Job: I can't take it anymore

[jae]

I work in a help desk for a company that makes a POS/Inventory Mgmt software. I started the job at the beginning of the year, and while in training it seemed OK. Training wasn't complete (didn't even get halfway complete) before I was thrown in the fire to support their software. I soon realized why they have trouble keeping people in the help desk. The software poorly written, terribly documented, the company is so disorganized, and there is always an absurd amount of cases. The other analysts that were hired along with me quit around April. I handed in my resignation letter in May. I was practically begged to stay because my supervisors believe I am one the best analyst she's hired in her past 6 or 7 years with the company. After declining, they asked if I could stay until they found a placement.... and I said OK. I thought this might be a good way to save up while looking elsewhere.

Well now, its almost 2 months later and things in that company are getting worse, with the product, case load, and customer relationships. There are only 3 analyst including myself, along with a help desk supervisor. They have major clients all over the U.S, and a few in Canada. I don't think I can stand another day. What should I do??

 

[CPA]

Quit like you said you were going to do 2 months ago. It's obvious they have no plans on hiring a replacement and instead hope you decide to stay on.

 

[mmntech]

Quit like you said you were going to do 2 months ago. It's obvious they have no plans on hiring a replacement and instead hope you decide to stay on.

This. Also comedy option. I suggest you try showing up to work with no pants on. D:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Find another job and quit. But be forewarned, OP -- help desk pretty much sucks everywhere. I've often said you couldn't pay me enough to do help desk.

 

[ultimatebob]

What POS vendor is this? Does it rhyme with Bicros? MCR? BAR?

I've had to support them all at one point... They all pretty much suck

 

[lxskllr]

Quit, and consult at 100% pay increase until they replace you.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

This. Also comedy option. I suggest you try showing up to work with no pants on. D:

Unless you do that every day already, then the effect is lost.

 

[purbeast0]

so quit. nothing is more annoying than people bitching about working somewhere and not doing anything about it.

 

[ultimatebob]

Just to give you an idea how backward the POS industry is... They are still deploying NEW systems with Windows XP and Sybase 9 in 2013.

 

[shortylickens]

Start interviewing now. Make sure to give 2 weeks notice. DO NOT BURN BRIDGES!

 

[Tweak155]

I didn't mind the help desk gig I had. When I threatened to leave they let me work from home and gave me a raise.

 

[jae]

I think its impossible at this point to not burn the bridge.

I received a small raise, but not from threatening to quit. The pay isn't enough for me to stay, even if it doubled.

 

[dud]

OP, that's the way I feel about my job as well. This December will be my 25th anniversary there.

Don't end up like me ...

 

[sze5003]

Lol Sybase ugh we use that in some of out legacy systems too. Well now it's been replaced with some other crap. I don't do help desk or data but just by looking at the various code we have they use the old systems to save costs. My company is very low cost it's annoying. We were using windows xp and I was developing giant software apps using crappy hardware until we brought an initiative to upgrade our machines because building multiple projects would crash the pc lol.

Just start interviewing now. I've been 2 years at my company now and still have recruiters calling every day. I thought I took my old ass resume off the net. Which reminds me I need to logon wherever they are finding it lol and save a copy for myself to update later.

 

[TridenT]

Submit 2 weeks.

Say, "Give me triple the pay and two free parking spots to park my huge balls or I am out."

 

[Kadarin]

Submit your two weeks, and be done with the place. It's not worth the aggravation it's apparently putting you through.

 

[Imp]

so quit. nothing is more annoying than people bitching about working somewhere and not doing anything about it.

Seriously.

OMFG, I hate my job too and am still there after melting down a year ago. FML. FML. FML.

 

[Juddog]

Find another job and quit. But be forewarned, OP -- help desk pretty much sucks everywhere. I've often said you couldn't pay me enough to do help desk.

I've worked a night shift helpdesk years ago that was pretty easy. Would get maybe 2-3 calls over the course of 3 hours, had my laptop from home with me, would play WoW in between calls just farming up minerals / herbs and mess around in the auction house. Downside was going home in the pitch black, in a shady section of the city, with almost nobody in the building when I worked the second shift.

 

[Rage187]

Just to give you an idea how backward the POS industry is... They are still deploying NEW systems with Windows XP and Sybase 9 in 2013.

Counterpoint?

 

[Rage187]

BTW, I also work on POS software/hardware, but thank god it is all SaaS. We still require IE9 or newer for printing receipts, though.

 

[Imp]

Just to give you an idea how backward the POS industry is... They are still deploying NEW systems with Windows XP and Sybase 9 in 2013.

My organization is slowly moving to Windows 7 this year. Most people I know haven't made the switch yet.

Still using MS Office 2003, POS in-house databases, my computer takes 20 minutes to boot up from start to the desktop (after log-in) then runs full virus scans every week.

 

[randomrogue]

Sounds like your job sucks and it pays poorly. What the hell are you doing? Quit. Now. They're just desperate since they have nobody to fill the roll and you're being a sucker.

 

[baydude]

OP just stay a couple more months. How will it hurt when you're making $$$$???

 

[Red Squirrel]

This is why I hate proprietary software. It's often the most badly written software ever and very hard to support because you can't just Google stuff.

But pretty much, welcome to IT in general. Whether it's help desk, level 2, level 3 you'll pretty much be dealing with this kind of crap. Same shit different pile.

Just be sure you don't quit before you find another job.

 

[AreaCode707]

The software poorly written, terribly documented, the company is so disorganized, and there is always an absurd amount of cases.

Sounds like most places, honestly. Well-documented software is rare, and software that is so well written that it doesn't demand documentation is nearly non-existent.

That said, respect for what you've pulled off so far. Help Desk/CS on a proprietary piece of software is one of the most difficult jobs out there IMO, especially if you're a dedicated point of contact for select client accounts.

If you're getting recognition for excellence in a high turnover world, if the management has even an ounce of sense, you probably have a decent amount of leverage. I'd approach this with a full blown business case of what you think needs to happen to make the team/department run correctly. I'd supply this to my manager and walk through it step by step, along with my own salary increase request (if salary is really what matters to you; if you need an hours reduction, etc, you'd approach that.)

The likelihood of timely response is very low, but the response will tell you all you need to know about whether you should be out looking for another job.