
Ask HN: Got hired for a position that doesn't exist. How do I leave? - please_help
I&#x27;m a recent CS graduate from a decent university in the US. It&#x27;s no CS powerhouse but it&#x27;s well respected and decently known. I won&#x27;t name which because I don&#x27;t want my co-workers to accidentally see this and identify me.<p>During my last semester we had a guest lecturer in my parallel programming class. He came from a local startup which supposedly created advanced systems to assist the work of other statups.<p>The engineer from the startup went on and on about how each day there is a challenge and you learn so much. I decided to apply and see what would come out of it.<p>I went through a very tough series a interviews complete with Python puzzles and whiteboard problems. During these interviews I was reassured the job there was challenging and rewarding. I got a (generous) offer and accepted.<p>Fast forward to my first day and  I ask my team lead what&#x27;s the project I&#x27;ll work on and I quickly learn that the challenging  work is done in a sister office. I get told that this location mostly does very simple client facing Java Swing applications. I was devastated and almost quit on the spot. I would have if not for the fact that I have very large student debts and can&#x27;t afford to not work.<p>Now I&#x27;ve been working there for a month and I&#x27;ve tried everything to get assigned interesting work. It&#x27;s pretty much impossible since no such work is even done at my location.<p>How do I get myself out of this? I&#x27;m looking for other jobs already. I could omit ‎my current position  from my resume but then I&#x27;ll be forced to reveal it if I get an interviews during regular office hours.<p>I have a friend who wants to personally refer me to work on his team at Amazon but I don&#x27;t want to blow the interview. I would practice but at the end of the day I&#x27;m so burnt out from boredom and repetitive work that I can barely stay awake.<p>I know there are no clear cut solutions but I&#x27;m interested in hearing from people who had similar experiences.
======
bstar77
I consistently deal with this as do many of my coworkers. Here's some
suggestions:

\- Take care of your immediate responsibilities first (rent, food, loan
payments, etc)- this is non-negotiable unless you have a golden parachute
(i.e. mom & dad). It's quite honorable to work for survival.

\- Always keep an eye out for a better job, the more interviews you go on the
easier they will be. Never be satisfied where you are if personal growth is
important to you.

\- NEVER expect to just be given the most interesting work out of the gate at
a new job. That's not the way it works. You generally have to prove yourself.
If they are not delivering on a promise that may be a separate concern, but
I'd be skeptical of a job that would give a rookie dev the "interesting" work
(which is usually the architecture work).

\- Identify problems at work and solve them in your free time, then present
them to the appropriate people; that is the best way to fast track your own
interesting work. Note the politics of your company and be sure to not step on
any toes.

\- Most importantly, do your own interesting work on the side. Start a
company, create/contribute/maintain an open source project. I can't stress
enough the incredible opportunities that exist for skilled developers that
have some initiative.

\- Get in a good routine that works to accomplish your short and long term
goals, it's unusual for a job to satisfy that entirely.

~~~
ramblerman
> It's quite honorable to work for survival.

What does that even mean? It's necessary sure, it can also be a smart
strategy, but honorable? You don't owe them anything and staying for 'honor'
is foolish imo.

~~~
bstar77
I think if you need to work at McDonalds to avoid calling mom and dad for
money, then that's honorable. The easy unsustainable way out is not usually
the best. I've been there.

~~~
neumann
Depends on your relationship with your parents.

If your parents are supportive and you are looking for a CS degree, only work
at McDonalds if you feel like a life experience - probably not a bad idea.

If you have opportunity to get a zero interest loan from your parents or free
bedroom with no external judgement (ie, supportive parents), that is a far
better standpoint to spend your days working full-time at getting a job in
your field.

~~~
bstar77
Definitely (I'd be hypocritical to say I didn't take advantage of that
myself), but when I hit 25 those zero interest loans weren't there anymore.

------
scalesolved
Two issues: You are new to the job, in your first month and you are already
pushing for all the interesting stuff. Welcome to the world of commercial
programming! Sometimes it sucks but also sometimes knuckling down and getting
stuff done will either a) get them to put you onto much harder/interesting
projects as you are easily capable with the easy stuff you've been knocking
out. b) Getting the easy stuff out of the way means you can then spend time
tinkering on algorithms or reading online to further your knowledge.

