
Ask HN: Job honeymoon is over, now what? - throwy666
So I&#x27;m 3 year in my first job and I feel like the honeymoon is over and I don&#x27;t know what to do.<p>The decline started a year ago when we started a new project and I was put in charge of its development, I got a promotion as well so I was very happy and all. Since then I started working more, adding more overtime every week pushing the project forward, fighting deadlines and managing another resource (and shielding him from management). All these added efforts were just &quot;until we have an MVP&quot;, but now that the product is stable these conditions are now become the norm.<p>I feel depleted, I have now zero passion for what I&#x27;m currently doing and what bother me more is that I don&#x27;t have any more energy to work on my own things (open source projects) and to improve my skills (online courses, training).<p>This is my first job, and I am&#x2F;was very happy with it: interesting task, great team and mentors, and I still learn a ton. 
So I&#x27;m a bit confused because I don&#x27;t have other job experiences I can compare to. I would like to listen to some advice: is this what the end of a honeymoon looks like? Should I shake my career and find another job? Else?<p>I want my passion back, and my github wall green again.
======
JSeymourATL
> Should I shake my career and find another job?

Yes, it's time to move on-- Passion is Bullshit.

I borrowed that from Scott Adams. Your job is not your job; your job is to
find a better job.

Always be looking for the better deal. The better deal has its own schedule.

On this subject Adams offers some brilliant, unconventional career advice>
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17859574-how-to-fail-
at-a...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17859574-how-to-fail-at-almost-
everything-and-still-win-big)

------
osullivj
Two years - that's a long honeymoon! Three years in a permie job looks
perfectly respectable on your CV/resume. You will not look like a job hopper
by any measure. So I say it's time for a new role. I've hired a lot of second
jobbers in my time, and your profile looks strong. When you've lined up that
new role make sure you have a break between. Also make sure you get a healthy
bump in your comp.

------
dyeje
It seems like the root cause is that you've been working too much now that
you've been promoted. Start pushing towards working less. Manage expectations.
Leave work at work (and leave on time). You said it yourself, it was just for
the MVP. You need to change the norm back to the way it was.

------
kat
Have you discussed your workload issues with your boss? Is it possible to ask
for more a bigger team or push back on the amount of work expected? That might
easier and faster than finding a new job, especially since you like everything
else about the company. Good luck either way!

------
brudgers
It sounds, to me, like the priority is to reduce the proportion of energy
expended on the workplace. That doesn't necessarily require changing jobs
[though depending on the specifics of a workplace it might]. Changing the
proportion of your energy, may not even require reducing the time spent at
work.

Assess the workplace culture. Is working on open source during work hours an
option? Are training, conferences, etc. something that the company will pay
for? Is reducing the time at work because of burnout something that would be
supported?

Again, there's no generic answer across all workplaces. Keep in mind that
switching jobs can just be a way of starting a new hero cycle to prove one's
self to a new group of people. That's o.k. but it's better if a person is
aware of it.

Good luck.

------
GFK_of_xmaspast
That's why it's called "work".

~~~
allendoerfer
Or even better _labour_ from Latin _labor_ , _laboris_ which also means _harm_
, _misfortune_ or _agony_.

~~~
leojg
Interesting, in lunfardo a dialect of the Argentinian and Uruguayan spanish
with heavy influence of italian, laburar means to work... estoy laburando
means i'm working.

Being the lunfardo origin, in the tango culture, with its sometimes gloomy
view of life, it makes sense that it associates the work with agony and harm.

------
jekbao
Same here. Close to 3 years into my first full-time job.

Instead of seeking employment, did you consider creating employment? After
being on the job for 3 years, one could identify some repeated problems/gaps.
This could be potential startup business idea. I have been a database analyst
for coming to 3 years, doing loads of data migration. I saw some gaps that is
pretty potential in it too.

Or did you consider furthering your studies to enhance your skillset with e.g.
M.Sc. Computer Science?

I am weighing my options.

------
Spooky23
Learn to be a better manager. If you're a leader, you need to lead and make
sure your person or people is actually doing what they need to be doing.

The key phrase for me is that you're "shielding" your person. Think about why
you are doing that and what it would mean to stop.

------
anon987
Be a tech grunt if you want to be a tech grunt. I've done it for years because
it's much funner than management or architecture.

Give your company the first shot at making you happy by asking them to let you
step down and back into your former group.

