So want to leave I.T. and go back to driving Dump Truck

I feel the same way. I have a computer science degree and I have been working as a software developer, build/release engineer, configuration management engineer, and a devops engineer for over 17 years now.... and it is getting tiring, but I don't see anyway out. I could easily change careers and/or switch industries, but I would be making half of what I am making now. It would take 10 years or more to build my salary up to what it is now. However, if my wife would work (and she refuses to), then the financial burden wouldn't be as bad and I could probably switch careers. I feel stuck. How do you make someone get a job?

 

It is rewarding to walk into a shell of a building and 3-5 months later they got secure wifi that's not dropping and everyone is happy.

I had to fight to get on the network team in my group. The dickhead manager I had (we got into a cuss fight 2 months before he became my manager) always shot me down moving anywhere. If I were still doing desktop support, and only that. I'd be driving a truck also.

Git'er done man! Be safe out there!

 

Get a different job that makes less and when she complains about no money tell her to get a job.
When I told my wife that I am thinking about getting a different job that pays half of what I make now she said as long as I am happy.
I make over six figures right now and it would go down to 60,000 may 50,000 a year and she doesnt give a shit.

 

Never and I mean never take a job in a call center.....you're welcome!

 

Dump truck drivers made darn good $ up in AK. Most construction jobs are seasonal up there. Had a friend who drove huge water trucks for CH2M Hill up on the north slope. Made a killing and had a ton of time off.

 

Customer facing call centers, especially for the big boys, pay GOOD ass money. I'm mulling over an offer from VMware right now. It would be a 60% pay increase... My fiance says not to sell my soul and that I'm a sell out if I do it and I would lose some of her respect if I chose the money over job quality. "Don't be another rat in the race. There's enough soul-less drones out there." is what she says to me. I could build my prerunner if i took this job though...

Regardless, OP, do what you want. Life is short if you're burnt go do something else. No harm in making yourself happy. If you have the financial means to do it, why not? I was burnt on data analysis, so I went to IT. No regrets. I enjoy the company of my co-workers, talking to people and handling technology. I know how you feel. I've been there.

 

Been in IT/Computers for 18+ years now, get ready to move jobs every 2-3 years, or you'll go nuts. As you gain experience, you don't get the money upgrade unless you move jobs. Like everyone else on here, after 15 years you will want out. Have something to fall back on, and do the F.I.R.E idea, that way you get out on your terms.

 

My first job out of Uni was in a bank's call centre (long before I switched to dev work) and I'd rather cut off both my balls with a dull stick than work in another one.

 

i'd say look at industrial automation, which is where i am, but i'm jaded as hell these days. on the other side, the network infrastructure in the manufacturing plants and facilities that i go into is pretty impressive. for example, all the networks and automation that run the toyota plants. for awhile, i was only being sent to oil fields and refineries. i got tired of being in places that had the potential to kill me and being handed an H2S meter as i walked in the door.

but, if you're tired of maintaining old shit, don't look at it. most plants are running on ancient hardware. i go into a lot of places that don't even have ethernet.

you might get lucky and get to build a greenfield plant...

hate to burst the bubble but that is not what you'd be doing. most of your time will be sitting on the phone helping people resetting their network password because they forgot it...

you really want into IT? my only recommendation would be to forget hardware and start looking at big data. get really really good at Azure, PowerBI, Hadoop and all the rest of it. big data is going to be the next step. get really good at analytics, data mining, reporting, dashboards and any other corporate buzz word that goes along with that. totally serious.

hell, you could be an SAP contractor and charge big bucks for making people's lives worse...

 

@Gotyour6 I am with you on getting out. I just don't have anything to fall back on. I used to drive deliveries for a Health Care company while in college, that was fun, I got to be outside all day. Dealing with stupidity on the roads kinda sucks though. My wife would kill me if I went back to that job, I only made 1/5 of what I make now.

 

Well, define call center. The offer i got is for a technical support engineer. It's a customer facing technical support. Not a customer service thing.

 

I started off young driving trucks. Always had a fascination with them. It never surprised me that is what i ended up doing. Held various other jobs, and being inside an office isnt for me. Got promoted to sales, 6 figures, from 1 of my route delivery jobs. It lasted about 6 years. I had finally reached my breaking point. 4 bosses, weekly goals, monthly goals, team goals and the you hit your goal so we are gonna re allocate someones numbers to you. End of month pushes, working late, using personal vehicle for will call orders.

I was always mad, hated getting dressed in the morning, lost all my drive to do anything. Talked to my wife about getting back in a truck. She told me she didnt care what i did as long as i had a job. Woke up 1 morning really early, about 3 am, and just watched the ceiling fan spin. Wife woke up asked if i was gonna get dressed for work, which i hated (slacks, button down and tie), i told her maybe in a bit. About 930 my boss calls asks where im at, told him laying in bed. He proceeded to be his usual cocky self, so i asked him if he was at the office. Told him i was on my way up there to turn in my stuff. It was very liberating as i hated the guy, and wanted to choke him out.

I currently pull oversize loads, and it pays very well, and im usually only gone 2 to 3 nights a week, weekends off. The money is there in driving a truck, just have to find the right job for YOU, as everyones needs are different. I only took about a 20k /yr hit but its well worth the sense of freedom without hovering bosses and peace of mind knowing you enjoy what you do. Keep in mind when you make less they tax you less, sooo there is a little extra consideration there.