At the end of the day you have money and time on your side, I was once in a
similar position and I cut back on everything social to optimise my time away
from work to find a job that I really enjoyed. Good luck but try not to moan
too much, even 6 months there will help dividends with finding future work.
(No one wants someone that is gonna quit immediately because they don't get
what they want to do all the time).

~~~
please_help
Thanks for your comment. I couldn't expand too much with the allotted 2000
characters but the thing is that I can't really get transferred to the other
projects.

The interesting work is done in an office on the opposite coast and I can't
move for family reasons.

I understand I might sound difficult but what really got me down is that the
interviewer pretty much flat out told me "You will not do CRUD. Brush up on
your algorithms!".

Anyway thanks again for the comment it's nice to know people were in similar
situations and got themselves out of it.

~~~
dsl
This is pretty common in the tech industry. Everyone sort of adopted the
"Google style" interview with lots of algorithms and complex problems, but few
have Google style problems to solve. When poorly managed most of these
interviews turn into a random subset of the engineers at a company asking you
to implement something completely useless so they can "help you along" and
seem smart when they judge your solution. (hint: startups have a billion other
problems to solve before optimizing a sort over what a standard library can
provide will ever move the needle)

An extension of this is every developer regardless of level ends up getting
the algorithms questions and mind games because it is the only way most
engineers know how to interview.

Unless the company is still very small (3-5 people), most of the people you
talk to in an interview won't have any control over what you are working on
anyway. They will probably be your peers and tell you what they are working
on, but don't take that as an indication of your role unless you hear it from
the person you'll be reporting to.

------
coreymaass
In my first job out of college, I had maybe 2 hours of work per day. In the
first year I was there I produced 2 albums, ran a monthly party, learned a new
programming language and launched my first web app.

Ay my first year review, my boss called me out on it, and I said, "am I
getting my work done?" He couldn't deny it.

I continued this for another year. At my second year review, my boss did
something I still think is brilliant. He'd been following what I'd been
learning, and asked if I couldn't use my new knowledge of building web apps to
solve an in-house problem.

I spent the third year working extra hours, building a web app but _for_ the
company. Everyone was happy.

I've never been a good employee, so YMMV, but CYA, and let it be their
problem. If they fire you, there are always other jobs. You'll get out of debt
eventually.

~~~
jvehent
This is good advice. I went through similar experience in my 2nd and 3rd jobs,
where the work of "junior security consultant" was reduced to pushing
compliance paperwork. I ended up studying tons of new technologies on my own,
and publishing tech articles in local magazines. It helped my resume
tremendously when I got out of the consulting business.

------
scrumper
> I would practice but at the end of the day I'm so burnt out from boredom and
> repetitive work that I can barely stay awake.

Sounds like you were sold a pup, but this is firmly in your hands. You're in a
(relatively) fortunate position:

Your daily work is so easy it's actually boring, you say. Plenty of time,
then, to try little POCs in other languages, to do some self study on the
internet, or to perhaps involve yourself in client-facing meetings or other
aspects of the company's work, if that sounds appealing. Use the slack to
broaden your skills.

An easy job means you leave on time. Go home, do some exercise, eat a healthy
meal, then spend a few hours each evening working on personal projects in a
much more exciting stack. Instant energy.

You can spend part of your work day thinking about you side projects as well,
maybe researching whatever technique or library you need next (but be careful
not to do any actual work - your contract likely forbids this).

And spend some time looking for a new job too of course.

~~~
darkxanthos
This is the best answer I've read here. I don't think blaming you helps here.
I've personally seen things like this happen to me. Sure I've learned more
about how to prevent this from happening in the future but it's still very
aggravating.

Basically, don't give this job your everything. Do the work that's required of
you and like the parent thread says leave yourself a bunch of energy. A
technique that's worked out well for myself and other friends in the past is
taking the first couple hours of each day to do personal projects and then go
into work.

