I do two jobs and get paid for one 1

[jbelectrical]

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I'm not even certain that this belongs in the forum that I'm posting it in. Well, here it goes.

Background information: I have a great interest in computers. I have experience in repairing, troubleshooting, basic networking, etc. I also have an associate's degree in Computer Science - pretty worthless degree, but it doesn't upset me too much.

Two years ago, I gained employment as an assembler at a subsidiary of the company that I'm working for now. To make a long story short, the subsidiary folded after four months of me working there, and my boss retained me, in hopes that I would work at his parent company: an HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering consultant firm (referred to as MEPF, usually).

It's a small business comprised of around 20 people. There hasn't been any I.T. staff working there in quite some time, so it was literally a disaster area (Example: an actively used Windows 98 AutoCAD workstation acted as a print server - real nice). And so, I got everything set up and running the way it should have been within a month or two.

And then the company's project manager persuaded me to have one of the draftsman teach me AutoCAD. I jumped on the opportunity.

Fast-forward to today: I'm a junior designer in the electrical department and am responsible for several major projects at a time. That, I'm still responsible for fixing anything that happens to go wrong with any device that plugs into an outlet.

Things go wrong every day. And it distracts me from completing projects. Worse yet, my boss now makes a habit of getting me to fix his own personal computers or those of his family. It's getting to be a real problem.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. It's easily the most interesting and fulfilling one that I've ever had. I enjoy electrical power design so much that I re-enrolled into college and am a first-year E.E. major. But this is ridiculous. I'm thinking of leaving in February next year (Because at that point, I will have worked there for two years - I want a decent employment record. This is the longest that I've ever stayed at a company.) and moving to a civil firm that an acquaintance of mine works at. He makes just as much as I do, and surprise - he's not fixing any computers.

What do you suggest I do? I know the situation seems odd: I starting off doing one job, learned to do a new one, and don't want to do the old job anymore. I'm stressed out and confused...

 

[GregLocock]

You obviously have a reasonable relationship with the boss. Go and talk to him and explain the issue. My /guess/ is that he saw Autocad as a way to expand your skills base, and probably intended that you should still cover IT.

Why not log how many hours you spend drafting, and how many you spend on the computer stuff?

When you are drafting switch your phone and email off for blocks of 2 hours.

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[IRstuff]

There's nothing like data and a DETAILED list of active projects and duties to stifle "ASAP" requests.

There's a guy at work who's famous for that. Anytime his manager comes in with a rush job, this guy whips out his notebook, points to all the "critical" things he's working on and asks, "Which of these do you want me to slip?" and "Can I get that in writing?"

TTFN

 

[jsummerfield]

I think that your present job is ideal. You gain ACAD experience and computer experience that will look great on the resume'; and you get paid.

Smaller companies need people who can solve the problems that exist. This is much better than large companies with well defined job definitions.

Staying where you are may be a good thing.

John

 

[That1Guy]

If you're interested in retaining this job, there is an alternative. You could do design work during the normal 8-hr workday, and work on computer related things after the normal 8-hr work day. Depending on your after-work commitments (E.E. Freshman) this may be more difficult than it otherwise could be. This also comes with a caveat, this works very well if you're paid hourly, as opposed to getting the salaried screws put to you.

Depending on how things work out, your boss will see that it's not cost effectivet to pay you for work done afterhours. That, or possibly he can't wait all day to have a problem fixed. This is a non-direct way to bring these things to his attention. I don't know if that's something you want to do, but it is a plan of action.

Good luck.


Byron T.

 

[DemarEngr]

Purity,

Reading your post you could have been talking about me. I am Design Manager, Senior Designer, Small Projects Manager, and the IT guy. All for a company that has roughly 30 employees.

This is how I handle it. When I get in the morning, I make sure my projects and designers are running in the right directon. I convinced my boss that he didn't need to be taking me off money projects to handle IT stuff. I taught our secretary how to do the day to day things such as back ups and updating virus scanners. I also convinced my boss that an outside IT guy handling the big changes is the better way to go.
I answer all the questions that people have such as excel and word documents and stuff like that

This frees me up to do 6-7 hours of actuall design. I have all of my designers back check each other which saves a ton of time for me in the checking phase. I still have to check their work before it goes out the door though. I also put in a couple of extra "free" hours on the IT stuff a week.

I can do this because the boss has let me hire who I want and although the guys I have aren't cheap, they are damn good at what they do. This also saves a lot of headaches.

All in All my week breaks down like this.

30ish hours desiging.
5-6 hours checking
2-3 hours managing
2-3 hours IT stuff.

I unfortantely get paid a couple of dollars less that your average designer in the houston area and I am on salary, but at look at this way. I am learning multi-tasking, desgin and management skills. I will more than likely be the last one out the door because of my ability to do this and I am increasing my net worth to other prospective employers.

