It's getting harder to keep it in perspective...

[Sum Dum Gai]

My job that is. I usually come down more on the money making and less on the doing what you love side when it comes to work. If you have to choose between the two, which isn't always necessary. I still don't know what I love to do though, so in my case I pretty much just look at the salary info. Lately though... I'm really starting to rethink my position on that. It feels more and more like I get paid to sit on my ass all day. Paid pretty well too, considering I'm mostly just sitting on my ass. It's starting to drive me nuckin futs though. The thought of spending another three decades getting paid to surf the web all day, pointlessly shuffle papers once in a while, and only do real work here and there... I really don't think I can take it. The lack of stress is fine and all, but if I'm going to sit here for 40 hours a week I need something going on. At this point I'd take a pay cut to go work in a dysfunctional environment, getting crapped on by a douchy boss, just to have something to do all day.

I seriously can't believe I'm even thinking about this, especially in this job market, but I'm not even sure I can take the thought of another couple years of this. I'm the one who pushed for us to buy a house last year. Loop will kill me if I go home and tell her I'm thinking about switching careers or starting a business anytime soon. I'd be jeopardizing the stability that I wanted for the kids. I'm supposed to be waiting until they're in college, at the earliest, before rocking the boat.

I need a beer.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

I hear ya man.... I can relate. I can earn a full months pay in five minutes on the first business day of the month.

I'm about 2-3 decades older than you.

[KaraBoo]

Don't know why - but this post struck me incredibly funny!! I hope you get to feeling better Dark (before Loopy gets to you!!).

[raeoflyte]

Can you start a business and work on it in your spare time you have in your day already? I'm sure some nights/weekends would be involved, but if you have down time at your current job, that could be a nice way to fill the time...

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

Along with what Raeo mentions how about doing consulting?

[Sum Dum Gai]

Can you start a business and work on it in your spare time you have in your day already?

Could I? Probably. It's unethical as all get out though, since that time is being billed to clients. They're paying me to sit here so that if something goes wrong with one of their computer systems I can fix it. I'd still be here to do that, whether I fill the down time with dicking around online or doing market research for my side business... I guess. The latter sounds more sleazy to me than the former though.

[Opti]

Give me your job!


On a more serious note, when I had a job that didn't take most of my time I started improving processes, etc. to give myself something to do. Create some projects that have value whatever they are. Many years ago I had every machine in a mixed UNIX environment email me results of the backups so I knew which ones to address first and it also allowed me to create a front end that made the process appear more uniform. One of my former coworkers created spreadsheets of important info and some useful canned queries at another job.

[ihearyou2]

I've said this from day one and most people laugh me off. To really feel satisfaction, money is never the answer long-term its always about the work. This becomes more and more self evident as you get further in your career. I will only take jobs that I feel are challenging and dynamic. Pay is a requirement but not the focus of my choices. The great irony is that long term this will also typically increase your pay, better then if the focus was money.

[resolution]

If your employer does tuition reimbursement maybe you could work on a degree and use the down time for your assignments or course work. That way if anything ever happens with the job you will have the experience and also the degree.

[wvugurl26]

I was going to suggest the degree thing. A lot of brick/mortar schools offer classes online now. Not sure if your employer pays but I thought you still had GI benefits to use?

I know the feeling though. I'm doing data analysis right now. I don't have a whole lot to do while I wait for the sql to do its magic. I can only surf the web so much with restricted access and I can only read so many reports before my eyes cross.

[Phoenix84]

"If your employer does tuition reimbursement maybe you could work on a degree and use the down time for your assignments or course work. That way if anything ever happens with the job you will have the experience and also the degree."

This is a great idea Dark, I second it. As I recall from your other posts you don't have a college degree. You should go back to school and use the time at work to study. It's not unethical like working on a side business would be, as you'd be investing in yourself and your ability to do the job.

You don't have a degree, so if you got laid off, you would be unlikely to find a job as good as the one you have. Getting a degree would be like insurance in case of getting laid off.

[sil]

I hear you DH, but being busy and stressed at work does little more than give you less time to think about just how pointless most jobs can be.

My job is crazy busy and I've been really stressed lately, but I still often feel like my work makes very little difference. I don't love this job, won't talk about it with friends because I get bored listening to myself talk about it, and I cringe at the thought that someday my kids might ask me to speak in their school on Career Day.

