I am tired of the politics and people here.

[Caldus]

I love the particular kind of work that I do here (software engineering). That isn't the problem. The problem is the people that I deal with here everyday and the dumb politics that's always going on. I'm sure this is the case for many people out there. I guess I haven't learned how to cope with it all yet. Sometimes people are just real jerks around here and I know it's all an act on their part to try and be 'hip' with their crowd. It's really annoying and I'm tired of it.

[Wolf_22]

I love the particular kind of work that I do here (software engineering). That isn't the problem. The problem is the people that I deal with here everyday and the dumb politics that's always going on. I'm sure this is the case for many people out there. I guess I haven't learned how to cope with it all yet. Sometimes people are just real jerks around here and I know it's all an act on their part to try and be 'hip' with their crowd. It's really annoying and I'm tired of it.

 

Post number 1,208 about why IT sucks to work in...

[poloplayer]

Some band wrote a song called 'High School Never Ends'

 

Pretty true in my book.

 

I liked the music video (go to youtube).

 

It gets easier with time. You're fresh out of school and adjusting to a new world. Keep your mouth shut and head down. Work as hard as you can. That's the best advice that I received when I started working and it never failed me. Again, it gets easier with time.

[thejigsup]

I have only worked in one or two places my entire life that were like that. I can see why you hate it, though. You would think you were working with adults but it seems like some folks never grow up. Sometimes when I read posts like this, I feel so luck that, except for a couple of real doozies long ago, I have always had a job I loved.

[Wolf_22]

The only other thing in life that holds more importance than finding a job you love is finding a long, blond-headed women with an hour-glass figure to marry and raise a family with!!!

[Caldus]

I have only worked in one or two places my entire life that were like that. I can see why you hate it, though. You would think you were working with adults but it seems like some folks never grow up. Sometimes when I read posts like this, I feel so luck that, except for a couple of real doozies long ago, I have always had a job I loved.

 

What do you do for a living?

[Anthropic]

Your going to find politics pretty much anywhere you go. I'm a software engineer as well, and when I started I thought "Great! I get to deal with computers instead of people!". Geez, was I wrong.

 

I've enjoyed every place I've ever worked as a software engineer. Insert quote about, "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life". I just shut out the politics and ignore the jerks. Not everyone can do that but my attitude is why let all the other stuff spoil what I really enjoy doing. I think it helps that I'm not afraid to lose my job, and I'm not afraid to quit if I have a good enough reason. I know it's not practical for everyone to think like this, but it's a really liberating feeling. As a software engineer, if you have enough experience you really shouldn't have any problems finding another job quickly.

[Wolf_22]

As a software engineer, if you have enough experience you really shouldn't have any problems finding another job quickly.

 

...doing most-likely similar things in any other place, right?

 

I have lost count of the amount of people I have known in my life who carried that type of mentality. Without being offensive, I must say that my opinion of that statement is not only untrue, but it also represents the mindset everyone has about computers and the marvelous opportunities they always seem to somehow bring into potential employee's lives.

 

In my opinion, I agree with your statement about "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life", but I respectfully disagree with the theory that no matter where you go, you'll end up encountering political frustrations of the degree which has been presented in this thread.

 

Of course, politics are politics in offices, and yes, I agree that it is almost impossible to find a job nowadays which has none. In light of this, though, I must say that the OP has portrayed an obvious level of political experience and frustration which supersedes that of known status-quo.

 

Typical work stress associated with a "normal" IT job should consist of the occasional Saturday during project deadlines, enduring the minuscule amount of power-pushing from the not-so-often bad day that your superior has and making sure you complete your own projects in a respectable time frame.

 

What NON-TYPICAL stress associated with "abnormal IT" jobs consist of is the following:

- Anxiety over knowing deep down you won't make the deadline.

- Having concerns over how to do something in your code or whatever.

- Stressing about it to the point of losing hair.

- Blabbing about nothing but "work" to your S.O. or family / friends ALL NIGHT every night.

- Working everyday of the weekend as well as carrying a pager.

- Having evasive meetings about why things just "don't fit" for you on your team.

- Being expected to retain professional responsibility straight out of college on day 1 without having any OJE or instruction of the more proprietary shop standards.

- Being hand-slapped by the 10-20-year vets in the office about crap you know about, but not being explained the things you don't know about or understand by these same people.

- Being forced to smile and act like best-friends to those you know deep down talk badly about you behind your back or sabotage you.

 

...Need I say more?

 

This is not normal. What this is, is an abstraction of the dispositions many of the IT shops face regarding their financial duress during modern competition benchmarks.

[thejigsup]

I have worked in education for many years and only found one school that was like that, the rest have been super! It couldn't have been that bad, though. I worked there for ten years and still have friends there. I also used to work with thoroughbred racehorses. All the jobs there were pretty cool most of the time.

[Anthropic]

...doing most-likely similar things in any other place, right?

