Last job killed my love of IT, management beat it out of me. Wonderful company, demotivated by my manager from the first week. Couldn’t be a nicer guy, smartest tech I’ve ever met, Peter Principled his was into management.
Never been paid that much, took about every Friday off on PTO, total WFH, can’t say what my benefits cost but it wasn’t $100/mo. in total. My last job was half the pay and benefits, was so much happier. I think of that every time I read a comment about why companies need to pay more to satisfy us. Everyone should have a look at this. Had ALL that at my penultimate job, NONE at the most recent.
I feel so weird, especially at this time of life with a solid resume, interviewing for PT work at Lowe’s. Thinking I’ll be happier than a pig in shit spending 4 hours a day, just walking around helping people, doing what ever bullshit I’m asked to do. Looking to see how it goes, see if there are ways to work myself up to FT, better schedule, supervisor, whatever.
Thought about “retiring” to work in a hardware store to keep busy and fit, but not for a decade+. Excepting my credit card bills, and what my wife sends home to the Philippines, she makes enough to cover everything. Won’t take much to take the edge off.
I love hardware and tools and plants, about everything they sell. Hoping to learn a lot as well. Helping people is really satisfying to me, and I’m excellent at handling customers. LOL, I’m best with the angry ones, sometimes get them apologizing. :)
Need a sanity check, am I losing it!? Been through the worst depression of my life the past few years, hoping this will break me back into a normal state of mind.
EDIT: Got the job! Holy shit, the assistant manager is just like me! Dropped out of tech to take a minimum wage job at Lowe’s 8 years ago, now he’s at $90K. We’ve even done much of the same work in the IT space. “I did DSL for Bellsouth when it was new!” “Yep, did my time as a cable internet guy.”
Seems to be a lot of space and opportunity to move up. I’m going to knock this out the fucking park!
BONUS: Clerk at the shady gas station overhead me telling my neighbor about quitting IT and getting hired today. Guy ask me what I did in IT, gave him a run down. “Yeah. I was a web dev for 20-years, couldn’t take staring at a screen any more.”
Nah, not crazy. In my view anyway. In 2020 I left nursing in CA making close to $100k and paid zero for actually amazing insurance… to work part time at a bakery for roughly $23/hr in Norway. I was 39.
Sometimes we just have enough and we don’t need to keep chasing the dollars in favor of a simpler, cozier life.
Norway has much nicer benefits and lower cost if living than California
Cost of living isn’t off by too terribly much haha. Our 2bd 1ba apartment is about half the cost that our 3bd 2ba duplex in Bay Area was. But we make substantially less. Also a hamburger, for reference, is routinely about $20 without fries, like for a Five Guys kind of burger. So we don’t eat out nearly as much. Healthier that way anyway. Lots of trade offs but ultimately it is the best and safest place I’ve ever lived.
Are you a citizen in Norway? Asking because that sounds nice
Not yet, but we can test (language and civics) in about 3 years which we plan to do. We are currently “temporary residents” and renew every two years. My husband has a work visa to work in tech here, and I’m here tied to that visa through family reunification. We will apply for “permanent” residency (not citizenship yet) later this year.
Gives me hope about a visa thanks for the response
How did you move to Norway? Afaik you can’t just show up to stay permanently.
You’re right, it is actually quite uncommon for Americans to live here without special circumstances. My husband is in tech, and managed to get hired on here, and so we are here on his work visa. We can test for citizenship after 7 years residency and testing language and civics, which we plan to do in about 3 years. We know that we are very lucky.
Dude, if you’re happy and can survive, you made the right move.
Working in IT has me questioning my entire existence. In many ways, I envy you.
As someone who just got his A+ certification and is looking for his first job in IT, why do/did you feel this way?
I am doing a career switch from marketing/SEO which was…! Manipulating everything for people to sell shit and my job is beholden to whatever the FUCK Google wants to do today? No thanks!
Well at least now you can work in a hands-on environment and hopefully use your marketing skills to manipulate your management chain into doing what’s right for you or the company.
That’s what I’m excited to do is hands-on stuff. I’ve built my own PC and have sort of torn my wife’s Mac apart when troubleshooting a heating issue. Doing things with the CLI or remoting in will be cool too!
It depends A LOT what kind of IT career you do. If you are a sysadmin with a shitty manager/company you’ll hate it. If you do helpdesk you’ll hate the whole human race.
