Time to move on? 1

[Lord Farquaad]

Just looking to get a little perspective from other engineers.

Just over 2 years ago I changed jobs after a 16 year stay with one employer. While I had enjoyed the work, I was getting stale and not moving up the career ladder so I started looking for new opportunities.

I found a place that has a more laid back work environment, I make more money than I did before, and the people for the most part are really easy to work with.

The problem though is everything I was told I would be doing in the interview ended up not happening. Due to budget cuts every project that I was told I'd be working on has been pushed out indefinitely. I now find myself doing stuff I did my first few years out of college and feel like I went backwards about 10-15 years in my career, even though I am paid substantially more.

I know, it's hard to complain about an "easy" job, but I just find the job so boring and uninteresting that I wonder if it's time to move on? I feel like I'm literally just wasting time every day even though I get all my work done and my boss loves me.

 

[Sparweb]

It's always your decision about what you need to get from day-to-day work, and your career as a whole.
Some people have changed job for this reason, others have stayed in the same job for exactly the same reason. If you're asking, then your personality probably leans toward the first option.

I've had enough challenging jobs that I haven't had to make exactly this decision, but I have had to change jobs before. Each time I made sure I was doing it for reasons I could look back on with no regrets. Each change was a risk, and by controlling the timing of the job changes, I had control over some of the risks.

 

[phamENG]

Gus - or you could look for ways to get what you want from your current employment. If the work is that easy, can you streamline it and get it done faster? If so, then maybe you could start devoting some time to business development and attracting the sort of clients and projects that you want to work on.

I went out on my own for much the same reason. I had transitioned to a job that paid a whole lot more and was, on the whole, easier. But I got really bored. So now I work 'for myself' (ha!), make even more than the 'boring' job, and have the flexibility to tone work down occasionally if I need a break or go after more when I want/need more to do.

 

[TigerGuy]

Are you the only one with your current duties, or are there other, less experienced members on the staff doing the same thing? I enjoy mentoring younger staff on their way through various aspects of the industry.

It may be time to have that candid conversation with the boss. You want to stay, but you also want to continue to grow and work on challenging projects.

 

[Andries]

Gus, the fact that you are still employed while the company is going through a rough time means that they are satisfied with your contributions. I agree with TigerGuy that you should have a discussion with your boss, but keep things as positive as possible since he also has issues. All the best!

Andries

 

[LittleInch]

The New Year is a great time to get a conversation going with your boss and lay it out more or less exactly like you have in the OP - i.e.

When I joined these things / projects were slated to happen, but now aren't. I'm not happy about doing things I can do with my eyes shut so can we discuss how and where to change things. Don't ever mention or even hint that if you don't you might start looking elsewhere, or even back at your old place if they have an opportunity further up the ladder. Let that thought be left unsaid and see what happens. Then at least you gave then a chance to do things and make things happen for you.

At what I guess is your mid 30's to early 40's, you should be in great demand with loads of experience, still loads of energy and probably not paid super bucks. But only you know your experience or local market.

It is often the case (happened to me) that in order to go up in an organisation that has taken you for granted you need to go out and then back in having taken a quantum leap up the ladder in terms of pay if nothing else.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[debodine]

I believe LittleInch gave some very good advice, and I would like to build on that advice with a recommendation. Assuming you have the discussion with your boss, may I recommend that you couch the whole discussion in terms of "Boss, how can I increase my value and contribution to your department and our organization?"

Make sure your boss knows that you are initiating the discussion because you desire to support his department goals. I learned a long time ago in the military and have seen it to be generally true in corporate America as well, that if I have multiple equally effective options to resolve an issue, the one that makes my boss look best has usually resulted in good karma for me later.

I can relate one instance in the military where I reported to an officer who was, shall we say, significantly less than stellar as a leader and manager. My discussion with him, couched as a plea to make me more valuable, resulted in my suggestion to take on task "X" being approved. You see, I knew that task "X" was his responsibility and that he hated it. But I also knew that other senior NCO's in other similar organizations were often qualified in this task and I wanted to be as well. He ended up very well disposed to support me in the future because he was able to show the commander that he was, 1) training personnel to the same level of competence as sister organizations, and 2) freeing himself up for other "more important" duties to support the commander.

Win-win and good to have a officer who actually made my tour there better even though his overall leadership of our section was still questionable.

My point is not that you must take on some of your boss's tasks, but that find some way to recommend yourself to your boss as someone who can do things that will increase your value and may even make your boss's life a bit easier.

 

[weldstan]

You will know when you need to leave an existing job for another. I have had jobs thet were boring for a period of time but much less than your present experince; however, new projects sprouted up and the boredom ended quickly. I have also had experieces similar to yours and made the decision to move on and did not regret the decision.