Currently feeling useless at my job

Question

A bit of background. While i work in a company that's not IT based in any way, i'm a web developer for the company's main system, patching bugs and adding new features whenever asked. This is my first job, and i've been here for almost 1 and a half year.

While at the start i was pretty stoked, i'm feeling a bit underwhelmed now, because most of the requests that gets to me via my manager(only me and my manager covers the IT area of the company, but my main focus is developing the system) end up not being used after going through the stress of making it, via pressure from my manager and from the area that requested it(Example being a feature requested by HR, having multiple meetings and short time period to make it, for it to be ignored for 5+ months)

So now i feel like most of my work goes nowhere, i feel undervalued, burnout(even after vacations), and i don't have much space to grow on my carreer on my current company, since it's not IT focused.

Also, i'm having some communication issues with my manager, i feel like he's ignoring certain things that i say to him(Example, we agreed on something for a week, then mid-week he says that want that thing done by the end of the day)

I'm afraid to quit my job to find a new one, since i'm currently paying/going to colleage and have to pay other expenses of mine. Not because i don't want it, it certainly has crossed my mind multiple times.

I might add that i live in Brazil, if it changes anything.

Edit: My question is, how should i approach my manager about those issues, since he's a bit stubborn/aggressive about his opinions and i fear that we will be on bad terms from now on.

Answer 1

If you already feel like that then it's time for you to move on.

You should not stay at a company where you are feeling undervalued or a job that will not give a you a chance to grow. Since you are are an IT person, skills growth is really important on the later days. And of course, as one of the comment said, don't quit your job right away, find a job that you think a valuable one first. This will ensure yourself that you can still pay whatever you need to pay.

Also just a side note, working in a not IT company although your job is web developer, will make you feel mostly like that. Since these kind of company is not focused on IT, so they probably don't understand as well what it takes to have one.

For example: A friend of mine is working on a English teacher company but he is a web developer. So you might experience soemthing similar.

• Will be given a task which have a vaguely definition of what it should be but he needs to implement it since that is what company wants. When he was done implementing it, no one will actually compliment or make subjective criticism about it. So there is no room for improvement.
• Will be given an impossible deadline, since his manager is not an IT person, when he will look at the task, ah I think this is easy task, I will just give this one xx hours he will do it without even properly consulting him.
• No one to consult with, when in times of trouble or would like to step up his game more, no one will be able to help him out, since this company main focus is for teaching.
• Will become stagnant, after completing his project, and if there are no new things that will be added or improve with, he said that he will just sat in his office chair, looking at the server logs and just drinking coffee for whole 8 hours.

Answer 2

While at the start i was pretty stoked, i'm feeling a bit underwhelmed now

This sort of thing does happen. You seem like the type of person who wants to grow. Some other people want to keep their job. Similarly, there are companies with growth opportunities and there are companies without (or with growth opportunities in departments/teams/areas that are not very interesting to you).

As the other answer says it may be a good idea to find a new job. Do try to find a new job before leaving this one.

Before starting job search, try to take a weekend and perform self-reflection. Write down all the issues/problems you have with your boss, your role, your responsibilities or your company overall. For each of these try to identify:

• Is it a failing on the part of the company? For example, you should have regular 1:1 meetings with your boss, your boss should listen to you, your boss should set clear expectations and shouldn't hold you responsible for things you weren't informed of, etc.
• Did your preferences/requirements change since you started the job? For example, were you OK to do the type of work you are doing now when you were interviewing, but now you no longer feel the same way?
• Can the company fix the problem? How can your current company fix the problem? What would the new company have to do differently for the problem to not occur?
• How important is this issue/problem for you?

Organize your grievances in priority order and start with the most severe and the most actionable ones. Pick the top one or two and try to talk about them with your boss. You could try something along the following lines:

Hey boss, it seems to me that sometimes I am working on a project and I think I understand the requirements/deadlines/constraints, but when I show you the finished product it does not seem to meet your expectations. Can you give me any suggestions for what I can do differently to properly understand what I need to be delivering?

Try to avoid saying that your boss or the company are at fault but phrase it as a misunderstanding/communication issue and express that you want to figure out the issue and fix it.

For career development, you could try something like:

Hey boss, when I started working for this company I was really excited for project X. Now that project X is complete, I would like to work on a more challenging project. Is there anything like that in the pipeline/that the company has thought of/that our customers requested that I could work on?

Or, perhaps:

Hey boss, I was really excited working on project X/it was really a challenge working on project X but I thought it was a good experience. Since we spent so much time on it I am curious how it is doing - who is using the system/what are the project's users thoughts on the system/do you have any feedback from the stakeholder of the project/do you know why the system is not being used for Y since it seems like a good fit for the task?

Asking your boss is good practice even if your situation at this company does not improve, because you should be asking the same types of questions when you are interviewing for your next job. You don't want to change jobs and end up in the same situation, so you need to figure out how to screen the companies when they are interviewing you.

Good luck!