Why I Quit My First IT Job and What Conclusions I Made
So, this is the second part of the story about my first experience in IT as a support specialist. Before reading, be sure to read the first half, otherwise the context of what is happening will not be clear. In the first part, I grumbled about the canlylate selection system in the industry, as well as in general about what my job was like. I grumbled and resented a lot. All perturbations are available at the link.
My Labor
We worked around the clock and this work can not be called calm. Users sometimes experience errors when booking a ticket through the airline's website, and we are the ones who solve these problems with booking 24/7, both with the airline from which this ticket was purchased, and with the buyer, the client. These are endless nerves and stress, constant screaming on the phone and angry emails. There was not a day that I left work calm with a desire to enjoy the afternoon / evening / morning, depending on the shift.
I have always solved customer and airline issues. I did not have a case when I did not help someone, when someone did not fly away on their flight, but no one even paid attention to it. Here is my third piece of advice - be ready that noone will notice your work. IT employees always have a lot of work - no matter how many employees and what exactly they do in the company - they always work hard here.
For half a year they never told me - hey, well done, they only said - help these guys, there the guy can't fly away from Madrid. I perfectly understand that in six months there can be no question of any promotion, but I deserve a simple gratitude or at least change shifts with colleagues. But there were no incentives.
Everyone worked this way, not only my team, but also developers, analysts, financiers, administrators and managers. For some, it's normal when the balance of life - work is shifted towards work, but not for me. I work to live, not the other way around, so I made the decision to leave.
I tried, I really tried. I am not one of those who give up quickly, I am constantly learning something new, I try to follow the trends in IT, I understand a lot of things, I talked a lot with the developers of our company, so that in the future I will have a hypothetical opportunity to change my career and try myself in developing. I am quick to grasp information and learn, I get along with people easily and I find this to be the most valuable resource in any company. (It's like I'm writing a script for my interview) but I just couldn't mentally. I could not or simply was not ready for such indifference.
I Quit
As I said, everything was decided for me. I didn’t want to sacrifice my health for a job that didn’t bring me pleasure after the first two weeks, I didn’t want to spend time with colleagues who do not notice my successes and effective problem solving, I was tired of working in constant stress. Money was then in the background for me, after a comfortable and favorable working atmosphere.
I Quit - The Simpsons Meme
When I told my manager that I was leaving, I received the following response - very sorry. All. That's all they told me, and that, for the sake of politeness. I was not asked why exactly, what happened, why now, what is wrong? I was just told - I'm sorry. Well, I'm not sorry I wasted six months of my life on this. I got some conclusions about working in the field of IT, which I would formulate as follows:
📌 An incredibly difficult selection stage, where the luckiest, not the most skilled, will get the job.
📌 A huge amount of work, because of which the work-life balance will shift in a direction that is not good for you.
📌 No encouragement, praise for a good job. Not one good word for you.
📌 You will be easily replaced. Most likely, you are already being looked for a replacement just in case, and it's not even because of you.
I would really not want you to have the wrong opinion about me and about the field. This is just my story. I am sure that there are a lot of stories like mine and completely opposite ones. How many people, so many opinions. I really don't want you to draw conclusions from my history about this industry and especially about the people who work in it.
I have only worked in this industry for 6 months, and someone for more than 10 or 20 years has never experienced anything like this. If those whose work is valued, who do not work for 18 hours, those who are rewarded for their work with an increase. Of course there are such people and there are many of them. I wanted to share my stories, someone would say that the experience is not very useful, but it is. I made a lot of conclusions for myself, which are very useful for me, as for a 21-year-old guy. I had an insane experience, I met amazing people, I got to know a unique corporate culture that is unlikely to be found in any other company, and most importantly, I concluded that I do not want to work in this industry.
Don't skip the conclusion of my story. There I once again explain why my history cannot be used to judge the industry as a whole. It is very important for me that you understand me.
Conclusion
My post turned out to be more angry than informative. I didn't want that at all. I have accumulated a lot of negativity about this industry, in which I spent only 6 months. I didn’t want to get angry or scare anyone away and extinguish someone’s ambitions. My goal was just to show you that if you are thinking of entering this industry, then do not wait for what everyone tells you - high salaries, game atmosphere, working on the beach with a glass of martini and riding Segways around the office like in the Silicon Valley series.
Be prepared to work 16 hours a day, be prepared to ruin your eyesight in 3 months and stop communicating with all your friends and family. This is normal practice in this area. Those who like to constantly learn something, constantly learn something, come to this sphere. Here you can’t learn something and then use this knowledge and skills for years. Here you study more than work. And this is the most important thing. Get ready for it.