Bored of IT ..

I am working for over 10 years in IT now .. anyone know the feeling where you suddenly sick and tired of it ? I think the fact that IT normally involves on call / emergency scenarios is doing my head in at the moment ... Sometimes I am tempted to go back to my roots lol - have a degree in electronics .. maybe I should fresh up on that

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za3bour

Man I hear you, I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, never really used it. I'm tired of IT I wanna make my dream someday and work with anything that is related to Sport especially football (Photographer). Too bad there is no easy way to do it and it's IT for now that is paying the bills.

jibbajabba

Even drove lorry and coach for a while - wouldn't mind doing that for a while too ... Just pays horribly and you are mostly on the road obviously

sidsanders

is it the job, or is it the politics/folks at the job that are making it a drag?

jibbajabba

sidsanders wrote: »

is it the job, or is it the politics/folks at the job that are making it a drag?

Not even sure 100% - I think a bit of all of the above .. and a bit of other stuff .. I think I just sometimes miss the easy job for a change, i.e. coming to work at 9 - leaving at 5 and not having to think about all sorts of project deadlines / problems / issues and whatnot ...

I am even at a point where I keep "forgetting" to switch on my mobile / cell phone because I seem to get constantly calls from crying monkeys about broken stuff

za3bour

I miss the easy job

thank god in my current job I don't have to work over time but god my mind is thinking 24/7 and it's the continious learning process that you have to acheive.

N2IT

I feel you brother.
It can get old sometimes, that's for sure. I just look at it as a job.

There are parts I really like and I still enjoy those parts, but everything else is blah.

hex_omega

Perhaps it's time for a switch to a different arena of IT. Software develpement? Web Design?

Or maybe start your own business. Something fresh and challenging that will keep you motivated.

jibbajabba

hex_omega wrote: »

Perhaps it's time for a switch to a different arena of IT. Software develpement? Web Design?

Or maybe start your own business. Something fresh and challenging that will keep you motivated.

New business is out of the question - that would be counta productive ('busy' wise).

Development of any kind is really unthankfull .. you could call that "moon on the stick" department

networker050184

It sounds like you are tired of the support side. You should look into design/engineering etc. roles if you don't want to be involved in on call type scenarios.

I recently moved into a role where I'm finally out of the on call rotation and away from the day to day operations. Its a nice change and a lot less stressful as far as weekends and after hours is concerned. More of a 9 - 5 job and I'm definitely enjoying the change.

Mishra

Gomjaba wrote: »

New business is out of the question - that would be counta productive ('busy' wise).

Development of any kind is really unthankfull .. you could call that "moon on the stick" department

Unless you are the architect. Then you are making bank with everyone asking you questions.

Mishra

networker050184 wrote: »

It sounds like you are tired of the support side. You should look into design/engineering etc. roles if you don't want to be involved in on call type scenarios.

I recently moved into a role where I'm finally out of the on call rotation and away from the day to day operations. Its a nice change and a lot less stressful as far as weekends and after hours is concerned. More of a 9 - 5 job and I'm definitely enjoying the change.

When I interviewed with JP Morgan Chase, I was going to be a part of their Central IT Engineering which means I answered to all lines of business.

I would have had NO access to ANY production machine. I was there to engineer solutions, upgrade the environment, and support the other engineers who had the access. They said it was a purely project based job, where the workers were even saying they rarely work overtime unless under a deadline.

Moral is, you might want to think about big business.

Turgon

Mishra wrote: »

When I interviewed with JP Morgan Chase, I was going to be a part of their Central IT Engineering which means I answered to all lines of business.

I would have had NO access to ANY production machine. I was there to engineer solutions, upgrade the environment, and support the other engineers who had the access. They said it was a purely project based job, where the workers were even saying they rarely work overtime unless under a deadline.

Moral is, you might want to think about big business.

This is actually very important. If you want to make money and have a good career get in with a large company. They will most likely have a seperate design team who take requirements, look at the infrastructure and design a documented solution. Other than access to devices to research the correct solution, the actual implementation will be taken care by the build team who will raise the changes based on your technical design and do the hands on implementation. The operations team will manage and monitor the network. The money in build and operations is disappearing. You end up being on call doing a lot of unsocial hours and to be honest you are often called in when the business is already at risk of losing money due to a late project, or coping with an outage that is causing revenue loss. Its a pressurized and at times thankless job.

In short, the money in build and operations has gone and even if it's still there in your shop it wont be 5 years hence. Get into design.

jibbajabba

What I am trying to do is getting into project management. This is what I am SUPPOSED to do here anyway - but lack of time and people means I do mostly "other stuff" which is the frustrating bit ..

it_consultant

Sounds like you need a vacation, or 'holiday' as you guys call it

jibbajabba

it_consultant wrote: »

Sounds like you need a vacation, or 'holiday' as you guys call it .

Isn't that the truth :-/

ehnde

Any job you do, no matter how glamorous it may seem in your imagination now, will eventually have the capacity to become boring. Previous posters said get into different areas of IT, and that's the best thing you can do

You get bored because you are so thoroughly adapted to your job routing, there is no innovation or discovery. Nothing new for you to learn. Things your brain craves! I got bored with my dream job....it only took 2 years (and it was a lifetime achievement to get this job). You have to make it interesting

Changing roles is the best way to apply what you already have (experience/knowledge) and at the same time get that sense of wonder your brain misses from your earlier days in IT.

Turgon

Gomjaba wrote: »

What I am trying to do is getting into project management. This is what I am SUPPOSED to do here anyway - but lack of time and people means I do mostly "other stuff" which is the frustrating bit ..

