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Mid-life here - I can appreciate you're probably feeling frustrated and a bit lost. I think this is normal at times, especially early on in our careers. Workin

Mid-life here - I can appreciate you're probably feeling frustrated and a bit lost. I think this is normal at times, especially early on in our careers. Working in tech / IT can be grueling, particularly entry-level roles. Operations is often 24x7. People only call when they have problems. Incidents are rarely convenient. The work can be repetitive. It's a good job, but a bit like being a plumber, and you have to accept a certain amount of that. You list a lot of different domains; specializing in an area will help you get past the entry-level physical work. Pay attention to the subjects that don't burn you out. Is there one specific type of "IT work" you really enjoy? If so, focus there. Figure out the certifications which matter in that space (e.g. the CCNA/CCNP/CCIE track in networking) and pursue them. I went to college for one thing (bioinformatics), burned out, took a year to recover and pivoted into network engineering, which ended up being a great decision that ultimately led me to a FAANG. Don't lose hope. Long-term, I also suggest some inner work on your burnout, ideally with a therapist or other professional. Burnout rarely happens only once, and often it has more to do with our mindset and worldview than it does with the specific work. Took me a very long time (and some months with a great therapist) to recognize that about myself. Be well!

morjom 5y ago
Thank you for sharing this advice! Biggest part of burning out was mainly due to just trying to do as "normal" hours as possible which in hindsight was a terrible idea since I'm basically at half-capacity. The things I didn't like in IT were the printer cartridges, troubleshooting projectors. I liked setting up devices, setting up user credentials through the AD, that sort of thing. With fiddling I've come to appreciate FOSS and well light weight well working stuff. One thing I have had problems with is doing things that others have solved (was thinking of making a website tracking app thingie but apparently I shouldn't bother and just run a node server and plop this thing in it). It's a bit discouraging but I know it's probably better I still do it regardless to gain experience. My languages of interest are JS and Lua if I ever start doing that. I've worked with a therapist for unrelated reasons for 6 years and this has been one of the topics for the last year since I crave more independence. I've been the happiest in my life this year all things considered. Sorry if my response isn't very coherent English is not my native tongue.
- willidiots 5y ago
  Your English is great! It sounds like you liked authentication/authorization; perhaps consider IT security / CISSP? You will have to endure some degree of printer cartridge-type work in your early years, no matter what, especially since you're the new person. But if the role exposes you to the work you enjoy, put in the hours and you'll get noticed. I remember my first years in networking - I never enjoyed climbing into ceilings, pulling cable etc. But I got it done, and worked hard in the areas I really enjoyed. Pretty soon an engineering role opened up; I was able to move into it quickly, as management had seen my potential. You talk about "doing things that others have solved" - this is the "make vs buy" problem and, to a degree, it's fine to build things yourself. But you can probably appreciate that it isn't just about building the thing, it's about maintaining it. In a professional setting, you have to choose the optimal solution for the business. On your personal time, build stuff! Whether that means assembling FOSS solutions or writing things from scratch, it's valuable experience.
  - morjom 5y ago
    Earlier this year and late last year I had a dilemma(?) about security vs privacy (overlap but in the end they're kind of separate, right?). I am interested in security and even figured out where I can get some certifications (need a bit of money for that though). I guess my ideal course of action right now is get a slightly more mundane job with things I like in it while I try to build things and learn. (Sounds like that's what you all have went through aswell).

morjom 5y ago

Thank you for sharing this advice! Biggest part of burning out was mainly due to just trying to do as "normal" hours as possible which in hindsight was a terrible idea since I'm basically at half-capacity. The things I didn't like in IT were the printer cartridges, troubleshooting projectors. I liked setting up devices, setting up user credentials through the AD, that sort of thing. With fiddling I've come to appreciate FOSS and well light weight well working stuff. One thing I have had problems with is doing things that others have solved (was thinking of making a website tracking app thingie but apparently I shouldn't bother and just run a node server and plop this thing in it). It's a bit discouraging but I know it's probably better I still do it regardless to gain experience. My languages of interest are JS and Lua if I ever start doing that. I've worked with a therapist for unrelated reasons for 6 years and this has been one of the topics for the last year since I crave more independence. I've been the happiest in my life this year all things considered. Sorry if my response isn't very coherent English is not my native tongue.

willidiots 5y ago
Your English is great! It sounds like you liked authentication/authorization; perhaps consider IT security / CISSP? You will have to endure some degree of printer cartridge-type work in your early years, no matter what, especially since you're the new person. But if the role exposes you to the work you enjoy, put in the hours and you'll get noticed. I remember my first years in networking - I never enjoyed climbing into ceilings, pulling cable etc. But I got it done, and worked hard in the areas I really enjoyed. Pretty soon an engineering role opened up; I was able to move into it quickly, as management had seen my potential. You talk about "doing things that others have solved" - this is the "make vs buy" problem and, to a degree, it's fine to build things yourself. But you can probably appreciate that it isn't just about building the thing, it's about maintaining it. In a professional setting, you have to choose the optimal solution for the business. On your personal time, build stuff! Whether that means assembling FOSS solutions or writing things from scratch, it's valuable experience.
- morjom 5y ago
  Earlier this year and late last year I had a dilemma(?) about security vs privacy (overlap but in the end they're kind of separate, right?). I am interested in security and even figured out where I can get some certifications (need a bit of money for that though). I guess my ideal course of action right now is get a slightly more mundane job with things I like in it while I try to build things and learn. (Sounds like that's what you all have went through aswell).