“DevOps” Engineer lost in space "DevOps" Engineer lost in space. Background: I am a thirty-year old "DevOps" engineer working mainly Operations for research funding firm. I've searched for rewarding work for the last eleven years and have only found two positions that were truly rewarding and enjoyable for different reasons. One being, that they involved a great deal of travel with the same group of folks with whom I formed a strong bond; the other, a challenging technical position with other folks in a similar position. Both ended once the period of performance of the work was over, but had no issues moving on to get additional roles within the same company. I am well compensated, with a wife and small child, both of whom I love dearly. I am absolutely miserable. I am struggling to keep my attitude positive and maintain forward movement. I question myself daily about what I am doing and while I enjoy scripting/coding in my position, I get weary of the posturing/maneuvering that occurs in my workplace. I am incredibly passionate about the work that my employer does and I believe deeply in their mission. I can't help but feel that the issue is my own that I need to work out. I've begun questioning why I got into IT in the first place in the last two years and I've changed positions three times thinking that it was the environment, but have begun to suspect that it is me. I am honestly at a loss at how to proceed. Does anyone have advice? Is this normal at thirty? I've looked for books and articles pertaining to normal adulthood development as I don't preclude the fact that this may be some subconscious 'yes, this is all you are going to do with your life' thing kicking in. I'm not that old at thirty so I have time to start over, but I am trying to get a feel for whether this feeling is universal or whether I messed something up. What are your stories and what recommendations do you have? Thanks HN |