Need advice about my current job situation

krazyq

krazy Techie
Messages
8,246
Location
Minnesota
Hello everybody,
So this may be long, if you spend the time to read this and have some input I'd really really appreciate it.

It's regarding my current position.
I'm not happy here, I feel like I'm wasting time and not learning anything useful.
When I started working at Cargil like two years ago in Tier3 Help Desk and building machines, it was hard at first because it was my first corporate gig however I loved it, I learned a lot, it opened my mind, I never knew how the other business side worked with IT. I then got moved to the Infrastructure area where I learned so much more.
Unfortunately, TCS Consulting took over so we all got laidoff and I found a job (thankfully right before I was laid off) at BBY.
It was supposed to be a Technical Support position, they mentioned SharePoint, admin stuff etc.
They hired two people, the other guy has been here at BBY for ten years however he was an end user.

We're now on the admin side.
The problem is now that I've finally figured out what my role is (which is managing sharepoint sites, creating info path forms, etc)
I"m not liking it at all, sure I"m learning stuff.
However I feel like this is not me, I feel like I'm wasting my skill or my potential.
This is more of a business technical role than an IT technical role, there's such a huge difference.
I"m working with the Marketing team. It's hard to leave because everyone here is amazing, my manager is like a friend, everyone is so cool and chill.
My contract was 4 months and it just got extended until the end of the year.
I spent 90% of my day chilling not doing any work because I"m so bored.
I used to be hard working at Cargill, I knew what my goal was, I worked all day and actually moved up in the company faster than anyone else.
Over here I feel like my skills aren't being used.
I am very thankful for having a job, so I hope you guys don't think I"m ungrateful, I'm very thankful, the salary is amazing however I'd rather take a pay cut and do something I loved doing and learning.
Me and my co worker are both just chilling barely doing anything.

Sorry about such a long post.
I know the easy answer is to just leave but man it's so touch to start searching all over again...
 
You could use your down time to study areas of IT that you haven't explored much, like programming. You could study for certification exams. Maybe you could try to initiate a new project that could benefit your company.

It looks like the only aspect of your job that you dislike is the actual task that you're employed to do. Everything else seems great. If you are miserable daily, maybe you should look elsewhere. However, the grass always looks greener on the other side.
 
Yeah, I pretty much watch hacking tutorials and walk through them on my vast amount of downtime. My boss doesn't bat an eye at it so it works for me. And the tutorials on youtube work for them but sometimes not for me, then it gives me more to try to figure out. I have learned a lot about ethical hacking and using Kali Linux Penetration Testing OS. IDK if you are into that kind of IT, but I sure love it. Imagine you just learned this without classes at a place you get paid at. Do it, find some hardcore free tutorial guides to help you along. You must know networking (which I know you know) in order to successfully hack AND know exactly what your doing. I mean, you may already know this too so it's just a suggestion. They have virtual machine images you can download in order to test exploits on. They are hard, and fun once you figure them out.

I know how reverse engineering works, stenography, using exploits and payloads through msf console/metasploit/armitage. I know how to spoof network traffic, and mac addresses. Basically i know how to do things I never knew how to do for a long time and it feels cool to try to teach people because it's so out of their world sometimes lol
 
Your third sentence says it all - if you aren't happy it's not work staying IMO. Money, experience, ect all will come with time, the biggest thing IMO is to be happy. If you are unhappy with your job, you should really move on.

I know it's difficult because you are in a lax position, working few hours and are close to your peers and managers but if you aren't happy with your job - you should look to move on.

If you cared more about not doing work and not progressing your career then you'd be happy, and there would be no reason to move.

Also think of it this way, perhaps the current situation is ideal - few work hours and a relaxed atmosphere but where do you go after that? The longer you are in a position like there the harder it will be to get an infrastructure job or similar because you weren't testing yourself, you weren't pressing on and trying to expand your skillsets. You weren't making yourself uncomfortable (in a good way) by really challenging yourself. So say in a year if your contract doesn't get renewed what are you going to tell future employers you did for a year? What skills did you learn?

Did this job get your closer to where you want to be with your career? With your life? If not, it's time to move on.
 
