Need a break!!!

I think I seriously need a break, I just feel so burnt out from IT. I have been doing it for about 8 years now and just don't seem to have the passion for it anymore.

Maybe I need a break or change of profession.

I'm not really sure why. I think it may be 2 reasons.

1. I have just filled my head with so much computer knowledge I have forgotten everything else, not to mention studying hard and doing exams for what seems like forever. I am also finding myself forgetting things I used to know about computers because of all the new stuff I have to learn. And on top of it all I get no respect, everyone things we are just nerds who "talk" to computers all day and do nothing.

2. Maybe the novelty has worn off. Back when I started no one even knew what IT was or what it stood for. Only a few people were even interested in computers, or at the least fixing them. Now all of a sudden everyone I speak to, yeah I'm in IT, my brothers in IT, my Grandpa is in IT, my little sister is in IT it just never ends. Why do so many want to get into IT when not that long ago most didn't even care how to turn spell check off. Its just frustrating!! Its like everyone has invaded IT either for the money or because they think they are sh*t hot because they change a network card.

Both of those combined have probably lead to my feeling of being a souless desk jockey. I just do the things that interest me and that I enjoy but I am surrounded (in every job I go to) by half wits who are just in it for money or just think they know it all. I'm not saying I know it all but I do my best and admit when I don't know something.

I just can't wait for the day they turn IT into a real profession and you must be with a registered government approved body for IT so if you do the wrong thing you can be accountable and you also have to prove yourself.

Anyone else get these feelings?

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Comments

QUIX0TIC

Wow... you sound pretty jaded!!!

If you want something that is a profession where you have to truly prove yourself... then why dont you go for CCIE then?

Lee H

Hi

You say you have been doing IT for 8 years, well if ya bored ya should start a total new career, i see your MCSE in 2000/2003 so you must be on what i consider to be a good salary, so what i would do is for the next 2 years plan your next career not at a desk but outside. I plan to only be in IT for 10 years so i have 8 left and by then i hope to have enough saved up to put towards another career if it may be fast tracking on a uni course or renting a shop and selling whatever i like. Hope this suggestion makes your current job worthwhile.

Lee H

garv221

I feel you. I'm getting in something new myself. I'm using IT as a backbone for money & funding but I don't want to be in an IT dept. 10 years from now messing with switches & routers. Kind of feel like fat on company. I want to be part of a money making solution. Too many damn nerds in IT.

keenon

use IT to fund outside hobbies, i know so many that do.. after i get to a good stopping point i set i will do something else

keatron

I use IT to fund my music love (I'm a jazz pianist and bassist). It's nice having the best equipment

Also consider moving into another area of IT. Pentesting, Auditing, also there's a strong market for servicing home users (especially in Metro areas). And according to consumer reports, the most visable one of these types of companies haven't been getting the highest marks in the customer satisfaction area.

strauchr

Thanks for the advice guys. Its also nice to hear others have the same dilema.

I do come across jaded but I probably don't feel jaded ALL the time. I am in a good career with good prospects and yeah the money is a lot better than most jobs. There is always a positive.

use IT to fund outside hobbies, i know so many that do.. after i get to a good stopping point i set i will do something else

I have been so caught up since being in IT with working hard, studying hard and being stressed that I haven't had time for hobbys, which is definitely part of my problem. Thats changed a lot now because I am in better positions and have done a great bulk of the study I want to do. I am now starting to change that such as now working in London and travelling Europe. More will come though, I have a massive list of things I want to get into so will now start doing it.

I feel you. I'm getting in something new myself. I'm using IT as a backbone for money & funding but I don't want to be in an IT dept. 10 years from now messing with switches & routers. Kind of feel like fat on company. I want to be part of a money making solution. Too many damn nerds in IT.

Ain't that the truth. I want to be seen as an asset not a liability. I am sick of trying to justify what I do to people. And the nerds......don't get me started.

If you want something that is a profession where you have to truly prove yourself... then why dont you go for CCIE then?

The problem still remains, who outside of IT knows what the hell CCIE is. Although it would be a great challenge it would take me back to the issue of no time for hobbys.