Don't give them the best hours of your day.

~~~
scrumper
Thanks and good continuation of the point.

I'm often the first to say "pay your dues" to complaining youngsters, but OP
has done nothing wrong and instead seems to need some guidance on how to
maximize the value of his/her days while working out of this unlucky decision.

All I would say is that it's important that OP does try to find another, more
engaging job, either in that company or elsewhere. It would be a shame to
develop a permanently half-assed work ethic at 21, especially when he/she
seems to have the energy and moral fibre to work hard. Treat this as a short-
term situation.

------
jraines
I have had a somewhat similar experience, quit after 3 or 4 days, and it has
had 0 negative impact on my career. I can't believe the commenters telling you
to grind it out -- why would you do that in one of the hottest job markets in
this field ever? You owe the company nothing, they misled you. And the
commenter saying day after day of boring work isn't enough to burn a person
out alone . . . of course it can! I can't stand this meme where every
(probably legitimate) problem with one's evaluation/enjoyment of their life
can be solved by diet, exercise, and sleep. Don't be afraid to climb past the
first few levels of Maslow's pyramid, folks!

------
donquichotte
Get out ASAP. I've been in a similar position for the past 2.5 years: el. eng.
MSc from a respected uni and I've been restarting PCs, fixing failing VB6
programs and reading HN. (Although at a decent salary.) Now I've finally been
able to muster up the courage to leave here to travel. I'm just afraid that
spending so much time in a meaningless dead-end position has ruined my chances
to get hired at more interesting an challenging positions.

~~~
ptaipale
Your next job interviewer is most likely not going to know that your previous
job was _that_ boring. And he/she does not need to. A job like you have can
still be quite okay experience; the bottom line is that someone hired you, you
made a living, and you got some experience. In fact, this may be a more
valuable experience you believe now. In addition to reading HN you can study
more new things, whatever interests you.

In the next interview, you can be honest and say that "I like to get more
challenges, and I feel I can do more than what I have done". True and to the
point.

One of my earlier jobs was such that I applied for an interesting job to work
on SQL applications in Unix environment, at XYZ, the largest publishing house
in the country; I did not get that job but they put me to a team that worked
on a useless Christmas card address register using dBase IV on MS-DOS.
Afterwards, what I could say was that "I worked on database solutions with XYZ
company, and while I liked the working environment, I'm looking for some more
challenging tasks". Got me into a job where I stayed for 20 years and 1 day.

------
nashashmi
I have hopped between three companies and two different industries. I think in
majority of cases, I have been acknowledged to be incredibly talented both
technically and practically. As for myself, I know I studied hard enough and
solved some pretty difficult problems to be quite competent at whatever is
thrown at me.

And similar to your case, I have also sought challenging work where I could be
utilized 100%. But I have convinced myself that such environments don't exist.
Why? Because there are two ways to tackle every problem: the simple but
laborious way OR the complex but quicker way. How you perceive your work is up
to you. You can see it as challenging and breaking new boundaries and work in
similar manner to solve those challenges or you can see it as simple and
boring and "ask for the solution to a similar problem."

For example, my first project had a highly revered boss who made me think that
the project I was working on was significant and amazing. When he was assigned
a second project, I was not going to come along, but the way he described it
to other people made it seem the second project was just as challenging. In a
turn of events, his assignment changed and I took on the assignment instead. I
found it to be very simple and mundane. I learned at that point, the challenge
in a project is the challenge you highlight and the challenge you CHOOSE to
tackle.

Every project has challenges and every project has its ups and downs. How you
perceive a project is up to you.

------
mcross
Others have already said this in one way or another, but I think it's
worthwhile to add another voice.

I'd just stick with it and keep looking. Be honest with the places you
interview with when they ask why you are looking after so short of a time -
the job is not what it was represented to me and despite my trying I can't fix
it; and as a recent college grad with student loans I can't afford to leave
while I'm searching. There's no need to try to hide this on your resume - it's
better to be honest and explain it than try to hide something. Employers are
people too and they will understand that.