 

Right. The OP expressed that he enjoys software engineering, so what's wrong with doing that same thing somewhere else? It didn't sound like Caldus has given up on IT, well, not yet anyway.

 

I have lost count of the amount of people I have known in my life who carried that type of mentality. Without being offensive, I must say that my opinion of that statement is not only untrue, but it also represents the mindset everyone has about computers and the marvelous opportunities they always seem to somehow bring into potential employee's lives.

 

I stick with my statement that an experienced software engineer should be able to find another (software engineering) job without much trouble. Is that what your referring to, I think I'm missing the point.

I actually do think that computers represent a marvelous opportunity ... for technical people. I think it horribly complicates the lives of most other employee's though. Especially the ones that have to use the software I write, heh.

 

In my opinion, I agree with your statement about "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life", but I respectfully disagree with the theory that no matter where you go, you'll end up encountering political frustrations of the degree which has been presented in this thread.

 

Of course, politics are politics in offices, and yes, I agree that it is almost impossible to find a job nowadays which has none. In light of this, though, I must say that the OP has portrayed an obvious level of political experience and frustration which supersedes that of known status-quo.

 

Agreed. I didn't mean to imply that Caldus would encounter the same level of frustration, just that he wouldn't be able to be completely free of the politics.

 

Wolf_22 you sound like a recovered(ing?) IT worker. I like your list of non-typical stresses, so true, so true. But I think those points could easily apply to many other fields as well. Any given job is going to have stress, some more than others, sure. I think you just need to approach it with the right attitude.

 

Caldus seems to have found a job where he really enjoys the work, that's awesome, because it seems so rare these days. Now just learn not to fret the other stuff.

[Wolf_22]

Right. The OP expressed that he enjoys software engineering, so what's wrong with doing that same thing somewhere else? It didn't sound like Caldus has given up on IT, well, not yet anyway.

 

Nah, there's nothing wrong with it at all if he stays within his preferred niche. The problem is that this rarely happens. One guy who may be a C# guy who preferred to stay within things such as form validation or input parsing may get shifted over into something such as database retrieval or front-end design. I guess what I'm saying here is that you'll go where the suits need you, and this almost 100% of the time results in something which is not desired on the part of the employee. I suppose it depends on your fortay, skill set, etc. ...I know, I'm being more specific, but in the end, this is where it all eventually leads to anyway.

 

I stick with my statement that an experienced software engineer should be able to find another (software engineering) job without much trouble. Is that what your referring to, I think I'm missing the point.

I actually do think that computers represent a marvelous opportunity ... for technical people. I think it horribly complicates the lives of most other employee's though. Especially the ones that have to use the software I write, heh.

 

My point on this was what I wrote above this. You're very right about the "for technical people" premise, in terms of being generalized but when you're sitting in your cube for 8 hours a day for 30 years, you begin to develop more specific desires with what you prefer to do each day. But hey, if he's in a good fit, then more power to him. I hope he loves his job!

 

Agreed. I didn't mean to imply that Caldus would encounter the same level of frustration, just that he wouldn't be able to be completely free of the politics.

 

Wolf_22 you sound like a recovered(ing?) IT worker. I like your list of non-typical stresses, so true, so true. But I think those points could easily apply to many other fields as well. Any given job is going to have stress, some more than others, sure. I think you just need to approach it with the right attitude.

 

Caldus seems to have found a job where he really enjoys the work, that's awesome, because it seems so rare these days. Now just learn not to fret the other stuff.

 

You could say I'm recovering. Personally, I love what IT can do, but it always seems to be used in incorrectly, or abused, if you will. Not that you implied this or anything, but I fail to believe that my arguments are morally-based. I had an internship during my undergrad that I loved, but like Caldus is apparently experiencing, I too underwent horrible political constraints that drove me bonkers throughout my time there. I eventually left the internship upon graduation and upon accepting a job at a larger company. Needless to say, I didn't last long there, either, because of politics, but also because I was programming in COBOL 2 and working in Mainframe environments.

 

If you ever do anything smart in your lives, make sure it's your intentional decision to stay clear of z/OS. Neon-green font and no refresh button will make you want a lobotomy. - Especially when you're inducted into the position from a graphics design / web design internship! I must give good interviews, yes? HA!

[Anthropic]

I completely agree that IT is very often mismanaged or out and out abused. I've found that engineering or research oriented high-tech companies tend to get it right more of the time than say business oriented companies. I don't know what field the OP works in currently but maybe a switch would produce better results. The group dynamics and politics can be very different in different fields.

 

I also don't see it as a bad thing to move on to other jobs if it's just not working out. There seems to be a stigma attached to jumping from job to job, but come on, if the job sucks you get the heck out. HR people tend to give me funny looks when I explain that I quit so many jobs because they sucked (I use slightly nicer words). I don't blame them because I usually fail the, "Where do you see yourself in x number of years?" question. I answer that one with something along the lines of "probably not working here" (with slightly nicer words), but I'm past the stage in my career where I need to lie about these things. Errr, hope there are no HR people reading.