My IT Job conundrum

I'm in a similar boat in that my current role has me doing a bit of everything, though perhaps a bit more on the server side than the OP. Bit of Citrix, bit of AIX, bit of Unix, but more Windows server stuff and a whole lot of specialised apps that nobody else is likely to care about.

Currently trying to work out which direction to go - virtualisation is the most interesting.
 
Heres an example of a problem which I wish I could look in too, but dont have the knowledge.

Neither technical or of the network topology which is the managers fault.

At the moment, we cant deploy Thunderbird 38.1 because with settings which work in 38.0.1, the latest update is unable to send via SMTP.

There is a 'FIXED' bug in the release notes, but it references Thunderbird and Exchange servers, but it must be related to our problem even tho we are using Linux servers to do it using SMTP.

I've been reading through that and trying to glen some info from it to see if there is any clue as to what the problem is. Ideally I need to query the email system error logs perhaps to see why it refuses to send.

I don't really know how to do that (var/log/mail???) plus to make it extra complex we have two Sendmail servers the email could be being sent to/from. So it's all very complex.

It could also be rejecting our SSL certificate.

One of the biggest issues I face is, my manager never wanted to be a manager in the first place. Back in 2008 I was told by someone that left the company that this issue is endemic across the whole company.

Even if I have no fix it would be nice for me to go to him and say "look what I found boss".

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Just found this. Possibly it's the encryption method that we are using which is the issue. Obviously at home now so cant look at this stuff for real.
 
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Ol!ver said:
I'm in a similar boat in that my current role has me doing a bit of everything, though perhaps a bit more on the server side than the OP. Bit of Citrix, bit of AIX, bit of Unix, but more Windows server stuff and a whole lot of specialised apps that nobody else is likely to care about.

Currently trying to work out which direction to go - virtualisation is the most interesting.
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If you want to just make fat bank and don't care if you're at the forefront of things or not then carry down the AIX path, since banks are going to have those systems around for decades to come.

'Virtualisation' is a big field. If you mean get into VMware then I'd say it's a shrinking market and the skills required to be able to get by are not that hard to pick up and therefore not worth a huge amount. With the world seemingly wanting to push everybody onto cloud providers your best bet is to get comfortable with automation.
 
Caged said:
'Virtualisation' is a big field. If you mean get into VMware then I'd say it's a shrinking market and the skills required to be able to get by are not that hard to pick up and therefore not worth a huge amount. With the world seemingly wanting to push everybody onto cloud providers your best bet is to get comfortable with automation.
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Docker-style solutions will change how servers and services are provisioned, mostly automatically, depending on utilisation. The Hyper-V / VMWare / KVM model of monolithic VMs will still exist but in proportionally smaller amounts (though still significant for at least a decade yet). I wouldn't bother specialising in it unless it's for large-scale projects which require deep knowledge of the product or as part of combination of Storage / Networking / Ops knowledge.
 
opethdisciple said:
Oh yes. There's a whole heap of stuff they use, but I don't in my current role.

Stuff I see them doing or using:

Space Walk
Incinga/Nagios
Vmware
BCFG2
There doing all this Yum / Repo business
Centos
Deploying Cisco VPNs
Bacula and other back up technologies

And lots lots more. But I have received 0 training on these things.
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You should just look them up on youtube and set them up in a test lab, if you can. Ask for read only access at work so that you can try get more familiar with the function of everything on the network. Don't ever say that you don't know, say that you can look in to it. Don't say i never had training, say i like a challenge. I think what he means by meet half way is that you need to at least learn about it to the point where if you don't know something you can just ask a quick question. This is a lot better than just expecting a old style training and you learn more. Depends if the people around you are willing to answer question because sometimes they are not. One to protect their jobs and two because they might not be paid to help you three, they are just not nice people. I help people around me at work as the way i look at it, the more people around me know things the less work i have to do. People can get cagey about sharing their job function with others because they need to justify their existence at work, like everyone else. What i realy hate though is when I put effort in to explain things and then they forget or ask me again. Also what can be annoying is if you help someone over the course of say 2 years every day then they become as competent as you and get a promotion or a new role and it feels like you should have got it. This guy i helped that i was working with did just that but i didn't mind because i didnt lose out. He bought me some beers at the when he left to say thanks for answering a million questions. By comparison his replacements led to more work for me because they were less able to do the job and less receptive. Because he was so eager to learn and move up he would even do things like fix problems while i was off site instead of passing them to me to deal with.
 
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opethdisciple said:
Heres an example of a problem which I wish I could look in too, but dont have the knowledge.

Neither technical or of the network topology which is the managers fault.

At the moment, we cant deploy Thunderbird 38.1 because with settings which work in 38.0.1, the latest update is unable to send via SMTP.