My biggest piece of advice is don't give your notice at your current place
until you have a written offer in hand for a new position.

------
valarauca1
The lesson learned here is always ask questions in your interview. As the
person being hired you should be just as engaged as the person interviewing
you, because you are also interviewing them.

Learn everything you can about their company. People love to talk about
themselves, and their companies. What they've built, what they're doing, how
cool it is, and what challenges they've faced.

You can learn more in a 20 minute conservation then in 2 hours reading their
website.

~~~
please_help
Thanks for the comment. I guess I could have been more inquisitive. The thing
though is that I did ask what my daily responsibilities would be. I did ask
about the ongoing projects.

All I was told about is the work done at the other locations without being
told that there was a difference of course.

I tried to get to the bottom of things but apparently not hard enough.

~~~
SebKba
Don't beat yourself up. Making those mistakes is how you learn. Making this
mistake on the first job is surely a forgiveable offence.

~~~
hga
Sounds like he was flatly lied to.

His only mistake was not drilling down to "who will I report to and what is
that group doing now?" And given that this was a bait and switch, at best he
would have not gotten the job, which is mostly bad if he had other
possibilities.

As other have noted, he is indeed getting an education in all sorts of other
things. If he could move past the lies---not saying he should either forgive
or forget---and make the best out of the current mess while finding a better
job quickly, months not years, he shouldn't be too bad off.

------
tboyd47
Sorry to hear about what happened. I know the feeling.

My advice is just to float your resume out to recruiters and keep looking for
other jobs, which you are already doing. If you can keep the job you have and
still make it to interviews, don't quit.

Staying busy writing Java Swing applications isn't a black mark by any means.
I think it would be harder to explain a period of unemployment than a period
of underemployment.

My first dev job out of college was at a startup (not in SV), and there was
only dev work for the first 2 years. After that, all responsibilities were
taken on by the lead dev, and we juniors were left with no work at all. Nada,
zip. The salary was just enough to live on, and no one was allowed any raises.
I took on a QA role and the other junior just bided his time taking MOOCs. QA
wasn't for me, but I did it for almost a whole year until I couldn't stand it
anymore and quit. I actually planned on becoming a truck driver, because the
starting salary was about $5-10k more than what I was making as a dev. But I
sent my resume out one more time and ended up getting a great Rails job in
another city through a recruiter. So I didn't actually do trucking.

------
HelloNurse
"I could omit ‎my current position from my resume but then I'll be forced to
reveal it if I get an interviews during regular office hours."

You shouldn't be ashamed of your current job; it's well paid, it can be done
well and professionally, and probably it can be more creative than you think.

------
bmccormack
Two things:

1) Being in debt sucks. Become incredibly passionate about the idea of never
being in debt again. If you don't have a giant student loan weighing around
your neck, you are far more free to pursue work that interests you. So what to
do? Come up with a plan in your favorite evolution of Visicalc, complete with
how much debt you're going to pay off each month so that you can put a date on
the calendar about when you're going to be debt free. Even if you're doing
soul-draining work, knowing that that work is getting you one step closer to
being free from debt should help.

2) Your current situation isn't as bad as it seems. I work with a ton of devs
for whom working at a cool startup was their first real job. Awesome for them!
Also totally not in line with most people's reality. Most people start in some
version of "the bottom," whether that be in terms of low salary or poor
culture, and then they maneuver their way through a couple of jobs until they
find work they really enjoy. If you are smart and get things done, you'll do
this too.

So your interviewer lied to you, exposing a toxic part of the company culture.
They'll probably lose you over it and you'll eventually end up in a place you
prefer to work.

Just come up with a plan to get out of debt. That can move your career a lot
closer to freedom than you may think.

------
gwbas1c
My first job out of school was a developer job, but for the first few months
they asked me to do some general sciency stuff that had very little to do with
software engineering.

Onboarding engineers into an ongoing software engineering project is a bit of
an art; and choosing the right job is also a bit of an art.

Looking back, I wasted my time going on job interviews. My first job was
actually better than I realized.

In my current job, a lot of "first projects" for incoming engineers are lame,
but they expose the incoming engineers to our process, code base, and the
internals of our product.

IMO, it's too early to leave your position. It would be different if you had a
toxic boss; or toxic co-workers; or found out that your company made its
profits by killing kittens. In this case, however, you just don't like your
first project.

I'd explain to your manager that you understand that someone needs to do the
grunt work, and then be assertive that you didn't sign up to write Java Swing
applications. Don't threaten to quit, but make it very clear that you'd like
to work on something else.

You might need to be the donkey with the carrot hanging from the stick for 3-9
months, but if your manager is good, he'll get the message.

