Bored in new job

terrorman

I'll probably get a negative response to this because so many people are out of work but here goes anyway.
I was in a job I really liked but the company was struggling and not making much money so I had to leave and take a job that pays much better (50 percent more than my old job) but the work is less interesting.
It's software dev and the development in the last place was really interesting
(I don't want to get into talking about different development languages as that's not the point of my post).
In my old job I was master of my own destiny.I practically ran the place on my own (I was the only software developer there) and when I had to do something I could choose my own way of doing it.
I wasn't lazy in the job (even though I could have got away with it if I wanted to).
I was doing so many different things that I was never bored.I would have to do a bit of Network Administration,Hardware,Database development,tech support,site visits,web development,software development.
It wasn't a bed of roses by any means because along with being paid so little I had to do everything myself with no support (my boss did employ some people from jobbridge and foreign interns but they were more of a hindrance than a help to be honest;they knew very little).
I was unable to get a better job in the same area of dev as the old job.I went for loads of interviews but didn't get any of them.I suppose even though I love the area I was in before,I just wasn't much good at it.The last job was easy to get because I accepted such a low salary.
The job I am in at the moment I found the interview easy to pass because it's not a software development company,it's a multinational with an IT division.
As a result the people who interviewed me were not from a software background.
Even though I got the job and it's a good job I feel like a failure because I didn't get a job doing what I like doing (with better pay).My mother said that's crazy talk considering so many well qualified people can't get any kind of job.
There are a lot of perks in this job (pension,health insurance,social club etc.).It's a big company with locations all over the world.People keep telling me how lucky I am.
I know a lot of people have to make the same choice I made:move to a job you don't like for better pay or stay in a job you like for more pay.I made this choice and now I have to make the best of it.
I just miss my old job,it was so fulfilling,some days it didn't feel like work at all.
A big ambition of mine has been to own my own home and now I have the chance to do it at last (but at a price).
There is a chance I could do more interesting things later on in this job but I've only been here a week so I don't want to make waves by asking.
I knew what the job entailed before I took it anyway.
It's a classic juxtaposition; a lose/lose situation.
People who read this that are not software developers may find my attitude difficult to understand but it's just that I love messing about with code and finding out new things.
However hobbies don't pay the rent and harsh reality comes into it eventually.
As I say,feel free to have a pop at me if you are out of work.

boobar

Terrorman, have I read this correctly you're only in the job a week?

terrorman

boobar wrote: »

Terrorman, have I read this correctly you're only in the job a week?

Yes but the early signs are not good;they only have one application that is similar to what I worked on before.
It looks like one of those jobs where I will be doing the same thing over and over again.
I know a lot of jobs (most in fact) are like that but it's just that I had a lot of variety in the last job and mentally I got used to that.
I hate to sound like a selfish p###k but I'm just worried that's all.

wallyMe

More money? Easier job hmm. You can always move jobs, its not like they'll castrate you if you leave

ARGINITE

boobar wrote: »

Terrorman, have I read this correctly you're only in the job a week?

terrorman wrote: »

Yes

When I started my current job as a developer I wasn't very happy in it for the first few months, but three years later I love it and would leave. You have been there a week, give it time. If still hating it after a year leave.

Schnitzel Muncher

Keep looking for a role you enjoy more but stay where you are until that happens.

Will the new job let you do any relevant certs? Or are there areas within this job that you can upskill on?

Figure out what you need to do to get a job in the area you want. Any night time courses or distance learning or certs you can do?

It is easy to be unhappy in a job even when you know there is massive unemployment, see if you can make this role a stepping stone.

approx 8 years ago I got sidetracked into a role I didn't really like, the salary was great, i stuck it out for a year, learnt se new stuff, but ultimately I decided to switch jobs. I took a fair drop on salary but in 18 months I was on the same salary in the new role doing the job I loved.

terrorman

Someone suggested that I keep looking for a job that I like. I tried that in the last job (went for about ten interviews in a year) but I didn't get any of them.
I liked the last job but the pay was crap.If the pay was better I would have stayed.
Someone else said this was an easier job for more pay;I don't know yet if it is easier but it doesn't motivate me as much.
I know a job isn't supposed to be a hobby horse for me to indulge myself.
I'm not lazy;quite the opposite in fact;I find it impossible to relax,I have to be "productive" all the time (even at weekends).
I still keep in contact with my old job,I might do some work for them at the weekends.My only hope is that they might start to make more money and they might take me back.
I get so jealous when I think of the new guy doing all this interesting stuff that I used to do.
Only trouble is my notice period on this place is two months.

boobar

I can understand why you miss your old job, that's only natural. It sounded like you had a free reign and got to work on all those projects that excite you.

