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Ask HN: Job honeymoon is over, now what?

9 points by throwy666 ↗ HN
So I'm 3 year in my first job and I feel like the honeymoon is over and I don't know what to do.

The decline started a year ago when we started a new project and I was put in charge of its development, I got a promotion as well so I was very happy and all. Since then I started working more, adding more overtime every week pushing the project forward, fighting deadlines and managing another resource (and shielding him from management). All these added efforts were just "until we have an MVP", but now that the product is stable these conditions are now become the norm.

I feel depleted, I have now zero passion for what I'm currently doing and what bother me more is that I don't have any more energy to work on my own things (open source projects) and to improve my skills (online courses, training).

This is my first job, and I am/was very happy with it: interesting task, great team and mentors, and I still learn a ton. So I'm a bit confused because I don't have other job experiences I can compare to. I would like to listen to some advice: is this what the end of a honeymoon looks like? Should I shake my career and find another job? Else?

I want my passion back, and my github wall green again.

12 comments

[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 13.7 ms ] thread
osullivj
Two years - that's a long honeymoon! Three years in a permie job looks perfectly respectable on your CV/resume. You will not look like a job hopper by any measure. So I say it's time for a new role. I've hired a lot of second jobbers in my time, and your profile looks strong. When you've lined up that new role make sure you have a break between. Also make sure you get a healthy bump in your comp.
GFK_of_xmaspast
That's why it's called "work".
allendoerfer
Or even better labour from Latin labor, laboris which also means harm, misfortune or agony.
leojg
Interesting, in lunfardo a dialect of the Argentinian and Uruguayan spanish with heavy influence of italian, laburar means to work... estoy laburando means i'm working.

Being the lunfardo origin, in the tango culture, with its sometimes gloomy view of life, it makes sense that it associates the work with agony and harm.

brudgers
It sounds, to me, like the priority is to reduce the proportion of energy expended on the workplace. That doesn't necessarily require changing jobs [though depending on the specifics of a workplace it might]. Changing the proportion of your energy, may not even require reducing the time spent at work.

Assess the workplace culture. Is working on open source during work hours an option? Are training, conferences, etc. something that the company will pay for? Is reducing the time at work because of burnout something that would be supported?

Again, there's no generic answer across all workplaces. Keep in mind that switching jobs can just be a way of starting a new hero cycle to prove one's self to a new group of people. That's o.k. but it's better if a person is aware of it.

Good luck.

dyeje
It seems like the root cause is that you've been working too much now that you've been promoted. Start pushing towards working less. Manage expectations. Leave work at work (and leave on time). You said it yourself, it was just for the MVP. You need to change the norm back to the way it was.
JSeymourATL
> Should I shake my career and find another job?

Yes, it's time to move on-- Passion is Bullshit.

I borrowed that from Scott Adams. Your job is not your job; your job is to find a better job.

Always be looking for the better deal. The better deal has its own schedule.

On this subject Adams offers some brilliant, unconventional career advice> http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17859574-how-to-fail-at-a...

jekbao
Same here. Close to 3 years into my first full-time job.

Instead of seeking employment, did you consider creating employment? After being on the job for 3 years, one could identify some repeated problems/gaps. This could be potential startup business idea. I have been a database analyst for coming to 3 years, doing loads of data migration. I saw some gaps that is pretty potential in it too.

Or did you consider furthering your studies to enhance your skillset with e.g. M.Sc. Computer Science?

I am weighing my options.

kat
Have you discussed your workload issues with your boss? Is it possible to ask for more a bigger team or push back on the amount of work expected? That might easier and faster than finding a new job, especially since you like everything else about the company. Good luck either way!
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anon987
Be a tech grunt if you want to be a tech grunt. I've done it for years because it's much funner than management or architecture.

Give your company the first shot at making you happy by asking them to let you step down and back into your former group.

Spooky23
Learn to be a better manager. If you're a leader, you need to lead and make sure your person or people is actually doing what they need to be doing.

The key phrase for me is that you're "shielding" your person. Think about why you are doing that and what it would mean to stop.