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Alternatives to IT?

32 replies

GerbilsAteMyCat · 27/03/2015 09:26

Hi,
Has anyone moved out of IT into something else?
I started working in IT 15 years ago and I'm fed up. It has been for the same large company however. I am neither a very technical super coder, nor at management level because I had children a few years ago and once you reach management you cannot work flexibly (dumb policy).
I moved to a new role late last year but the developer is an arrogant nob and I'm tired of his attitude.
I've considered retraining as a solicitor/teacher but obviously recent posts have put me off and the job market for both is dire.
I feel trapped, all be it trapped in a naice job with benefits, but when I found myself rejoicing that I might have shingles and would get 2 werks off work I reckoned there was really something wrong.
Help?!

OP posts:
GerbilsAteMyCat · 27/03/2015 09:27

Very little can be done about the arrogant nob developer because my manager is as efficient as a chocolate teapot.

OP posts:
flowery · 27/03/2015 09:29

Is it actually IT that is the problem or is it the chocolate teapot manager and nob developer? Have you looked elsewhere?

GerbilsAteMyCat · 27/03/2015 09:34

I think part of the problem is that I've been in the same company as well for 15 years so it's all I know of IT. I'd be scared I couldn't pass an interview for another IT company as I'm not longer very technical.
I'm also concerned that the IT world is filled with nob developers and chocolate teapot managers and if I can't handle these ones then I'm not much good myself.

OP posts:
xmaskitkat1967 · 27/03/2015 19:48

I work in IT and love it but am no longer technical (did 10 years coding though) as I'm in a senior role. What about something like Change Management or Problem Management - not too senior, not hands on technical but technical background helps. Also they are the types of roles that don't require OOH working.

McFox · 27/03/2015 19:57

What about project management? The PMs in my company (software related) need to have a technical background in order to understand what's possible and what's not when dealing with clients.

MeganChips · 27/03/2015 20:07

What xmas said.

I'm a Service Delivery Manager and have several part timers on my staff. I have a problem analyst, change analyst, access management and a service management tool developer.

Does your company conform to ITIL? If it does there are a lot of avenues to explore and I find my job really rewarding. I used to be techy but like you, got sick of it.

Project management is a good option. We don't have any part time project managers but plenty of part time project coordinators.

A complete tangent, how about an ICT teaching career?

petalunicorn · 27/03/2015 20:15

If you're in a large company is there any chance of a secondment somewhere else in the business? Perhaps somewhere they have to deal with IT and they would like someone who could speak the language?

ragged · 27/03/2015 20:24

Your heart isn't in it, any more. I'm a huge fan of reinventing oneself. There will be huge demand for science, math or ICT teachers.

Some subjects they will even pay you to train to be a teacher I'm not sure computing is one of them, but read closely.

Whensmyturn · 27/03/2015 20:41

As you already said OP teaching is not worth considering in any form. Not flexible (up till 1am each night preparing and marking) being constantly watched and judged. Treated badly by pupils and management alike. Lots of chocolate teapots and despots.

petalunicorn · 27/03/2015 20:44

IT Training?

trilbydoll · 27/03/2015 20:48

I don't think nobs and chocolate teapot managers are unique to IT, you should be prepared to risk that wherever you end up!

How about applying for some new IT jobs, hopefully getting a few interviews - that might clear up whether it is IT in general or just your company that you're done with?

EBearhug · 27/03/2015 21:08

It may well be the company - no flexible working for managers? Mad.

I think roles like change management, problem management, project management are all possibilities. IT training, too.

There are quite a lot of IT jobs around at the moment, although it may depend where you are (I'm M3/M4 corridor, so every other company is tech.) If you're Manchester direction, the BBC are having a bit expansion in IT currently, all sorts of roles, so it might be worth checking their website.

Also, when I'm losing heart, I have found that going to women in technology networking events can be helpful - just being in a room of women, who know what you're on about if you're talking about IT, and it's just women. It's great, just not having to explain some of the crap, because they know, because they live it too.

Kleptronic · 27/03/2015 21:11

I don't know but are you me?!

slightlyglitterstained · 27/03/2015 21:28

A former manager of mine quit IT after a similar length of time in the same big company (and a couple of complete nobs during the last couple of years).

She later said she regretted it, as she could've moved jobs instead and she realised that she'd let the nobs push her out without really examining her options, just because she was knackered and fed up.

What eBearhug suggests about meetups is a really good idea. There's a number of groups aimed at women in tech, and it can be a great way to figure out what other companies are really like from talking to people who work there, or what kind of interesting IT related roles are out there and how you might get into one.

meetup.com is worth checking.

throckenholt · 28/03/2015 09:05

I have great empathy for you - especially the arrogant nobs and because my manager is as efficient as a chocolate teapot.

I guess the question is are you heartily sick of IT and want to jump to something completely different (in which case what ? and what is required re training ? Will it pay enough and give enough flexibility ?) or just get away from the current setup (in which case what is available in your area ?).

Try and see it as an opportunity rather than a trap. Presumably you have at least a couple of decades of working life left - so worth making an effort or maybe taking a risk.

MeganChips · 28/03/2015 09:09

Sorry OP, I completely missed the fact you'd discounted teaching before suggesting it.

I felt like you did a few years ago, I was desperate to get out of IT but a change in role from technical to non technical really changed it for me. I now enjoy my job again.

