For people who are grammar police or anything similar, I advise you not to read this. And sorry for the long post.

In the mist of going to university but having a hard time wanting to continue with just life in general. There are so many things I enjoy like making things really anything like board games I would like to make video games, films, animation but I would have to spend a couple years dedicated on one of those to eventually see it make money so in the mean time I don’t know what to do I’m currently getting a psychology degree to be a therapist or a teacher which will both need two more years of schooling after a bachelors. But im not even set on those that just what I happened to be doing. I still am thinking about being a pilot or realtor or firefighter, trade worker, all for different reasons. My main concerns are ai taking over certain jobs my daily enjoyment and health concerns, pay and being able to raise a family. I just hate the system of our society like I don’t want to play into it but if I want those things I have to. Like I would love to start a business or something close to but I dont have the support and unsure of even where to start and if its even a good idea to do something like that.

I’m writing this just looking for other people who feel similar and what your plan is in this life to make the most of it.

Looking to completely reorient career: any advice appreciated

As the title indicates, I am considering a complete career reorientation. Here is my full scenario listed out:

• I am a freshman computer science major currently.
• In 8th grade, I have fallen in love with the idea of computing and how fascinating coding is. Prior to this, I went around telling people I wanted to become a doctor which is not really relevant to the post, but I felt like mentioning it.
• The former is what sparked me into going down the unofficial computer science route in high school meaning I have taken any and all computer science related courses offered by my school in a reasonable pace and standard.
• As a result of my time in high school being led majority by computer science, I applied as computer science at all schools and eventually got in and came here. During this time, however, my passion for computer science was diminishing and what was the start of another passion started to seep through the cracks.
• I started having a high interest in politics, government, and current events to the point where friends started asking me questions about daily happenings in these areas of life instead of consulting the internet because they knew I would know anyways.
• Over the duration of senior year of high school, being somewhat influenced by lawyer media and literature, I started to think about becoming a lawyer in the future but that idea got immediately shut down as I was applying to computer science everywhere or have applied already. During the summer after senior year and up until this very point, I also considered going into politics.
• Another point to note is that several friends said I should switch out to a different major OR reorient my career in some way to include the following fields: political science, politics, government, law. (versus just becoming an AI or software engineer) This suggestion was in part due to me having failed two classes in my first semester one of which was a core computer science class. The failing was a result of my diminishing willingness and passion to expand my knowledge in the field of computer science and pure laziness. The suggestion was also in part due to my growing interest in the general happenings of those aforementioned fields. Overall, I am starting to slightly hate the idea of a computer science career.

I know this was a long post, so I appreciate you for having heard me out until here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated on what I should do next or if this is even the right pivot for me. (Or redirecting me to a better source/subreddit for this) For a starter, some of what I thought about doing follows:

• Continue my computer science degree, but join organizations that have a focus in the fields aforementioned so that getting into law school is possible. Then, try to get into law school and progress in whatever path I choose after that (become an attorney, start a political campaign, etc.) While I am trying all this, I still stay faithful to the idea of a computer science career and try to get internships and build my resume to have a prosperous and potential career there.
• Change my major to one of the aforementioned fields and go from there. If all goes wrong, I join a bootcamp or build my skills some other way that is cheap after graduating (as one of the aforementioned majors) and go down the computer science career path given that I already have some introductory knowledge in the field.

Thanks again for any advice provided. I need a logical base to go off of in order to talk to my parents about this, so that's why I am turning to this forum. (They are the ones funding my education in part - a huge part.)

TLDR: Changing career path from computer science to law; any advice on how to move forward, if this is even the right move or anything would be appreciated (even redirecting me to another appropriate subreddit would be fine)

Hello everyone,

Just need to know some of your input.

I currently teach at a municipal parks and rec community centre for a dance program. I love it a lot. However, it does get exhausting at times.

I also recently decided to take a politics course in university. I loved it so much and I never knew that I would enjoy studying the material. I’m also passionate about social issues and I’m outspoken about them too.