@ Sub and jaeusm - I've thought about this. That maybe on my downtime I could just study for other items (I'm terrible at studying btw) I'm a college dropout, mainly cos I was so bored of general classes.
But yeah, if I actually focused, I could do the work i'm supposed to over here and spend the rest of the time taking some courses. however just like Lexluethar said.
What if I'm here for a whole year and my contract doesn't get extended, what will I tell the next company. I feel like job experience is HUGE.
It might be tough to get back into infrastructure since I had basic experience however I could start back at Tier 2-3 Help Desk and if I work my ass off again, hopefully get noticed and move up.
I've thought about all these scenarios however I thought it would be nice to see what you guys had in mind.
Lex's seems to be the correct one because I keep feeling that I'm wasting time.
I was kinda hoping they wouldn't extend my contract so it would give me an excuse to look again. I also with this team wasn't so nice...
I've gotten my resume updated so I am going to start applying again.
I'm going to feel really weird telling them that I wanna leave once I find something.
I do know I will be breaking a bridge over here for sure. They will be pretty disappointed.
I'm really close to them so it's going to suck...
Yesterday we had a bowling outing and again, we had SO MUCH FUN!

Thanks for taking your time reading all of this and giving me advice, I really appreciate it.
 
@ Sub and jaeusm - I've thought about this. That maybe on my downtime I could just study for other items (I'm terrible at studying btw) I'm a college dropout, mainly cos I was so bored of general classes.
But yeah, if I actually focused, I could do the work i'm supposed to over here and spend the rest of the time taking some courses. however just like Lexluethar said.
What if I'm here for a whole year and my contract doesn't get extended, what will I tell the next company. I feel like job experience is HUGE.
It might be tough to get back into infrastructure since I had basic experience however I could start back at Tier 2-3 Help Desk and if I work my ass off again, hopefully get noticed and move up.
I've thought about all these scenarios however I thought it would be nice to see what you guys had in mind.
Lex's seems to be the correct one because I keep feeling that I'm wasting time.
I was kinda hoping they wouldn't extend my contract so it would give me an excuse to look again. I also with this team wasn't so nice...
I've gotten my resume updated so I am going to start applying again.
I'm going to feel really weird telling them that I wanna leave once I find something.
I do know I will be breaking a bridge over here for sure. They will be pretty disappointed.
I'm really close to them so it's going to suck...
Yesterday we had a bowling outing and again, we had SO MUCH FUN!

Thanks for taking your time reading all of this and giving me advice, I really appreciate it.

Well, perhaps if you tell your employer that you'd like to expand your horizons in the tech industry and would appreciate any advice or help they can give you. Most employers like that kind of stuff. Not so much at store retail level, but that is not your case. In a great setting an employer wants you to be as educated as you can be (most of the time). Just talk to them about it in a approachable way. You may get somewhere.
 
Sub has a great idea there. Honestly if you are thinking of leaving but love the environment let your employer know. I mean don't threaten to quit, but you can be subtle and see what other opportunities are there.
 
Sub has a great idea there. Honestly if you are thinking of leaving but love the environment let your employer know. I mean don't threaten to quit, but you can be subtle and see what other opportunities are there.

What I had in mind was look for jobs, and if I'm pretty sure I was getting one I could speak to them as a final resort so if they get upset and let me go, I can say at least I tried.
It would be so awkward though...
I guess better than just giving them a two weeks notice.
When I got the BBY description it did mention SharePoint but a bunch of other stuff.
At the interview, they didn't mention SP even once!
Once I started I was in meetings all day having no idea what was going on.
Everything is on freeze from Oct-Jan so many other systems we were supposed to manager were on hold. But as of now, they keep bringing SP stuff up and say you will be the guy.
I mean it would be cool if I got all this taken care off, I know I could do it if I was passionate about it or if I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, I would try this out but I think I know what I like.
It's gonna be tough going to interviews, I'm going to have to figure timings out and change in the car. I've been wearing sweaters to work since winter so I wouldn't wanna make it obvious!
 
Hey Krazy1,

I'm in a similar situation. I've been with this company for about a year now and at first it was great. But the more I learned the more I realized this wasn't for me. Too much downtime, and the IT Dept here is too involved in other business of the company (see how similar the situations are?). I'm ready to look for something new as soon as I finish my degree. Problem is I love the people and I know for a fact a bridge would be burned as well.

That being said, I'd say if you aren't happy look for something else. That's my plan. I'm actually slowly planting it in my bosses head. You dont want to be in a situation where you hate what you are doing with your life.
 
I work in IT and 70% is downtime with not a single thing to do.. I cant even find anything to do! so like Sub I just study and learnt new troubleshooting solutions and learning Linux.. I weighed up my options but again like Sub said, getting paid and learning what you want is the best balance. ofc your manager will need to be fine with it.

Also speak to your manager, I spoke to mine when I felt I wasn't learning anything new and he allowed me to set up my own rigs, servers and test new tech things out which is great!
 
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