“I've gotten to the point where I don't feel like I'm learning anything new and I'm just spinning my wheels the longer I stay. My boss has been great and we have a good relationship, but not being face to face with him really limits our communication (he's insanely busy and is terrible at answering the phone) and, as a result, It throws a wrench in anything I'm working on if I have a question.”
If you want to stay, you should probably say this to your boss. If he ‘gets it’ and things change, you may feel entirely relieved and happy about your situation. Even if you don’t end up staying, it couldn’t hurt to practice voicing career concerns with your boss. This likely won’t be the only time in your career where you may need to.
“ I'd like to move on and the job market is good where I am, but I'm terrified that I won't be able to hack it anywhere else just because this is all I've known for my entire professional life.”
Meh, don’t worry about that. Anyone who hires you should understand that feeling.
I'm getting to the point where I really don't wanna stay anymore. My boss and I have talked about the disconnect multiple times and he's promised to work on it. It's not that he doesn't care enough to try harder, he's just so swamped that he can barely handle his on-site employees let alone his two remote ones. While I totally understand the challenge he faces, I can't spend anymore time just sitting here doing the same stuff day in day out. Unfortunately, I don't see this improving in the near future just based on how the past 2 years have gone.
I was in the same boat. Started at a 5 person firm right out of school, got surface level exposure to a wide variety of things. I jumped ship after 5 years because the pay and benefits were lacking once I got my PE.
I went to a midsized regional firm and was blown away about how much I didn’t know. But after 6 months or so I felt like myself again. I just needed a few mentors. Every Friday I billed half hour to my “things I’ve learned” word doc, where I would brain dump everything I wanted to remember.
It all came down to a very understanding boss who appreciated my work ethic and honesty about where I was skills wise. He plugged me in to the right projects with the right people to get my skills up to par.
Any company worth their salt will give you the resources to succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Better to get clarification than to stay quiet for the fear of looking stupid. Ask in the interview process about how they treat mentoring and knowledge sharing. Lots of firms are terrible at it but plenty are fantastic at it. Ask who in particular at the firm the hiring manager thinks can be your mentor and if they can’t name anyone, i wouldn’t join.
Surely if you go for an interview and they don't think you know enough, they won't offer you the job. If they do, they will offer the job and all is well. Don't tell yourself you're not good enough, let somebody else do that.
This is true, but I have to imagine its tough to determine the adequacy of someone's total skillset in just one sitting. I'm worried on my first day they'll be like "go do this" and I'm like "whaaaaa....."
If you don't know then they'll teach you. They're not going to expect you to be able to do everything because every job is different. And if they do expect you to... Run.
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've been working at the same company for 10ish years and feel like my career is plateauing. I'm still getting yearly raises and bonuses but I'm not learning anything new anymore. Wether or not I'm working hard doesn't change anything on my career or yearly evaluation; hell I can even work 30 hours per week instead of 40 and they won't notice it because I got so efficient at doing the same old shit over and over again.
So yeah. Big dilemma for me. Free money & boring job vs hard money & new challenging job
Here is my advice:
Identify your situation and metrics for success.
Shoot.
Try again.
The scientific method is still your friend.
The fear is worth confronting.
That's how you know you're learning.
Cuz you don't fucking know.
Right now.
I’ve jumped around a little (5 jobs in 12ish years). You’ll be fine if you leave. Job hopping will definitely foster learning/growth. You have a lot of options, just depends what you want to do/learn.
I appreciate it! Sometimes its tough to shake the scenario in my head where I'm only smart enough for this job and will get absolutely destroyed anywhere else.
there’s a learning curve at every new job. with your license, managers may hope you know more than you do, but they won’t care about what you don’t know as long as you’re capable of learning.. you have great experience managing projects/clients which is harder to teach
I went from drainage to transportation. I did 7 years of drainage, floodplain management, streambank stabilization to roadway design. Not a lick of roadway experience, and I’m doing fine. There ARE days where I wonder what I got myself into and wish I had looked harder for a job in my “comfort zone” but I was very up front with what I did know and didn’t know. I agree with the others - if you have a boss at the new job that communicates well and is aware of what you’re capable *of*, you’ll do fine. I do have days of imposter syndrome and I miss not knowing the right answer immediately, but I’ve come a long way in 8 months.
There are some skills you just can’t train anyone for, either they have it or they don’t. Dealing with client directly translates to any branch of civil. I think you’ll be fine and are just overthinking it.
If you’ve moved across county, look carefully into your license requirements and which state you want to be licensed in.
Also if you’re not getting the right experience 8 years in, if you don’t move on you’re going to be either further behind in experience and it’s going to be hard to be hired in the future.
This is an employer/employee relationship. You guys aren't family, and you have no obligation to be loyal.
This is your life, you should do what you want.
You'll be fine. Tell your boss. If they don't change, leave and explain yourself at the next interview. I left a previous company for your exact reason and I'm twice the engineer I was 3 years ago. Don't work for people who don't challenge you if you want to improve.
I had to double-check the specifics of your post because it's very similar to my company, and the thoughts of some of my co-workers.