I’m wondering which path I should choose if I dedicate my life into this? Let me know your thoughts about both fields.

Hello just as the title says I am a 24 year old male who quit my first big corporate job after 1.5 years due to a toxic work environment. I have 25k in my savings and am moving back in with my parents so no rent and no car payment. I dropped out of college when I was 19 so I have no degree.

I’m thinking of either going to college and getting a business or finance degree. Another thing I am thinking about is getting my property and casualty insurance license and pursing an insurance job. I could always just find another job but I don’t have a lot of qualifications and most decent paying ones require them. Thank you for reading I am open to all suggestions!

I am 28. Have been working 9-5 since 3 years now and I don’t feel like doing corporate bullshit for long. And I don’t have the skillsets or what it takes to be an youtuber or something. I do want to start something of my own but I just don’t know how.

Hello all. I'm 29M and I'm a Spanish teacher in a rural part of North Carolina. I lived and taught abroad as soon as I finished college, and have only been back for 6 months. I don't even have a teacher's license, but was hired because they needed to fill the position and I said I'd work towards going back to school and getting my license.

I'm living with my parents and helping them stay afloat, paying some bills with gas and groceries. They live paycheck-to-paycheck and I've been taking some burden off of them even though I guess it's not my responsibility. My bank account hovers at having between 4 and $7000 in it depending on how close I am to getting paid.

My parents are a bit melodramatic at times and aren't really in the best place to help me. I don't have a car, and I always borrow one of theirs to get to work. I've never really done any adulting in America, as I've been abroad, and I'm trying to get around to buying my first car and moving ideally to any bigger city (Raleigh or Durham I think, ideally). I enjoy teaching and would be glad to continue being a teacher. I don't know what general advice people have for me, but I can honestly feel like things are stagnating here and I want to do different things and get to know different people.

Thank you all.

Nn

I have a vision. I see what I'm capable of and what I want to create. I want to dedicate my life to art and creating meaningful things and I see the direction I would want to follow to reach my goal but I feel very lost and I don't know if it's worth it.

Idk if it's worth it because it isn't "normal" it isn't the conventional path or the most accepted way of doing things specially in the field I want to, it isn't anything that's been very explored yet I think and that has a lot of potential and I find meaning in it but idk if it's worth it.

I see myself finding conflict balancing my most raw artistic nature with the context and the situation I was raised in, growing in a harsh environment. I actually see what I could do with my skills to balance these two things to create art what I'm not sure if it's worth it.

I fear I will be seen as a fake by the artistic side due to the nature of what I want to make and at the same time I fear been seen as a fraud or fake by the people I hang out and get along with which were, like me raised on the streets.

I need your help guys, do I trust my vision and follow my dreams or do I stick with one side and make what's accepted?

Ik this looks like a very easy decision but actually it's a lot harder, I don't want to loose friendships or connections for being two sided. I have a dream but also a life, I don't want to end up alone again. I don't want to be fake, I don't want to be a fraud.

M28, Lately I feel that I lost the motivation to do many things, I am someone who has enjoyed his life and has done a lot (friends, work, career), I work remotely as a software engineer, I love that and I am very good at it, but lately I feel that I am missing something, I feel that I have lost myself a little, sometimes I just feel like going to live in a european country (I'm from LATAM), it's not because of the money because I earn relatively well, it's more for the change of environment where I live completely, because going to another country nearby would be the same, I would like a big change, I'm single so I have almost no "ties" to go somewhere else. Has anyone else felt the same? How can I go to another country to live (without migration problems and all that)? Which countries do you recommend?

Thanks for reading me and your comments

I've gone through so much isolation that I first I thought there was some sort of mission or redemption thing that I was supposed to do but I realized NO! People want me to permanently suffer and/or kill myself!

... All I want is somebody to walk with me like the father figure im that movie the road by Cormac McCarthy. I want somebody to rescue me like the couple with the child that had the dog and we're watching him because his father was sick.