~~~
meo2
"Looking back, I wasted my time going on job interviews. My first job was
actually better than I realized."

this is worth considering, especially when you're just starting out. I had a
similar experience to the OP and had a string of 3 jobs where each was worse
(in terms of being a mess) than the one before. I still managed to learn a lot
along the way and don't really regret any of it, but in retrospect the first
place had their shit together.

------
falcolas
It might just be me, but it sounds like you have some pretty unrealistic
expectations of what working a job is really like. Banging out crap work
sucks, but it is work that needs to be done. And since shit rolls downhill,
you're going to be the one to catch it no matter what company you work for.

I'm sorry, but it seems like you need a quick reality check - you're a CS
graduate who isn't from an ivy league university, and you appear to have no
experience developing in a professional setting. From my experience with
similar employees, there's simply a lot about professional programming
practices which you likely don't know about yet.

Without a proven track record, a responsible manager would be an idiot to
immediately give you "challenging" and "interesting" work; work upon which the
company likely stands or falls. You have to build up that track record and
prove your trustworthiness and ability.

Thankfully, building a track record doesn't actually take that long (unless
your manager is an idiot, but sadly, that's a learning experience you'll end
up getting as well). The method is very simple: apply your skills and
knowledge to the work that you are doing. Strive to leave the code base in
better condition at the end of the day than it was when you started it.
Challenge yourself to exceed the minimum. Do _more_ with what you've been
given.

In the worst case, you'll be in the same position next year as you are now,
only with more money and some practical experience you can take to your next
job. In the best case, your company will recognize your ability and start
giving you the interesting work you are craving.

I've found that while Adam Savage works in an industry which bears little
superficial resemblance to ours, there are a lot of parallels to your
situation now which can be drawn from his talk at Makers Fair 2013:

[http://youtu.be/Xx9oJ8_r__8](http://youtu.be/Xx9oJ8_r__8)

------
c4b3r42
You don't drop it. You grow up and make the best of what you have, until a new
opportunity presents itself. Persistence is the key. I once got a job, by
applying to the opportunity every day for a month, and they finally called me
and were impressed at my persistence.

My Advice to you is two pronged: 1\. Stay in the market and looking (always,
never stop. If you find an incredible opportunity take it) 2\. Do your job,
your mundane, boring (boo hoo) job, and then you do more. Get yourself noticed
by the other location. Get to know the management team at the other location,
be it by email or phone calls. Offer to do stuff on your own time for them.
Soon they will want you there. They will extend an offer to you. If you want
it bad enough you will get it.

Welcome to the real world kid!

------
ujjain
There is no shame in leaving after only 2 months, if you're really not
enjoying. I've just left a job where I had to do nothing, the last months of
the year was horrible. After many months of free time, I really had no idea
what to do, days were boring and long.

I would start interviewing as soon as possible. Don't worry about blowing the
interview at Amazon, you can try again in 2 years. You'd do well to read the
interview questions at glassdoor.com, they often ask the same questions (I
interviewed there), but don't think that you should postpone it and spend the
time learning. Just apply again in a year, it's not like you are a very
capable learner when you're burned out.

------
SebKba
Try to get transferred to the job you applied for. I would be completely
honest with the situation and see how they react. Can you get hold of the guy
who gave the lecture?

If it doesn't work out I doubt that IT is a field in general where finding a
job is that difficult.