There is a 'FIXED' bug in the release notes, but it references Thunderbird and Exchange servers, but it must be related to our problem even tho we are using Linux servers to do it using SMTP.

I've been reading through that and trying to glen some info from it to see if there is any clue as to what the problem is. Ideally I need to query the email system error logs perhaps to see why it refuses to send.

I don't really know how to do that (var/log/mail???) plus to make it extra complex we have two Sendmail servers the email could be being sent to/from. So it's all very complex.

It could also be rejecting our SSL certificate.

One of the biggest issues I face is, my manager never wanted to be a manager in the first place. Back in 2008 I was told by someone that left the company that this issue is endemic across the whole company.

Even if I have no fix it would be nice for me to go to him and say "look what I found boss".

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Just found this. Possibly it's the encryption method that we are using which is the issue. Obviously at home now so cant look at this stuff for real.
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You figure out which server you are hitting when trying to send, and read the syslog/mail.info/warn/error logs (depending on noise) on that server as you guessed in /var/log/, you can you use tail or cat depending on your flavour, looking for the rejection message:

Jul 21 02:03:40 ns1 postfix/smtp[1916]: connect to gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com[<ip>]:25: Connection timed out

^ quick example of Postfix failing to send out because of performance issues.
 
In regards to the chances of getting an interview for the jobs you post.... You are 100% more likely to get an interview if you apply for the job and do not ask on forums about your chances.

Just apply, The worst they can do is say no and the best they can do is offer you the job etc. Your current boss sounds like he is either happy with where you are and is content to keep you there to fulfil a role or has no interest in training you. It sounds like you need a change of scenery regardless so get stuck in and applying.
 
I need to start learning some Linux stuff too. I really don't have any spare time to do self learning though so it just never happens. I've been working in IT since 2008 and haven't done any more certifications since my initial A+ before I started working either.
 
Honestly, pension contributions and a £1k pay rise every year. I would stick with it. You want to get better with Linux, don't rely on your employers to get you trained - sure, they should be interested in investing in you, but if they aren't then so be it, show some initiative and learn it yourself in your free time - either through courses or via online programmes.
 
hilly said:
I was told this by a good friend:

"To move up, you have to move on". Both of us work in IT, both work for massive global companies (different companies) and he's absolutely spot on. If you want to progress, earn yourself more money and get 'higher up the ladder' than you have to move on.
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Just to add to this, that can be one advantage or working for a big global in that moving on doesn't necessarily mean having to leave the company, which is nice if you like working for them :)

Place I've been at for a while is huge and there are many opportunities to just go and do something else. I moved roles into a totally different area of the business and it was like starting somewhere new in some respects.

I know not every big co are like this, one of my previous companies felt very closed in what you could do and the movement within the company. Now that may have not been the case at all, but certainly felt that way.
 
The boss is just a terrible terrible manager and has no appetite to involve me in any project or teach me some of the basic Linux stuff I should have already covered with in the first year!

Only 30 mins I flagged something to him which I know is going to come back and bite us, but he cant be bothered as he thinks its beneath him to give it any thought.

I installed sketchup for someone who will be working with some artists on Monday. The version of sketchup we've got is from 2010. when I install it I get a whole load of opengl messages and the app is quite crashtastic. I've flagged this too him and suggested our alternative is to grab the latest one from the web but it's only a 30 day trial.

He just said, "well that wouldn't get us anywhere". OK, what ever, on I go, until the user calls ME up to say we need to get this sorted NOW as the application is crashing.....

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More and more I feel like it's time to leave.

A similar role, but where I can be more involved server side would be great.

I'm thinking I see out the final 6 months of the year as I was planning on going on a big holiday in Dec and cant be bothered with the hassle of being out of work before that.

If I home learn some stuff and maybe even pay to sit the exams what do you reckon are useful certs for a Junior level IT professional?

I was thinking of maybe passing my CCNA, maybe a MCSA or some sort of Linux cert.

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I've been in my job for almost 8 years now!!! I feel like I need a change.

I've also noticed I've started to get complacent as well. Then again everyone in the office has!
 
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You need to make his inaction someone else's problem. By a lateral move, to a different team or somewhere else entirely. You might have to backwards to go forwards somewhere else.
 
I'm in the same boat my friend.

First line (or so it seems) but get involved in everything.

No progression, I'm thinking about studying to retake my CCNA and the CCDA. But the Linux certs could be interesting. I'd like to hear others thoughts on what I should be studying.
 
