Being pigeonholed into doing tickets for the past 8 months and I’m getting burned out
Posted by inkblowout4@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 8 comments
Hey guys, this is a long post as I do want to give as much context as possible with my work situation.
I’m facing a situation at work that’s making me pretty unhappy and frustrated on my end that I need some solid advice on.
I’ve been working at this job for just over 1.5 years and it’s a role in infrastructure which I’ve liked a lot at first I was involved in some few projects and was involved in meetings here and there and I was pretty content with it as it kept things fresh and I was learning a lot.
Then the first year passed and so far for the first couple of months of the year I’ve been working tickets and I haven’t been involved in really any meetings/projects and I’m facing ticket burnout because of the constant grind. I have asked my managers if they could see if they could put me in any upcoming projects and needless to say I didn’t like the response they gave me as they reminded me that my role is just to work tickets. Which basically told me that I should “stay in my lane” but I had asked them to work on projects as an additional task, not my primary responsibility. So that bummed me out.
So shortly after this, one day I had a really awful day with the tickets where I was pretty stressed and feeling down and my managers both noticed and they talked to me. I was very honest with them about how I felt about just doing tickets, feeling disconnected with the team because I literally don’t get invited to any meetings/discussions and also no project work. They assured me that I’m doing really well and they need me and they said that there were projects coming up that they would like me to work on and I had some hope. Again I want to be very clear that my performance isn’t lacking and my bosses stated this.
Now a month since that talk and nothing happened, in fact this week, I noticed my team members being dragged into meetings and involved in new projects and I’m still just chipping away at the queue and honestly that made me feel resentful as I never received any word from my bosses. So I cleaned up my resume and I’ve been applying to different spots.
So I don’t know what to do at my current company, I want to grow and projects at this company feels like the best way I can learn as I learned a lot from my previous projects I was involved in. And the tickets I feel like I’m burning out.
Code4Care@reddit
Yeah, look for another job. Unless you are social and rubbing elbows(brownnosing) with the higher ups and your team then you won't get invited to new projects.
Seen this in big corpo. It's not so much as if you can do it, but more so if they like you or not(fun to be around).
didled@reddit
Review your contract, why is the infra guy doing solely help desk? Are you at least paid like an infra guy? Something’s not adding up because they shouldn’t be overpaying you for low tier work in the first place?
inkblowout4@reddit (OP)
So I’m a part of the infrastructure support team which kinda acts like a L3 support role (we have a help desk team that acts as L1 and L2) but with heavy work on networking, server administration tasks and some cloud work too. And everyone in my team usually works on tickets as that is what we should be focusing most of the time. Usually I’d be involved in server work but the tickets have gotten so bad due to one massive project that completely shit the bed and there has been an overwhelming amount of tickets and at first I thought projects were on hold so that we could catch up but I guess that’s not the case.
Hopefully that clears things up for you.
didled@reddit
I see so not out of norm for the team, you’re just getting the short stick on projects. Maybe the burnout recedes after that troublesome project? Maybe not, but polishing the resume isn’t a bad idea.
Thoughtulism@reddit
Some larger infrastructure groups have X number of tickets for their services they need to complete rather than being able to rely on Tier 1 Help Desk, but instead of having a support analyst in the group they all have the same system administrator and they just throw everything at the least favourite system administrator.
This is the issue, support analyst is really a different skill and they are saying the job is one thing but it's really another.
Systems administrator does involve responding to tickets, but it's but the primary job duty.
bd2eazy@reddit
I've been where you are. I cluding the speaking honestly to managers and them assuring me they have plans for me to grow in the company. I focused my energy on skilling up.i Got certifications and started applying. I found a job I wanted to be at and i somehow... Made it happen. I had to do year in their help desk first but they promoted me to the role I originally intended. Achieving this goal that I grinded so hard for means a lot. And the fact that I am excelling in the role and the raises/benefits I am blessed with are truly special.
All that said. When I left the company that had me feeling burnt out.. ah man what a relief that was. I kid u not, in my exit interview, they were still blowing smoke up my ass saying how they had planned to make me a manager. I kept it professional and left on good terms but in my heart of hearts... Fuck that. I knew my worth and I went and earned what I wanted. I'm making 6 figures in a role that I'm crushing. It can happen for you too. No one is going to save u. Go out and get it!
Context: I was applying for jobs for about 2 years. The company I'm at now took a year to call me back and start the interview process... When I finally started I had to do another entire year in their L1 and get another cert along the way. But my dedication paid off .
TheITMan19@reddit
I’d be wondering whether the projects were suitable for me rather than getting lumped with a project which isn’t suitable for me. Maybe the managers took this into consideration. Have you asked? Even if you’re doing partial projects and tickets, would that satisfy you? It’s still the grind. I think while you wait and see, keep your job and discretely look for a new job as well. Don’t let it grind you down dude, it’s only work.
jrwnetwork@reddit
All signs point to you need to leave. Start looking for another gig.