My parents are extremely sick! They are twisted psychotic torturers! I don't want to walk alone I want somebody to walk with me somebody else who is blacklisted but willing to fight for every day and every piece that we can get.

I mean LITERALLY, drive around or tramp walk everywhere, to Mexico and beyond.

Did you start a business? Join a certain field? Let me know how you took the magic path to freedom please😭

I’d like to introduce myself. I’m a 31-year-old guy living in Italy. I’ve been working in hospitality for most of my life, but for the past 3–4 years, I keep asking myself, “Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?” Most of the time, the answer is no. But I have no clue what else to do.

Back in the day, I tried to learn how to code by watching YouTube videos, but it seems that most companies require some sort of certification. Recently, I’ve been thinking about working in customer service or support. What do you think about it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it!

P.S.: Sorry for any mistakes in my English!

Hey im currently in my second year of HS, and my grades have been below average so far. Last year, I had a 2.4 GPA as a freshman, and this year I’m averaging around 2.6 to 2.7, but I know I can improve since a new quarter just started. My goal is to become a nurse, though I’m also considering pursuing a Physician Assistant (PA) career.

I’m not naturally academically driven, as growing up, I was always told that “as long as you’re passing” or “C’s get degrees.” I’m realizing now that I don’t really like that mentality anymore and want to change.

I’m currently enrolled in an EMT program, which will allow me to test to become an EMT-B when I graduate high school in 2027. The program has a 100% job placement rate in my area, so I’ll have a solid job in healthcare right after graduation. My plan is to attend a community college (CC), then transfer to a university to major in biology, while possibly working part-time as an EMT or getting another healthcare certification. I want to do well at CC and university, gain volunteer hours and work experience, and then apply to PA school after completing my degree.

Does this sound like a good plan to you?

Long story short, come from a low income family, wasnt informed well about life after hs+ never knew about community college transfers or any of the benefits of CCs So I went off to a 4 year uni. Changed majors 3 times, had to drop out at the start of junior year due to health issues+being assaulted on campus.

Realized the degree I was going for was useless and I feel like my entire life is over. College was my way out, it was my chance and I blew it. I wish every day that I went to community college instead, really considered a career path instead of just going to go and try and figure it out along the way. It’s like no matter where I am in life I am behind or realize I have made all the wrong choices. I know don’t know what do anymore, please some kind of direction. I turned 21 recently and I don’t see any path out

had a few people telling me collage wasn't worth it and to get into trades instead. Ig trades you can learn a skill and collage is taking a chance in your future. You might not get the job your collage degree is in. What's your thoughts on this?

I posted earlier with my story but I’m curious what you did end up doing

Hi! So I'm a 30 year old graduating with a BS in Psychology soon.

I'm currently employed in both an eating disorder clinic and a pediatric feeding clinic (at a children's hospital). Both of these positions are entry level, since I don't have a degree (yet).

This is something I'm passionate about, but it's not where I want to end up.

I have a great deal of interest in psychology, medicine, law, and social work. Ideally, I'd like to find a field with shades of all these fields. Currently, my short term goal is working my way up to patient advocate at the children's hospital. Ultimately, though, I want to run for office.

The steps between these things are where it gets fuzzy for me. While I know I could theoretically just run for local office when I get my bachelor's, I also need, you know, a career that can sustain political aspirations.

I'm open to grad school and doctoral programs, but I have a fear of being pigeonholed in a career by whatever degree I choose. I do like to change jobs every few years, so I would want something more open ended that I could do a lot of different things with.

Any suggestions or advice for how to build a better career now? Or where to go after patient advocate? Career recs? Really, anything that helps me narrow my focus down.

A year ago, I made a decision that has completely derailed my life. I quit my job, moved for a relationship, and now I’m stuck in a situation where the person I moved for tells me he hates me every day. I can’t find a job where I am, and my mental health is in the worst place it’s ever been.

