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On-call burns me out more than my actual job : sysadmin

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2023-03-19 01:00:04

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Hey everyone. Burnt out Systems Engineer, here. Been in the tech field for a good 8-9 years. Most of the time, I've enjoyed it. Except in a few rare instances, I've been able to leave my work at work at the stroke of 5pm. I like the problem-solving, I like working with technology, and I do like being respected as an expert with our customers. There's just one, major thing I so utterly hate, that I struggle to maintain enjoyment from my job:

No matter where I go, or where I even consider going, there's the threat of on-call. At my old job, they paid you handsomely for every hour you were on-call (but they doled it out as "bonus pay" which took a significant chunk in taxes out of it). Even getting a nice, fat check at the end of an on-call week wasn't worth it to me. At my new job, they pay you a flat amount every week you're on call. I'd say that's nice for weeks where you don't get any calls, but I'm anxious the whole week. My sleep suffers, and I can't leave my laptop anywhere, which means I can't go do anything without the fear of having to turn right back around when my cell phone rings. I've determined that they literally could not pay me enough to be on-call for me to consider it an acceptable part of the job. Plus, when I need to escalate something, or need another pair of eyes on a high-impact issue, it's damn near impossible to get help during non-work hours.

I don't know why it affects me so much. I'm generally a pretty stoic/calm-headed guy, but on-call affects me on such a personal level for some reason. I immediately feel powerless and alone when my phone rings during non-work hours. I hate it so much. But therein lies the problem. It's everywhere. I can't find a job in this field that doesn't require some bit of on-call. Is this just the field? Are there any jobs that don't suffer from the threat of on-call? I've even considered going back to school to do something completely different, but I don't really have the time or the money to do so.

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