Can haz any of you been in IT and got burned out?

[UserX]

Good luck dude!

[Silverback]

Well..unfortunately I was given my walking papers yesterday. It may be a blessing in disguise but for now, it sucks. Oddly enough, even though things will get very tight if I don't find something soon, it felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. In hindsight, it was better for both parties involved.

I have about a months worth of pay so hopefully I can be ready for the CCNA exam and become more knowledgeable with VMWare...we'll see.

I'll be hitting the usual job boards in full force now and will be updating my status with a few recruiters I've been talking to. So if any of you have any leads...I'd appreciate a little nudge.

Take a look at Dell, I know there's a lot of hiring going on right now due to HP in Austin taking a lot of people from upper level management and trickling down. Don't be afraid to apply for Round Rock positions too, since aquiring Perot Systems they are staffing from Plano for positions in Round Rock.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/careers/gateway/portal?c=us&l=en

[lowthreeohz]

Been in IT and an IT-like field for 5 years.

already hate it.

[Rreemo]

I've been in the IT field almost 20 years now... JESUS I'm getting old

I've worked large corporate, small business, startups, etc. If you want to get ahead, specialize in something, and try to be the SME for a particular product group. (subject matter expert). If you want to get into networking then you need to go somewhere to get your feet wet like large scale Telco. Not as an installer but on the provisioning side. SBC, ATT, Time Warner, etc. It's a great place to start from the bottom up. Eventually you'll have two options in a large scale environment: customer support or internal support (some places combine these).

If you want to move up, go work for a large corporation, most promote from within first, and if they don't, their name on your resume looks great to other large corporations.

Small companies tend to overwork the IT person and make them cover many things and specialize in nothing. If there's enough work for 2 people, they can only afford one. It isn't until there's enough work for 3 people that they will hire a second

I have a CCNA, MCSE NT4.0, MCSE 2003, MCSE 2003 + Security, Security +, A+, MCITP 2008 Server Admin. As you can tell I've been a Intel/Microsoft System Admin for most of my career. I've also done SOHO networking, some Unix administration, VMWare, etc. I attend 3-5 Microsoft sponsored trainings a year and I'm currently working towards my ITIL and PMP certification. My current career path is to become a Team Manager with Dell, and my manager and I have created an approved path for this to happen.

Dell does a very good job about buildng personal career goals, it just takes getting the right manager to help you get to where you want to go. One of the guys on my team doesn't want to move to management, he's just happy being the senior technical person on the team.

While I could do cable runs, etc. myself, there is a reason large corporations don't allow just anyone to splice and run new cables in a production environment. Typically some sort of change control management exists. A lot of times it's an acountability issue: Say a cable is responsible for a customer outage for a customer on an SLA with heavy monitary chargebacks. If a company can prove fault, there may be something in their contract that states the cable vendor is responsible for a portion of the charge back to the customer (just an example).

If you've spent 10 years in helpdesk and small business IT support, you're missing the point and I'd be burned out too. Find a bigger company that has training as part of the position, whether it's company sponsored, for tuition reimbursement. A lot of people bitch about the BS in a corporation, but I can honestly say the benefits for me have always outweighed the crap with the larger corporations I've worked for. (Dell, Microsoft, Verio, Nortel).

How long ago were you with MS and what dept? I've been here 14 years now....technical, management, training, technical-management, and now Crisis Management for the past ~6 years (getting to be about time for a change out of that now, though).

Nevertheless, some good advice here...the larger the company the more area-focused you can be and the more depth they need you to have. In my experience the larger ones will invest into your development if you are all-in and invested in yourself. Specialization is where it's at.

My next move within the company will for sure be somewhere within software+services. If I was going to start my own company right now I would focus on cloud migration and deployment management from a consultative standpoint. Regardless how many people are resistant to it, that is the direction this industry is going. In this economy it makes too much sense financially alone....the guaranteed production up-time and having to deal with less onsite IT staff is just an added bonus to a lot of these companies.
My advice for any IT person out there - if you aren't already broadening your knowledge somehwere in online services (be it MS, Google, Oracle, Amazon, whoever)...you are already a step behind if you intend to stay in this business for the longhaul.

[Mikecobra302]

I cna't say it enough.... it's all about WHO YOU KNOW!

