Ask HN: How Long To Stay in Boring Job?

9 points by temp8675309 14 years ago | 3 comments

Hi, everyone -

About eight months ago, I started a job at a defense contractor that I was extremely excited about, at first. I foolishly thought that the defense world built a lot of cool stuff, which I've since found is only true if you're an aeronautical engineer. The software is bog-standard in my limited experience. I'm working on a system that displays data onto a Google Earth globe from many feeds. When I was interviewing I was told that there would be substantial amounts of work coming up in Flex to replace a Swing based UI that is getting clunky and difficult to maintain. This excited me because I haven't got any Flex experience, and since my Java is pretty solid, I figured this would be a great chance to build the resume and add something more modern.

I found out recently that, not only is the Swing UI staying, but Flex development is not going to happen and the program is going into what's called "operations and maintenance" mode. There will be bug fixes and minor enhancements but no new development. The project is deemed "finished", and most of the good engineers who built it are moving on. Since I already know Java, and none of the work has been terribly difficult, I feel like I'm wasting my time. Due to the nature of defense work, I'm not even allowed to clean up other code unless it is directly connected to a specific bug record.

Within the company, I'm not allowed to transfer until I've been in my current role for two years, so if I stay here it looks like I'm stuck for a while with the dregs of the team who chose to stay behind and make time on this project. This, frankly, pisses me off, because it's a waste of time and talent that I feel I could put to greater use elsewhere. I stayed at my previous job for 4 years, and was in school before then, so I don't think I'm a job-hopper.

What's my best course of action at this point? Should I tell my manager that this isn't what I signed up for and ask for the transfer restriction to be ignored? Should I go get another offer (I have friends at Mapquest and Amazon who have both asked me for a resume) and explain to them why I left this company so soon? Would this sort of thing be seen as legitimate grounds to leave a job so soon after starting?

Thanks.

untog 14 years ago |

By the way you describe the industry, it looks like there aren't a ton of opportunities you find interesting even if you can ignore the transfer restriction.

My answer to your title question is "as long as it takes for you to get a better job". If the situation is as you describe it then no-one would blame you for leaving so soon after starting.

cpeterso 14 years ago |

Working somewhere less than a year is a yellow flag to future employers, but it is not a big problem if you have a reasonable story. If you switch jobs again, you might even consider omitting the defense contractor job from your resume. Not because a short job is bad necessarily, but it would give you more room on your resume to highlight your other work experience (and present a simpler, more linear "story" for busy recruiters reading through tons of resumes).

allwein 14 years ago | |

I wouldn't even call a single instance of a bad job a yellow flag. Lot's of people have accidentally taken a crap job at one point or other in their life. I'd say it's actually a credit to the poster that he realized so quickly that his prospects there are limited and doesn't want to waste his time there.