------
hnnewguy
> _The engineer from the startup went on and on about how each day there is a
> challenge and you learn so much._

The world of "startups" is filled to the brim with charlatans. "Everybody's
killing it." Be skeptical; even the "good" companies aren't all they're made
out to be.

That said, start lining something else up while you make a little money and
learning what you can. No big deal. Here's some advice: people care way too
much about their "career path". There are more important things in life. If
you're smart and capable, jobs and money will always come easy. This will be a
mere blip on your radar.

------
jrochkind1
I think you should start applying for jobs now.

I think you'll have a _better_ chance of getting the job you want _now_, fresh
out of college, then after 2 years of working at a job you _don't_ want which
qualifies you to work at other jobs like it.

And what do you have to lose, anyway? Don't quit your job yet, apply while
you're still there.

I wouldn't stress too much about whether to include the current job on the
resume. Maybe now only a month out of school, you could leave it off, it
hardly looks like a gap. Or put it in, and be honest if people ask -- it was
not the environment or the work you were led to believe it was in the hiring
process. Anyone who doesn't want to hire you because of that -- are they
someone you want to work for anyway?

Leave it on the resume or don't, and if whatever you do is awkward at one
interview, do the other thing next time. (But even if you don't they might ask
what you've been up to. Personally I'd find honesty and transparency less
stressful than trying to talk around it, and if you're confident and
comfortable you'll do better at interviews).

Figure out what to do differently to avoid being bamboozled next time. (Make
sure you talk to your to-be manager and/or co-workers before you get hired? I
don't _think_ it's unusual to want to meet and talk to your to-be manager
before accepting a job!).

Don't count on getting the first job you apply for (you might not), or what
you think is your dream job (it might not be), you're going to have to work at
it. (As you didn't the first time, it just fell into your lap, and look what
you ended up with!). In the meantime, you're making good money apparently
(very generous offer?), so it could be a whole lot worse, that's life,
sometimes things don't go as we'd like.

Most jobs are found through networking -- just like you found the job you have
now. So start networking. If you live in a city with lots of programming jobs,
there will be user groups or meetups, find them and go to them. And keep
staying in touch with and spending social time with your former classmates who
you get along with.

------
zamalek
Grind through the work and pay off your loans, as you indicated you did get a
generous offer. One of the biggest challenges that you need to learn is how to
slog through the boring stuff - it can't always be interesting: even when you
work at interesting places.

It's a job, not a playground. Jobs can be cool, but you need to work on that.

> so burnt out from boredom and repetitive work that I can barely stay awake.

Boring work alone won't do that to you. There's something else here, are you
working overtime?

------
makmanalp
Hey, please_help. I'd start by not beating yourself up - everyone has done
some variation of this mistake by being very excited during a job interview
that's going well and saying yes to everything (often a lowball salary or a
team position that you don't want) or not asking many questions.

Don't omit the position. Say you quit because they misled you. Say that you
know every job includes some amount of drudgery that you're prepared to tackle
(right?) but you were pulled into something you didn't sign up for. Often
there's scuttlebutt between companies and people know which places treat
employees like that anyway.

As for leaving, this is entirely your prerogative. I'd say think strategically
- is there any purpose or reason for you to stay? If, for example, staying
will get you a goal like provide you with X months of runway that you can then
use to survive and look for better jobs, then stay. If not, and it's only
getting in the way of you finding other jobs, then just quit.

And next time just ask what the position they have lined up for you is. The
market is in your favor, and you've already gone through a rigorous interview
process and survived. I'm sure you'll do great. Good luck!

------
mozillalives
Here's my two cents.

1\. Make sure you've told your boss that you are not being challenged and that
you really want to work on something that will challenge you. Perhaps you have
already done this, but I still mention it because sometimes we can have a
difficult time being direct and saying exactly what we mean. Make sure that
they know you are grateful for the position but from what you were told during
the hiring process, you were going to have more challenges. This may help you
get the challenges you were looking for, but even if it doesn't it will help
you when you need to explain why you have to leave. (If you have to leave,
exit gracefully. I cannot emphasize this enough.)