I also agree with the Women in IT networking events, they're good.

EBearhug · 28/03/2015 09:50

she realised that she'd let the nobs push her out without really examining her options, just because she was knackered and fed up.

This is an important point - there is a problem with the numbers of women in IT, and the "leaky pipeline" is part of the problem. Women do get tired of the constant low-level sexism there can be in some departments and suffer death by 1000 cuts - there's often no single event that's bad enough to make someone leave, but the cumulative effect means you get to a point where you just haven't got any fight left. (I've been feeling I've been on about 950 cuts lately, but I had a great chat with a female colleague from our women's network, and that half hour has made me feel so much less isolated and trapped.)

I'm not for a minute saying someone should stay in a career that means they think a day sick is a welcome break (I know that feeling, too,) but I think people can get so fed up that they don't consider options for changing direction and building on their technical background.

EBearhug · 28/03/2015 09:58

And on an entirely practical note:

I get to hear about events mostly through LinkedIn - there's a Women in Technology group. I think I'm also on the Women in Telecoms & Technology group.

We Are the City has a women in tech section if you're in or near London (I've finished work early a couple of times to travel in to London for their evening events.) Their website can be worth looking at, even if you're not London- based nor wanting to work for a big corporate - they have some interesting articles from time to time.

WeAllHaveWings · 28/03/2015 10:24

After returning from maternity leave I got out of IT after 18 years (hours too long and too much last minute having to stay late or called out if system issues) and moved into a Supply Chain role (production planning team leader, small team of 2) in the same company, it was a step sideway/slightly down but the hours suited and I wanted out of IT.

I got made redundant from that role after 5 years and now in a best of both worlds role where I sit between the business and IT - a kind of power user/process improvement/project management type role which I love as I get to use the skills I developed in IT (not the technical ones, things like problem solving/management, project etc), I am closer to the business and the hours are great.

GerbilsAteMyCat · 28/03/2015 17:58

Wow! I had given up getting any responses! Thank you!
Scurries off to LinkedIn.
I will be back.

OP posts:
GerbilsAteMyCat · 28/03/2015 18:12

My company does have Change Management, Problem Management and Project Mangement. I moved into Business Analysis last year but changed areas into one I wasn't familiar with as my then manager talked me into it and then he promptly got promoted.

Unfortunately the business contacts are based in the US, the developers are in the UK and India. It's been difficult to even pick up the necessary business knowledge as nothing is documented and they are all following different processes (last week I discovered 3 different groups had 3 different processes for ticking the same checkbox).
Add into that the nob developer who makes wide sweeping comments about the roles of women and men (never argue with a woman) and doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does (I offered him the services of a user experience designer for free and he declined without even considering it) and then the chocolate teapot manager.
I am exhausted by it all.
My old technical role (which I was also covering as my backfill was not great and couldn't speak English well) has now become vacant so I was thinking of going back there while I considered my next move.

OP posts:
GerbilsAteMyCat · 28/03/2015 18:15

I don't mean to sound whiney. I have been working my butt off to make this work, but the backfill to my old role leaving last week seems to have revealed how rubbish it's all been.

OP posts:
slightlyglitterstained · 28/03/2015 18:47

You don't sound whiny at all! You sound justifiably fed up with a crappy situation - it'd be a tough enough job dealing with that list with a supportive manager (and your former manager clearly thought you'd be up to it). But with constant denigration and knowing that your manager won't address it - yeesh.

Sounds like you have a good opportunity to leave nobber and teapot to their oh-so-deserving selves!

EBearhug · 28/03/2015 19:18

Gerbils, if you PM me, I can add you as a LinkedIn contact (which is in my real name.)

By the sounds of it, a great part of the problem is your employer. I would be campaigning for documentation of processes (I do that anyway, and as I find writing easy, have written a ton of our documentation, which is more for me to remember than anyone else; they just benefit as a side-effect.) I would also be campaigning for stream-lining of processes. It might come to nothing, but you can at least be sure you've done your best to make sure people are aware of these things, and if they did take them up, it could help improve efficiency.

I'd be going to HR to ask for some sort of project about educating all the staff about respect in the workplace, focussing on discrimination and unconscious bias (UB is very in vogue just now.) It's possible you'll get a load of guff back about how it's not needed, but that's their choice. Do they have a women's network or any employee groups? If it's an American company, which it sounds like, they might have some stuff like this in the USA, but not anywhere else - you could enquire about setting it up over here.

On a personal level, I'd be keeping track of everything nob developer said with a view to making a complaint if he goes too far (sounds like he already has.) I would also be trying to think about what I want next (as you are) and consider whether I want to go back to my old role, or make a sideways move where I'd get some good experience - go whichever way would best set me up for moving into a role I was much more interested in with a different company. Even if you can persuade them to streamline some processes and start documenting things, organisational change and culture tends to be slow, unless there are really major changes at the top.

Use them to your advantage, looking further ahead. It might mean you have to put up with the crap for a bit longer, but it will probably be more bearable when you know it's just the means to an end, rather than you're trapped there forever.

slug · 28/03/2015 19:26

I moved sideways after a career in IT and teaching into learning technologies. Yes, there are still nobs, but there are significantly more women and there's scope to do lots of different things.

I work in a university and our Registrar, the head of library services, the head of planning and the head of E-Learning are all women with IT backgrounds.