Changing Careers in IT?

Sem · 21 May 2017 at 20:08

I've worked in IT for around 12 years now

started off in 1st line/help desk and how currently working in 3rd line/infrastructure

I'm getting more and more bored and unmotivated to the point i really struggle to wake myself up to go in and i cant leave the building quick enough at the end of the day when before it was the opposite
so i think its time for change

But what can i do? Has anyone here moved from 3rd line into another area of IT other than IT operations
like Consulting or Project work

Another option is getting into the cloud space and learning AWS and Azure but im not sure as its not too much different from what im doing but at least i will be paid a lot more

Ev0 · 21 May 2017 at 22:43

I moved into security many moons ago from infrastructure stuff and never looked back.

Or there's stuff like consulting as you mention, or architecture.

malachi · 21 May 2017 at 23:06

Some options,

As said, cloud space. So study some AWS, Azure and Intune.
Security, can study Security + to get your foot in the door.
Project work, study for ITIL Foundation.

If you look into any of these and find them uninteresting then you know to take another path.

HangTime · 22 May 2017 at 08:05

Lots of opportunities to switch discipline in IT - Architecture, Presales, Management, QA etc could all be options to explore

jimjamuk · 24 May 2017 at 16:33

Sometimes just a change in jobs can expose you to different technologies and potentially new upcoming technology. It sounds like you have just come to the end of your time where you are. Move on...

bulletv1 · 8 Jun 2017 at 09:11

Not as high up the ladder as you. I've worked in IT for last 10 years as 1st/2nd line support. Bit bored of it and not going anywhere and I've got a job with openreach as an engineer. They have a learning program and a advancement route which i plan to take full advantage of.

OspreyO · 9 Jun 2017 at 16:26

Ev0 said:
I moved into security many moons ago from infrastructure stuff and never looked back...

Be curious of the why and how of that...

Ev0 · 9 Jun 2017 at 19:40

OspreyO said:
Be curious of the why and how of that...

I was working in a small infrastructure team with a specialism in a particular technology (not security related), the guy who covered security left and they said did I want to take that on, so I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Had always had an interest so said yeah why not and that was it, started 'doing' security and have since had a number of different roles in the field over the last ten years.

OspreyO · 9 Jun 2017 at 20:34

So what do you do... In doing security....

Ev0 · 10 Jun 2017 at 10:53

OspreyO said:
So what do you do... In doing security....

Have done a few things, infrastructure security, pen testing, vuln and risk management, providing advisory services, technical pre sales, either working directly for a company, managed services provider or vendor.

So a fair mix of things!

OspreyO · 12 Jun 2017 at 01:49

Sounds Varied

Ev0 · 13 Jun 2017 at 19:43

Kind of, a lot of it ends up being about the same stuff but on other sides of the fence

plus a lot of the principles behind it all are similar.
Been fun though and happy with I'm doing.

Delvis · 14 Jun 2017 at 14:15

Same boat, about 15 years IT related work - Now been doing support for the best part of 7 years of that maybe a bit more...Just ends up being the same thing different place.

No idea what I'd move in to though.

a1ex2001 · 21 Jun 2017 at 15:10

I've moved into several different areas from a support background and am currently working in a service continuity role, the problem for me is it is all IT and it all becomes dull as dishwater after a couple of years I wish someone had advised me against a career in IT the financial rewards are no longer great, the job security is iffy and the glory days are long gone!

malachi · 21 Jun 2017 at 18:02

a1ex2001 said:
I've moved into several different areas from a support background and am currently working in a service continuity role, the problem for me is it is all IT and it all becomes dull as dishwater after a couple of years I wish someone had advised me against a career in IT the financial rewards are no longer great, the job security is iffy and the glory days are long gone!

Shame that happens to all jobs when the market is saturated.

a1ex2001 · 21 Jun 2017 at 22:40

malachi said:
Shame that happens to all jobs when the market is saturated.

Or when it's cheaper to abuse the temporary work permit system and fly in a never ending succession of people to do what are really UK jobs!

OspreyO · 21 Jun 2017 at 23:34

Sem said:
I've worked in IT for around 12 years now

started off in 1st line/help desk and how currently working in 3rd line/infrastructure

I'm getting more and more bored and unmotivated to the point i really struggle to wake myself up to go in and i cant leave the building quick enough at the end of the day when before it was the opposite
so i think its time for change

But what can i do? Has anyone here moved from 3rd line into another area of IT other than IT operations
like Consulting or Project work

Another option is getting into the cloud space and learning AWS and Azure but im not sure as its not too much different from what im doing but at least i will be paid a lot more

I'm in a similar boat. Though twice as long in IT. I moved from design/graphics, UI, to development, Biz Analyst/ programming, then got trapped in 3rd tier and now in the database of things, DBA/Reports/Data mining.

For me though, I think its not the role, but the organisation. Theres no real buzz in the place.

dowie · 22 Jun 2017 at 00:42

a1ex2001 said:
I've moved into several different areas from a support background and am currently working in a service continuity role, the problem for me is it is all IT and it all becomes dull as dishwater after a couple of years I wish someone had advised me against a career in IT the financial rewards are no longer great, the job security is iffy and the glory days are long gone!

I don't understand this idea that the 'glory days' are going

machine learning, the internet of things, virtual reality, augmented reality, crypto currency, blockchain/smart contracts etc... they're all blowing up at the moment - plenty of cool stuff out there to get involved with

mid_gen · 22 Jun 2017 at 09:20

a1ex2001 said:
I've moved into several different areas from a support background and am currently working in a service continuity role, the problem for me is it is all IT and it all becomes dull as dishwater after a couple of years I wish someone had advised me against a career in IT the financial rewards are no longer great, the job security is iffy and the glory days are long gone!

General IT is boring, the development side is mostly a solved problem these days apart from anything, it's just a lego exercise.

Get into games. Best career move I ever made. Feels like you're at the forefront of something again, pushing the limits. The industry has matured and the pay/working conditions are much improved as well as there now being huge swathes of supporting roles in back-end systems, analytics etc.

a1ex2001 · 22 Jun 2017 at 09:51

mid_gen said:
General IT is boring, the development side is mostly a solved problem these days apart from anything, it's just a lego exercise.

Get into games. Best career move I ever made. Feels like you're at the forefront of something again, pushing the limits. The industry has matured and the pay/working conditions are much improved as well as there now being huge swathes of supporting roles in back-end systems, analytics etc.

My fear with that is I actually enjoy games! I used to enjoy computers in general but working with them day in day out has turned me right off them I don't want the same to happen to gaming! I've actually turned down money for photo's I've taken as it's a hobby and I enjoy it so I'm keeping it separate from the grind!