Should I quit my job after 6 months?

I'm in a stressful dilemma. I was recently hired by a tech firm as a jr. project manager straight out of college. After I was hired, I got trained on Oracle. The training was ineffective as the topics they started us off with here quite advanced and the instructor had a very thick accent. The company's goal was to have me be both a project manager and an Oracle DBA, although I was never told that I would be an Oracle DBA when I interviewed for the position.

At first I liked this approach, as I can work on my insufficient technical skills. After I was put on Oracle operation shifts however, my job became a nightmare. I am having so much trouble picking things up and always looking for help from my colleagues, which most of the time are unavailable to help me. This makes it extremely stressful for me as it's not something I can control or use best judgement on. I have brought this up before and people have just recommended me to get practice when I'm not on shift, but it's usually impossible to find people to help me as they're all busy/not interested/bad at teaching. I've honestly tried...

I'm 6 months in and am still having trouble grasping the basics with troubleshooting Oracle issues and it seems everybody is much smarter than me. I'm now very discouraged and absolutely HATE being on Oracle shifts.

I now want to quit my job because I never signed up to be an Oracle DBA. I am willing to learn, but it seems the company wants me to learn at a faster pace, which I cannot do. I hate my job more everyday because of this.

What should I do? Quitting is difficult because I do not currently have another job lined up (although I can survive for a 4-6 months if I move back home) and I invested quite a bit on moving to another city for this job. There are plenty of jobs available in my hometown if I move back, although finding the right one might take a while.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

networker050184

Well there you go. Sounds like this isn't what you want to do. The only other answer is to find another job.

Hammer80

You sound like a person that would be very happy in IT Audit aka CISA, its less technical but more procedure and policy based. It allows you analyze the threats and come up with suggestions, create new policy, and investigate.

thomaslb

I know I will be leaving this job; the question is when. Should I start applying now or should I wait until I have a year of experience here? It's currently very stressful to me but it may (although unlikely) get better in the future.

Hammer80 wrote: »

You sound like a person that would be very happy in IT Audit aka CISA, its less technical but more procedure and policy based. It allows you analyze the threats and come up with suggestions, create new policy, and investigate.

I'll keep that in mind.

networker050184

Why stay in a job you hate and are uninterested in? Start applying now. Might be six months before you find something and get a new start date.

Danielm7

I'd apply now. If people ask in the future why you were only there 8 months you can tell them you were hired as a project manager than were asked to be a DBA, which is not what you wanted.

Legacy User

N2IT wrote: »

but there is a point and time where you know if you are good, bad or average. Maybe that's 1 year maybe 2, but eventually you will find out.

@N2IT I can't really agree with that. I firmly believe anyone can be taught anything its up to that individual person to take the initiative to become better at whatever there taught. If that person has no interest in learning what is being taught and hates it up to the point that out of spite they don't allow themselves to learn they automatically debilitate themselves from becoming better at there job.
In this case the OP clearly states he hates everything about his job and the frustration has him blinded. The question is if you turn the tables and put someone else who wants to be DBA with the same level of experience and education would you hear the same complaints? Would that person state that they face challenges everyday but everything is a learning experience on how to tackle the next problem?

@thomaslb If you feel that your current position isn't right for you start looking as everyone else mentioned. But the key thing is make sure you have a definite job lined up employers like to hire people who are currently employed vs unemployed. I read an article some time ago that said they view unemployed people as less desirable.

W Stewart

Just remember, if you quit for an easier job, the pay is likely going to be less. You're gaining some valuable experience right out of school. Make the most of it.

Params7

I'm going through something like this at my work, except its with Windows Servers. The company is just throwing me out there with no experience or formal training with them. I made it clear that if you're going to throw me into the fire, don't expect me not to make mistakes.

And I'm making a lot of mistakes, and I keep making them. One time I completely brought down a server when I was trying to get a backup virtual drive to load, thankfully it was after hours otherwise they would not have been able to work. In any case, they're not firing me so while I'm here I'm just doing the learning on my own.

nestech

Hey Thomas,
It’s like that at most place you work but you have to want it and it is not always going to be easy. Go online join different forum and just having friends that has the same career has help me over the years. After 6 months and you need more training, you might need to have a conversation with your manager to see if they will pay for you to go to training off site. Or you might have want to invest in some computer base training like CBT Nugget $99 a month. There is a lot of ORACLE training on youtube. Do you have an Oracle support account? If not get one your company pays for that service.