I know I need to change my situation, but I’m struggling to find the motivation. The depression is so heavy that even taking the first step feels impossible. But I want to change. I need to change. I just don’t know how to pull myself out of this hole.

If anyone has been in a similar situation, how did you get out? How do you rebuild when you feel like you’ve lost everything? Any encouragement or advice would mean the world to me right now.

26m. Currently working part time as an administrative clerk for the city (LA) and part time as a barista to make ends meet. I've been working as a barista for about 3 years while pursuing artistic/creative endeavors.

I have a bachelors degree but it's in communications (specifically film) so basically useless.

Just got a new barista job that does have opportunities for leadership/advancement, and full time with benefits so that's at least something.

But I'm really tired of working the food service industry and need to pivot into a real, full time office position. I'm no longer interested in chasing the dream.

I want to join the corporate world and have a normal job. I've also been studying for law school, but that's a ways down the line (looking at fall 2026 entry).

Any advice appreciated on what I can do to give myself a better life and career.

Congrats 🎉🎈🎊 for getting your High School diploma (16-19 yo). Now what? Now the real life begins. Keep in mind that you are not late! Just stop wasting time on things that are not necessary at all, stop blaming others for X,Y, and Z! It’s time to move forward and grow up. I will show you below that you can turn everything to your favor now and that it is not too late to make it right:

1. Yes, you can take a gap year or 2 gap years to rest, think carefully about your major or travel 🧳 to see your longtime family members and friends.
2. After that, please enroll at a community college (it’s ok to start at the age of 20-25 yo). It’s mostly free nowadays in many states (I will put a link down for you later in the comment). You can complete your first college degree in 2 years or 3 years max - it’s called an ASSOCIATE DEGREE. A major is STEM or HEALTHCARE is always rewarding. It’s ok if you don’t find a job right away, but keep looking and be open minded about jobs you can land for now (working at a gas station, retail, babysitting, dog sitting, Ubereats, instacart…) even if it does not not fall immediately under your major since it will be your first time job!
3. Congrats on getting your Associate Degree (age 22 - 27 is still fine)!! Take a gap semester if you want and then, Transfer to a 4-year institution (also mainly free nowadays with tons of grants, scholarships and more). Even if your grants and scholarships don’t cover everything, you can try to compensate the rest of your tuition with $5,000 - $18,000 loans given by the financial aid office to finish your degree! Again, in here, it will take you 2-3 years to finish with your bachelor’s degree 📜, which is now the MINIMUM DEGREE required by most places if you want to be well off. You can still continue to work part-time just to save enough money (also save all your refunds from fir tuition to put into your saving account) so that once you complete your degree, you can rent your first apartment or studio or basement or a room to start living your life away from your parents’ house if you truly want to be free/independent and take your own life into your hands!! While you are a student, also keep looking for internships, co-op, summer undergraduate opportunities that will give you hands on experiences + stipends to put into your saving account again!
4. Congrats on getting your Bachelor’s degree 📜 (age 24 - 29)! Now, it’s time to leave your parents and face another reality. You should have saved enough money to really afford your next 1-2 years of rents. Your loans have a grace period of 6 months and after that, you can still extend it for over a year if you won’t be able to afford paying them back. It’s time to look for another job that pays you well. Look at your college to see if they are hiring for tutors, go to your school and paste on the job board your business information (date, time, availability for private tutoring, private babysitting, private dog care, selling your old books ….). Reach out to your professors as well in terms of job prospect! Some places will still offer internships to newly graduated students within 12 months of graduating if they have not yet found an entry level position!!
5. You can take a gap year or 2 to continue working fulltime this time, before going for your Master’s degree (optional). Let’s say you start your master’s degree between 25-28 years old. It’s just for 2 years, meaning you will finish it by the age of 27-30 years old! Since you took a gap year, then you will most likely take $10,000 - $15,000 to cover your first semester. But, after that, look for Graduate Assistantship or Teaching Assistantship that will cover your entire tuition until you graduate + stipends for teaching! Or, you can look for internships and co-op as well for graduate students and the students will be enough to cover your tuitions in case you don’t want to teach. Either way, you won’t be drowning into too much debt!

