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I Just started a new job after moving back east. Landed a good job the only thing is im sitting in front of ny pc for 7 hours and only do work for 1 hour. I am getting so bored. There is nothing for me to do and i’m the only it guy in the building. I am use to being on the go helping users, fixing things.

23 Spice ups
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Start writing documentation, study for certifications, develop a new plan of improving the system, and etc. There’s a lot of things to do just don’t admit to your boss that your bored.

6 Spice ups
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And in addition to James’ suggestions, what can be improved in your infrastructure? Are you sure you know all the details, it’s little idiosyncrasies? Any processes that can be streamlined? Or terminated?

In my first job in IT I discovered that my predecessor had just been blindly signing off on vendor invoices. One in particular was for 5 printers. I couldn’t recall them so I scoured the building. I found 3 covered in dust in the warehouse - never did find the other 2.

1 Spice up
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Learn powershell. Start automating stuff. Build tools. Make sure everything is kept up to date, build your experience. You don’t have free time, you have learning/experimentation/testing time. Do they do system imaging now? If not, take your free time and set up an imaging test lab, work out the ins and outs, and work on getting it rolled out into production. Now you have imaging experience. You can apply that to just about anything depending on what your level of access and experience is.

2 Spice ups
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What the heck is your new job if you are there by yourself?

Oops, didn’t see the “it” in front of guy, nevermind my question.

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Honestly, 7 hours of what amounts to down time sounds great. You’re only limited by your own creativity in regards to finding something to do. All of the suggestions above seem solid to me. Use the time to teach yourself new skills. Expand your knowledge. This sounds like an opportunity.

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As the Only IT guy I would do everything james485 said and learn the business a little, So when Updates/upgrades/New Tech are needed you can steer them to the right fit for the company and the environment. If you can make a knowledgeable business case why things should be done a certain way, ROI etc. Things will be more likely to get done the right way instead of band -aid, or firefighter style.

1 Spice up
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Check those backups!!!

2 Spice ups
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Document the systems and the settings and evaluate any improvements that you can make to the system.

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Are you the only IT person for the company or is this one building out of many and you’re just the only IT guy for that building? I’d say you should be spending some time trying to understand how all the systems in that building are connected. Network, servers, applications. Document anything that isn’t and update whatever documentation there is (it’s a fair bet that whatever exists is out of date).

Once you have a handle on how things already work, then you can go about looking for ways to improve on their efficiency or ease of management. Maybe something got thrown together in haste to solve a problem but could have been done better; create plans to fix those potential problems.

What can be automated? Is there a ticketing solution? What’s the day-to-day business processes that rely on IT and where can you improve them?

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Write the great American novel!

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Wait, I have an even better idea. Get 7 more jobs just like this one and laugh all the way to the bank!

10 Spice ups
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If I were in your situation I’d check out all the hardware, then diagram it. It’s quite possibly one of my most favorite things to do. I could spend 7 hours a day doing it. But you can check for vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and bottlenecks in the infrastructure.

Document any processes you have, automate those processes, learn powershell, test new software, check licensing, backup the firewall config, login to servers everyday. The list could go on & on. Best of luck!

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Post crap in Water Cooler. That’s what I do and I am very busy.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

3 Spice ups
15

Along the same lines as the above- It sounds like you came from a previous position where you were accustomed to putting out fires. Now, you have an opportunity to use your time to properly prevent those fires from starting in he first place. Go ahead and install that proverbial sprinkler system.

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I’ve been in the same situation. There’s only so much documenting, organizing, and studying that you can do. After that, the long days can be a little brutal.

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just to let you guys know i work for bmw and everything is control from germany so i have very little access to do anything.

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Right now i am building pi-hole for my home network. Done with that that tool alof 20 min

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So i have a new one i was told by one of the managers that i was not allowed to talk to anyone that works here. Only about there pc problems and in i keep doing it he would have them remove me from the site.

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Man, that’s kind of a bummer. But, at least you have some time to focus on getting IT certifications and getting that knowledge that you can apply to any jobs you might get in the future. And you can spend more time with us in the Community!

1 Spice up