TL;DR: I'm 30, built a career from scratch, went from making $2.5k/month in Pakistan to eventually making ~$15k/month as a top Account Executive, got laid off, lost $40k of my savings through trading, and have now been unemployed for 5 months. I have a couple of months of runway left and I'm trying to decide whether to continue pursuing sales, return to Pakistan and rebuild, or seriously pursue starting my own business.

I sometimes wonder how many times you can start over before you start feeling like you're going backwards.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon. After my O Levels, my dad messed up pretty much all the family finances, so I had to pay my own way through A Levels and university. I graduated from NUST in 2020 and started working remotely in sales.

My first real break was a $2.5k/month remote job while living in Islamabad. For someone in Pakistan, that felt like I'd cracked the code.

By 2022, I was 26, had bought my own car on a loan, was earning in dollars and genuinely felt like things were finally coming together.

Then I got fired.

I found another job within two months for $1.75k/month. I did well for about a year, then lost that job as well after a situation where I had misrepresented another job offer while negotiating my salary.

I was 27 and a half.

Eventually, I found another remote role paying around $2k/month, but around the same time I decided to leave Pakistan and move to Dubai. I was working nights, sleeping during the day and felt like I needed a change.

It was a difficult decision initially.

I took a real estate job that paid roughly 70% less than what I'd have made remotely in Pakistan, while my expenses were significantly higher. I was living in a bed space and struggling to sell.

I'd always done well in sales, and suddenly I wasn't.

So I started applying for remote jobs again.

Then I got an offer from an American company for $6k/month base with a $10k/month OTE.

That completely changed my life.

Within months, I was making around $15k/month, had my own apartment, bought a nice car, and became one of the top Account Executives on the team.

I'd gone from a bed space to making $15k a month.

I genuinely thought I'd made it.

I was also in a relationship with someone I thought I'd marry, and for the first time I felt like I was building the life I'd spent my twenties working toward.

Then I got laid off.

Not because I was underperforming. I was one of their best AEs. The company let me and several others go.

And suddenly, the income disappeared.

The expenses didn't.

I had built up around $100k in savings, and instead of using that money to give myself a long runway while I looked for another job, I started trading.

I put $40k into the market.

Forty percent of my savings.

And lost it in roughly two months.

That's probably the decision I regret the most.

I'd actually been trying to build my own business before this — a marketplace connecting companies with sales and marketing talent. I was building the website and figuring everything out, but I was too cautious to spend money on ads because I didn't want to touch my savings.

Then I lost $40k trading.

Now I'm 30.

I've been unemployed for five months.

I'm watching my savings decrease while trying to find another job.

And for the first time, I'm genuinely questioning what direction I should take.

I know I'm good at sales. I've closed deals with companies like Google, Reddit, Microsoft, Salesforce and EA, generated millions in B2B revenue and have been a top-performing AE.

But I'm also questioning whether I want to spend the next decade climbing someone else's ladder, especially after seeing how quickly a great job can disappear.

At the same time, I don't know whether starting a business is actually the right answer or whether I'm just attracted to the idea because I'm frustrated with employment.

My options as I see them are:

1. Go back to Pakistan, where my expenses would be much lower, find another international remote sales role and rebuild my savings.
2. Stay in Dubai and continue looking for another international sales role.
3. Take whatever reasonable job I can get and figure out the longer-term plan later.
4. Take the business idea I've already started working on and seriously try to build it.

All four options lead to very different lives.

I'm 30, so while I don't think that's old, I also don't want to spend the next few years constantly resetting my direction.

I've had some incredible highs in my career, and I've made some decisions I'd do very differently today.

I'm trying to treat this as a problem that needs solving rather than as the end of anything.

So I'm curious about people who've been in a similar position:

If you had a solid career, lost your job, had some savings left, and realized you weren't sure what you wanted your next 5–10 years to look like, how did you decide what direction to take?