Is that what you *really* want to do? I can tell you that project management is not what it's all cracked up to be.

jibbajabba

Turgon wrote: »

Is that what you *really* want to do? I can tell you that project management is not what it's all cracked up to be.

More like project management in our company - the way we do this

Claymoore

Gomjaba wrote: »

Not even sure 100% - I think a bit of all of the above .. and a bit of other stuff .. I think I just sometimes miss the easy job for a change, i.e. coming to work at 9 - leaving at 5 and not having to think about all sorts of project deadlines / problems / issues and whatnot ...

Project Managers are paid to worry, as mine keep reminding me when I tell them not to worry - I've got it covered. PM is about meeting and status reports and documentation. I tried it, but quickly got tired of waiting on people or watching them mess something up that I would have already completed had I had access to the systems.

Have you thought about getting out of internal IT and moving to consulting? Changing from a place where IT is a cost center to where IT is a profit center has made all the difference for me. Consulting isn't without its challenges, but I couldn't handle going back to internal IT right now.

uhtrinity

Is it a matter that you don't have a passion for IT or is it burnout from working too hard or being too focused in one area?

I myself have a passion for IT, but could see myself getting burned out by being overworked and being overly specialized. That is one of the things I love about my current job. Even though it is jack of all trades it is enjoyable and something I can see doing until retirement. In all I teach, do help-desk, install and maintain the infrastructure, server design and admin, and webmaster. If it is related to technology it is my job. With the Masters I will be able to contribute more in technology based instructional design. I don't dread going to work and love the schedule.

UnixGuy

Turgon wrote: »

This is actually very important. If you want to make money and have a good career get in with a large company. They will most likely have a seperate design team who take requirements, look at the infrastructure and design a documented solution. Other than access to devices to research the correct solution, the actual implementation will be taken care by the build team who will raise the changes based on your technical design and do the hands on implementation. The operations team will manage and monitor the network. The money in build and operations is disappearing. You end up being on call doing a lot of unsocial hours and to be honest you are often called in when the business is already at risk of losing money due to a late project, or coping with an outage that is causing revenue loss. Its a pressurized and at times thankless job.

In short, the money in build and operations has gone and even if it's still there in your shop it wont be 5 years hence. Get into design.

Good points Turgon, but I have a question: is there a risk of forgetting or losing technical knowledge or troubleshooting skills when all you do is design ?

Right now I do the builds/implemenation + support. I do very little design and documentation

networker050184

UnixGuy wrote: »

Good points Turgon, but I have a question: is there a risk of forgetting or losing technical knowledge or troubleshooting skills when all you do is design ?

Brings to mind the saying if you don't use it you lose it. When you do high level work you will forget some of the nuances of everyday operation, but at the same time you will learn other skills not needed in day to day operation. For example, I couldn't tell you exactly how our policy-maps are configured (even though I designed a lot of them) but I know how they work and what the end goal of our QoS scheme. Someone who messes with them on a daily basis will know the exact commands involved better, but they probably don't know the grand scheme of things and how they all work together.

Its a give and take basically.

vCole

I feel you 120%

VinUnleaded

That is so insane. Im in Customer Care right now and wish I had a job in IT

michaelcox

VinUnleaded wrote: »

That is so insane. Im in Customer Care right now and wish I had a job in IT

we all think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Turgon

UnixGuy wrote: »

Good points Turgon, but I have a question: is there a risk of forgetting or losing technical knowledge or troubleshooting skills when all you do is design ?

Right now I do the builds/implemenation + support. I do very little design and documentation

It depends on the nature of the design work you do. Im my case it's design down to the protocol and configuration level so all the code an engineer will configure is know to me and validated by me. I just dont have to do it at 10pm in the evening that's all.

UnixGuy

networker050184 wrote: »

Brings to mind the saying if you don't use it you lose it. When you do high level work you will forget some of the nuances of everyday operation, but at the same time you will learn other skills not needed in day to day operation. For example, I couldn't tell you exactly how our policy-maps are configured (even though I designed a lot of them) but I know how they work and what the end goal of our QoS scheme. Someone who messes with them on a daily basis will know the exact commands involved better, but they probably don't know the grand scheme of things and how they all work together.

Its a give and take basically.

I see, I'll try to do both if possible. I see our 'design' guys do more pre-sales work than anything else. They spend their time reviewing sales tenders and drawing diagrams. I think with Network it's different..

UnixGuy

Turgon wrote: »

It depends on the nature of the design work you do. Im my case it's design down to the protocol and configuration level so all the code an engineer will configure is know to me and validated by me. I just dont have to do it at 10pm in the evening that's all.

yeah if that's what you do then no fear of forgetting technical details. Our design guys don't do this much..

Turgon

UnixGuy wrote: »

yeah if that's what you do then no fear of forgetting technical details. Our design guys don't do this much..

Well a lot of design work is being deskilled these days as things become standardized, we have already seen this in operations type work. As it happens the design work I do ultimately leads to automation but we have to design, test, build and support lots of new complicated infrastructure before we get to that point. If you are going to define an infrastructure standard you need to know how something works and how to implement it properly on a platform, which for something like QoS with its queuing variances across different boxes requires a lot of attention to detail, and config!

UnixGuy

Turgon wrote: »

Well a lot of design work is being deskilled these days as things become standardized, we have already seen this in operations type work. As it happens the design work I do ultimately leads to automation but we have to design, test, build and support lots of new complicated infrastructure before we get to that point. If you are going to define an infrastructure standard you need to know how something works and how to implement it properly on a platform, which for something like QoS with its queuing variances across different boxes requires a lot of attention to detail, and config!

I see. So where do you see design more work ? in service providers or vendors or channel partners or telcos or banking/financial services?