That said, a week is a very short time to make an accurate assessment of the potential for this job to excite you in the future. I think you should give it more time, lots more time.

Like a previous poster, I too left a job I loved, and for a period of about one year felt like I made a big mistake. Like you I moved for a lot more money, moved away from coding and into a management role, I love it now. Taking on challenging certifications helped me a lot and filled the gap that was left from the lack of coding work.

I now work much less hours for a lot more money. I feel happier at work and at home, much more time for life.

I know it might sound trite, but are there other hobbies you could take on - even side projects to stimulate you - to be honest the fact that the last place has landed in some financial difficulties should show you that it could have been run better as a business and I'm making a huge assumption here, perhaps giving you free reign over those projects and in the way it was controlled wasn't a good commercial decision. I don't say this to offend, so please don't take it that way.

As you have a lot of energy have you thought about taking on more challenging training - a masters perhaps?

I think you should give this more time though, it's far too soon to make an informed view of whether this job is right for you or not.

terrorman

boobar wrote: »

I know it might sound trite, but are there other hobbies you could take on - even side projects to stimulate you - to be honest the fact that the last place has landed in some financial difficulties should show you that it could have been run better as a business and I'm making a huge assumption here, perhaps giving you free reign over those projects and in the way it was controlled wasn't a good commercial decision. I don't say this to offend, so please don't take it that way.

I'm not offended at all; in fact you are right, the last place was a bit of a fiasco; lazy, devil may care boss, coming in late, not enough staff or experienced enough staff. If the work I was doing hadn't been so interesting I would have left long ago.

boobar wrote: »

As you have a lot of energy have you thought about taking on more challenging training - a masters perhaps?

Maybe; if I picked something interesting it might give me something to look forward to during the working day.

boobar wrote: »

I think you should give this more time though, it's far too soon to make an informed view of whether this job is right for you or not.

I have been looking at other jobs online (which seems crazy at such an early stage) but I will wait for another few weeks and see if it gets better.

the_syco

terrorman wrote: »

It's software dev and the development in the last place was really interesting (I don't want to get into talking about different development languages as that's not the point of my post).
In my old job I was master of my own destiny.I practically ran the place on my own (I was the only software developer there) and when I had to do something I could choose my own way of doing it.

When you first join the last place, did you start the job running, or did it develop into it? I'm thinking the current company doesn't want to give you much to do in case it scares you. Maybe a casual off-the-record lunchtime chat with your boss about changing the work load may suit you, although it sounds from this;

terrorman wrote: »

I would have to do a bit of Network Administration,Hardware,Database development,tech support,site visits,web development,software development.

that although software dev is what you trained for, it's not what interests you.

From the 2nd quote, I'd say you should look for IT support that includes software dev, as opposed to pure software dev. Whilst in this job, branch out and get some certs to show that you were qualified to do what you did in the prvious job, so when you go job hunting you can say "I did this in my previous job, and I'm certified to do so".

What do you think? Would a different career path be something that you've considered?

/edit
Certs aren't totally critical; good for the bigger companies, not so needed in some of the smaller companies who need a jack of all trades.

terrorman

the_syco wrote: »

When you first join the last place, did you start the job running, or did it develop into it?

It was a startup company when I joined and I had been there two and a half years when I left. Everyone else had left a good bit before so I ended up taking on more and more responsibilty over time. In the end there was just me. The boss was only there one day a week and the other days didn't give a s***.

the_syco wrote: »

I'm thinking the current company doesn't want to give you much to do in case it scares you.

