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What can a senior desktop support tech do who is burned out? (lemmy.goblackcat.com)

submitted 1 year ago by ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I am wondering what kind of career moves I have available to me because I am over the bullshit of desktop support. I have been brushing up on my Linux skills, learning docker, and doing a whole bunch of networking-related things. At this point, I am 46 years old. Would it benefit me to go back to school to learn a skill to help me advance beyond this role? I just don't know what to do. There are many options, none of them truly low cost and all of them involving a significant amount of risk.

I get that there is no avoiding risk when making a career change so late in life. I was looking at training for Java or Oracle and it isn't cheap. Maybe given my experience I could teach A+ or Network+? I don't know. I'll welcome any ideas right now.

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[–] RotaryKeyboard@lemmy.ninja 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This happened to me in my mid-thirties. I tried a couple pivots. One was to web development, which I found didn't really help the burnout. So I pivoted again to project management. Project management doesn't pay as well, but the hours and workload are far easier to deal with. It's also a lot more accepting of older workers than IT is. Find yourself a project management position in IT somewhere. If you can get one in information security you could build up some time in that sector and get the CISSP, which would open a lot of doors to great paying jobs.

[–] ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com 1 points 1 year ago

I tried Project Management and did not succeed at it. I am thinking of the DevOps course of action. I am still relatively young at 46. I'll try and make the pivot.