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The following thread contains text of a depressive nature and is a brain dump.
Well,
I think I've decided that I'm not happy doing what I do anymore. I think its the dreading of coming to work on a morning that does it - well I won't say dreading, I dislike it, but then again most people do, don't they?
Anyway, a little background.
I'm 26, and I'm the Network Manager at a large secondary school, by large I mean 2000 students. I say students, but really most of them are little evil monster type things. The teachers are probably by far the worst people anyone should have to work with - although saying that there are a handful who are genuinely nice people and I quite like them.
At the moment, I've got my head in a project which I'm enjoying, I specced out and bought a load of new Dell servers and I'm building a brand new Windows 2003 server domain to encompass the two existing older networks that I built a few years ago.
Now if I could do this everyday of every month, uninterrupted and left to work, I could quite easily enjoy it - I think its the environment that spoils it. The people I work with in the team for the most part are top notch, I could be paid a little better, my wage hasn't moved bar inflation for three years - I find that demoralising (is that the right word for lowered morale?).
I hate the kids, I hate going into classrooms, I think more than anything its because of the comments, kids are cruel I know, but a lot of them these days know exactly what they are doing and are mature enough to make a decision as to what is right and wrong. Yes I'm fat....get over it. The funny thing is the teacher will just stand there and let it happen.
I don't go into the classrooms much anymore, not by choice anyway - out of a team of 5 of us, I'm supposed to be the one with the most tech savvy, the consultant if you like - I find that most of the time if I'm not doing something with a new network like now - I could be sitting around doing not a lot.
Its not that the menial stuff bothers me, I'll do it - its just the lack of respect from the customers - the end users, teachers and kids. The kids are mostly understandable - they don't respect anyone. Teachers however (not all of them) suffer from teacher syndrome - its the "I went to university and got a degree and I'm a teacher and I'm better than you, you can worship me at my feet". I think a lot of it is due to the way they talk to the kids - they get into a mindset for the day and thats how they talk to everyone, just happens to really get people's backs up.
My working hours aren't bad - 7:30-3:00 on a monday, 7:30-3:30 the rest of the week, they fit in with what Sue does and we can share a single car, which obviously saves money.
On the subject of money, I earn what is considered to be a decent wage I think, but after three years of it stagnating I just want a little more, by no means are we living on a shoestring, we've got everything we need, we buy anything that want and we've got a lot of the mod cons. I just want a little more so that when we start a family we'll have more money - thats not to say I don't know we'll have to cut down on things - thats why we're buying the camera kit that we need now, when we have kids it'll be harder. I might have to downgrade the net package ect - I have no problems in accepting that sacrifices will need to be made and thats fine.
So thats the background stuff.
So, the technical stuff I do still enjoy, its just the place - so I think something in IT is where my future lies, its all I've been interested in since I was 11, 15 years of doing what I do makes it impossible to do something else - I don't even know what I'd do. I'd love to do something photography related (wouldn't we all) but I don't have the contacts, the experience or the skills necessary (yet, I'm not fishing for compliments). Photography wouldn't allow me to secure a regular wage that I could say "yeah we'd have no problems paying the bills this month". I guess I could start doing photography stuff on the side, weddings and such, if they are at the weekends, great, if notI can use some of my annual holidays up, again not too much of a problem.
The ideal scenario is that I keep playing the lottery and I win millions of pounds, I buy a delorean, a nice big house out in the countryside somewhere and I never have to work again. Sue wouldn't either if she didn't want to but I think she likes her job most of the time.
The problem I have when it comes to IT related jobs is that they pretty much want specialisation when it comes to jobs further up the line from where I am - I'm very good at doing lots of things, my problem solving abilities are great and I know where to look when I don't know the answers. Thats why working in a school environment suits me so well - there are a multitude of different problems and you are expected to know how to solve all of them. You're also supposed to know all of this with no access to formal training - in IT this is devastating to a career, technology moves so quickly that you have to keep abreast of whats going on and if your employer isn't comitted to that, you have a problem.
So I'm kinda behind the times, I've got an MCSE self study kit but I just can't seem to get myself motivated to read thousands of pages of stuff, I know if I do it'll help me no end with the network I'm building now, I'm just a bit resentful if that makes sense - why should I have to do that at home in my own time, work should be sending me on courses - two or three week long courses and I'd be sorted.
The other thing about this job is whats on the horizon, basically we're in the building schools for the future programme and in the next 3 years we're going to be outsourced basically, I think I'd become an employee of this other company and they would have a commitment to keep me on for at least 12 months I think, anyway, nobody is talking about what is going on with that, nobody wants to or doesn't have the information so we don't know where we stand - which can't be helping things from my perspective.
So, do I need a new job, do I need a new perspective?, do I need to cheer up a little and just accept that things are as they are and they aren't going to change no matter what I want. Do I need to get my act together and sort out my MCSE?
I was at my mum and dads house last week and was trying to sort out my brothers PC, had it in bits and transferred it to a new case, turns out it had a blown motherboard, anyway, I really enjoyed that - it took me back to when I used to build PCs at 13/14 years old. That was great. I wonder if I could do some kind of working from home and go and visit people in their homes to fix their problems and offer training, knock 25% off PC world's prices for installation and maintainance and you're still laughing, as long as you can guaruntee the business.
I don't know if I've managed to get everything down that I wanted to, I've certainly created a longer post than what I expected to. If you've read all the way to the bottom, thanks, I think I just needed an outlet.
If anyone wants to give me a job in the Bradford/Leeds area, feel free
Matt
The following thread contains text of a depressive nature and is a brain dump.