But you can become devops, SRE, cloud engineer, architect, so you get all the fun at tinkering without the bullshit (most of the time, no job is perfect).
Well, I’ll have to start out in help desk but I’ve done CS as a temp job before and it was kind of fun. I don’t want to do help desk forever though, and I understand just how DUMB some people can be. Like, wow… 🤣
I dunno, I’m excited to get started in it and I don’t know what I want to specialize in yet.
My experience is that ITs role is to manage organizational liability, not helping people. Perhaps i am naive, but i wanted a job in tech so that i could help support other people in doing amazing work. You do get to do that, but it needs to be constantly framed from that point of organizational liability in order to effect any change. Different orgs have different risk appetites and cultures that make that change easier or harder.
tbh i would still start a carrer in tech, i do not want to dissuade you from such. For me i was better able to navigate the day to day bullshit after i learned what they are actually paying me for vs the dream i had in my head.
That depends on what you do.
My job is mainly to keep things rolling and improve them, but also support to a certain degree.
Our support team’s job is obviously to help people.
Not much of what we do is motivated by liability. But I work in the public(ish) sector.
Thank you for that info. I’ll keep it in mind. I’ve worked for various corporations for over 20 years, so I know they all are about self preservation.
I worked in email marketing for JP Morgan for a few years. Most miserable job I ever had. All work from home and super short hours but I couldn’t live with all the information manipulation that was going on. It’s ridiculous how much personal info people give up online without even realizing it and that was 10 years ago. I can only imagine how bad it is now.
Yeah, I’m sure on the email side it’s ridiculous!
If you enjoy tech, keep going for it. There’s nothing inherently shitty about the work, at any level, and it pays. As with any career, we sometimes burn out.
Thank you! I think it’s a career right up my alley and I’m excited to land my first gig - hopefully in the next couple of months.
Word of caution.
I’ve gone down this route and discovered the phrase “you’re overqualified”, which is bandied around when you describe your previous experience.
Don’t let this dissuade you, just keep it in mind.
Good luck with the job interview!
That’s my only worry. Not sure how to downplay that or express that this really sounds like what I want (I think), even at the massive pay cut.
“Overqualified” just means they’re afraid you know your rights and can’t be exploited like someone fresh out of school.
But if they’re already entertaining the idea of hiring someone in their 50’s I doubt you’ll hear it very often if at all.
No, it means you might run off at any moment when a higher paying job presents itself.
I got the job! Going to hang in there, see where it leads. I was astounded at the mobility, up and lateral, that I can probably score.
I did retail a while ago. It wasn’t hard to climb if you’re moderately competent and not a d-bag. There is a somewhat low ceiling from what I recall. At my store at least, most of the people that reached upper level store managerial roles tended to do so by opening a new location.
gratz.
god damn I keep typing out advice … Enjoy yourself. \o/
just lie to them?
as an ex-IT currently working at Lowes, they don’t really give a shit about your qualifications, and probably won’t even ask. passing the drug test and background check is about the only qualifications that matter to them.
But Dunkin, man. Dunkin always finds out.
Quality of Life, Life Balance, something like that?
Quality of Life working from retail?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahabahahahahahaha
No no no sorry …hahahahahahahahahahahah HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Some people actually enjoy that kind of work. I did it for a few years and I loved every minute of it. I enjoyed helping people and talking and organizing shelves/racks whatnot. If it paid better I’d probably still be doing it.
Where’d you work though? This guy is going to work for Walmart equivalent of home improvement stores. After working at Walmart myself as a first job, I quickly grew to detest the place and quit twice before actually leaving (they talked me into staying the first time with a transfer and raise). It’s a soul sucking environment without the high pay and benefits that OP is walking away from. I hope it works out but the phrase “the grass is greener on the other side” exists for a reason.
A place called Tuesday Morning. Kind of a old lady type place. They sold a bit of everything from clothes to knick knacks and home deco, but for like old people lol. Def no Lowe’s but I enjoyed it. Maybe OP should look for somewhere like Ace hardware instead?
Ace would be recommended. They hire people who want to help, Lowes hires people who have to pretend to want to help.
I went the other way around, I was a central heating engineer and plumber in my youth and even if I liked the work a lot I hated the winters, it’s so cold in a building without heating. So I switched to factory work, the payment was better and it was always a comfortable temperature, but it was so extramly boring. And I just couldn’t do it and resigned after 3 years.
