When I first got out of college in the mid-90s I was under a lot pressure from my family to find a job and get to work. Within a month I landed a great job working for a government contractor. I loved every minute of the job and the people I worked with, but after 3 years I wanted more. I also knew my skills were worth a lot more than they were paying me.

At this time the first "bubble" was beginning to grow rapidly and I was lucky enough to end up as one of the first employees at an application service provider (ASP), or what could be considered a precursor to the SaaS market today. It was a great job and the pace was fast as with any startup. We worked long hours and saw our work actually come to life as we built out global datacenters and brought on large customers. After 2 years though I wanted something different and more.

I wasn't burned out, but at this point my career acceleration had become my drug. I was always wanting more and was out to surpass my previous position. I didn't mind the long hours and would burn the candle from both ends while occasionally lighting a match in the middle as well. I got a job at Microsoft as a technical account manager for premier support.

I truly liked the job, but it was not the pace I had grown accustomed to over the past 7 years. It was in to work between 8 or 9 and home by 5:30 every day. On some days there would be a customer crisis that would wind into the night or a support issue that needed escalating, but it wasn't the same. It was then I started to lose interest. I don't think my body adjusted properly from going non-stop to a skidding halt.

This loss of interest caused me to burn out on technology. I thought at the time I had reached the pinnacle of career moves. I was working at Microsoft when the bubble burst and the startup scene dried up almost overnight. I grew to dislike the job, and even more the environment, within Microsoft. Yet at the same time, I didn't see other jobs as a stepping stone, I only saw them as falling backwards. I decided to quit and give it all up almost overnight.

I packed up, moved to Florida. I took a couple months off and thought I would get back into IT. I applied to a couple positions in Florida, but was in for the second big shock. Salaries in Florida were not even comparable to what I was making in the D.C. area. We were talking $20-30K differences. Granted the cost of living was much cheaper, but at the time I didn't want to look at it that way. I turned down great jobs because I was too stubborn to look at the big picture when it came to salary. Looking back though, I also think I was still burned out from IT work and was using salary as an excuse to get back in.

At this point I jumped ship. I went into a completely unrelated field (funeral industry), yet one that was non-stop 24x7 excitement for lack of a better word. I was instantly back to working long hours and loving every minute of it. Working a non-IT related job though made me miss technology. I started doing consulting on the side to fill the void and keep my feet wet. Yet I continued to work for almost 7 years at the new job. The longest I had stayed at any job up to this point.

I am back in IT to some degree now, but have learned a lot along the way. I learned that there is no real answer to how long it takes to "recover" from being burned out or how to recover. Every person is different, but one thing is definite, you can't force yourself back in when you are not ready. I also learned that every time I have those feelings of needing more or wanting more, I stop everything that second. It may be at completely random times. I will go for a long walk, listen to music, and appreciate life in general. I also got random jobs completely unrelated to IT. These jobs allowed me to see other people, learn new things, and completely detach from my IT self. But they also made me realize what I liked and disliked about working in IT. I now use that mental list to adjust my work/life balance so I can control my feelings of burnout.

I know I relate a lot of burnout to IT in the above, but it doesn't matter what your position or job is. Burnout can, and will, occur in any job. My best suggestion is to stop whatever you are doing for however long you can financially afford to do so. Find something different or do some soul searching by taking a vacation where you can detach from your normal everyday life. Do things outside your comfort zone. If you can't afford to not work, or if you are unsure about going back at any time, find a different job that is completely unrelated to what you were doing previously. At least for me, I think my burnout came from always wanting more from career. It didn't come from the job itself, but the push to get more from the job or have a better job.