I use IT to fund my music love (I'm a jazz pianist and bassist). It's nice having the best equipment

Also consider moving into another area of IT. Pentesting, Auditing, also there's a strong market for servicing home users (especially in Metro areas). And according to consumer reports, the most visable one of these types of companies haven't been getting the highest marks in the customer satisfaction area

See now thats a bit more like it, something creative like music. However the music I live is all digitally made on computers, I have done it and its just like administering a program. Another area in IT would not work for me, I just have no real interest in it. I started off doing home user computers and while the customer part was enjoyable (most of the time) home PCs are the most boring to work on.

I guess out of all these responses I see my solutions and my issues. IT used to be a hobby for me but now it is just a job. I need to find some hobbys or maybe a new career where I feel a bit more fulfilled. Its hard to make a change from a career you have invested so much time and effort in though.

Hopefully this thread will help some others who are feeling the pain of IT.

QUIX0TIC

It never matters who outside of IT knows what CCIE is... all they need to know is if you have the money that a CCIE makes or the work hours. Yo have to admit... CCIEs do work from home alot or even overseas!!!

Take your IT money and invest into real estate... or become a day trader... day trading is how I bought my first home! With the IT salary behind that!

strauchr

I certainly agree with that statement about CCIE - a different and much brighter perspective.

I will have to learn the share market, it is one those things on my list.

/usr

I've only been actively working in the field for a couple of years, but I already see that I'm questioning whether or not I want to do this forever.

Perhaps if I could get into a somewhat different area, such as actually installing wireless equipment, as opposed to desktop support/programming.

Then again, I can see myself being happy in a number of completely unrelated fields.

And I haven't even finished my Bachelors.

Webmaster

strauchr wrote:

And on top of it all I get no respect, everyone things we are just nerds who "talk" to computers all day and do nothing.

strauchr wrote:

The problem still remains, who outside of IT knows what the hell CCIE is.

I know what you mean, but does it really matter what the Muggles think?

strauchr

Yeah true. Even if others were impressed it still wouldn't really affect me. Still, I think the professionalism of IT will come and its great to be at the start of a new profession.

3000GT

I have to admit the IT industry has become so saturated and that everyone got into it thinking there is big money to be made, so they all hopped on the gravey train, now its like fighting in fish barrel for jobs, i like IT and it was a hobbie to start off with, now its my career, i dont mind doing it as it pays for my new hobbie of car racing, thats my escape from all the stress, adrenaline rush woooooooooooooo!

mobri09

Hey RobsonGTO - Street racing or track? Sounds like fun - I think we should all take up that hobbie to burn the stress off

3000GT

Drag racing, doing 1/4 mile runs, its great, i might take her on the track one day but at £120+ a tyer for my car, it would eat into my hard earned cash so quick!

int80h

Your tired of business IT?

If you have strong networking skills (and I mean networking at the bit level) do what I did and get into Driver Information Systems.

You get to design networks for new cars that haven't been revealed to the public yet. You get to work on networks that are designed from the ground up, not just thrown together with whatever NewEgg had on sale this week. Best of all you get to test your network on a closed track

strauchr

int80h wrote:

Your tired of business IT?

If you have strong networking skills (and I mean networking at the bit level) do what I did and get into Driver Information Systems.

You get to design networks for new cars that haven't been revealed to the public yet. You get to work on networks that are designed from the ground up, not just thrown together with whatever NewEgg had on sale this week. Best of all you get to test your network on a closed track

That sounds cool. How do you get into that, location, skills, qualifications etc.?

Ten9t6

keenon wrote:

use IT to fund outside hobbies, i know so many that do.. after i get to a good stopping point i set i will do something else

That's what I do...You have to have an outlet..be able to step away, relax, and start fresh again.

After my CCIE boot camp last week, I was wrecked....So, I went down to Austin and did some diving. When your down 110 ft in dark water looking at an old 'pecan grove', the last thing you are thinking about is your IT job!

If it wasn't for my hobbies, I would go crazy.

