IT professionals feel stuck in their careers

“Hi everyone, I’ve been working as a DBA at an IT consulting company for about eight months now. I’ve learned a huge amount during this time, but one thing that still leaves me somewhat unsure is the way we work. Because we have many different clients — ranging from manufacturing and healthcare to banking — we work with a huge variety of technologies and ecosystems. For example, I deal with Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, OpenSearch, MariaDB and ElastiCache. We also use IaC tools such as Terraform a”

“Right now kinda. Rant warning; been hired as a junior DBA (0 yr exp in the role but 5 yr exp as a sysadmin at the time) about three years ago on a junior salary, salary has moved less than a percent adjusted for inflation despite getting training on 2 different dbms and taking on work that was more on the sysadmin/devops side where I am not a junior... So yeah I'm just cruising until I can find a new employer or my current one agrees to renegotiate salary. My own manager has admitted to my f”

“I have 4 years experience in roles that did Tiers 1-3, but from 4 years ago. I decided to go back to school and recently graduated with a Bachelors in IT. So where I'm at in my career, I know whatever role I get should be looked at as a stepping stone. I really really value work/life balance. I have career goals and want to put myself in a position to progress in my career, but also maintaining a proper work/life balance. Like if I already have to be at work for 8 - 9 hours, I don't then”

“I've been in the industry for close to 22 years, and I'm finding myself at a loss. I've spent the bulk of that time as a SQL developer (writing T-SQL, sprocs, ETLs in SSIS/ADF, creating data warehouses), working almost exclusively in Microsoft environments. I'm in a position with no upward movement, as I'm the only individual at the company who does what I do. Looking at what opportunities are out there, the majority of what I'm seeing on the data side is looking for AWS,”

“I have been learning data analytics/engineering at a slow pace for 3 years now. The slow pace part is because I was committed to another job - the pay has been good and this made not want to switch to big data, but then I knew eventually I'll switch. And now I strongly feel the time has come for me to switch. The conviction about switching is simply because I have become competent and this I can tell from the projects I have been doing. My SQL skills have reached a level where I can write jo”

“​I have a Master's Degree in Information Security. I took a job in "IT" as desktop support and got a Security+ that they said was "all" I needed. Shortly after I got it, things got really toxic working with one tech I was paired with who my manager sided with to a fault. For an idea of the kind of environment, it was the kind of place where if there's a bus to throw someone under, someone will take that opportunity. ​In the tail end of my 2nd year at that position, I”

“title says it all. i got a “database admin” job shortly after uni (graduated in 2024 and got hired almost immediately after) but it’s braindead easy. i’ve automated away most of my tasks and my skills have stagnated majorly. been slowly studying various things (i want to get another data job but something more actively technical) but i feel like id have to go for entry level roles and i just question why someone would hire me over like, a fresh and bright 20something straight out of uni. and it”

“I am trying to specialize to improve my chances of getting a job. Right now I am looking into data stuff ie SQL, ETL, data analyst type stuff. Is this a valid road to take/anyone gone down that road? One of my favorite things in college was making data visualizations but I also really enjoyed making a search engine in C. submitted by /u/japuggy [link] [comments]”

“I have a CS degree and after months I finally found a semi relevant role I think, its a CRM data coordinator where I basically have to clean data and enter it into the CRM, its basically data entry but I need to fix the messy data so automating wouldnt be too helpful here. Many projects have inconsistent names, abbreviations, or duplicate records (for example, the same project might appear as "Hudson Unified School District Bldg," "HUSD Project 1," and "Hudson USD Phase”

“I’m 34, working as a SQL Server DBA at a large bank, moving toward a DBRE role. Never finished an undergrad degree, and it hasn’t held me back so far, but I keep seeing it as a requirement on more senior postings. Considering doing something online, part-time, alongside my job. Torn between Computer Science , which would strengthen my technical fundamentals for architecture or senior technical roles, and Business Administration, which would add finance, strategy and management to what I already”

“Hey all! Hoping to get some IRL perspective from people who've actually made these jumps. Quick background. I have a BS in Business Administration, concentration in Computer Information Systems. I was a major switcher and as a result didn't do any internships. I've been in desktop support for just over 4 years at a poultry processing company. I actually started as part of a rotational program meant to move me through helpdesk, network admin, and programming, but a company merger hit”

“There are plenty of comments on any thread in any IT subreddit regarding DBAs saying that the role is dead or doomed. This post isn't another "is DBA dead or doomed" post, instead I'll just acknowledge that it's on shaky ground and undergoing a transition. Despite knowing that, I've just moved from many years as sysadmin/infrastructure support to a DBA role because I wanted to. I refuse to believe that is nothing but a bad idea. It's still a chance to upskill and I”

“Company is infosys. I am 100% allocated in the client project for solid 4 years. I work just fine. No complaints from clients though I am also not an overachiever. Just right. Responsible and reliable. Though I am not friends with higher up but not enemies. I just maintain a professional relationship. How does it work? Ive seen people went from associate to technology lead almost the same timeline. Do I need to join the office politics to get promoted? Is being responsible not enough? Hows your”

“Made a career change about 6 years ago and quickly learned Raiser’s Edge (database, NXT, and ALL the changes- ha). The orgs I worked with (and many I interviewed for) seemed desperate to find someone to do all the gift processing, maintenance etc. Is this normal? I worry it will all be phased by AI , but also feel assured that Blackbaud is just not that savvy. Ha. submitted by /u/Recent_Brilliant_850 [link] [comments]”

“Has anyone here applied for a specialized role with no experience in said specialization? I am applying for one of those roles, which is essentially a DB admin/Oracle Fusion admin. I have no experience in those specific specializations, but i do have about 4 1/2 years of experience in IT handling everything from basic help desk stuff to system admin level tasks. I listed out nearly every piece of software and hardware i’ve been able to get my hands on in the hopes of the hiring manager seeing th”

“Hello, hope you all are well. I am a College Dropout stuck working at temporary warehouse job 3-11, not even sure how long I’ll have the job considering I’m on a 3 month probationary period that is almost up in a week. I feel like I have no time to study for certs, and now I have a house and a car which I have to keep up with unfortunately. Have been applying to any IT adjacent jobs to no avail not even a callback or interview. I’m sure I sound like every other slob and sad story to graze this s”

“As the title says. I am currently Tier 2 support at a software company. I have ITF+ & A+ Cert. currently studying for network+ then sec+. My first role was at an msp for a few months then I landed this one and I am coming up on 2 1/2 years with this company. The job itself is complete chaos. I am also not using my certs with the work I am doing. Realistically, what are my options? Any advice is welcomed. submitted by /u/Clean_Bus_2906 [link] [comments]”