2\. Make sure you're open to challenges. Are there other challenges around you
that you can work on? Sometimes the best challenges are not the ones you go
looking for. Sometimes the best lessons come from unexpected challenges.

3\. Keep open to new places and don't hide what you're doing. Explain clearly
why you would be leaving - you were told that it would be challenging but once
hired that changed. Honesty is your best policy here because hiding anything
will be a red flag to anyone who scrutinizes your experience.

Not very original, but I hope it helps.

------
kyllo
Don't be afraid of blowing the interview at Amazon. It's a massive company
that's very hungry for developer talent, so if you can code I'm sure you can
eventually find some team that will take you. Definitely keep practicing your
data structures/algorithms puzzles, but know that even if you bomb out the
first one, it won't be that hard to get more chances.

------
msisk6
Years ago early in my career I took a job that I realized during the first
week was a mistake. It wasn't until I got embedded with my team that I
realized how toxic the environment was and no real work was getting done at
all. Everyone just sat around doing -- I don't know -- it was pre-web so I
really don't know what everyone was doing with their time. I was going nuts
just sitting there.

I told my boss at the end of that week I couldn't do this. He pleaded with me
to stay another week. I did and it was no better so I left and didn't come
back.

I wasn't sure what to do either, so I left it off my resume. I don't even
recall the name of the company anymore. As you would expect they ended up
going bust.

Nowadays I bring this story up in interviews if possible and I find most
everyone has a similar experience if they've been doing this work for awhile.

If you can afford it I'd say just quit and get looking. The job market seems
pretty hot right now if all the recruiter spam I get is any sort of measure.

------
chrisbennet
You were mislead, perhaps intentionally. Be professional but find another
(better) job and get on with your life.

A lot of people who work or worked for crappy companies will tell you that you
have to "pay your dues". After all, if _they_ had to, it's only "fair" that
you should to. I disagree with that premise.

While it is certainly common to have to "pay your dues", _I_ have never had
to. Work for a small young company with pressing software needs and there will
be lots of "green field" work even for the "new" guys. Work for the Amazons of
the world and your chances are much slimmer I think.

Just this week, I was about to tell a company that I would work with them "if
they had a challenging project". When my friend saw what I'd written he said:
"No, no, don't write that. Just tell them you'll take the job. Sometimes you
need to take work that isn't fun."

I told him" "Well, maybe _you_ do." :-)

------
JohnnyDouglas
Start looking for work, but keep your current job if you can stand it. Leave
them before your boredom effects your performance and they leave you. You have
a great explanation when interviewing at a new place as to why you want to
leave your current job.

I once took a job doing server development -- hired by the CEO to sort out all
the problems and technical debt surrounding the companies backend.

The VP of Engineering returned from pat leave and ordered me unto front end
work while the CEO was on leave. I had no interest in that work and had to
learn while doing using their crazy framework that was an absolute mess. I
regret not walking 2 weeks into that, but stayed another 5 months resulting in
total burnout.

Do you think there was an effort to deceive you? In my case I believe there
was (after seeing how the company went about business). Chances are if they
lied to you about the job description, they'll lie to you about other things.

------
aepearson
This is your first job out of college. There is absolutely nothing unusual
about your situation.

Welcome to the workforce.

~~~
psylence519
Amen. One of the best things a college career counselor can do is make sure
kids know they aren’t special little snowflakes, or super rock-star A+++
awesome. It should not be a shock that an entry-level position is doing entry-
level work.

~~~
aepearson
Agreed. From what I read, career counselors (maybe others) are pretty horrible
at managing expectations.

The fact that you nailed a well paying job out of college should be considered
a blessing/miracle/massive gift...not a burden.

Work your ass off for several years and prove your worth. In reality, a degree
means almost nothing in the workforce...it's just the price of admission.

Real world experience is worth more than gold.

Prove you have what it takes over the long term - and THEN start bitching
about not being on cool projects :P

------
forgotAgain
_I would practice but at the end of the day I 'm so burnt out from boredom and
repetitive work that I can barely stay awake._

You've had a tough break but the only way you're going to get through it is
with effort on your part.