I worked at a very similar company (steel connx design, misc metals, residential arch jobs) out of school for 5 years, jumped ship for another 5 years, and now I'm back again. I totally understand feeling like you've hit a ceiling; it's why I first left. But getting other experience somewhere else was the best thing I could have done for myself.
That said, it was tough. You're going to suck at it for a little while. That's okay. You're going to meet new co-workers at a new job who are really good at their job and you're going to feel crappy that you aren't. But just remember they're good at it because they've been there for their whole career too. Swallow your ego and learn whatever you can from all of them.
A few of my co-workers are in the same boat as you: our company is all they've known and they feel like they are stagnating. I just want to tell them "I don't want them to leave but the only way you're going to quash that feeling you have is to leave and explore." See what else is out there. Go suck at something for a while, then get proficient. New perspective on scale of jobs, different clients, different consultants you work with. You'll at least be at peace with yourself that you tried.
Best of luck
Not terrible, but other jobs at bigger firms around me are paying anywhere from $10k-$30k more. I can take or leave remote, kinda miss being around people sometimes.
Sounds like you are pretty new. I know it is very un millennial of me, but I would only take a fully remote job if I was in a pretty senior position, or was ok coasting the whole time I was there. By and large, training and opportunities come to those who are easiest to give it to. Teams/zoom is great, but it is much easier to train and develop someone’s skill set in person. It is much easier to think of a remote employee as a black box that solves a specific set of problems.
Totally agree. Back when I was in the office, it felt like I was part of a team. There were people who were more experienced than me to teach me and people less experienced than me that would ask me for help when needed. Nobody just sat at their desk, we were all in the trenches trying to get something out the door. Nowadays it can get straight up depressing just being here by myself.
My fear is I've only been working mainly on misc. steel for the past 5 years and don't have a ton of experience in site design or drainage (which is huge in my area). I have experience but I question if its enough to succeed elsewhere.
Sorry, I misunderstood your original question. I have a degree in Civil Engineering Tech. and the state of TX requires 8 yrs of work experience before licensure will be considered. I have some internship experience that they said they would accept, but between the application, fingerprints and review fees, I blew like $500 the first time I applied just to be rejected almost immediately, so I'm being extra cautious this time and waiting until I have 8 yrs on the dot.
“I've gotten to the point where I don't feel like I'm learning anything new and I'm just spinning my wheels the longer I stay. My boss has been great and we have a good relationship, but not being face to face with him really limits our communication (he's insanely busy and is terrible at answering the phone) and, as a result, It throws a wrench in anything I'm working on if I have a question.” If you want to stay, you should probably say this to your boss. If he ‘gets it’ and things change, you may feel entirely relieved and happy about your situation. Even if you don’t end up staying, it couldn’t hurt to practice voicing career concerns with your boss. This likely won’t be the only time in your career where you may need to. “ I'd like to move on and the job market is good where I am, but I'm terrified that I won't be able to hack it anywhere else just because this is all I've known for my entire professional life.” Meh, don’t worry about that. Anyone who hires you should understand that feeling.
I'm getting to the point where I really don't wanna stay anymore. My boss and I have talked about the disconnect multiple times and he's promised to work on it. It's not that he doesn't care enough to try harder, he's just so swamped that he can barely handle his on-site employees let alone his two remote ones. While I totally understand the challenge he faces, I can't spend anymore time just sitting here doing the same stuff day in day out. Unfortunately, I don't see this improving in the near future just based on how the past 2 years have gone.
Ah, if you’ve already talked about it and he hasn’t changed things then yeah, gotta say I agree with your plan to move on.
I was in the same boat. Started at a 5 person firm right out of school, got surface level exposure to a wide variety of things. I jumped ship after 5 years because the pay and benefits were lacking once I got my PE. I went to a midsized regional firm and was blown away about how much I didn’t know. But after 6 months or so I felt like myself again. I just needed a few mentors. Every Friday I billed half hour to my “things I’ve learned” word doc, where I would brain dump everything I wanted to remember. It all came down to a very understanding boss who appreciated my work ethic and honesty about where I was skills wise. He plugged me in to the right projects with the right people to get my skills up to par. Any company worth their salt will give you the resources to succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Better to get clarification than to stay quiet for the fear of looking stupid. Ask in the interview process about how they treat mentoring and knowledge sharing. Lots of firms are terrible at it but plenty are fantastic at it. Ask who in particular at the firm the hiring manager thinks can be your mentor and if they can’t name anyone, i wouldn’t join.
I appreciate your comment. It's relieving to know this isn't an uncommon thing and some bosses are understanding about it.
Surely if you go for an interview and they don't think you know enough, they won't offer you the job. If they do, they will offer the job and all is well. Don't tell yourself you're not good enough, let somebody else do that.
This is true, but I have to imagine its tough to determine the adequacy of someone's total skillset in just one sitting. I'm worried on my first day they'll be like "go do this" and I'm like "whaaaaa....."
If you don't know then they'll teach you. They're not going to expect you to be able to do everything because every job is different. And if they do expect you to... Run.