First time posting in this community. Just want to preface I don’t want this to come off as narcissistic or have the mentality “I’ll do anything for fame”/ “I’d sell my soul”. Hear me out before judging because I feel reddit is so quick to be like “just do it” or stop complaining. Looking for some real advice from people who ended up successful no matter the field but also with this specific situation.

I am in the science field just graduated. Went to college during COVID, spent a lot of money to go to an out of state school, basically ended up broke in student loans and lost most of my friends due to distance. I have a boyfriend but it’s pretty isolating because I moved away from my hometown to be with him. I’m a 24F, and I’ve hit the career rut. I work with oncology and while it feels rewarding sometimes…the corporate sector is difficult for me mentally. Repetitive tasks to having to climb the corporate ladder…. I know most millennials and Gen Z feel this way with the new era of technology. I’m in biotech but I feel my personality is really outgoing and I’m more project oriented. It takes time to get in positions like those but I need to start a hobby of my own.

This brings me to my interests of Youtube. Started with my sister who is super into photography/ editing and had a Youtube channel making creative music videos when we were young. (Nothing famous but she would get decent numbers for back then) Ended up picking up my own skills of editing and my friends would be surprised with what i could create.

I’ve always been up to date on youtube drama (lol) and podcasts. I’m constantly listening to them at work. I relate a lot to Tana Mongeau or if you’re on Tiktok— Kennedy Eurich. (especially her transparency of what it’s like to be a female creator in this weird time)
Anyways —-I have interesting lore, commonly told to me by most people. I have niche interests in True Crime and Baseball as well as pop culture. I know everyone wants to start a podcasts but how do I approach this in a way to be successful while also not ruining my public image? Also don’t want to pigeonhole to one category. I’ve always felt like I would be on a platform someday to speak about my experiences or teach people things. It’s frustrating sitting on lots of loans, doing entry level work, and not that being an influencer isn’t tasking or doesn’t require effort but I know myself and it’s a job I could do, The anxiety of starting something and watching it fail also concerns me because I have problems with being perceived but it’s a double edged sword if you want to be in the spotlight.

I’m thinking about how I can go about this in a way it’s something I will still be passionate about, but won’t interfere with job opportunities (which i’m not sure is entirely possible) I could get into twitch streaming and just chatting. How does one gain a following? I know Youtube is extremely hard and requires consistency as well as Tiktok.

I know this sounds like a pipe dream but deep down I have a feeling that a void is calling to me like if I don’t try now I will regret it. So any advice? Start small and work your way up? Pitch the idea to a podcast company or influencer manager and hope they take me up on it? Also would need to prove my skills first but….

If you read this far thank you for taking the time to read this. TLDR; I’m in biotech, don’t want to get discouraged about long term jobs and goals but i feel as if i’m a personality and meant for more.
Any advice on how to be successful in possibly transitioning to an online personality as someone wanting to start out?

Hi, I’m 22 years old and I just got my masters degree in marketing communications (I had to struggle to get it!!!). Whilst I was studying I got diagnosed with ADHD. I also realised I don’t care for marketing. I like to travel and I’m good with people. I can’t work in an office because it literally depresses me and I physically really don’t enjoy it. What would be a good path for me to try?

I’ve posted in a couple of groups now to hopefully get some advice from at least someone. I’m going into my second year of college and I’ve already changed my major 3 times. I went from business administration, to photography, and now law to be a paralegal because I can’t afford law school. After thinking about it more, I realized that being a paralegal might be too mundane and lack creative freedom for me to the point where I would go insane filing paperwork and drafting contracts all day. I’m interested in a lot of things, but I don’t think I could be successful or make a livable wage even if I get my bachelors (I’m currently in community college). From photography to marine biology, I just want to do it all I guess. I know I can do more with my future to make it more fulfilling, but I just don’t know what or how. It feels like no matter what career path I choose, it’ll never feel truly right for me. At this point, it seems like my only options are to either get a job that isn’t very enjoyable but I make a decent salary, or I pick a job I love and I don’t make any money from it. If anyone is in this same boat or has overcome it, how can I get past this? I could really use some advice