You already know that everyone on this board will tell you that you need a plan and a paycheck before you can your current job. Bright side is, you've got downtime at work so you can develop your plan & hopefully find a new way to get paid.

Don't know how you're going to find out what it is that you'd love to do. But I'll be watching this thread to see if any of the big brains give you good advice to figure this one out. I struggle with this as well.

Enjoy your beer and enjoy your family. Most likely, that will be all you need to get you back at work on Monday morning.

[Sum Dum Gai]

If your employer does tuition reimbursement maybe you could work on a degree and use the down time for your assignments or course work. That way if anything ever happens with the job you will have the experience and also the degree.

I thought about that, but it feels an awful lot like stalling. Unless I get a degree unrelated to what I'm doing now, but then I'm not eligible for tuition reimbursement. If this career isn't for me, I'd rather just get on with finding something else, not spend four years in school to keep myself busy, then move on to something else without a degree anyway. I'm calling it four years in school because if I'm going back I'm getting a masters. I've got ten years of experience at this point, five of it management, so I just don't see a bachelors adding much value for me.

Give me your job!

When I leave I'll gladly let you guys know who to send your resumes too. They might even let me hire and train my own replacement, but if so there's a guy on my team that's getting my job and I'd back fill him. He makes decent money too though, so if you're looking for a decentish paycheck for a really boring job you'd still be in luck.

[wvugurl26]

Dark I thought you had GI benefits left to use?

[Deleted]

How old are you, Dark? I am not being patronizing, but everyone goes through this in their 40s. It's when guys buy the sports car and get the trophy wife to make up for their dissatisfaction with work. It's when women of my generation started to clamor, "I have to find myself." (That was because we married at 20 or 21, and our kids were out of the house.)

You are the kind of person who finds it too easy. So do some analysis on the side that could be useful to the company. Someone higher up might be impressed. Or a new employer. Or even you. You never know what you may discover with research.

But only quit your job if you know where you are going next. You are at the age where you owe that to Loopy and the kids. You don't have to forgo your dreams, but you have to know what it takes to accomplish them and make sure that all of them buy-in.

[Sum Dum Gai]

So I just read that "Do you know any families..." thread. I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself because I'm bored at work, and those folks are dealing with incredibly sick children, the death of spouses, lifelong care for their disabled kids, etc. I'm such an asshole.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Dark I thought you had GI benefits left to use?

I do. They'd stretch a lot farther combined with tuition reimbursement from work though.

How old are you, Dark?

WAY too young for a mid life crisis. I'll turn 30 this year.

[Deleted]

You're not an asshole. You are an intelligent guy at a boring job. I do think some type of further education will do you good though - then you won't be stuck at your company. Even taking small business classes to prep for opening your own.

[wvugurl26]

Dark's not in his 40s yet. He's only in his early 30s if I remember right.

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

Does your replacement have to already have their own YM login?

I say grab Samir and Michael and hit Chotchki's for brunch....

In all seriousness, I totally understand what you are going through..I went through it myself a few years ago. I ended up doing school at night to get the pre-reqs needed to go back full-time to get inbto a field I really like. Can you explore other career fields on the weekends to see what you want to do? Maybe volunteer at various places?

Also, I know you were in the military..u should have the GI Bill left. Look into it because it is very generous. You could go to school at San Jose State or UCSC. The BAH is very high in those areas so you would be getting a nice allowance every month. Additionally, the school doesn't count the GI Bill as an asset for fin aid purposes (I know, it makes no sense...kinda like not counting 529s as fin assets). Because of that, you would probably get a large amount of fin aid having 3 dependents.

[Deleted]

How far can you stretch the limits of your profession and still qualify for tuition remission? An MBA is pretty versatile, but still useful in IT management. And you can use any elective credits to explore other fields that may interest you.

Researching potential clients for a side business seems a little dirty, but you can work on other facets of your business plan.

Or there's always writing the great American novel...

[Opti]

Dark, read Dez's thread on what advice would you give her to help keep it in perspective. I applied for a job that doesn't even pay $20K/yr in hopes of holding on until I find a decent job. Not sure if I'm up to handling developmentally disabled adults as I think very quickly. The only real plus is it would be a daily reminder as the utility companies get mad at me that I have it better than I think. Was a little sobering to be told that Down's Syndrome adults now survive until their 40s and 50s instead of dying in their 20s and 30s.