Possibly.

the_syco wrote: »

Maybe a casual off-the-record lunchtime chat with your boss about changing the work load may suit you, although it sounds from this;
that although software dev is what you trained for, it's not what interests you.

No I wouldn't say that at all. I like writing code, creating applications, getting things working. I'm no Mark Zuckerberg but I get things done.

the_syco wrote: »

From the 2nd quote, I'd say you should look for IT support that includes software dev, as opposed to pure software dev. Whilst in this job, branch out and get some certs to show that you were qualified to do what you did in the prvious job, so when you go job hunting you can say "I did this in my previous job, and I'm certified to do so".

The job I am in now could be desribed as "IT support that includes software dev" but the trouble is that the work isn't very varied.
Might as well tell you a bit more about it; the job is with a bank and software dev isn't their primary field so I have to know about banking business processes (yawn). I have no interest in knowing that stuff.
In a software dev job (like the last one) I only have to know how to design, develop, test and debug software and that's it.
Since I am working for a bank, I have to know what the bank does and how that ties into the software they develop.

the_syco wrote: »

What do you think? Would a different career path be something that you've considered?

Yes, I considered going into teaching IT but I would have to go back to college and I've already done that once (I returned to college from a manufacturing job). I'm 40 as well so I don't have the willpower (or finances) to do it again.
I could do it as an evening course but I don't know, I gave up a lot of my free time in my life to get this far, I don't know if I could do it again.

I am a little concerned about whether I'll be able to stick it out. It's a shock to the system not doing "cool stuff" anymore. In the last place I never felt the week drag. On Friday I wasn't really in such a different mood to Monday as I felt like I hadn't worked all week. On Monday I wasn't in such bad humour (especially if I had a new challenge to face).
I suppose I was kind of in the "comfort zone" to be honest; I didn't have a boss checking up on me all the time and I was free to try new technologies if I wished.
There's only two weeks gone in this job but it feels like a month (admittedly I haven't been given much to do).

ANXIOUS

Jesus op your forty? No offence but I thought those posts were wrote by someone 20 odd. You need to focus and get on with it, you can't continually change jobs.

terrorman

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Jesus op your forty? No offence but I thought those posts were wrote by someone 20 odd. You need to focus and get on with it, you can't continually change jobs.

Well I only got my degree five years ago.
This is only my second job since then.
I wouldn't call that continually changing jobs.

ANXIOUS

You have two years six months and thre weeks experience spread over two jobs, in the five years since you graduated. That doesn't look great. Having read your posts again you say yourself you had ten interviews and didn't get any, so my advice would be get the head down and work hard in this job. You dont have any experience in working as a team, use this job to get the skills employers want.

terrorman

ANXIOUS wrote: »

You have two years six months and thre weeks experience spread over two jobs, in the five years since you graduated. That doesn't look great. Having read your posts again you say yourself you had ten interviews and didn't get any, so my advice would be get the head down and work hard in this job. You dont have any experience in working as a team, use this job to get the skills employers want.

OK time to 'fess up;this new job is my fourth since my degree (graduated in October 2007). The first one I left voluntarily due to stress (they increased the distance I was travelling in the job without my approval; technically a breach of contract but I just handed in my notice). I got a 6 month contract after that (after six months out of work). Then I got the job I just left after another six months.
I left that because of low salary and now I am in this job. So in six years I spent about a year and a half out of work.
I miss the last job 'cause it was really creative. This is boring (so far). I have to learn all this banking stuff first (I don't know if I can; there's nobody to explain it to me).
I haven't written a single line of code so far. I just want to be given an application to write (or part of it).
It's very frustrating. I should maybe talk to my manager as someone suggested but I have only been in the job two weeks so I don't want to make waves.
My boss (and the people I work with) are all based in the US so I have no contact with human beings all day. I only talk on the 'phone to people.
That doesn't help my mood (I suffer from depression and am on meds for it).
I'd just like some interaction, to be busy, going around talking to people, taking on challenges, like I was in the last job.
I'm beginning to think I'v made a terrible mistake. I've already started to apply for other positions. Apologies to those of you reading this who are out of work.