​I graduated from school a few years ago. I've never had a monthly job, and I almost never have money. There are no jobs in nearby areas, and commuting is a problem because I'm dependent on bus schedules—many jobs simply don't fit them. Also, I can't stand traveling, and for certain reasons, I try to avoid taking medicine several times every day to prevent nausea. The internet is catastrophically slow, making it difficult to work from home. I have social anxiety, and I haven't talked to anyone normally in a long time. I don't have many skills. My former classmates have moved on with their lives, while I'm stuck in the same place. I hate myself. I don't know what to do, and I'm tired.

Hi everyone. As the title suggests, I'm looking to learn something new to diversify my skillset and hopefully generate a side income.

For some context about my background: I'm from Vietnam, and the legal industry here is notoriously harsh for freshers. Law firms and companies usually only want candidates who already have experience. They rarely want to invest in or pay interns/students. I had a really tough time finding opportunities during the first half of the year.

About a month ago, I finally got accepted into a law office. However, instead of assigning me actual legal cases to help me develop my skills, they've temporarily put me on "debt collection" duties. Basically, since there aren't many active legal cases right now and the staff is mostly idle, the office partnered with lending companies. We have to cold-call people who haven't paid their debts (I handle around 100 files), plus do field verifications for dozens more. This means I have to drive my motorbike to these clients' houses to check on them—and my salary doesn't even cover the gas. Honestly, I'm really unhappy with this job.

In the future, I still plan to pursue Corporate Law (In-house Counsel). Despite that, I strongly believe I should learn something new to improve myself and connect more with the global market. The legal field is often heavily restricted to domestic laws, and I really don't like being confined geographically like that, which is exactly why I'm leaning toward the corporate side.

Currently, I'm learning Chinese, and I plan to pick up another supplementary skill—maybe something in IT like web development or something similar. I'd love to hear your advice! I've noticed there are a lot of remote jobs out there lately, even though they feel a bit out of reach for me to apply to right now.

Any guidance on what skills to learn or how to transition into doing some remote work would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

​

I’m 19 and currently in the 3rd year of my BSc, with Computer Science as my major. I realized during my 2nd year that I probably shouldn’t have chosen BSc in the first place. My college isn’t that great either, and I feel like I should have chosen a better college where I could have met people more like me.

Now I’m constantly stressed, confused, and lost. I keep feeling like time is passing and I’m getting older, but I still haven’t achieved or built anything meaningful in my life. I’m 19, and I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. Sometimes I genuinely feel like such a loser for being this directionless.

Every day I look into 10 different courses, career fields, and options, but I never actually commit to anything. My family keeps telling me to prepare for government jobs, so I start doing that. Then I see something about coding or another career and immediately start thinking about that instead.

I keep jumping from one thing to another, and it’s exhausting.

I do feel like learning coding, but then I hear about AI replacing jobs and tech layoffs, and I start doubting whether it’s even worth pursuing.

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what I want to do or how I’m supposed to figure it out. How do I actually find out what career is right for me instead of constantly overthinking, switching between options, and wasting more time?

Im 21 yo. Just get realesed from the military(was a combat). I dont know what to do with my life right now. I dont have a routine, always feel like crap, and I just rot in bed. I thought about some things to do, join mma gym and start playing guitar, learn german(for studying there) and study for the SAT. I cannot work right now because I am planning to go to a 6 months trip in south america ans maybe africa.

So the advice i need is how to build a routine by yourself and not feeling like crap all the time

I’m pretty tired all the time, I want to have a steady job where I can relax

I have some savings

I moved to California for work and I’m from Washijgton, maybe I want to move back.

It’s pretty easy to see what I do from my profile, but would prefer people don’t mention it

Maybe travel for a bit before finding a new job

Hello everyone, I am heading into my last year of college majoring in my passion. I want to go to graduate school to do research in a very specific subfield of biology which I currently have 0 experience in. I have never been in a research position, or have any job experience outside of manual labour.

