You got that job you wanted. The pay is right, your team is made of intelligent people. They pick your brain and make you want to improve your craft every day. The company is doing well or at least it seems like it. There are games and snacks around the office and "get togethers" after work every now and then. You are living the startup life!

But, you moved here to have the opportunity to build new and interesting products. You have also a big interest in learning new technologies and they told you this would happen here.

The days go by. Although you are busy with work you never or rarely touch the technologies you wanted to work with. Your tasks are not following your career development ambitions and you don't feel like you are doing the right thing for yourself. Although you are solving legit problems in the company you feel like you are not getting that satisfaction of working on what you signed up for. Not only that, but you can see issues pilling up that could be solved with one of those technologies you are so willing to put into action.
You start thinking about leaving. You want to find that amazing place where they use only modern tech and all the best practices you've been reading about. A place where you can on a daily basis build up the skills you whish to have in the future.

You feel frustrated! The thought of moving away from this angst is what is driving your decision.

This is where I urge you to PAUSE and think for a moment.

OK, it's possible that this company won't change their ways. It's possible that this culture was always there - you just couldn't see it before you took that job offer. But meanwhile, you haven't been practicing and learning those technologies and tools you want to become an expert on. How will you apply for roles which need them? You haven't got the experience, yet... Regardless of the other issues within the company, learning these technologies would be key in landing your utopian job. For example, let's look at a job description title like this: "Frontend Developer with React (and Redux), MongoDb and Node experience". If in your current job you can't get to gain experience in this stack then it would make it harder to get an offer for this role.

If this is the case then what you should do is work on side projects:

• Build that website for your cousin who is a famous Instagrammer and now needs a presence on the web.
• Build your personal website with a blog section if you don't already have one.
• Contribute to open source projects and study the technologies you want to learn by reading the source code and playing with them in your own time.

You have to put in that work and find time to do so - it will make you a more efficient person and gain time management skills. In one word: BUILD!

There is also another side to this dilemma. You can always try and create the workplace you want to be in. Try to convince your colleagues to introduce a new tech stack. How? Build small proofs of concept and do demos explaining the pros and cons and how it could help the company. Raise your concerns and explain how you could be an happier employee at your current company. Surprising things could happen. A change could happen! If all else fails, then I guess you then need to move on and that's ok too. It's ok to seek the path that leads to your success. It's ok to want to be at peace with yourself.

Have you been in this situation before? What did you do? What would you recommend to someone going through this?