I hope this will help you tremendously! Your 20s are meant to get your priority straight and focusing on just your academic, professional, financial and your own personal growth instead of wasting your time, energy and money chasing men/women (losing your virginity, get addicted to fornication or drugs, alcohol, cigarettes…) knowing that you haven’t accomplished anything yet for yourself nor for your parents (No college degree, not financially stable, still living with your parents…)! Your 30s are meant to be at least financially secured, have at least your bachelor’s degree, start your career, think about dating, which can lead to a happy marriage with 1-3 kids! We will talk about that later!!

Good luck 🍀! Don’t lose hope at all. It will all be worth it. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I want to start off by saying that this is not a shitpost and I’m also not exaggerating

All my life I’ve failed at everything I tried. When I was young I got fired from my job in the supermarket because I was too slow. Then I got a job in a clothing store but also got fired a few months later, they didn’t give me the reason but probably because I was both slow and not good with customers.

I decided to try to make some money from my hobbies which are photography, writing and fashion. For the photography I did some portfolio projects but they never really seemed happy with my pictures and rarely used them. I tried content and copywriting but most of the time I got the feedback that they didn’t like my writing style.

I also wanted to do fashion styling but I just don’t have a good eye for it and no talent at all so that’s not going to work either.

And last I tried customer service but again I was told my writing style didn’t suit the company and my tone of voice wasn’t very ‘customer friendly’.

I have a degree which I can’t work in for health reasons (it’s too physical) and now I’m stuck at home without a job and my parents offered to pay for a course or short degree that could land me another job but I have no idea what to do since I suck at literally everything.

I feel so stuck so any advice is appreciated

I’m 26, living with my parents in a small LCOL town, and I regret not taking school seriously. I had potential but felt like an outcast, so I checked out, got into trouble, and ended up with a record. I eventually got my act together, got clean, and landed a decent sales job. I wasn’t passionate about the grind at first, but i eventually got better, and I was finally proud of my work—until I got fired, not for performance, but for “not fitting in.”

Now, I’m back in the trades, making $20/hour, which is better than my sales job, but I feel unfulfilled. I had started community college while in sales and I LOVED IT, the schedule allowed me weekdays off, but now that I am working a whole trade, Mon-Fri, 7-5, that’s on hold now. Every time I work on a university construction site, I see students and feel like I should be one of them. I want a white-collar career in IT, data science, or finance, but the jobs that allow for school pay too little, and at 26, being broke isn’t as acceptable anymore.

I feel stuck—either I go back to school and struggle financially, or I stay in the trades, make decent money, and regret never trying.

I’m honestly not as sad about going to college early on, if I did, i would have been much more immature and I probably would have picked the wrong major. I think it’s just the fact that making the choice to go back to school NOW is just much more difficult than whenever I was 20. At 20, people don’t care if you’re in school and aren’t making money and broke, because you’re 20. But at 26 and you’re still the same? Yeah, not nearly as accepted. Good luck on dating with that.

Currently looking into CompTIA certs and applying to online only college, but I just don’t know if community college purely online it’s even gonna worth it or if I would have the time. I fear I would burn out while simultaneously working a trade.