Being able to handle multiple tasks in a small company is life.

 

[MadMango]

Purity, have you ever considered training someone to do some of the easier IT tasks that you don't have time for? Or perhaps write FAQs and How To's and place them in Outlook public folders for others to train themselves?

[blue]"But what... is it good for?"[/blue]
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[automatic2]

Get serious about your new career. Sounds like your on your way by taking the initial training. Word of caution though, your current employeer may view your position as computor guy who is just helping with projects. Ruffle his feathers and he might reassess your value. Sounds like a good stepping stone into a challanging career. Appreciate it for what it is.

 

[jbelectrical]

Thanks to all of you for the advice.

I suppose you guys are right. Multitasking is just a part of the job in a small business. I'm going to ride it out and see what happens when I complete my E.E. If the company plans on expanding as much as management tells me it is, there will probably be a need for a full-time I.T. person.

For the meantime, if things get too bad - that is, if I have critical projects piling up while, at the same time, have a substantial amount of I.T. projects, I'm going to have to say something. I'll either have to work past normal hours, train somebody, or just start giving away projects to other employees.

Thanks again.

--

 

[Hippo41]

For what it's worth, I was employed to be the company 'engineer' (a group of about 125 people), but for a number of reasons fell into the IT Manager's role as well; installing PC's over 5 sites, the server systems, all software etc etc. At times it feels like I do more IT work than mechanical enginering.

At the moment I'm looking at new phone systems, VoIP technology etc.

BUT, it keeps me busy, I find it challenging, and I believe that a technical background gives me the right mindset to learn and evaluate these new technologies. (e.g. I learnt CAD because I had to - but could specify what equipment I wanted). And I get some cool toys to play with!

SO, although computers can be a right 'pain in the xxx' sometimes I count myself lucky that I have some decent challenges at work, (and after work!) - albeit not in my absolute preferred field of study and experience.

And yes - I only get 1 salary too. But that's life!

Lester Milton
Telford, Shropshire, UK

 

[ruggedscot]

This happens all so often we end up doing more than one thing. I used to work for a small company in scotland and ended up doing quite a few roles within the job. It stood me up for better things though and you have to realise that not all situations like this are bad. A company will get you to do what ever it can to meet the requirements, ytou just have to be careful and I mean CAREFUL that you dont take on too much and end up underachieving - you would find that you would end up out of a job. ALL experiance is a good thing !

I worked on the shop floor sorting out issues and problems with equipment - not as bad as changing lightbulbs but you know sometimes you felt that you were not doing much in the scheme of things, then I would be involved with sorting out project works, so I would be at times going from conception through to realisation. It was good experiance to have. And I learned autocad aswell which was a great thing !

 

[dcmoore]

Jsummerfield has hit the nail right on the head.

I basically am in the EXACT same situation u are except I feel that it is a HUGE benefiet to have everyone coming to me to fix our computer problems etc. Plus now I have a manager that knows alot about computers but doesnt have the time to do it so I FINALLY have someone to go to if I can't figure somthing out. It's great. and It also makes me feel alot LESS expendable. Without me my company would be paying some chump 60-80 bucks an hour to do the same crap I could get done in a quarter of the time cause I dont charge the company for travel time

Im a Mechanical Designer who had a very good knowledge in general computers and a small knowledge of networking. Now i know 1000x more then when i started at this company, in the Mechanical aspect AND the computers aspect. Just use it as a learning tool. You're still new, Use every bit of knowledge u can get to help yourself get ahead.

Derek

 

[plasgears]

Welcome to the club!

I once had a boss who said that I could handle anything, and he loaded me with a variety of tasks. It was fun while it lasted. ("Can you run to Phoenix tonight? The Queen of --- needs a special limo with movable seat and long doors; she had a serious accident...")

Your situation is a foundation for good development in the company or a stepping stone to something greater outside.

 

[cardoso115]

Hello,

I think that if you're getting paid and you feel conmfortable (besides the fact of the two jobs) you should stick to that.
People are more close and friendly in smaller companies than in big companies.
And by doing a variety of tasks you're only gaining value in the work market. It's like a teacher once said to me:
"In a small company you'll be doing from mechanical engineering to decorating, and even answering some calls. In a bigger firm, you'll be doing the same thing every day!"

About the two jobs, you might bring it over to your boss...
If you have somewhere else where you can work, go to him and say that you like it there, but you're not getting paid enough to do the things you do. I guess, that after some thinking he'll realize that you should get some more money.

After that, you could start by compiling some FAQ in a public area or every time you solve a problem in someone else's computer you make sure they see it and explain it to them.

Hope this helps, Carlos