Decide where you want to be in six months and come up with a plan to get
there. Then just work it, work it, work it.

If you can't move directly into another position then start a project on the
side that you find interesting and can be shown to prospective employers or
may turn into something you can grow.

You need to avoid feeling sorry for yourself. It's not going to help. It's
only going to weigh you down and make you a drag to be around. Prospective
employers and partners will pick up on that and will be turned off by it.

------
Raphmedia
In your free time, do customer support. Improve projects. Do code review.
Build tools for other workers. Go see human ressources and ask to see what
software they use. Read up on the best softwares, research them, and present
them to your boss. Do things that you can assign to yourself on your own.

You won't be able to assign yourself to interesting projects (the seniors are
as bored as you and will have priority). But you WILL be able to assign
yourself to interesting tasks.

You need to watch out for depression and burning out from feeling meaningless.
I was in such a position a while back and it wrecked a lot of parts of my
life. Hard work is hard for you, but no work is even worst (when you are
forced to stay in office).

------
RankingMember
At first I was going to write a "Stick with it until you can hop to another
job, leaving this one off the resume" comment, but then I saw you'd be writing
Java Swing applications, and now I just want to convey my condolences.

------
logn
Just a word of caution: in interviewing be sure to frame your reason for
leaving as only that you were deceived as to the product the hiring manager
develops. It would hurt you if people view you as a person who quits when
things get boring (which if you're not careful in your explanation is how it
could come off).

Also I would not try to hide that you have this job (e.g., in interviews). But
a resume need not include this job.

Some commenters here don't sympathize with you so much. I think they are wrong
and that the employer misrepresented the job intentionally. That might even
run afoul of employment law. Sorry to hear about this.

------
jason_slack
Well, I'd say getting out of your "burnt out from boredom and repetitive work
that I can barely stay awake" is important. Having a normal life after work is
good for you. Don't go home and go to bed.

Perhaps exercise a bit to get your energy levels up. Sensible dinner (no junk
food) and maybe after that you have some energy to work on things that you
care about.

Perhaps if you can breeze through your day and not let it bother you since you
have student debt you could spend your evenings coding or a projects that
truly interests you.

If you really want the challenging problems at work I'd say you do need to
find a new job.

------
awjr
I had to cut my teeth on test scripts when I left Uni. Coding at Uni and
coding in the real world are very different beasts. One is one hackathon after
another gaming the content based on project scoring guidelines. The other is
making boring software ;)

Now is the time to spend an hour a day developing your own skills on your own
pet project.

You also have quite a few years before I would consider yourself a 'good'
developer. Even 21 years later I'm still learning new stuff almost daily.

Challenge yourself. If work isn't challenging, then it's your responsibility.

------
phantom784
I was in a similar situation. My first job out of college was a dud (I was
literally being paid to sit around and do nothing).

On the plus side, you get to be paid while searching for the job you really
want. This means you can take your time to find the right job, and your
current position (and salary) gives you a better negotiating position.

I wouldn't worry about hiding your current position. The fact that you want a
new job for more challenging work should be seen as a good thing by the right
employer.

------
zwieback
I'd also try to network with the sister office. Perhaps they are willing to
work with you if they realize your qualifications.

------
BruceM
> I would practice but at the end of the day I'm so burnt out from boredom and
> repetitive work that I can barely stay awake.

Easy: get up early and practice. You don't have to wait until after work to
practice.

I spent some time in the mid-1990s building a product from 5-7am, and then
going and doing an office job to pay bills for the day. It works.

------
furyofantares
> I'm looking for other jobs already. I could omit ‎my current position from
> my resume but then I'll be forced to reveal it if I get an interviews during
> regular office hours.

I'm not understanding this part. If you land an interview can't you take a day
off for it?

~~~
callahad
I think he's more concerned about appearing like a flake. I.e., why is he
looking just a month after starting somewhere?

~~~
furyofantares
I don't understand why he has to tell the new company that he's employed, or
tell his employer that he's interviewing, whichever is the concern.

------
gwtuser
First world problems

