Becoming stale/disinterested in your current position

I'm working my second civilian IT job after my time in the military and find my job quickly becoming stale and my IT skills hardly improving. I went from a sysadmin type position that was overworked and underpaid to a new position that is extremely laid back, decent paying, working with a great boss.. but the work I do I find very uninteresting. I've learned some linux troubleshooting, but nearly all of my day surrounds learning and doing tech support tickets/calls for a media broadcasting product that I would probably never use again outside of here. My original motivation for taking the job was learning linux, but that is only basic digging in logs and troubleshooting a buggy product. I still have things to learn with it, but honestly it doesn't interest me hardly at all. My previous job as a sysadmin I felt similar, but mostly because things were in such disarray that I felt what I was learning was mostly bad practices to avoid and my position allowed me to do very little to fix them. I guess I'm just wondering if this is normal and why people constantly switch jobs in IT.

It's hard to give up a position in a start-up with a great boss, great co-workers and a high possibility of one day pulling some serious cash if I stick around (company only has ~30 employees, I'd say 1/3 of them are millionaires and high chance of good $$ from stock options) purely because I'm bored as hell. I guess the other option would be finding a different role within the company, but the only other IT-related position that may open sometime in the near future is one far above my experience in networking/linux sysadmin work.

Any advice/personal input would be great. Thanks.

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Comments

N2IT

I've grown recently myself and have felt the way you have before. I have bailed on opportunities that now I wish I never had.

My way of thinking is adding value to the organization. That is all, how can I better assist the organization, essentially becoming a company man.

I find it much less stressful aligning my interest and knowledge to the business needs. If that requires you to support a piece of vertical in-house software then do it the best you can. If you are easily supporting it offer assistance for other projects or applications etc. Form a strategy and see if it can better you and the company. Generate win win situations if at all possible. Maybe ask if you can get sent to a Linux training course or inquire about learning more about the business.

I think you have a solid opportunity and should look at adding value. IMO your mind is in the right direction, start up 33% of the employees are millionaires, sounds like potentially a solid service and/or product.

BigMevy

I'd cousel patience. It sounds like you're in a good position, and as you know IT changes rapidly. Six months from now you could end up with more work than you can handle, particularly with a young start-up that had potential for rapid growth.

DigitalZeroOne

This seems like a great time to get some studying accomplished while at work. I would bring in some books, setup some practice machines, and use this time to expand my knowledge. If the company is great like you say, I would not be in a rush to leave.

NightShade03

ck86 wrote: »

I guess the other option would be finding a different role within the company, but the only other IT-related position that may open sometime in the near future is one far above my experience in networking/linux sysadmin work.

This right here is a great example of you can keep yourself busy. Sure the day to day may suck and be very monotonous, but if you know that a position *might* open up that is beyond your skill set then works towards growing your skill set! The job I work now...everyone does things a$$ backwards (think excel spreadsheets). I have spent countless hours working on ways to improve those processes and then demoing them for my bosses. Has a single one of my ideas been implemented? No. However, I've increased my programming skills, become a better web developer, and have two (small) applications that I could potentially build a SaaS company with!

Anyway, my point is similar to the others. You are in a good position and can possibly make out well by sticking it out. Just keep your mind busy and do anything/everything to challenge yourself.

gorebrush

I am disinterested in my role because ultimately it isn't what I joined my company to do. I wanted to get into 3rd line network support but ended up in Automation - which is fine, I look after Network monitoring + automation tools, but don't get on actual devices.

So I'm going to do something about it and move to a role that gives me that. However, I am fortunate in that I do work for a very large MSP and the roles are available internally.

I appreciate (because I've been there) that it can be impossible in a small company because other roles simply do not exist. The best thing you can do is keep doing the little bits and pieces of work outside to keep you from getting bored, and building your skill base. Take some certifications - you never know how handy they may be...

Mrock4

I feel that if you make great money, have a great boss, great benefits- etc, but aren't interested in your job, it's not worth it.

5/7 days a week (at least) are spent at work. Is it worth staying for a great paycheck?

Truth be told, that great paycheck IS somewhere else waiting for you, with a great boss, and great benefits. The problem is, it's outside of your comfort zone- you have a stable position, and if you step outside of that, there's a lot of "what ifs." If you can fight through those, you will find a position with not only offers great compensation, but that challenges you technically.

That being said, I'm not saying rush to leave- a stable job is a perfect position to look for the perfect (and stable) job. Take your time, build your skillset, and while you're there, do your best.

RouteThisWay

Mrock speaks the truth.

And has a great avatar.

Crikey

Mrock4 wrote: »

That being said, I'm not saying rush to leave- a stable job is a perfect position to look for the perfect (and stable) job. Take your time, build your skillset, and while you're there, do your best.

Exactly. Trust me, if you have the power to broaden your skill sets while you're there, take advantage of it. I was in a similar position a few years ago and got complacent. Then another company came in and threatened my job - I'm still here, but I don't have any authority anymore and they don't allow me to get involved in new projects or set up any sort of training environment.

ck86

Thanks for the replies.

I do need to buckle down a bit more and instead of accomplishing nothing when the ticket queue is low I need to study or do some hands on work. There's more than enough work to be done around the company, I just am a little bit wary of taking on too much and then being expected to perform extra tasks. That was what turned my last job from a good position to being insanely stressed, putting in way too many hours. I guess I'm just slightly lost as to what exactly I want to do in IT, which makes picking certs difficult.