I have been in IT for about 9 years now. Stared as an operator and a help desk agent. Store support, then got on the Network Engineering team. Like someone said, most guys in my field are complete douchebag know it alls.

Make a good network of friends, when they move jobs, keep in touch with them. Be persistent on getting a spot you want.

I moved from a large corporate office to a similar job after 8 years and got a nice pay raise. I got the job soley because I knew the guys on the team at the new job. Don't get me wrong, I know my stuff, I am still a mid level Network Engineer, but I got this job based on my contacts, and resume second.

Sure, I'm qualified for the job, but so are 1000's of other people. I would have never made it through HR had I not known the guys here.

Learn the basics, get the CCNA, then get your foot in the door somewhere and kick some ass. Make friends, do your projects perfect, ask for help when needed, make an impression. The pay is definitely there at the right places, go get it!

[Rreemo]

Nerds!!!!!!

...and who would've thought that Ogre would one day be starring in Capitol One Commericals as a Viking....

[Silverback]

How long ago were you with MS and what dept? I've been here 14 years now....technical, management, training, technical-management, and now Crisis Management for the past ~6 years (getting to be about time for a change out of that now, though).
.

I was in the Performance Group as a Product Suppor Specialist I think is what it was called. That was back in like 2003 maybe? Some of the guys I was working with at the time are back there as FTEs. I was a contrator through Volt.

[Rreemo]

I was in the Performance Group as a Product Suppor Specialist I think is what it was called. That was back in like 2003 maybe? Some of the guys I was working with at the time are back there as FTEs. I was a contrator through Volt.

Ah yeah, that would be the Platforms group...I know quite a few of those folks. Back in 2003 Christy, Vance, Neil or one of those folks was probably your Volt rep? We got a lot of talent from Volt...CompCon Tech as well...matter of fact I'm still doing business with CCT today.

[347Mike]

Service Deployment is where its at. You transition services, and you move on to another project. Its the same thing over and over but new faces and challenges along the way.

[futant]

Well..unfortunately I was given my walking papers yesterday.

I have about a months worth of pay so hopefully I can be ready for the CCNA exam and become more knowledgeable .

hey i have about 800mb worth of CCNA study material if you like.
stuff like over 1000 questions that are the actual exam questions.
If you can get through that, you have a good chance of passing the exam.

PM me and I'll shoot you an FTP to pull from. good stuff , some interactive test engines... etc.

[GeorgeG.]

I was in the Performance Group as a Product Suppor Specialist I think is what it was called. That was back in like 2003 maybe? Some of the guys I was working with at the time are back there as FTEs. I was a contrator through Volt.

I remember doing a 1 year tour at MS with Volt...I was supporting Outlook and Outlook Express. I don't remember when exactly other than around the time Windows ME was launched and when they moved to the location they're at now. Definately a cool place.

I even got a call about a month or two back from a TekSystems recruiter asking if I was interested in a position there....I may have to call him back in the morning.

[slow99]

Cisco Certified Network Associate? Hmmm... anyone have first-hand experience with the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Nexus 7000 products? Ie, my checks have told me the Nexus 7000 switches are not performing well, being returned, etc...

[mikeb]

Mikeb- I hear what you're saying but you're lumping independent consulting with working for someone. They are not the same by a long shot. As an independent contractor, just getting PAID alone can suck.

Someone had said something earlier in the thread about considering consulting, so i gave my .02. It's not for everyone but i've done OK in it. AND i consider myself a card carrying member of the "jaded IT" membership as well.

[Silverback]

I remember doing a 1 year tour at MS with Volt...I was supporting Outlook and Outlook Express. I don't remember when exactly other than around the time Windows ME was launched and when they moved to the location they're at now. Definately a cool place.

I even got a call about a month or two back from a TekSystems recruiter asking if I was interested in a position there....I may have to call him back in the morning.

I'd call them, Volt, and CompuCon as I know the latter two are usually the go to for recruiting at MS.

I know they were hiring for Full Time MS employees rather than contractors for several Platform groups a while back. I will say the interview process is no joke, you defintely need to know your shit at MS. But I'd look into it for sure, they are a pretty good place to work.

[SMEGMA STENCH]

An regardless of your position, you're gonna get the corporate bs, unless it's your own place.

What corporate bullshit are yall referring to? I know what corporate bullshit is, I just mean in IT specifically.