You know I just became 22 a week ago,Im 22 years old and still have a sense of aimless direction in life.I feel like whatever choice I make it doesn't matter because it isn't genuine.I remember when I was a kid life seemed to me exciting and full of possibilities,endless with so much things it has to offer.I always believed that life after highschool was to be one which someone's explores the vastness of it,new people,freedom and unlimited potential of what it could be.But in truth,for me it's just purposeless,unexciting and colourless. At the beginning I thought it was because I had no identity,which by that I mean I had no personal lifestyle because it was always led by the other people around me.I thought If I surrounded myself with things I was passionate about or had an essence of personal meaning for me I would finally take back the excitement I had for life when I was younger.But what if I am not meant to lead such a lifestyle? I was passionate about math but I really sucked at it,I was passionate about dota but I never really liked competitive games etc. So,what if I try to lead a life that Im capable of and somewhat like? Then I feel like Im betraying myself.But what if I CHOOSE a life based on preferences I have?Sure that would open some paths but still the commitment I would make to the new things I discovered wouldn't feel genuine.

What choice should I take?

So I'm currently employed by a government agency that recently received a Fork in the Road email from the government (likely Elon Musk and his people) suggesting deferred resignation.

Basically, they offer 8 month of paid leave until September, under Trump's executive order that was recently passed, if I respond with RESIGN.

While I doubt I'll actually get this money (historically Elon didnt pay Twitter workers when he did the same tactic there), it leaves me eager to potentially find a new career as I doubt the security of my current one.

For someone who worked in Customer Service for the Treasury department, what do you think are some good career paths?

I have a Bachelor's in music business and an Associates in music. And 4 years of government experience having one promotion internally. I have a wide career history so I'm not opposed to big shifts in my employment, but I'm a little at a loss for where to go from here.

Any advice would be appreciated as im feeling lost at the moment.

Thank you in advance ☺️

I used to make a good living doing a very mentally demanding job. Any time I wasn't working, I was a zombie, just scrolling on my phone with my mouth gaping and eyes staring into nothing. I wouldn't have the energy to watch a movie after work, even. I resigned and left in June 2023 and have been budgeting strictly and living on saved funds ever since.

I wish to be a friend to people and give them an intimate, human-to-human service. Even if I were qualified to be a psychologist, that's not what I'm looking for. I want to chat with clients online or face-to-face like a friend would. I'd like to give them great advice based on the philosophy and self-help books I read and help them transform and evolve the same way I have since June 2023, instead of allowing myself to be consumed by the pressure of being unemployed with no particular career direction for over 1.5 years. I want to send them encouraging messages a few times a day. This isn't coming from a place of loneliness. I have friends and I have a social life already and I'm that guy. I'm the guy who asks you how you are and actually cares about the answer and thinks deeply about it and reaches out with solutions the next day.

I am very creative. When I was working, I was the guy who'd come up with the "craziest", most out-of-the-box idea that people at first doubt but then works beyond brilliantly. I'm a hard worker, too, often working many extra hours for no extra pay. I am decently good with data and coding, and nowadays I filled in many of my gaps with ChatGPT. I know I'm not a software developer just because I know how to get ChatGPT to help me, but I'm not trying to become a software developer. I'm exceptionally good at tailored, out-of-the-box ideas for difficult problems and need only be that little bit technical in order to make the solution more automated. I created a very basic app to help with what I needed while unemployed based on how my mind works and what I like. I wish to get to know people and to taylor things to them. I feel that I am that guy.

I'm a perfectionist and was always obsessed with automating. I'm the type to invest hours, days, or weeks developing a system so organised that I could keep up with a tonne of clients or subordinates, what stage they're in and what they need with very little effort, as a lot of memory work is done by the system. I really feel like I can have a low price point despite such a tailored service for each client. I believe in my creativity and organisational skills, not to mention how my memory is tuned up tenfold at work since I always take work so seriously.

I want something like this for the introverted market as I myself am an introvert. What's your advice for me?

I (almost mid30sM) am giving myself up to my next birthday to win an orchestra job. I’m simply running out of time, energy and commitment to grind this lifetime goal for much longer.

In anticipation of failing this goal, I foresee I’m going to have a major mental crisis in figuring out what I’ll do professionally. I know pivots are common for many and later in life, but the thought that I failed a lifetime goal brings dreadfully insurmountable feelings of shame, weight in the chest, and aimlessness that I cannot envision living through. I tried studying STEM fields once before to join a lucrative career, but not only was I bad at computer science, I couldn’t learn how to code no matter how meticulously I took notes, consulted mentors, or read textbooks.

