[IceFire]

Thanks Dynamo.  Been a while since I've seen you posting here...welcome!

[Windrunner]

Why are you so frustrated?

Whole series of reasons...but to put it short...the administration doesn't support the department much so its a high-tech shoestring thing.  We've got the talent and vision but not the money to move things forward and not much external support.  Its all politics and stuff.  I'd have left before but the people I work with directly are great.  But I don't blame the job entirely either...its a life thing...I'm adjusting to not being a student but I'm not completely independent either.  Friends are moving away or I'm loosing touch with them or a few of them have just been acting odd recently.  So I'm not sure if a job change or a change of scenery would help or hinder...

Thus the thread...to see what other folks do

Well if you want advice (and it sounds like you do), get a new job. (WARNING LONG ANECDOTE AHEAD)

I worked at the same place for over 5 years. I started there the summer between my Freshman and Sophmore years of college and worked there for every summer and nearly every winter and spring break until I graduated in May of 2005. I started out there as a temp with a two-week contract and by the time I graduated from UD I was hired on as a contractor making like 3 times what I started with. I learned a lot there, probably more than I did in 5 years of college (although that's not saying much considering how seriously I took my college career). I made a lot of friends there and met a lot of really cool people.

However, after a year of contract work, there was still no sight of any kind of permanent position. While I was a contractor, I got no benefits at all. No health insurance, sick days, paid vacation, etc. I didn't even get taxes taken out of my paycheck (Oh, I still had to pay them. April 15th was the worst day of 2006) I kept asking about it but kept getting no answer. So I got fed up and started looking for a fulltime position.

With all the experience I had there, I was able to find a job fairly close to my house that has benefits up the ass and paid pretty much the same amount of money I was making then. It took me a few days to mull it over because of my close relationships with the people I worked with but I decided to take it because I really needed health insurance.

I've been here for almost a year now and looking back on it now, it's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life (again, not saying much but still....) . The people I work with now are, for the most part, much cooler than the ones at my old job. The work is a hell of a lot better. I've learned more things here in 10 months than I did at my old job and college combined.

As for my old job, I still keep in touch with several of the people I was really close to. The place has seriously gone downhill since I left. (The signs were on the wall while I was there, so I'm not really surprised). Most of my friends got laid off.  My closest friend there found out she was getting fired while at a bar on a business trip from some random coworker from another location. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have had a position there for too much longer had I stayed. (Besides coming in 45 minutes late every day I also partook in some extra-curricular activities at work such as watching movies on my PSP, playing badminton with one of my co-workers over a cubicle wall, playing DS in the bathroom, etc that probably would've gotten me fired soon if I wasn't laid off anyways.)

I guess my point is once you've been at a place long enough, you can imagine what it'll be like 5 years from now. If you don't see any foreseeable improvement in your situation, then it's a good sign it's time to go. If it's a job you want your career to be in and you feel like you're only there to collect a paycheck and hang with friends, then it goes double. I easily work five times harder than I ever did at my old job and I love every minute of it. I see myself going places here, if not by moving up internally, then by gathering a ton of great experience that can move you up some place else. That's something I never could see at my old job.

One word of warning though, we both work in a profession that tends to get overlooked often by upper management. It happens in a lot of places. There's a big perception out there that IT is an expense. I've seen it in a lot of places (most recently, my current job). It takes a lot of work to change that perspective. Once managers start to see that by increasing IT expenditures will decrease expenditures elsewhere at a higher rate, they'll start giving you more and more. But you've got to make them be able to see it first and that takes a lot of work. You need to make that a goal any place you work in this industry. Otherwise, it'll be the same story over and over again. (Unless of course you get a job a tech-oriented company where the management knows better)

I was in the same situation at my old company, though i have not the same ammount of experience as you. At first i was given a six month long contract. When that contract expired i hoped to get a permanent eployment, but instead they extended the contract by six months. Thats what got me sarching for a new job. After three interviews i was hired for six months only this time with a guarantee for a permanent stay.  I got a better sallary and more benefits than i could dream of. What is most imortant is that I am going to get a lot more experience now then ever before. And also in two months i am going to negotiate for a raise when i get a permanent employment.

The only disadvantage is that the job is in another city and I have to travel by train for an hour. But i am waiting until my girlfriend finishes her studies sp that she can move in togethor.

[Dynamo]

Thanks, it's good to see some familiar faces around here still. Even better to find a few of them still remember me.

[Windrunner]

Thanks, it's good to see some familiar faces around here still. Even better to find a few of them still remember me.

I remeber you well D. Good to see that some of the veterans are still lurking around here.

[Corsair]

yay college!

[wtf_cl0vvn]

Currently an unemployed freshman student at the University of North Texas in Denton (Dallas-Ft. Worth area)

Im working in a research lab in the physics department...more like volunteering. (dont get paid)

Working on getting some experience in the field of physics, and either transferring out to a foreign university, or doing grad school at a foreign university. Im not a US citizen and have no intention of becoming one...Switzerland sounds nice. Plus they have the CERN over there, which is relevant to my interests.

There's a girl I left back home in Houston but I have no idea how that will work out... (cue the blues music)