Starting to think I've made the wrong choice...

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Hi All,

Just a bit of background, started in my current company around April, as a 2nd line position (my second IT job) and was loving it to start with, getting exposure to a lot more tech, learning quite a bit, although in with that there was plenty of rubbish getting passed my way (clearing disk space up... countless numbers of these). So a position opened up internally for a field engineer role, which sounded good, small rise and perks (company car etc) so took it, and started doing this end of July.

SO... been in the job about a month, and I am really starting to think I have taken a backwards step - all I seem to have done so far is either PC rebuilds / new PC builds, set up printers and emails on phones... only I'm having the pleasure of driving hundreds of miles extra a week to enjoy doing this... Now I had quite a focused career goal, in that I was aiming to work with more server technology, and especially interested in VMware tech.
what is more worrying, is I almost feel like I am forgetting half the stuff I have learned, had to just fire up my test servers to see what an exchange server looked like so I am starting to get really concerned, I know I do NOT want to be doing this aspect of things going forward, I was doing this 2 years ago so really does not feel like a step forward for me. Probably my fault for not fully understanding the job role, but then I had only been in the company about 3 months when I went for this job so didn't fully understand the full extent of the position...

I have a progress meeting in a few days, as I am still under a 2 month probation period on this new job - so I am going to just tell them it is not for me, and ask if there is any chance of going back to my old job (or another job) back in the office - they did fill my position internally, although a 3rd line person has since got the chop so there is in theory room for more staff. Starting to feel quite stressed about it, and dreading where I am going to be sent the following day and seeing what garbage I am being given... I know that is not a healthy way to feel about work!

Any advice welcome!

 

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Unfortunately I always class a field service engineer role as fairly mundane, you're a step up from 1st line but not 3rd line material.

I don't know how long you've been in IT (yes I know it's your 2nd IT role) but there is a learning curve where IT is concerned and you can't be expected to run before learning to walk.

I did a few years as a field service engineer for a couple of companies and travelled all over the place, yes it's boring as anything, repetative and did I mention boring?? ;) but it does stand you in good stead when it comes to dealing with clients because you will have dealt with a load of them and it does improve your technical fault finding skills.

I would be concerned if I were in your shoes about making waves though, you have been with the company for 4 months now and in that time you will have looked for 3 different roles, make too many waves and you may find yourself looking for a new company instead. I know that if I were managing someone who after being with the company for 4 months who joined as 2nd line, moved to another role and now wants to move into 3rd line because he doesn't like the FSE role wouldn't exactly be in my best books. Think of all the hassle they have gone through having to hire for your old position twice, now you're asking them to hire for your current position again 2 months down the line, whats to stop them thinking you're not going to do the same thing in 2 months for the 3rd line role?

Honestly if I were in your shoes then I would either look for another role or stick with the one I have for the moment and learn from it, sorry to be harsh but, well you learn by these mistakes.

 

Hi Simon,

Yes I do agree with what you are saying, I would say the same if I was looking at anyone else doing the same. Been working in IT about 2 and a half years, previous job was everything in-house from PC builds to setting up new servers and all server management so cut my teeth quite well in that job. The original job in this place was multi user & escalated single user issues so seemed pretty ideal for what I wanted to move into. I assumed that the engineer job would be the same as I am doing now, but out on the road, so was completely wrong from this point.
The replacement for my role was an internal replacement, and they may well find an internal replacement for the FSE role, although unlikely (seems everyone who has worked there longer knows the crap that gets sent the engineer's way lol).

I didn't say I wanted to go for 3rd line position, just that due to a 3rd line person leaving, they might be glad of the extra person on the team to handle the calls - I don't think the person who replaced me has taken on the full brunt of the role yet either.
I have already sent off 3 job applications this weekend, as I am fully expecting them to turn round and say get stuffed... they did say I was on a probation period as I would need to see if the job was right for me as well, although that could be have just been out of politeness, as I don't really see what they can do, unless they just make up a job for me. It would be a shame to leave as it does seem like quite a good company to work for, but I just can't see me wanting to stick at this role - I know what you are saying about running before walking, but this is like going from running back to a crawl in my eyes! Not going to gain any experience setting up PC's and printers...

 

I know its tough to be in this situation and I completely understand where you're coming from. I think you just need to take a step back, think about what you really want and pursue that. Also like Simon said, if you do go for the 3rd line position then you might come across as someone who doesn't know what they want and to the employer that's a red flag.

I know myself, I probably could not stick around doing something that I completely dislike. Sure every job has its downfalls, but if the bad outweigh the good, than I would be looking for something else. In fact, I've done it already, I was at a company that I thought was going to be a good place, ended up being the opposite. If you're going to make a move like resigning and joining another company, than just make sure you're applying for the position that you like and that is challenging. I know its tough sometimes find the right job for you, but sometimes you have to sacrifice until something good comes along.

 

just jump ships bro its not worth it,

 

Tend to agree, all the FSE roles I've come into contact with have pretty much been 1st/2nd line on wheels There to swap and replace kit, not there to do the actual setup, config work etc as you would setting up a new system. You're there to swap out faulty bits of kit, and courier it all over the shop.

What sort of company is it, do they have a lot of server kit distributed all over the place? If the answer to the latter is no then there's your first problem ;)

 

It's an outsourced IT company, they look after other companies infrastructure etc... Be a shame to leave, as I get to tinker with lots of tech... at least I did when in the office... but I really hate this job at the moment ... Applied for about 5 or 6 jobs so far, in the (likely) event of them not giving me a job back in the office... hopefully there will be a positive outcome either way! Before I go postal lol