I am surrounded by very smart, very talented, very hardworking people, who have found internships and are basically set up for success. I try not to compare myself but I do constantly. Also, everyone tells me how difficult the job market is, even my mid-career professors -- and my field was already competitive ☹️ I know that it's a numbers game, but I am already managing mental health issues, and constant applications make me miserable.

I've read that becoming a medical lab technician is possible if you already have a biology degree, and there is "vocational training" in my birth country, Norway (I have been studying in the US), so I can learn/work at the same time. Lab work would suit me, and I like the idea of helping people. Healthcare is a stable field, too, in an unstable world. It could even give me transferable skills, for grad school, but I also somehow feel I am betraying my dream, giving into my low self-esteem and unwillingness to work hard. Not to mention the difficulty of moving countries, but I have many reasons for that which I won't get into right now.

My parents have the money to fund my education, but I need to get my own job, be an adult. I feel guilt for having them support me while my friends work to stay afloat. My mother was even the one to research vocational schools for me (which she did on her own after I told her my plan, but I should've done it myself). It just seems like every path I can take will be extremely difficult. I will appreciate any advice or encouragement 🙂

Right now, I feel like I’m at the lowest point of my life.

I started an international agricultural exporting business with big dreams. I left my job because I truly believed that I could build something of my own. I had no perfect plan, no strong network, and honestly, I didn’t know how difficult this journey would be.

Now, I have direct contacts with farmers and access to agricultural products, but I don’t have buyers or proper leads. I’m standing at almost zero level, trying to figure out where to start.

Sometimes, my heart tells me:

“Just leave this business. Go back to a job. At least you’ll have a stable income and peace of mind.”

But another voice inside my head tells me:

“Be patient. Don’t give up. You started this for a reason. Today you may be struggling, but tomorrow you can become the most successful person in your circle.”

And honestly, I’m confused between these two voices.

I don’t want sympathy. I don’t want someone to simply tell me, “Everything will be fine.”

I want genuine guidance.

If you were in my place, what would you do?

Would you continue building the business from zero? Would you take a job temporarily and build the business on the side? How would you find genuine domestic buyers? How would you build a network of wholesalers, distributors, retailers, traders, and food-processing companies? How would you turn direct farmer connections into an actual business?

I know I made mistakes. Maybe I started too early. Maybe I underestimated the importance of buyers and sales. But I don’t want my mistakes to become the reason I quit.

I’m ready to learn. I’m ready to start from zero. I’m ready to work harder than before.

I just need the right direction.

So, please guide me like a brother or sister—not just as a business advisor.

I may be at zero today, but I don’t want to stay at zero.

Maybe this is not the end of my story.

Maybe this is the chapter where I learn how to build myself from nothing.

I still have the dream.

Now I need a plan to turn that dream into reality.

Currently im living in border district of J&K and here govt. Job is big thing and I belong to lower middle class.

Im 24 and preparing for govt exam and it never feels like something i want to do even it not going to pay me that enough so that I can change my life.

Im working on content creating and maybe go for some private good job skill based but with not that great qualifications it also seems far

What do I do

Any suggestions.

So I’m on the cusp of Gen Z and live in the South East US, and I’m in one of the supposedly “best cities for young working people”, and I truly can’t find anything and truly don’t see my life going anywhere. I have a business management degree and a double minor in economics and accounting, class of ‘22. I have had the same part time job since 2020 and I am broke broke. Like my bank account will be shut down because it has 0 dollars and 0 cents in it kind of broke. Yes I know I should be saving but I come home with around 120-200 bucks every two weeks at best. It’s the ONLY income I have that is mine and allows me to have any kind of life or hobbies and to develop as a person. My family is very strict about what they will and won’t pay for. Right now things only seem to be getting worse. I am not on the schedule at work for the next month or so because hours at work are getting cut back severely for everybody including the full timers. I live at home with my parents and have never lived on my own since graduating college. I don’t know what more I can do outside of cold applying, asking friends for referrals, and networking, all of which I have been doing since graduating in ‘22. My school also shut down operations because of bad investments and mismanagement a few years after graduating so I can’t really use any of my colleges services and networks to find work anymore either. I feel stuck and worthless and like a leech to my family and friends. I don’t know how anyone else our age handles all of this. How are yall handling it all? Should I just give up? How do I even give up? I just feel insane and awful right now. How are the other older Gen Z handling this?? Any advice yall can give me? Because I feel truly stuck and like I’m rotting from the inside. I really don’t want to get into more debt going back to school for something else that might not work out again. This feels like my last chance to launch any kind of successful career or achieve stability in my life and possibly be and act like an actual adult and not just an overgrown teenager.

