I like my job well enough and I like the people I work with. It could be better but it could also be a lot worse. I used to prefer my old job for the most part, but I was made redundant when the company basically had to get rid of half the employees just to stay in business.
There is a bit of a story to where I am today and why, if you wanted a simple answer to the thread question read no further, if you want to hear some of the story, read on;
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I used to be a systems administrator ...think BOFH (some of you will know it some wont) and the PFY. I was the PFY and I got chopped and spent months unemployed.
Well the job I have now actually pays me less and would by most in the industry be considered a step down, I work in support ...again (where many start), although it's actually 'mostly' server support for a particular set of customers, so you're talking virtualised environments some using Citrix XenApp etc. I also do a lot of Linux server support, proper Linux as in ...there is no GUI.
So not quite where I started in IT, which was tier 1 desktop support for people that didn't know one end of a mouse from the other ...but still it is support and that means I have to deal with a lot of customers and can't be like the BOFH or the PFY anymore ...I would lose my job if I was. Oh well it had to end sometime eh.
However, despite getting kicked down the ladder a bit and thrown a smaller chunk of change I do actually have far, far better prospects within this company, as it's an IT company there are places for me to go ...the only place I had to go before was the BOFH's job and it didn't look like he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Now there are possibilities without having to leave ...tech consultancy or the department that looks after our hosted environments, systems and network architecture etc.
So ...it's all ok I think, I wish I was paid more though and I feel that I should be given what I do and the knowledge that I have to offer, but it could be a lot worse. After having to go into a joke centre for months and sending CV after CV off for them to seemingly vanish into the void ...I really feel lucky in this world to have what I have ...not hard done by.
Life isn't so bad really, I have a job that I'm ok with and I don't need to worry about whether I will get paid next month, which was becoming a concern where I used to work to be fair, as it happened they just let me go rather than get into the mess of trying to keep me but not being able to pay me, I have heard that’s what happened to my BOFH.
One week a month though I do have to work late, as in finish at 21:00 ...this is a drag and can be a real pain the social/family life at times ...but I remind myself that it's nice and quiet so I get a chance to do various things I often don't during the hustle and bustle of the day. Especially as we operate a tiered support system and I will often get asked for support by the helpdesk tech guys or have to take escalations from them, this doesn't happen when I work late as they do not. Also I get paid 50% more for all the time worked after office hours ...so again, not so bad.
I do miss the shenanigans of the old days though ...and the cattle prods ...oh I miss the cattle prods. I can't do that anymore.
it does sound like a great position to be in.