Right now I’m considering working for the post office or stocking shelves at Kroger, at least I m blessed with all my limbs.

How others made it forward are appreciated.

Hi, everyone. I'm writing this because I'm truly unsure of what I'm doing and have been expecting regarding my future and would like an outside perspective on my situation. So, basically:

• Junior in college
• Switched my major 3 times (going 4, but unsure of what to change it to) in this order: English to sociology to psychology to ?????
• Loved school and didn't ever imagine myself in an environment outside of school until I had to start to (explore careers postgrad and all of that)
• Always been pretty good with financial and practical math (statistics, accounting, etc.) but found it lackluster. Thrived in the humanities and in research and writing.
• Stressed the fuck out about the future of the workforce and how job demands will look for different professions. Trying to work towards a "funnel career path," meaning I study for a general and hopefully high-demand profession and, through a combination of both experience and further education, narrow my options toward something in line with the specific expertise I would have by that point in time.
• Took a bunch of ChatGPT/O*Net/CareerOneStop career quizzes and was told I was most suitable for research and data-centered professions (Data Analyst, Research Assistant, Statistical Assistant, Researcher, Analyst, etc.)

I've been given the option to design a major with my college's program, which brings me to my question:
What should I study for my undergraduate degree? Should I study something more general, like sociology, and then pursue something more in line with statistics or research for my master's?

Any help is appreciated, of course :)

That's all. If you're reading this, have a wonderful rest of your day.

29F, 75k in savings. I worked in marketing in tech for over 7 years and quit in October with no backup plan because I just couldn’t get myself to care anymore. My job was really well paid and remote. Which I know many people would love to have. But day in and day out of sitting alone in my room working to market something I don’t care about really crushed my spirit.

I quit hoping to have time to explore alternate career paths, but I’m still feeling really lost as to how best to do this. I’m also feeling kind of stagnant in the city I’ve lived in for almost 7 years now as well. Wondering if should move, travel a bit, or focus on trying to find the next job. With the state of the world and economy I’m feeling nervous about just kind of twiddling my thumbs looking for my “purpose” and wonder if should go back to a marketing role just at a company with a mission I care more about, to at least have an income while I keep exploring options.

The thing is nothing is really calling to me clearly. I don’t feel super passionate about marketing as a field it’s just where I ended up. I don’t like the idea of spending a career selling people things. I want to have more of an impact and try to make a difference in some way. One career path I’m considering is mental health counseling but I know it’s a lot of schooling and work to get there and not necessarily the easiest job. What I do like about it is that there’s no expectations of being ambitious in the sense of climbing a career ladder because that’s not something I necessarily desire (like, I have no desire to be a CMO).

I’m also passionate about creativity and the arts, sustainability, nature, and reading/ learning.

In retrospect it was probably not wise to quit my job like this with no plan, but I can’t change that now. So… do I go more fully into exploration, travel, etc. , give up my apartment, look into moving? Trust that if I go more fully into exploration I will get breadcrumbs that can lead to positive change? Or focus on finding stable income again first and risk still feeling very stagnant and purposeless?

Any insights here appreciated. I know I’m in a very privileged position to even be asking those questions, and yes I am also taking active steps to work on my mental health. But this is where I’m at and I’d love to see if anyone has similar experiences they can share.

I’m currently a NEET right now living with my parents, but I have a bachelors degree in product design, trilingual, dual citizenship and can use 3D softwares like Maya, rhino, and blender and a couple add ons like adobe suite. I’ve only been working temp jobs ranging from retail to admin work but they’re becoming less and less frequent. Plus the five year gap on my resume I’m afraid I won’t be able to get a job in my field ever. Lately I’ve been thinking of doing cybersecurity but open to suggestions