2 replies to this topic

[centerset]

This is gonna be kind of long, so bear with me a moment.

When I got out of school, I decided to do some follow-my-dream nonsense, went to a private college all on loans for a degree that I couldn't find a job in. Incredibly dumb thing to do, leave it at that for now. In the past I'd had some interest in doing programming instead of what I was going to go into, so I had a book on C++ recommended to me by a friend, and I read it and taught myself a lot of the basics in my spare time.

Another acquaintance later suggested that he could get me a basic job in programming. I ended up working as an applications developer for an industry solutions company. This has gone on for about three years, but I'm not certain it's going to continue. I'm just not as productive as my coworkers are, and it really doesn't have anything to do with my lack of a strong coding background.

I have sleep apnea, which means I don't sleep well and I can't stay awake all day at work the next day. I also have allergies and some other minor issues that also sap my energy. I probably have a hint of ADD and, let's be honest, I'm a little lazy. On top of that, the code at work can require a lot of focus. This company is well-established and has been around for a long time, but they never switched to a modern coding language. Our current dev environment is based on COBOL and also interfaces with the older language of another company that we bought out, whose code is very poorly documented.

All of these things combined, I've been coming into work, getting stuck on a problem, and having a hard time keeping focused. My supervisors have noticed it, and I've pretty much been told that I could be fired by the next review period. Thing is, the kind of thing that I do feel comfortable with is routine stuff, mechanical stuff, repetitive stuff. I hear a coworker complain about, "Yeah, I had to go touch a hundred subroutines and recompile them all. It was really boring." But that's the kind of stuff that I actually enjoy for whichever reason - making edits, keeping tabs on running processes, things of that nature.

This has got me wondering if maybe the problem is that I'm working as a developer, when maybe I would feel more comfortable doing systems admin, server maintenance, IT desk. But I don't have a really strong programming background, so I'm not sure what that stuff even entails. I don't know what kind of skills or experience I would need for any of that, and since I'm still paying down my old loans, I can't just take four years off to go back to school and not go broke. However, I do have access to a good local community college that teaches a lot of certifications, so it's possible I could spend the next six months going to night school and pick up some extra knowledge there - despite my other problems, I pick up quickly on things I learn in a class setting.

So what I'm asking - I need ideas on a "boring" job. Something that requires a little more dependability and routine rather than constant creativity. Moreover, it would need to be something that I could get into without having a full degree, something that could land me a job with three years experience as a COBOL dev and maybe some other certifications to be picked up at a local school. I'm not greedy about what I'm looking for - $30K wouldn't be living the high life, but it would pay my loan payments and rent on my apartment while I build experience.

Any suggestions on what I should look for?

[Alexander]

This is strangely relevant to me (I've even got some minor sleep apnea and huge lack of energy in the days!). I do not have a full time job in programming and my current job is not relevant at all to IT, although I've dabbled in freelancing and some mid-term contracts where I was required to come up with a lot of solutions. I can code "solidly" although when it comes to OO I hate it, and certain times other people seem to get the knack and write what I would consider magical solutions faster than I, I would not make a job out of it because it requires so much virtual creativity.

I do like that you mention systems administration and would definitely consider it, in fact I felt the same and would like a job where I can just get my hands dirty making things work. I certainly enjoy installing systems and even setting up friend's networks and helping them find solutions to their problems (somewhat like systems analytics).

When looking for some classes that at least would be able to fit around a job, a local college has some nice sysadmin courses that can work towards CCNA (Cisco) or A+ Networking or Security certifications. This could put something to my name, and this specific set of courses only requires two years part time (I believe)

As for the jobs you can get out of it, what I've heard most organizations would place you at an IT help desk or similar at first. This could certainly help me get "more in to" an organization and as well learn diverse solutions to problems, as I am sure people will generate errors and issues that I did not even know could happen. I am certainly willing put my time and money in to that and you cannot "outsource" systems administration, so that is a good point in that companies needing local.

I hope I could contribute a bit, just would rather say a bit about my situation to let you know you are not the only person :)

[centerset]

I've looked at the CCNA courses at a local comm college, and it looks like something I might do, though I have to admit I wonder if I can hold out another two years while I go through the training part-time.