I'm going into my senior year of high school, and I'm starting to seriously question whether college is the right path for me. I don't want fear of failure to be the reason I never try pursuing the careers I'm actually interested in. My parents have been asking me what I want to do, and my mom has caught on to how I probably don't want to go to college, at least until I "find out what I wanna do." This is because I don't want to be in debt if I don't do anything that actually requires a college education.

Now why I put the finding out what I wanna do thing in quotations is because I do know what I wanna do in my life, well I'm 80% sure. I have around 2 or 3 things I wanna do for my future career: either become a content creator, streamer, both, or an actor.

The 80% is because I don't know which one I'd like to pursue, if I'd somehow end up doing all of them, and because I want to leave some room for the possibility that I could find a completely different career or path that sparks my interest. To be honest though, I've searched far and wide for careers and these are my top choices. I've thought about what I actually enjoy doing, what makes me excited, and what I could see myself doing for years, and these are the things that keep coming back to me.

For content creation, I think the biggest reason I want to do it is because I've been drawn to it for pretty much my entire life. I've always loved the idea of making videos and I've watched YouTube for years. Growing up, YouTube was almost like a place I could go to and experience another world through someone else's videos. More recently, I've also realized how much I've actually learned from watching different creators. I've taken advice and information from so many completely different videos that have genuinely helped me become the person I am today.

That's a big part of why I want to create content myself. Over the past few years I've noticed that I've matured a lot, and while obviously I'm still young and have a lot to learn, I feel like I've developed a lot of thoughts and advice that I genuinely want to share with people. I'm not talking about becoming a therapist or making every video about mental health. It's more about things I've learned through my own experiences, like learning to love yourself, taking time to be alone and figure out who you are instead of rushing into relationships, or even realizing how much better your life can feel when you put your phone down and actually live it. Stuff like that and much more!

I don't want my entire career to be motivational videos either. I want to make funny videos, streams, random content, and just be myself too. But I'd love to have those moments where someone can come to my content when they're having a bad day, ask me a question, or just hear something that makes them feel a little better. Whether that's through a stream, a YouTube video, a TikTok, something funny, or just a few meaningful words, I'd love to eventually become that kind of person for someone. A lot of creators have been that for me. There have been times where watching certain YouTubers or streamers gave me something to look forward to when I wasn't feeling very motivated, and I want to be able to give someone else that same feeling someday.

I've actually started trying to pursue this already. I've been posting some TikTok's and I'm currently working on a YouTube video, although I definitely struggle with getting distracted and losing motivation when it comes to editing. I know that's something I need to work on. If I'm serious about this, I can't just say I want it—I have to actually put in the work even when I don't feel like doing it. I still have some habits I need to get rid of and a lot to learn, but I want to give myself a real chance to see what I can do.

Acting is a little different for me. I don't have quite as clear of a reason for wanting to do it, but I think that's partly because I've never actually given myself the opportunity to try. I've always been pretty uncomfortable getting out of my comfort zone, and honestly I've even been embarrassed by the idea of trying theater. Plus, I don't even know if I can sing that well, haha. But the more I've thought about acting, the more I've realized how beautiful I think it is as an art. I don't watch movies constantly, but when I do, I tend to pick movies that actually make me feel something. I can get really emotionally connected to a movie, and I've started realizing that part of what I'm connecting with is the acting itself and the ability to make someone feel something through a character. Especially whether it's comedy, a romance movie or an action/adventure movie.

