Stuck

[GeorgeGregan]

I'd like to know if I'm the only one with this experience.

I've been in IT for 10 years, of which the first 5 were spent in a permie role I got straight out of university. The next five have mainly been contracts with a few brief permie stints in between.

Trouble is, the work I actually do seems to be more and more noddy and less and less interesting. I was honestly solving tougher problems one year out of uni than I am now. Trouble is, I'm now much better paid.

Therefore I'm bored, feel like I'm stuck in a rut, but the daily rate I'm on means that to change would be a major hit in the back pocket and therefore I plod along and take the cash but with the overwhelming feeling that it can't go on like this, even if the contracts are there, one has to get some satisfaction from the job they perform and I'll go nuts if I keep doing what I'm doing now.

[SallyAnne]

I get the feeling you'll get 20 replies telling you to get a Plan B!

Do it on the side to challenge you, whilst keeping your daily rate flowing in to fund you.

Or are you too lazy (like most of us) for that?

[mcquiggd]

I am currently a permie, having a mix of contract and perm roles going back 14 years.... the jobs I've left or accepted are based on what is best for me in the medium, and hopefully long term.

During that time, I have been bored to tears... one client admitted they had no work for me, and asked me to pick an application I wanted to write, but told me they would not use it... for £375 a day, 10 minutes walk from home, in Norwich (guess the client ) I took it... and 2 years later I walked away having made a considerable amount of money, including the sale of the house I had oringinally bought with 2 months income as a deposit. Well worth the boredom, and I had concentrated on .Net in my spare time, landing a contract using that technology with a bank soon after....

Other times, I have been pushed to deliver something pretty darn difficult... these days I am typically a Tech Lead or Architect on a project... its a different challenge, as although the technical side comes naturally to me.. the political aspects are still not really 'me'... I don't like trying to herd cats (the developers picked by my boss, who are typically from consultancy backgrounds and spend all day talking BS to each other).

Still, my advice is not to always pick the highest paying jobs - although money does give you more choices - sometimes pick a lower paid role that challenges, gives experience, and increases your earning potential longer term (hence me being permie at the moment - finance and .Net 2)...

[TheMonkey]

Ok i'll be 100% honest. I know precisely how you feel. I have lost the will to live.

I took a permie job earlier this year and lasted an entire day due to the fact I could see that I was being insta-sidelined (Fortunately it's easy to write it off then). I can't be bothered with the whole thing these days. Every innovation is another step closer to hell and every job is another crock of sh1t. My father runs a half-arsed support company that is struggling along by screwing customers and everyone I've contracted for are back stabbing, snidey little rapists.

I've sold all my computer junk apart from a Dell P3-500 that just about croaks along and am looking for a way out.

[DimPrawn]

Ok i'll be 100% honest. I know precisely how you feel. I have lost the will to live.

I took a permie job earlier this year and lasted an entire day due to the fact I could see that I was being insta-sidelined (Fortunately it's easy to write it off then). I can't be bothered with the whole thing these days. Every innovation is another step closer to hell and every job is another crock of sh1t. My father runs a half-arsed support company that is struggling along by screwing customers and everyone I've contracted for are back stabbing, snidey little rapists.

I've sold all my computer junk apart from a Dell P3-500 that just about croaks along and am looking for a way out.

Apart from that, it's quite good fun.

[TheMonkey]

Apart from that, it's quite good fun.

That's true. Even though I feel like this, I spend evenings poking with the WIN32 API at the moment.

Disclaimer: I am a manic depressive.

[lukemg]

Been there George ! 2001/2 - market died on it's arse. I was on rates from pre 2000 and to leave would have cost me a fortune. I was so bored it was painful. Trouble is, going somewhere else would mean the same job but half the money which isn't a solution. Combined with a couple of other issues, I ended up with a spell of depression (not much fun). Trouble is - I'm not sure what I would do differently, you are trapped to a certain extent. Just pack it in, go travelling blah blah - it's not a goer. Also, I felt bad because I was earning decent candy as well, felt like I was being ungrateful.
New job, new woman and now a shift to something different etc sorted things out for a while, but I am resigned to the fact that work is boring. I try to squeeze some enjoyment out, have a laugh occasionally and still get stuck in to do the work and put a cheery face on but really I find most of it dull !
I can recommend a change, it does give you a boost and even the hunt for a new job can help. If you can find something in a slightly different area of IT/industry type it could be a stepping stone. Consider permie also if training/other prospects are good, I did this and it has helped enormously in changing my skillset (now back contracting).
Does give you some sense of reality so you don't fall for the myth of running your own company, in charge of your destiny rubbish that some cons believe.
Good luck !

[DimPrawn]

My problem is Plan B is taking up more and more time and I actually enjoy running this online business and moving it forward, promoting it.

I have really lost all enjoyment of IT contracting, so now limit myself to just a few months a year on well paid contracts, turn down all the low pay dross out there. I find the work boring and hate being another drone in someone elses business.

I'm now planning Plan C & D and hopefully this will mean an end to IT contracting for me and the freedom to live anywhere in the UK or abroad.

Just have to convince the wife, who has other plans (never ending work, big mortgage on a big house, etc).

[kramer]

i pepper the monotony with sporadic binges of drink drugs and women....everything else is then just a blur of inoffensive background noise. while you smile and drink tea..
I find as long as you shave and wear a nice suit the fact you are totally wasted passes by the permies...

[DeadKenny]

In terms of a plan B sideline kind of business, can you run that through your company? Would it actually be of benefit in terms of being outside IR35? Would that business have to be in the same field or can you do anything under your company? (e.g. say I want to get more serious about my photography and actually get some money for it, could I do that under the same company I used to contract in IT?).

I think though it's natural for IT work to be boring whatever the situation. I've been very bored by permie work for years and the change to contract is just interesting because it's a change. I'm sure I'll get bored with that too as I get bored of most thinks about 2 or 3 years down the line. However the idea of developing a side line business attracts me, with contracts to back it up, and maybe even making that a primary business.