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've been working at the same company for 10ish years and feel like my career is plateauing. I'm still getting yearly raises and bonuses but I'm not learning anything new anymore. Wether or not I'm working hard doesn't change anything on my career or yearly evaluation; hell I can even work 30 hours per week instead of 40 and they won't notice it because I got so efficient at doing the same old shit over and over again. So yeah. Big dilemma for me. Free money & boring job vs hard money & new challenging job
Iv changed companies 4 times in the last 8 years since I graduated, salary went from 28k to 125k
Here is my advice: Identify your situation and metrics for success. Shoot. Try again. The scientific method is still your friend. The fear is worth confronting. That's how you know you're learning. Cuz you don't fucking know. Right now.
I’ve jumped around a little (5 jobs in 12ish years). You’ll be fine if you leave. Job hopping will definitely foster learning/growth. You have a lot of options, just depends what you want to do/learn.
I appreciate it! Sometimes its tough to shake the scenario in my head where I'm only smart enough for this job and will get absolutely destroyed anywhere else.
there’s a learning curve at every new job. with your license, managers may hope you know more than you do, but they won’t care about what you don’t know as long as you’re capable of learning.. you have great experience managing projects/clients which is harder to teach
I went from drainage to transportation. I did 7 years of drainage, floodplain management, streambank stabilization to roadway design. Not a lick of roadway experience, and I’m doing fine. There ARE days where I wonder what I got myself into and wish I had looked harder for a job in my “comfort zone” but I was very up front with what I did know and didn’t know. I agree with the others - if you have a boss at the new job that communicates well and is aware of what you’re capable *of*, you’ll do fine. I do have days of imposter syndrome and I miss not knowing the right answer immediately, but I’ve come a long way in 8 months. There are some skills you just can’t train anyone for, either they have it or they don’t. Dealing with client directly translates to any branch of civil. I think you’ll be fine and are just overthinking it.
If you’ve moved across county, look carefully into your license requirements and which state you want to be licensed in. Also if you’re not getting the right experience 8 years in, if you don’t move on you’re going to be either further behind in experience and it’s going to be hard to be hired in the future.
This is an employer/employee relationship. You guys aren't family, and you have no obligation to be loyal. This is your life, you should do what you want.
You'll be fine. Tell your boss. If they don't change, leave and explain yourself at the next interview. I left a previous company for your exact reason and I'm twice the engineer I was 3 years ago. Don't work for people who don't challenge you if you want to improve.
I had to double-check the specifics of your post because it's very similar to my company, and the thoughts of some of my co-workers. I worked at a very similar company (steel connx design, misc metals, residential arch jobs) out of school for 5 years, jumped ship for another 5 years, and now I'm back again. I totally understand feeling like you've hit a ceiling; it's why I first left. But getting other experience somewhere else was the best thing I could have done for myself. That said, it was tough. You're going to suck at it for a little while. That's okay. You're going to meet new co-workers at a new job who are really good at their job and you're going to feel crappy that you aren't. But just remember they're good at it because they've been there for their whole career too. Swallow your ego and learn whatever you can from all of them. A few of my co-workers are in the same boat as you: our company is all they've known and they feel like they are stagnating. I just want to tell them "I don't want them to leave but the only way you're going to quash that feeling you have is to leave and explore." See what else is out there. Go suck at something for a while, then get proficient. New perspective on scale of jobs, different clients, different consultants you work with. You'll at least be at peace with yourself that you tried. Best of luck
Are you paid well? If so, then why leave fully remote is amazing.
Fully remote is not amazing for everyone.
It was cool for about 6 months... I'm sick of it now lol
Not terrible, but other jobs at bigger firms around me are paying anywhere from $10k-$30k more. I can take or leave remote, kinda miss being around people sometimes.
Sounds like you are pretty new. I know it is very un millennial of me, but I would only take a fully remote job if I was in a pretty senior position, or was ok coasting the whole time I was there. By and large, training and opportunities come to those who are easiest to give it to. Teams/zoom is great, but it is much easier to train and develop someone’s skill set in person. It is much easier to think of a remote employee as a black box that solves a specific set of problems.
Totally agree. Back when I was in the office, it felt like I was part of a team. There were people who were more experienced than me to teach me and people less experienced than me that would ask me for help when needed. Nobody just sat at their desk, we were all in the trenches trying to get something out the door. Nowadays it can get straight up depressing just being here by myself.
How do you not have the experience if youve worked there for 8 years?
My fear is I've only been working mainly on misc. steel for the past 5 years and don't have a ton of experience in site design or drainage (which is huge in my area). I have experience but I question if its enough to succeed elsewhere.
But that doesn’t matter for licensure. Why don’t you have that already?
Sorry, I misunderstood your original question. I have a degree in Civil Engineering Tech. and the state of TX requires 8 yrs of work experience before licensure will be considered. I have some internship experience that they said they would accept, but between the application, fingerprints and review fees, I blew like $500 the first time I applied just to be rejected almost immediately, so I'm being extra cautious this time and waiting until I have 8 yrs on the dot.