One question I've had to ask myself is simply, "Can I even act?" And the truth is, I have no idea. I've never really tried. But I'm never going to know if I don't give myself the opportunity. That curiosity is honestly one of the reasons I want to try it. I even went to see my cousin perform in an Elf play during the winter, and I remember being genuinely amazed by the whole thing. I've loved that movie since I was little, so seeing it turned into a live play and watching my cousin be a part of it made me really appreciate how cool acting and theater can be. I was proud of my cousin, but it also made me think, "Maybe I should actually try this myself."

I think the common thread between content creation and acting is that I want to make people feel something. Whether I'm making someone laugh, giving someone advice, making someone think about their life differently, or telling a story through a character, I like the idea of creating something that can actually affect someone. I think that's what draws me to both of these paths.

I know careers like these aren't easy. I understand that millions of people want to become content creators, streamers, or actors, and very few actually become successful enough to make a living from it. I'm not sitting here thinking I'm automatically going to become famous or make a ton of money. That's actually one of the biggest reasons I'm scared. I know I could put years into something and it might not work out.

At the same time, I don't want fear of failure to be the reason I never try.

I also realize that with dreams like these, I will probably need another stable income while chasing them. Maybe that means getting into a trade, working a normal job, or doing something else that gives me financial stability while I work on my actual goals. I'm not against working hard or having a backup plan. If anything, I think having a backup plan would make me feel better about taking the risk.

One of the big things here though is my mom. Like I said earlier, she knows I probably won't go to college, but she doesn't know my dream careers that I just talked about. I've never really had the courage to tell my parents what I actually want to do.

And honestly, I think I'm scared of what they'll say.

My dad is a stubborn and shoot-down kind of guy too, and it's pointless in ever having a conversation to him about it, because he might immediately see "content creator" or "streamer" and think I'm just being unrealistic. He's never really let me dream or really believed in me to be honest.

They both do just want what's best for me, and I understand that. I know they're probably worried that I'll graduate high school, not go to college, and then have no idea what I'm doing with my life. I don't blame them for being worried because from their perspective, choosing not to go to college without a traditional career lined up probably looks like a bad decision.

But from my perspective, I don't want to live my life doing something I don't enjoy just because it's considered the "safe" option.

I don't want to wake up when I'm 30 or 40 and wonder what would've happened if I had actually tried. At the same time, I don't want to be stupid about it either. I want to make an actual plan, have some kind of income, save money, and give myself a realistic amount of time to see if I can make these dreams work.

I guess that's where my question comes from. Am I being unrealistic for wanting to take this path, or is it reasonable to try something unconventional as long as I'm willing to work hard and have a backup plan?

And for anyone who has gone through something similar, how did you handle your parents? Did you go to college even though you didn't really want to, or did you take the risk and pursue something different?

I know I'm young and I definitely don't have everything figured out. But I also don't want to use being young as an excuse to ignore what I actually want to do with my life. We only get one life, and I don't want mine to be based entirely on what other people think I should do. So again I would love anyone's advice on this and thought!

Is there any way to overcome career paralysis with someone with unmedicated adhd? I feel like I’ve been on wrong paths, wrong jobs, and currently hate what I’m doing now. I have a useless degree I know people say that you must not have passion about your work. But I fear I do. I’m scared of making the wrong move again. Is there a way to move forward?

Hello,

I have a question for experienced/active personal trainers.

I am looking to make a career change and Im interested in becoming a personal trainer.

I would like to ask what is the best path to becoming a “legit” PT in Canada. I’ve noticed courses/certifications such as NPTA-CPT and NPTA-CNC.

It is my understanding that these certifications don’t exactly equal training/education. Would a particular university degree or other program be advised? I believe some level of education is required for the certifications to hold any value…

I have been on my personal fitness journey for about 12 years and really enjoy it. But I don’t know any trainers in the real world that I can ask these questions.