[wvugurl26]

Oops sorry Dark I'm trying to make you older than you are. I didn't think you were that much older than me.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Maybe you just need a vacation ?

[Sum Dum Gai]

I say grab Samir and Michael and hit Chotchki's for brunch....

It's weird hanging out with those guys since my promotion. I'm not quite high enough in the food chain to lunch with Lumburgh though, not that anyone in their right mind would really want too. That guy is such a douche.

Holy crap. I've become that fat white guy that talks to Peter about his TPS reports. The second or third boss. You know, the cheerful boring one. He's at the table in the managers meeting scenes, but doesn't really do anything the whole movie. That's me, that's what I do for a living.

[wvugurl26]

I know you think doing the school thing at work is shady but I don't see how its that bad. You'd still be there and available and in the meantime you'd be using your brain cells a little. Is there anything that work would consider paying for that might help you jump to something new?

I know you have braces and stuff to pay for so adding college tuition on wouldn't help. Not sure if you could start at a community college or if you have all that type of stuff done with already. That'd be cheaper anyway for now if it is an option. I've heard community college in CA is dirt cheap, not sure. Its damn expensive in MD.

[lulubean]

Dude, that must be a cushy job to get paid to sit on your ass. Must be nice.

[bring in the new year]

No, that's not you. That's you today.

Couple of suggestions - Go back for the bachelors. I know you don't see the purpose in it and I won't say you need it to do your job. But it's a step towards the masters without the commitment and more importantly it matters to other people. God forbid you should have to look for work, but if you do, you want to remove any obstacles to a job at your current level.

Don't do what I did. I worked in a field without the degree and did pretty well. But when the start up I was with got acquired, I got stuck in an accounting department where kids six months out of college made more than I did. So I was fixing their work and being paid like two grades down from them because they had accounting degrees and I had 15 years of accounting experience. I fixed that by changing departments but that took eight or nine months after I found out and a whole lot of cash out the door.

2. I saw from your last post that you've recently been promoted. Is it possible that this just isn't your type of job in your organization? Some of us are adrenaline junkies and work better as firefighters than cube jocks. Is there a job in your department that has more hands on customer support at your level that you could take on? Is there a position that you could create that could better fit you.

3. What's the next job you want in this company? And how long before you can get it?

4. What I did was tell HR that I wanted to broaden my experience so I switched departments and went into operations. They were happy to have someone with my experience in getting things through accounting and finance. I was happy to learn new skills.

Good luck.

[Sum Dum Gai]

How far can you stretch the limits of your profession and still qualify for tuition remission? An MBA is pretty versatile, but still useful in IT management.

That's really the big question, and I need to talk to HR and find out. The simplest way to describe the way our company views career tracks is that there's one worker bee track, it's got 6 or 7 steps but basically starts at the bottom end with research assistant and goes up to senior associate. Above that there are three "management" tracks; business management, project management, and technical leadership. I'm currently a senior associate, so any degree that's somewhat related to what I do now or the first step of any of the three tracks above me (junior VP, project manager, or subject matter expert) should be a fairly easy sell. Of course, if I'm going to go back to school I'd need to figure out what the hell I want to do with my life, which should help me figure out what to study.

I know you think doing the school thing at work is shady but I don't see how its that bad.

Doing school work on company time is a little shady, but I made that comment in reference to working on my own side business on company time. The school work thing, in theory, benefits the client so it's more of a gray area. Working on my own business, even if I don't poach clients or anything, only benefits me so charging that time back to a client is pretty unethical. Obviously setting up my own consulting company and poaching clients from the consulting company I already work for would be insanely unethical, on top of violating the non compete clause I signed which would probably result in some massive lawyer fees.

[wvugurl26]

I guess its a tad bit shady to do school stuff but honestly if the necessary work is done and you are sitting there surfing the internet I'd rather have you doing something that engages your brain cells. That's just me though. I've been there getting paid for doing almost nothing, doing it right now. It kills me to just sit all day, hit run on query, export results to excel, run new query, and pretty up the results. 9 hours a day of this. I'm about ready to stab my eyes out.

I was going suggest MBA. Thought it might be versatile enough for wherever you go.