I was (kinda) in the same boat as you, however I did get lucky in the way of when I first joined, the guy I worked with left after 3 months and I can a nice path to work up to. It did take about 5 years and hard work but in the end the best thing for me was to just find a new job and I haven't looked back since.
Can you get the opportunity to shadow anyone who performs these other roles?
 
opethdisciple said:
The boss is just a terrible terrible manager and has no appetite to involve me in any project or teach me some of the basic Linux stuff I should have already covered with in the first year!

Only 30 mins I flagged something to him which I know is going to come back and bite us, but he cant be bothered as he thinks its beneath him to give it any thought.

I installed sketchup for someone who will be working with some artists on Monday. The version of sketchup we've got is from 2010. when I install it I get a whole load of opengl messages and the app is quite crashtastic. I've flagged this too him and suggested our alternative is to grab the latest one from the web but it's only a 30 day trial.

He just said, "well that wouldn't get us anywhere". OK, what ever, on I go, until the user calls ME up to say we need to get this sorted NOW as the application is crashing.....

---

More and more I feel like it's time to leave.

A similar role, but where I can be more involved server side would be great.

I'm thinking I see out the final 6 months of the year as I was planning on going on a big holiday in Dec and cant be bothered with the hassle of being out of work before that.

If I home learn some stuff and maybe even pay to sit the exams what do you reckon are useful certs for a Junior level IT professional?

I was thinking of maybe passing my CCNA, maybe a MCSA or some sort of Linux cert.

---

I've been in my job for almost 8 years now!!! I feel like I need a change.

I've also noticed I've started to get complacent as well. Then again everyone in the office has!
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Do you not have a test/dev area for testing apps?
Do you not have a procedure for updating software and purchasing software?

It's probably a friday thing, most people are likely to not give a toss on a non essential program (doesn't involve wages or sales).

What you could do over the weekend if you feel up to is build a virtual box replica of your environment at home, nothing fancy just the basic bits of, install OS or equivalent if using RH/paidforOS.
https://www.howtoforge.com/ has lots of tutorials (nothing top notch that you would get from an experienced admin) that you can batter away at and improve on.
 
To traveyb & Gzero.

You both raise valid points. There is opportunity to shadow, but we are all busy doing our own little bits. I'm not sure when I'd find the time to neglect my jobs and just shadow someone else.

My work colleague has said he could cover it all with me in about a week at his house as he has a test environment set up at home.

The problem is the boss, would not give me any real world things to cut my teeth on.

I've been looking at jobs advertised using the keywords CCNA and MCSA. I reckon I could self study and sit these exams.

Then in around 6 months move on.

I do have an appetite to learn. A hunger. I'm an IT person. I just need to get motivated, certify and then move on. It's about time.

I will probably at some point create a thread asking how I go about self learning form home for the CCNA and MCSA.

The job I'm currently played it's role. I.e helped me break in to the industry and get some valid experience.

Before this job, I had the issue that I was over qualified for some roles and didn't have enough experience for others. So I owe the, the fact they gave me my break.

I've also not had the concern of needing more cash as I've been living at home. But now that I plan on moving out soon, I feel like I have that hunger now to start earning more cash. A buzz if you like.

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I'm thinking what I'm going to do, is study for me CCNA and do a MCSA 2012 (I read after this it's just two exams away from a MCSE) which would make my CV much more credible.
 
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I use CBT Nuggets and exam prep guides for self-studying. Jeremy Cioara is pretty good on the CCNA one. Or Plural Sight - their MCSA 2012 R2 videos are quite good too.
 
trickycurve said:
I use CBT Nuggets and exam prep guides for self-studying. Jeremy Cioara is pretty good on the CCNA one. Or Plural Sight - their MCSA 2012 R2 videos are quite good too.
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Thanks dude that's super helpful. I guess if I'm going to get serious about the CCNA I'm going to have to buy some equipment?

With these CBT nuggets video, do you need to consult the text books?
 
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opethdisciple said:
Thanks dude that's super helpful. I guess if I'm going to get serious about the CCNA I'm going to have to buy some equipment?

With these CBT nuggets video, do you need to consult the text books?
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The best way to self-study is by using videos and books/exam guides, so I'd say yes. What I tend to do is watch the videos in full, making rough bullet notes; then I'll make proper notes using my rough notes and guides to re-cover what I went over in the videos. I absorb information easier this way. After that I just read my notes and play around with things if/when possible, and take the exam when I feel confident enough.

Be careful what books you get (if any) for the CCNA though: the exam was revamped slightly in 2013 so try to get something published in 2014 to be safe. I mean it's not like Cisco rewrote the rulebook on networking, but it's always a good idea to study the most up-to-date material.

If you can get your hands on Packet Tracer, you probably won't need to get any physical equipment. If you have access to any Cisco kit in your current role, try to play around with it. Don't worry if you can't because it's too expensive or something though.
 
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