 

The day you regret going to work should be your last!

Love for the craft or career should, Always over-ride the pay.

..Slayer

 

Remember, there are good jobs, and there are G.O.O.D. jobs. If you need the money, take the G.O.O.D. (Get Out Of Debt) job until finances are secure and then go for the good job. It's always best to do what you love, but don't starve doing it.

 

If my retirement and benefits weren’t so good I’d job change. Mines not bad just same shit everyday, Same shitty lazy union workers, graveyard, shitty days off......Railroad life guess it could be worse.

 

Ya I agree but I don’t want to live in a single wide trailer even then I’m not sure I could afford that if I did what I really wanted. North Idaho’s real estate is through the roof and our job market is bad.

 

Well, I suppose there may be better call jobs than others. I may only want to bash myself in the crotch with a hammer than that cut em off outright.

But you sound lucky. Many posters have pointed out their wives value the money more than their husband's happiness and sanity. You have the opposite. Maybe she's onto something.... Your life though. There are bubbly people-persons out there who just love yapping all day. I'm not one of those. On a phone less so. You may be different, to each their own. Not judgin' you. Just sayin what I'm like. Cheers.

 

What was his reaction when you told him you were done?

 

Jaw drop, asked why? Told me i was a dick for doing it, cause we had a supplier survey the following week, and 2 of my stores were on it.

 

I loved these SNL skits...

 

Keep your skills current & make sure you have at least one potential solution ready to go when complaining about a problem to someone higher up the food chain. They are looking for solutions, not more problems.

 

First, polish your people skills. You'll need them wherever you go. Look into Toastmasters, it'll help polish those skills. As for IT, it's a bigger subject than you realize. I've been in IT for close to 45 years and I know my little corner pretty well. I also know a little about other areas of IT, and I readily admit I'm no expert there. I rely on other experts to cover their area, and I make sure they know I'm there to help if they need anything in my area of expertise. Find the older, seasoned people in the area you choose to be your corner of the IT world. Learn from them, and then spread out to other areas. Don't try to be an expert in them all. Specialize in one area, and generalize in the parts of IT that touch your area. IT is also a volatile industry. Keep your skills up to date and be ready when your job is suddenly on shaky ground. Today's up and coming IT shop can quickly become tomorrow's empty building. The more you know, the faster a new employer will welcome you on board.

 

i've never been good at software or writing code. it has always been extremely frustrating and stressful. this was never a career a wanted to be in. the reasons i am in it are deep.

i bailed on software at 30 to start my studio in san diego. 100% pay cut. i started it from nothing. dillen had just been born and things were so much easier. now, at 46 it's a much much different leap and everything is exponentially more complicated. my life, my kids' lives, the world in general. unfortunately, the way things are going at the moment, the day job will probably fire me (the pay cut and a few other situations have been warning shots) before i have a chance to build the studio back into something sustainable where i can quit on my own. the thought of that keeps me awake at night. especially with one kid in moscow and another on insanely expensive bi-polar medication and a third that needs her own way.

at the end of the day, all i want is to do the thing that i'm really f'ing good at doing. the thing that excites me and doesn't bore me to the point where i want to gouge my eyeballs out with my thumbs. i'm tired of feeling like an indentured servant, being on the road, the corporate double speak, the power struggles, fiefdoms and bureaucratic BS.

the bigger thing really is that i want my wife and kids to see me enjoying my life and finally letting go of all of this built up rage.

this is a difficult problem to solve. just my observation but, our society is not constructed in a way that makes it easy to accomplish when you're not a type A jack ass or the coattail riding yes man. big corporate even more so. i'm a quiet introvert. an observer. these are not usually qualities that are rewarded except in a very few select careers.

now i'm off the rails and have no idea how to bring any of that back to the conversation at hand. so, i'll just go get on yet another skype meeting with people talking about tactical synergistic holistic solutions so that some manufacturer can speed up production to spit out more stuff and cut back more jobs while i quietly bang my head against the wall...

 

On the bright side you’re good at what you like to do. I’m good at work that I hate. The things that I enjoy, my hobbies, I’m not very good at. Then again, I used to like what I do for a living now... 10years of it really changed that.

 

I feel you, I'm also in IT as a project manager.
the same thing day in and day out does get old.
I'd have to agree with the sentiment in this thread.
Life is too short to be unhappy, if you can make enough to make ends meet and provide for your family everything else is gravy.
If that gravy is causing you to not enjoy the rest of your existence then make a change.
Its a simple equation we trade time for money, so we can support a lifestyle the other 128 hours a week.
Don't let a 40hr (realistically 45-50hr) commitment to earn a little extra take away from the rest of your time.
Go where your time is most valued and your happiness is greatest.

 

I started in IT, and moved into Information Security about 10 years ago. If you have skills in networking, computer programming, or analytics there is a market for you there. If you want to stay in IT, swiftly move to DevOps/Cloud stuff, automation/scripting. With strong Azure/AWS/GCP skills you can name your salary these days.

 

Been in IT for 35 years, laid off twice in my 50s (there's always someone younger/cheaper). I wish I had another skill that I could fall back on.

 

Same boat here, OP. Stuck in IT with “golden handcuffs” and can’t handle the pay drop to do anything else