Re: ANON: job dissatisfaction (long)

[Terry Dickerson <Terry -dot- Dickerson -at- MINARIKCORP -dot- COM>]

From someone who's been there...

First of all, *slow down*.  By jumping from job to job, you may be
giving future employers the impression that you're easily bored and have
no "stick-to-it-iveness".

Second, you need to tell your supervisor what you just told us.  Most
managers are are more than willing to work with you on this.  But you'll
probably have to prove yourself first, and three months ain't gonna do
it.  (Refer to point #1.)  They may simply be testing you, seeing what
you're capable of.  If the Web work you're doing isn't exactly what you
want, well, look at it this way: "Experience is what you get when you
don't get what you wanted."  It's trite, but it is often true.  I was at
my previous job for ten years, the last four of which were torture
because my boss was a SOB.  However, it taught me one thing:  I can do
anything if I put my mind to it.

Third, work on cultivating relationships with people (I refuse to call
it "networking" when it's actually called "getting along with others").
One reason I learned the stuff I mentioned is because I asked about it.
I went to other departments after hours and asked if they could spare
some time to teach a newbie.  (Most people are more than happy to pass
on what they know.)  After a while, they were coming to me and saying,
"Hey, we're getting this new software.  Try it out and let us know what
you think."  They even started farming out small jobs to me so I could
learn more.  The drafting department manager went so far as to grade my
work! (Thanks, Rich.)  In those four years before I quit, I learned:
drafting, three different CAD packages, PageMaker, Corel Draw,
Photoshop, network administration and HTML.  I also got certified as an
FAA repair inspector, TQ facilitator and ISO 9000 inspector.  It was
four years of 80-hour workweeks, and I was about to drop from exhaustion
(the reason I quit), but I learned a lot in spite of having Captain
Bligh for a supervisor.  When I went on job interviews after quitting,
the first thing every interviewer said was, "You've got a lot of
experience!"  In the end, I was able to pick from four or five job
offers.  The job I have now is about one-third the stress and 25% more
money than my last one.

The point of this long ramble is this:  Rather than simply railing
against your fate, do something about it.  Be (and I hate to use
TQ-speak) proactive.  Don't be discouraged; if your present job makes
you comfortable financially, extend yourself and make it satisfy you
intellectually.

End of rant.

-terry-


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=