Kenny

darkuser

who'd you boot camp with ?

int80h

strauchr wrote:

That sounds cool. How do you get into that, location, skills, qualifications etc.?

Location: Detroit
Degree: B.S. Computer Engineering
Certifications: FE/EIT (PE eligible in another year)

Ten9t6

darkuser wrote:

who'd you boot camp with ?

I took it through IPExpert. It was taught by Scott Morris....

keatron

Ok, that's it, I'm moving to Texas. That sounds like fun Kenny.

Unfortunately, here in Chicago, there's only about 2 to 3 months out of the year when the water is warm enough for swimming or diving.

mobri09

Ten9t6, you must be a genius to be involved in so much. An expert in IT and scuba diving and all your other hobbies. How do you find the time? It's hard for me to multitask like that, but i am getting better at it.

strauchr

Think I'll get into kyte surfing when I get home. I come from a great city that has great beaches and heaps of wind. Its ideal for it. I think the study is going to slow down after my CCNA, or even for it so I can just relax a bit.

I can't think of many other hobbies in London other than drinking

I can see from here that I'm not alone and that the only sane thing to do is do something that has nothing to do with computers as a hobby, something free from stress, deadlines and logical thinking (getting creative instead) I took a DJ course recently and it felt so good to learn something different. I am now going to follow through and get some decks and get into it.

I have been inspired by some of your stories and its confirming the answer I have known for some time. Basicially, get a life outside your job.

So I thank you for your replies and inspirations. You may have saved an IT soul.

And I am now looking forward to working toward a nice break as I am travelling around Europe for 2 months next summer. That will be a great experience, not to mention I am going to New York for New Years and staying in Time Square! Its all about being positive.

Ten9t6

keatron wrote:

Ok, that's it, I'm moving to Texas. That sounds like fun Kenny.

Unfortunately, here in Chicago, there's only about 2 to 3 months out of the year when the water is warm enough for swimming or diving.

haha..you just have to cut a hole in the ice!

My equipment would survive....not sure if I would though. I have thought about going to an ice diving class to try it once or twice...not sure I would make a habit of it.

The water last week was nice. It was 80 degrees to about 80 feet and then started dropping off. I was reading in the low 60s around 110 ft. It is dark down there, but the water was crystal clear. If you shine your light on someone (not in their face

) it looks like they are floating in air. I love it..

mobri09: haha..I wouldn't consider myself a jenuos (

) by any means. I just love trying new things. There are so many things that I want to do...I just don't have enough money or time to get them all in. You have to have some sort of hobby....or you will go crazy.

Kenny

keenon

well i can't lie i been slouching for the past 2 months been having alot going on. i just sat down this morning 5am started rereading all the notes i have made picking up where i left off in the switching book.. .i gotta move fast ccnp is going to get a refresh from what i read in JAN 06

gotta bust my butt and try to do a test this month, and every month but one of these months i gotta do 2... and holidays are coming up feels like a FU

/usr

Eh, don't feel bad. I haven't even picked up my CWNA book since I failed the exam.

Webmaster

keenon wrote:

.i gotta move fast ccnp is going to get a refresh from what i read in JAN 06 gotta bust my butt and try to do a test this month, and every month but one of these months i gotta do 2... and holidays are coming up feels like a FU

I'm sure you'll be able to mix and match 'old' and new CCNP exams. I hope so at least as I probably will be half way in Jan given that I plan to take the BCMSN exam before the end of the year.

darkuser

well .... I'm willing to bet he doesn't have any kids.
I have 3 and I can't even begin studying until 10 pm.
by 12 my attention span has waned.
I orinally passed the ccie written in 12/01.
now I have to re- take it.
I'm training with
http://www.internetworkexpert.com

QUIX0TIC

Im with him... I gotta get my butt in gear!

keenon

darkuser wrote:

well .... I'm willing to bet he doesn't have any kids.
I have 3 and I can't even begin studying until 10 pm.
by 12 my attention span has waned.
I orinally passed the ccie written in 12/01.
now I have to re- take it.
I'm training with
http://www.internetworkexpert.com

actually i have 3 kids and a wife 5am is the only time i can steal for me