $ I’d be making on one of the coasts or in DC. I guess I’ll just keep grinding it out looking for something else.

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N7Valiant

Do you have a lot of work experience? I figure if you've got the experience under your belt(plus that promotion), you could tough it out a year and use that experience to help you move over to a more suitable company, preferably one that garners decent reviews on Glassdoor. Which admittedly isn't a sure thing when you see Amway getting better reviews than Walmart, but I find it's generally pretty useful in reviewing somewhat smaller businesses.

Ertaz

N7Valiant wrote: »

Do you have a lot of work experience? I figure if you've got the experience under your belt(plus that promotion), you could tough it out a year and use that experience to help you move over to a more suitable company, preferably one that garners decent reviews on Glassdoor. Which admittedly isn't a sure thing when you see Amway getting better reviews than Walmart, but I find it's generally pretty useful in reviewing somewhat smaller businesses.

Hey man, thanks for the reply. I may have too much experience, lol. The place I work is small place in a small market. There are no CISSP jobs with 2.5 hours of here. The area is just bad and I need to get out. It will probably be another year, hopefully I can get some technical blue team training and use that as a spring board to relo.

JoJoCal19

Where are you located now? You've got some nice certs, are you in an InfoSec role now?

Ertaz

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Where are you located now? You've got some nice certs, are you in an InfoSec role now?

I'm doing infosec in the rural Midwest. I just need a technical cert or two to add. Still trying to figure out what my destination would be.

(Btw, I thought you guys were going to beat Duke the other night. You were boat racing them in the early first half.)

gespenstern

Yeah, you need a big city. Need to get out. The life is more expensive, but still it's better than rural midwest considering all pros/cons. And you have enough certs IMO already. I was in a similar situation residing in Louisville KY (which isn't that bad but still) and making 75K. The day I passed CISSP I started looking countrywide and moved out in 6 months. I easily doubled that 75K and climbed to almost 200K in a few years.

Surprised though to hear that rural midwest can be a pressure cooker, where I worked it was very laid back compared to a big city. If anything, big cities are more competitive and more stressful than rural areas, so I wouldn't expect to get a less stressful job.

I actually plan to eventually move back when/if I manage to secure a 100% remote job that pays good.

Good luck.

JoJoCal19

Ertaz wrote: »

I'm doing infosec in the rural Midwest. I just need a technical cert or two to add. Still trying to figure out what my destination would be.

(Btw, I thought you guys were going to beat Duke the other night. You were boat racing them in the early first half.)

Yea man, tough loss. Duke always plays lights out in the second half though.

Agree with gespenstern, you need to look outside of the rural midwest. If you like the lifestyle of the rural midwest, I'd look at the DFW area or Atlanta (live in the suburbs or exurbs).

Ertaz

gespenstern wrote: »

Yeah, you need a big city. Need to get out. The life is more expensive, but still it's better than rural midwest considering all pros/cons. And you have enough certs IMO already. I was in a similar situation residing in Louisville KY (which isn't that bad but still) and making 75K. The day I passed CISSP I started looking countrywide and moved out in 6 months. I easily doubled that 75K and climbed to almost 200K in a few years.

Surprised though to hear that rural midwest can be a pressure cooker, where I worked it was very laid back compared to a big city. If anything, big cities are more competitive and more stressful than rural areas, so I wouldn't expect to get a less stressful job.

I actually plan to eventually move back when/if I manage to secure a 100% remote job that pays good.

Good luck.

Sad thing is that I make great money relative to the area I'm in. I wouldn't mind traveling a lot. I've got fiber to the home internet on some acreage. So all I'm missing is the life changing roaming technical architect job.

LarryTR

Ertaz wrote: »

It seems like I turn around an extremely large volume of work while the guy seated in the same office area, but with a different job function, spends 7.5 of 8 hours on Facebook without a word ever being said to him.

I can't help you, but I can relate. I have learned in my life that being a "good worker" isn't always valuable, especially in a workplace with lots of politics.

In some places, the faster you work, the more work your bosses will pile on you. Best thing to do is not work slow, but work as fast as they expect, but not any faster.

In some places, the better a worker you are, the more the other employees resent you claiming you make them look bad.