So I switched careers again, went to school and eventually to university at 30 years old and then gör a job in a small startup working a lot with open source and the colleagues were all very smart and nice. The startup got bought up by a big company and it got a bit worse, but more stable when it comes to projects. After 10 years I still work at this company even though I moved to a different continent, etc.
I have been working from home since covid and people trust me to do my job so they don’t bother me, it’s very nice.
who gives a fuck? do what makes you happy.
Thank you for sharing this! I was a software engineer for over 10 years and was let go with most of my department in June. I’ve been coasting on SUB payments, enjoying the temporary freedom, and learning sooo much about myself. I’ve been applying to similar jobs, but the longer I’ve been away from that world, the less I want to go back to it. So much of me wants to run to a job I always wanted growing up - a barista, and restart my photography business which I had to drop as it was too much to balance with a full-time job. I’ve been mentally stuck the last few months trying to figure out what I want to do… it’s nice to read something from someone in a slightly similar situation who is also considering a completely different path. I wish you the best of luck on your new journey, and I hope you find happiness in whatever work you decide on!
I had what should have been my dream job. I absolutely hated it and everything about it broke me and made me suicidally depressed. I took a lower paying job without all the responsibilities and long commute. I was surprisingly happy there.
For a while, I felt bad that I’d “demoted” myself. Then I reshaped my thinking to the following: I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I can do whatever the hell I want. Never cared again.
“Heaven in hardware” has been my retirement goal for quite a while. Chase your dream!
Theres a reason behind the “retire and herd goats” joke for IT. Burnout sucks. Sounds like your needs will be met financially, enjoy it!
Good on ya mate. I retired, at least temporarily, from almost 30 years in IT today. I may do some part time consulting to pay for vacations in the future, but my FT days are over. I hope you enjoy being away from it as much as I will.
The best job to have is the one that you don’t need. I was fortunate enough to retire early from a high stress job. I didn’t hate the job. I just had enough. After 3 months I was bored. Got myself a part time job. And as was mentioned in an earlier comment, if the place burns down I couldn’t care less. I’m always on time, never sick, and good at my mickey mouse part time job because it’s a joke compared to the real job I had. It is fascinating to observe my fellow workers who are all very nice people because for them THIS is their career and for me it’s just a throw away to get out of the house.
I used to have a white-collar job and now work in retail. You know what I love? 1) If there’s a problem, it’s my manager’s problem. I am entry level by choice, and have as little responsibility as possible. 2) Work stays at work. The second I clock out, I stop giving a damn about that place. 3) On the rare occasion I get a call from work, I always screen it. If some jackass didn’t show up, and I don’t feel like going in, I simply don’t call back.
I like my job. I like the people I work with. I’m pleasant and helpful to our customers. Maintaining boundaries helps keep it that way.
I’m at a stage where I wouldn’t mind a job that kills some of my love for something, like IT which I do have a passion for, in order to knock out the rest of my bills and build a safety net. One year at that rate would dismantle the remaining bills plaguing me.
you remind me of me in some ways. I can’t do what you do though as my wife has a lot of medical issues and its all on my pay. I must find something.
This thread is really making me doubt my career path. At 20, should I even bother going into tech/IT if I switch to a trade later on?
Stick with IT! There’s nothing inherently bad about the space, lots of room to move around and do different things, make solid money. 20-years of anything will burn you out unless you’re not very bright.
If you’re 20, YMMV but for me, please get into a trade.
Just be smart and plan your exit. Your body will only take so much so trade until your body has enough then get into teaching whatever trade you got into.
My neighbours son is doing this now. HVAC career is done he’s in teachers college now to start his second career.
FWIW this is my plan now too. I’m pretty much done with IT. I’m investigating teaching now, or being a porter at a hospital.
Do what pays the bills while you figure out what sort of trade work you might enjoy, look for paid training/apprenticeship spots, low voltage automation controls is a tech field that interacts with the trade a lot, I’m a maintenance tech and interact with our controls guy all the time.
The vast, vast majority of people don’t quit their job or their employer, but their boss and coworkers.
Don’t underestimate how much healthy relationships at work matter when you spend so much of your time there. Yes, in tech jobs as well. So stick with IT if you like it, but don’t stick around in a bad environment. Especially if you plan to have a family in X years, because then it gets a lot harder and riskier to jump ship and change your situation.
It’s also okay to want to take a break from a stressful career with a less stressful one. I took a break from teaching at a university to take care of therapy animals, and at year 1.5, I’ve really finally feel recharged.