Well,
I think I've decided that I'm not happy doing what I do anymore. I think its the dreading of coming to work on a morning that does it - well I won't say dreading, I dislike it, but then again most people do, don't they?
Anyway, a little background.
I'm 26, and I'm the Network Manager at a large secondary school, by large I mean 2000 students. I say students, but really most of them are little evil monster type things. The teachers are probably by far the worst people anyone should have to work with - although saying that there are a handful who are genuinely nice people and I quite like them.
At the moment, I've got my head in a project which I'm enjoying, I specced out and bought a load of new Dell servers and I'm building a brand new Windows 2003 server domain to encompass the two existing older networks that I built a few years ago.
Now if I could do this everyday of every month, uninterrupted and left to work, I could quite easily enjoy it - I think its the environment that spoils it. The people I work with in the team for the most part are top notch, I could be paid a little better, my wage hasn't moved bar inflation for three years - I find that demoralising (is that the right word for lowered morale?).
I hate the kids, I hate going into classrooms, I think more than anything its because of the comments, kids are cruel I know, but a lot of them these days know exactly what they are doing and are mature enough to make a decision as to what is right and wrong. Yes I'm fat....get over it. The funny thing is the teacher will just stand there and let it happen.
I don't go into the classrooms much anymore, not by choice anyway - out of a team of 5 of us, I'm supposed to be the one with the most tech savvy, the consultant if you like - I find that most of the time if I'm not doing something with a new network like now - I could be sitting around doing not a lot.
Its not that the menial stuff bothers me, I'll do it - its just the lack of respect from the customers - the end users, teachers and kids. The kids are mostly understandable - they don't respect anyone. Teachers however (not all of them) suffer from teacher syndrome - its the "I went to university and got a degree and I'm a teacher and I'm better than you, you can worship me at my feet". I think a lot of it is due to the way they talk to the kids - they get into a mindset for the day and thats how they talk to everyone, just happens to really get people's backs up.
My working hours aren't bad - 7:30-3:00 on a monday, 7:30-3:30 the rest of the week, they fit in with what Sue does and we can share a single car, which obviously saves money.
On the subject of money, I earn what is considered to be a decent wage I think, but after three years of it stagnating I just want a little more, by no means are we living on a shoestring, we've got everything we need, we buy anything that want and we've got a lot of the mod cons. I just want a little more so that when we start a family we'll have more money - thats not to say I don't know we'll have to cut down on things - thats why we're buying the camera kit that we need now, when we have kids it'll be harder. I might have to downgrade the net package ect - I have no problems in accepting that sacrifices will need to be made and thats fine.
So thats the background stuff.
So, the technical stuff I do still enjoy, its just the place - so I think something in IT is where my future lies, its all I've been interested in since I was 11, 15 years of doing what I do makes it impossible to do something else - I don't even know what I'd do. I'd love to do something photography related (wouldn't we all) but I don't have the contacts, the experience or the skills necessary (yet, I'm not fishing for compliments). Photography wouldn't allow me to secure a regular wage that I could say "yeah we'd have no problems paying the bills this month". I guess I could start doing photography stuff on the side, weddings and such, if they are at the weekends, great, if notI can use some of my annual holidays up, again not too much of a problem.
The ideal scenario is that I keep playing the lottery and I win millions of pounds, I buy a delorean, a nice big house out in the countryside somewhere and I never have to work again. Sue wouldn't either if she didn't want to but I think she likes her job most of the time.
The problem I have when it comes to IT related jobs is that they pretty much want specialisation when it comes to jobs further up the line from where I am - I'm very good at doing lots of things, my problem solving abilities are great and I know where to look when I don't know the answers. Thats why working in a school environment suits me so well - there are a multitude of different problems and you are expected to know how to solve all of them. You're also supposed to know all of this with no access to formal training - in IT this is devastating to a career, technology moves so quickly that you have to keep abreast of whats going on and if your employer isn't comitted to that, you have a problem.
So I'm kinda behind the times, I've got an MCSE self study kit but I just can't seem to get myself motivated to read thousands of pages of stuff, I know if I do it'll help me no end with the network I'm building now, I'm just a bit resentful if that makes sense - why should I have to do that at home in my own time, work should be sending me on courses - two or three week long courses and I'd be sorted.
The other thing about this job is whats on the horizon, basically we're in the building schools for the future programme and in the next 3 years we're going to be outsourced basically, I think I'd become an employee of this other company and they would have a commitment to keep me on for at least 12 months I think, anyway, nobody is talking about what is going on with that, nobody wants to or doesn't have the information so we don't know where we stand - which can't be helping things from my perspective.
So, do I need a new job, do I need a new perspective?, do I need to cheer up a little and just accept that things are as they are and they aren't going to change no matter what I want. Do I need to get my act together and sort out my MCSE?
I was at my mum and dads house last week and was trying to sort out my brothers PC, had it in bits and transferred it to a new case, turns out it had a blown motherboard, anyway, I really enjoyed that - it took me back to when I used to build PCs at 13/14 years old. That was great. I wonder if I could do some kind of working from home and go and visit people in their homes to fix their problems and offer training, knock 25% off PC world's prices for installation and maintainance and you're still laughing, as long as you can guaruntee the business.
I don't know if I've managed to get everything down that I wanted to, I've certainly created a longer post than what I expected to. If you've read all the way to the bottom, thanks, I think I just needed an outlet.
If anyone wants to give me a job in the Bradford/Leeds area, feel free
Matt
)
) 
So now instead of getting my ass kicked by ungreatful bosses I can now kick ass should I so desire!