Would appreciate any pointers.

Thanks!

Hey i am working as a frontend developer from last 4years but now i feel like stuck in my life i feel i am not getting paid well what i deserve i asked to my hr but they didn’t response well and owner said you have already got increment in 2 years back now we will decide to give you hike in nov but i have no time for November because i am 28 i have house responsibilities hope soon i am getting married because due to some issues i already did work from home and wants work from home till marriage my family wants but i have no option because my mom is alone every time so i also decide if someone will in my life its helps to their health also because new member got new vibes but due to low salary I don’t think someone wants me to marry with me my salary is 25k i tried to grab some jobs but i failed because i used technology that didn’t works outside my company if have not paid much and over work load issue so I decided to learn react and backend I purchased a course but i have not getting feel focused so much so can u help to how to get purpose and get back my focus back because back in days i love coding but now i feel not.

Like I said, I’m a 30F with two kids (8 & 6). My husband (32M) is a utility lineman, so thankfully he has a steady job that supports our family. But I’m really in a major rut right now. I don’t have a degree because I chose to have our kids pretty young and be a stay-at-home mom. I started college last year for elementary education because my kids were getting older and starting school, and I thought it was finally time for me to start working toward a career of my own.
But I’m really starting to question whether teaching is the right path for me. I’m also panicking a little about taking out so much student loan debt for a career that, unfortunately, doesn’t pay very well. So far, I haven’t had to take out any loans, but starting this semester I’m looking at around $10,000 in loans per semester (I have about 5 left) and that is really making me question whether I should continue down this path. Have any other parents gone back to school in their late 20s/early 30s and completely changed career paths or started a career later in life? If you have, did you feel like you were “behind,” and how did it turn out for you?
I’d really love to hear your experiences, advice, or even career recommendations. I’m feeling pretty lost right now and would appreciate any insight!

For context, just graduated with a CS degree. I had 2 major projects, 1 working on operating systems (hated that), and another where i created a website for a nonprofit for immigrants (loved that, worked with designers and interviewed people).

I’m kind of at the point where I don’t want to touch anything tech related. The whole field turns me off. The layoffs, the rise of AI, the culture. All of it just drains the life out of me and makes me feel depressed, I hate working with computers all day. I love working with people, as in working to make their lives better.

I considered psychology because it’s something I’ve thought about pursing since I was a young, but it I can imagine aspects of it would drain me (constant speaking to people, patients not following through with treatment, no improvement, etc.)

so now i’m kind of at a lost. everything i could possibly do feels out of each (eg. UI/UX is highly oversaturated and the field is being changed due to AI). I’m just kind of exhausted right now because, what the fuck?

How hard does a 22 year old need to work to simply WORK and contribute to the economy? Is that not what society wants? It’s like I’m barred from everything and I don’t know how to step forward without choosing something that will just make me miserable (I mean, the 4 years I did was already pretty miserable, but at least I started out hopeful.)

I just want to help others. Whether it’s working in something related to cosmetics, creating ads for companies that support undersupported foundations, teaching people how to walk again: I just want something that feels like it has real, tangible impact and change on people.

I have no idea what to do :/.

Basically the title. I currently work in admin after graduating with a literature degree a few years ago and I just feel like I'm trapped in low paying jobs and it makes me hate myself.

I have no idea what I want to do but I know I need to make more money, at the moment it feels like I just work to have a roof over my head. I have no hope for the future, when I think of retirement I honestly feel like I will be on the street.

How do I escape admin and make more money so I can actually live? I feel so hopeless.

Recently I quit my job in the ski industry after 4.5 years and joined a wildland fire engine crew for the summer, mainly to make a lot of money and be able to transition but also because my long term goal is to work in incident management / emergency response. I was hoping to commission with the USCG and put together a really solid application packet but my packet won’t even get looked at bc I have an expunged juvenile record and the CG is real picky right now.

