Anyone else in the same position?

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A few weeks ago I had a meeting with my manager who basically said that my job will be pretty much the same and there are not really any opportunities to progress into networking or server work. They said, if they can keep me doing the same role for 20 years they would

I'm not complaining as I still am grateful for having a job (at it was so hard to find one in the first place!)I'm just finding my job role is getting more and more mundane and as a result my motivation is fading.. I'm doing the same things over and over and not learning anything new.

I feel a little gutted as I was promised more involvement in security/servers and passed the sec+ exam for starters, to give me more of a grounding in the subject but again, after 6 months nothing as come of this. It feels a little worrying that your manager is not really taking any interest in your development/career.

Something is telling me to get that CV polished and start hunting for new positions, - but before I do, I was wondering if any of you have experienced the same situation and what did you do about it?

cheers.

 

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Sounds like its time to start getting your CV out there!

Its not surprising to see that kind of reaction from a manager to be quite honest, if your good at your job they will be tempted to leave you exactly where you are rather than having to go through the pain of training your replacement. At least they have finally been honest with you so you can now make a decision based on that rather than hanging around for an opportunity thats never going to come.

I've found myself in a position where there is no longer any room for upward movement (thanks to the size of the company rather than disinterested managers). I had a chat with my boss and we discussed the various options but ultimately the only way I can really progress is by moving, thankfully he understands that so its not made life difficult yet!

 

With the best will in the world, sometimes there are jobs that just go nowhere. Often these have a fairly high staff turnover as people learn what they can, then move on.

It's often the case with smaller companies that don't have the resources or foresight to put in any kind of personal development plan or staff retention scheme.

In a way, you're fortunate to have a boss who's honest with you. He's told you where he stands, so I'm assuming he won't be expecting you to put in loads of overtime or come in on your day off to try and impress him.

It could be worse - you could be going nowhere and they could pretend that you could in order to milk you dry. You could be doing appraisals and development plans all to make you think there were possibilities ahead of you, which can be pretty soul destroying.

Depending on the organisation, there may be things that you can do to help yourself along. Just because they can't think of any ways for you to develop, doesn't mean there aren't any. Again, especially with smaller companies there may well be loads of stuff that needs doing, they just haven't thought about them yet.

Try to remember that there's a lot you can do for yourself which may well not be in your job description, and it may go unrecognised - but it will be good experience, and you never know, it might get noticed. So if you fancy cleaning up the database in your lunch break, it's all to play for.*




*In keeping with my new passion for terms and conditions, I should point out that cleaning up the database in your lunch hour could also get you sacked.

 

That made me laugh fairly hard....

What Jonny say's is very true for small companies though, there have been a number of things we've done here at my suggestion which wouldn't have happened otherwise and they've had the dual benefits of helping the company and helping my personal development.

If it wasn't for our frikkin outsourcing company I'd be able to do even more of course....

None of it has to be particularly massive either, its amazing how a few small bits and pieces can make a massive difference to your managers opinion and your chances of progression.

 

Thanks Guys - the problem is its a large company and the server/network is locked down by a few gatekeepers. I'd love to start having a look at reorganising a few things but I just dont have the rights to do it and also after months of trying, the motivation either.

I got noticed when I started doing the security auditing work, but since then nothing has come of it (and there are only so many times you can ask before becoming a royal pain in the ar**) - so now, no more firewall access etc etc and also now security is not a focus for the company - no budget.

I think the writing is on the wall....

 

Doesn't matter much whether it's a small company or a large company - if there's little turnover (either because it's such a good company that nobody wants to leave, or because it's so poorly mismanaged that nobody is ever let go due to poor performance), then there won't be any openings. And short of somebody dying*, there's not much that can be done about that. Best thing you can do is to start looking for new jobs.

Props to your supervisor for letting you know.

* Dying by natural means is an unfortunate circumstance, but I would recommend that you don't proactively cause the untimely demise of a co-worker in order to advance in the company.

 

Managers also tend to get feedback from their senior guys too... How are they treating you? do they trust you? do they see you in that role?

I know from personal experience that I got promoted because 1) work ethic 2)I am good at what I do 3) I asked my boss/colleague what I needed to to get to that position and based on what they said, I did and after about 1 year, at my last review I got promoted to a network admin.

Now if they don't have room, that's another story.