It's long, but I would appreciate any feedback or slaps across the face telling me to suck it up
As the title says, I've been in quite a funk. I lurk the boards quite frequently, and very rarely participate. Basically, I'm at a point in which I don't know what I want to do with myself anymore. I see everyone so eager to get their degrees, complete certifications, and obtain gainful employment.
I guess I have been pretty fortunate. I was able to snag a job in the IT world right out of high school (IT operator for a hospital). I spent 6 years at that hospital ending as a Technical Specialist (System Administrator). During those 6 years, I obtained my AAS, A+, Network+, MCP+,Project+, Security+, and even began attending WGU during what would become my last 6 months of employment (I also took up a 6 month teaching gig for a local career and tech center). I made the tough decision to leave as the work began to become routine and mundane (Also, I was excluded from the newly formed IT Security team after receiving my Security+ certification...). It was a very tough decision to leave as I had practically grown up in the position establishing many of the processes and procedures that are still followed today. Ultimately, though, I left because of the lack of challenging work and what I felt was a low salary for the responsibilities required for the job. (Side note: It has been two years, and they still have not been able to get someone to fill the position due to lack of skills and low salary - unfortuante.)
I left for a job that had promise and potential. I would be a Regional IT Specialist managing and supporting multiple healthcare facilities. The salary offer was pretty substantial compared to my position at the hospital, so I took the position. The position did not turn out as portrayed in the original interviews. I became more of a middle man/coordinator/glorified bench tech. I wasn't doing much of anything except for relaying information or pointing people in the right direction or unboxing devices that were still setup by an outsourced IT company. I traveled to the sites, but I was basically just a face for the corporate headquarters - a body to the sites to show that corporate is addressing their needs. I soon begun to loathe this place. The corporate structure and the management made what little work there was tedious and brutal.
I left this position after 11 months to take an opportunity with a financial services firm as a Systems Admin. I wanted to get back into that type of roll, and this company had a need for someone with vmware and sharepoint skills so it felt like a good fit.
Well, it has been 9 months since starting and the same feelings of boredom are creeping up again. Since starting our IT manager quit after the new CIO was onboard for a few weeks (this was for the good. the manager was outdated and stuck in their ways). Days go by where there is nothing to do. We spend other days talking about what we can do in the future, but we never get going - always something getting in the way.
I just feel burned out to the point I don't want to be in the IT field anymore. I know people have suggested just studying for certs during all of the downtime, which is fine, but the experience doing the work would be far more beneficial to me by keeping me engaged.
I don't know what I'm really looking for with this post, maybe more-so to vent or see if anyone else has had similar experiences.
