[amatxn]

I've had one of these jobs for years. Each day I come in and expect the gig to be up. It never happens. This has been across 2 companies, for 10 years. From the outside it looks like a dream job, from the inside I'm highly depressed because the work is so unfulfilling. I have a need to be busy constantly, instead it's slowly seeing your skill set rot and dying a bit each day.

[octorian]

A good chunk of my time at my first real "professional" job was like this. After a while, you kinda get used to the boredom and it becomes less boring. But what terrified me the most, was pissing away my hard-earned education and potential during the formative years of my career. I was glad when I left, and did so at the first opportunity.

The thing is, on the outside, it looked like an excellent job to others. After all, it had great stability and benefits. But to me, it felt like I was wasting my life.

[davman]

Does this not grant you the perfect opportunity for personal improvement?

Work on some pet projects to keep your skill set fresh, and in an ideal world, come up with something that makes you money and you can eventually turn into your full-time job.

[pjc50]

Usually workplaces ban working on pet projects, or at the very least claim all IP rights on them.

[Phlarp]

This is quite true, but if the goal is to develop skills more than it is to develop IP, this shouldn't really matter.

I suspect very very few individuals have hit a grand slam startup idea out of the park while simultaneously learning a new language or domain.

[djaychela]

Without sounding rude, can you not get another job?

[amatxn]

I look daily, I've had several interviews over the years but nothing has worked out. I share custody of my 8 yr old daughter and live in a somewhat isolated area of the US that has very few development jobs (like 5 employers, most of them undesirable). I've made the decision to stay here until she is older. I've looked for remote jobs but that can be intimidating, most are looking for that 'rockstar' developer. I'm just in a bad place, I'm highly educated (bs, ms,Mba) and feel like that was just wasted.

[guepe]

How about _trying_ a remote job - being intimidated means you don't _think_ you are fit for such job, on the other hand it's your own perception. If you are depressed, believe me your perception is strongly biased negatively ;-)

I know nothing about you, but your comment hit me. For some reason I write this - I hope it won't hurt you in any way.

[amatxn]

Thanks - I did not the advice negatively. I've gone down that route and plan to pursue in the future. A lot of it is perception that I'm not good enough.

[thehoff]

I assume this means that there are no options with your current employer?

Don't want to assume but a number of years ago with my current employer I started out doing work that was seemed interesting but a year or so in it started to get old real fast (also lots of education). I too started to get somewhat depressed and felt like I was 'rotting'.

So I started doing some projects on the side that started to have some real impacts over the next year. This eventually started to get some attention (the good kind) which lead to other things which eventually led to what I do now which I really enjoy doing. I'm at my same employer, same boss but through letting her know what I wanted and my side-projects I was able to parlay that into something more interesting.

(I realize that this may not work for all employers.)

[amatxn]

I've approached my boss several times about this, and any changes are temporary - it's a management issue (same management at both places). I have a need to be on high profile high performing projects (I've lead development on the last several at our company) but then there are low activity periods where management does not provide direction. I can work on my own but it's hard to gain traction (technology company that's doesn't understand technology).

[rhizome]

technology company that's doesn't understand technology

I love this, though. Coming up with something technical that makes sense to these people is a hugely beneficial skill.

[amatxn]

They would also expect it for dirt cheap or free :(

[amatxn]

Company is very small ~10 people, 4 devs. I manage several of the projects and resources.

[gutnor]

Develop some app to have fun with your daughter, you are the right person in the right place with right job to do it.

[sn]

amatxn, no promises but let's talk. More info is in my profile.

[amatxn]

@sn - no direct contact info on the profile other than co-founder info, don't want to be too stalker-ish in finding you :)