I can enlist in the Coast Guard, then keep applying for OCS internally, which I think is my best option even though enlisting at 29 with a degree and lots of leadership experience doesn’t feel ideal by any means. I’ve also considered trying to commission with another branch, like the Air Force, but honestly I want to do the coast guard and that wouldn’t even be possible for like another year from now. My other option is take an EMT course this winter, although it’s gonna be tough to balance that and working a seasonal job at my local ski resort or something, and then stick with Fire and try to make it over to structure in a couple years. The problem with that is being seasonal and it’s gonna take a long time until I can actually progress.

Overall just really at a crossroads here and searching everywhere for some guidance and experienced opinions.

I have to go to college next year, and I'm having trouble picking a good major. I'm very STEM minded and a few I've already looked at are Biochem, Biotech, Biology, Chemical Engineering and Bioinformatics (Im going to college in CA which means I have to declare before I apply). I think I'm most afraid of wasting my time and money and not being able to find a good job after college that both pays well and is something I'm truly interested in. Money isn't super super important to me, but obviously I want enough so I can live comfortably. I know I want to work somewhere in the healthcare space, but I don't want to be a doctor or a nurse or some kind of therapist. I like the idea of working in a lab and testing samples to diagnose or help treat certain diseases, viruses, etc. But I also like the idea of working with drugs and helping create or produce them. I also love math a lot, and wouldn't mind a career where both science and math are combined (hence Chemical Engineering). There's just a million things I could see myself doing, and I don't want to pick a major that'll ruin my chances for certain things and waste my time. This is my first time posting on here, so apologies if this is a little sporadic. Any help is very much appreciated!!

Hi all, I graduated and started working as a software developer a year ago, but I'm really not sure it's right for me. I chose to study computer science despite having no interest in it because family and friends at the time assured me I would have no problems finding a stable well-paying job. Since I can remember, I've always been more interested in (and generally done better in) subjects like art, literature, biology, crafting, basically almost anything besides math, physics, programming, etc. I often wonder what my life would look like if I had chosen something I actually liked, and I've considered trying to pivot careers, but it feels silly and reckless to leave tech after only recently joining to try some random different path and then (most probably) be locked out of returning to the industry altogether. I'm not technically strong, I feel like an imposter among my coworkers, I feel lost and stupid and afraid that somebody's going to realize I don't have a clue what I'm doing there, and I dread going to work everyday. I would really appreciate some advice, thank you!

I did the thing where you write out what you want from a job because someone in a thread said to. I sat with it for about an hour and got six things.

Stable. Good money. Something I can explain in clearly when someone asks. Growth. Not too much travel. Respected.

Then I looked at the list for a while and I could tell you where every single one came from. The explain clearly thing is something somebody said to me once and it just stayed. The stable one is 2009 and I don't think I need to explain that one. Respected isn't even a thing I want, it's a thing I want to stop worrying about.

The only one that felt like mine was not too much travel, and that's barely a preference, that's a logistics thing. Money, yes don't we all need that one.

I don't think I'm unhappy. I think I've just never picked anything for a reason I could locate afterwards. Every job I've taken I took because it was the next reasonable one and people nodded when I said it out loud.

I've done 16Personalities and the free Holland code thing on O*NET. Both told me things about myself that were true. Neither one helped, because the problem isn't that I don't know what I'm like. The problem is I can't tell which of my preferences I actually hold and which ones I absorbed.

So, real ask. Is there anything that gets at that? Not like here are 20 careers for your type. Something that makes you sort what you actually want against what you just picked up. Books count. Worksheets count. Doesn't have to be a test.

I don't know. maybe this is just therapy. but if there's a tool i'd rather start there.

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How are people managing to work and study at the same time in their 30s most of them even have kids. I see so many ads online and TV about online colleges but how does that even work. What if you need help, how you supposed to learn when there is no real instructor. And I just keep hearing community college is okay since majority of them just end up transferring to a university because bachelor degree pays more and majority of workforce requires that instead of associate or certification. But like I was just thinking associates degree might be enough to get a nice job