That said, if you think you want to work in a large city, by all means, get a job in one. Just keep in mind that the grass is greener on the other side. But don't look at gross pay, look at your bank account at the end of a month and the amount of free time you have. That's all it really comes down to.

jcundiff

gespenstern wrote: »

Yeah, you need a big city. Need to get out. The life is more expensive, but still it's better than rural midwest considering all pros/cons. And you have enough certs IMO already. I was in a similar situation residing in Louisville KY (which isn't that bad but still) and making 75K. The day I passed CISSP I started looking countrywide and moved out in 6 months. I easily doubled that 75K and climbed to almost 200K in a few years.

Surprised though to hear that rural midwest can be a pressure cooker, where I worked it was very laid back compared to a big city. If anything, big cities are more competitive and more stressful than rural areas, so I wouldn't expect to get a less stressful job.

I actually plan to eventually move back when/if I manage to secure a 100% remote job that pays good.

Good luck.

I did similar to this, actually drove from Morehead, KY to 20 miles north of downtown Cincinnati for 6.5 years. I would drive up on Monday and home on Wednesday and WFH the rest of the week. With same company still, but now 100% remote and travel to HQ is on their dime now. Love my job, love my team and company. We have been fortunate to have great CSOs (on third in 8 years, but all three have been great) I'm tied to the area, so works out great for me... yeah, could make more money elsewhere but money isnt everything. Quality of life has dramatically improved since I went 100% remote.

Oh, and GO CATS!!!!!!!!!

LarryTR

What is a CSO?

N7Valiant

LarryTR wrote: »

I can't help you, but I can relate. I have learned in my life that being a "good worker" isn't always valuable, especially in a workplace with lots of politics.

In some places, the faster you work, the more work your bosses will pile on you. Best thing to do is not work slow, but work as fast as they expect, but not any faster.

In some places, the better a worker you are, the more the other employees resent you claiming you make them look bad.

That said, if you think you want to work in a large city, by all means, get a job in one. Just keep in mind that the grass is greener on the other side. But don't look at gross pay, look at your bank account at the end of a month and the amount of free time you have. That's all it really comes down to.

I've experienced that a lot in retail, but I can't say I've ever had coworkers resent me. Because if that happened, it means the boss is recognizing your work in some manner.

And if the boss is recognizing your work, I'd either ask for a bump in pay, or a promotion. Not just more work in sheer quantity, but greater responsibilities that require more skilled work.

No, my problem would largely be the work going unrecognized, and the boss is deliberately trying to keep you down where you are solely to make his job easier, which doesn't help the company at all. Maybe Bill Gates could be a better sys admin than any other guy, but his potential is entirely wasted at a lower level position.

That to me would be my cue to leave if I see that sort of thing.

LarryTR

Interesting. It's happened to me in more jobs (not just retail) than I care to remember. The harder I work, the more other employees resent me for it and the more work I am given by superiors without recognition, raises, etc. In certain situations managers frown upon you if you are perceived as a threat to their own job.

But the reason I like to keep busy is becasue the day drags when you dilly-dally around. Just the way I am. But not more. My motto is now "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Not because I need to be accepted by my peers, but because the resentment is too stressful.

N7Valiant

LarryTR wrote: »

Interesting. It's happened to me in more jobs (not just retail) than I care to remember. The harder I work, the more other employees resent me for it and the more work I am given by superiors without recognition, raises, etc. In certain situations managers frown upon you if you are perceived as a threat to their own job.

But the reason I like to keep busy is becasue the day drags when you dilly-dally around. Just the way I am. But not more. My motto is now "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Not because I need to be accepted by my peers, but because the resentment is too stressful.

Lol, I don't think I could do that, although I know what you're talking about. It's just that it takes me less effort to actually do my job the best that I can rather than figure out ways to make a 1 hour task take 2 hours.

My intellectual laziness actually keeps me from dragging my feet o.O

jcundiff

LarryTR wrote: »

What is a CSO?

CSO = Chief Security Officer... CSO vs Chief Information Security Officer(CISO)... Our CSO has responsibility for both physical and information security so he is not just a CISO.