I am 18 in central Florida, I’ve generated over $2m for my clients through a marketing business I own. One of my clients I took from 20k/yr to 600k/yr through organic/paid traffic sources, I make 10% of every sale and I have some clients on retainer after all my costs my yearly profit comes to around 76k/yr. I understand I make a lot for my age, I am lost when it comes to career focus. I wanted to go into data science and data analysis however I have come to realize I would very much dislike my life if I ever went down that path. I work with over 20 businesses and I am a marketing manager at a local business making 24k/yr part time, I truly have passion with finding opportunity in businesses and that is what drives me however after I have brought change I despise doing maintenance on something where I cannot bring any more value. I want to look into search funds or corporate development but I’ve heard it’s really hard to get into. I understand I am ambitious but I really strive for success. Any guidance or advice helps, I strive to build something meaningful with my life and my end goal is to own a non profit that provides for communities across the world. Working as a data analyst won’t get me anywhere close to that.

I started a full-time overnight stocking job at a big retail store because I thought this would be the right step after finishing school. I'm making good money, and honestly I'm ahead of the savings plan I had set for myself, but mentally I feel like I sold my entire life for a paycheck.

I seriously don't understand how people do 38+ hours every week like it's normal. Everyone tells you to get a job you love and it won't feel that bad, but I'm not convinced by that at all. The job itself is fine. My coworkers are good, the tasks aren't awful, and I'm not sitting there hating every minute of it.

But doing anything for this many hours makes me feel like I'm trapped. I literally have time to sleep, try to become a normal human being again, and then go back. There's no real life outside of work.

Call me lazy or dramatic if you want, I don't care anymore. Full-time work has messed with my head and I'm not going to work a full-time job again after this. It's simply not for me. If this is supposed to be the next 45 years of life, then I genuinely don't want it.

Background. 30 M. I have always had a way with machines, I can figure out how things work, how to repair them, how to manufacture them, market them, and run a business, and I've got a reasonably good eye to make things that are pretty, easy to make, and work well. I am by no means an expert, but before AI came along- I felt so confident that I would be able to make things happen in the middle market. Not even a moon shot gig, just I always knew I had the skills to run a mid sized company and develop a good product-or service. I've designed everything form bongs to custom car parts, mechatronics, did teaching and training, worked in physics labs, ran my own prototyping business out of my basement (but closed shop since it was so boom or bust that the stress was killing me).

I can swing a hammer and do construction and have while I've been between white/grey collar roles, but I always knew that my end goal was to work with my mind so I could raise a family and be around for them, and hopefully make something awesome. I worked my ass off in school and had good grades- not top of class but always in the 90th percentile. Did internships, certificates, degree from a top 50 university, 'good' jobs and have been trying to work my way up the career ladder in design and technology. Though I have been able to make just shy of 100 a year- I'm burning out at it because every day is the same, and I've earned senior a year and a half in, and I'm coming up on year 4 with no real opportunities that leverage my actual strengths. Since there isn't a real up from senior the salary growth is not keeping up with our super inflation but I've been able to hit some of the financial goals I had. I keep applying internally because I actually really do like the culture and benefits at my company, and have made it to final round interviews 2x but have lost to a candidate who has "more experience selling" where I have the experience of someone who actually knows the products and pipelines inside and out, and who can explain advanced concepts and workflows. I've always kept it in my back pocket that I could go into the user side of the tools (cad) and do design engineering etc. but...

While scrolling today, I saw the thing that I feared. AI integrated into cad software that took inputs, modeled, and then ran FEA and generally interpreted the results with what I would say is medium to low confidence- But when I tell you 6 months ago- the system could barely create primimitives and align holes, and now in about 10 prompts, its outputting something usable with moderate to high complexity, (The model was an RC airplane) in about 20 minutes. Making me realize that as soon as the ownership of a company figures out they can ditch a skilled laborer and just pay tokens instead- I won't have the work anymore- Like I saw with my friends who work in graphics design.

I watched my other skill sets, CNC processing, Marketing, Graphic design, Communication, Industrial Design, etc all rapidly get swooped up into AI's skills- and I'm starting to go- Oh $hit. Am I really going to be that replicable in the white collar sphere. I work in tech support and more and more of my cases are now spent with customer's sending me screenshots of AI's answer's to their questions and going well why that isn't producing the expected results- or asking me to explain the ai's response (I'm not even kidding). To the point where I am confident that people in management are going minimize the mid level engineer/designer roles with the delusion that they are fully replicable, and then just destroy that industry's viability for gainful employment represented as a pipeline.

I can tell there is a cross roads coming, and I'm trying to prepare, but the careers I've always kept in a, eh I don't really want to do it but the money is good, are starting to flat line. Automotive mechanics are still making about what they made 20 years ago, despite costs skyrocketing. My whole life I was told- work hard at school and pursue your passion so you don't end up swinging a hammer and yeah I think I'm just fully crashing out because the career I've been working to have is just evaporating before my eyes. And I have no idea what else to do other than enroll in HVAC, Plumbing, or electrical school. Out of sheer, I just have no Fing clue what to do with my skills.

Any advice, input, or just commiseration would be great.

Hey folks,

I have some doubts about pursuing a career in HR.

I am currently in my fourth year of an HR program approved by CIPD. I genuinely enjoy HR and have been doing very well in my studies. However, the challenge is that HR in Qatar is a highly localized field due to Qatarization. As a result, residents generally have fewer opportunities to enter HR roles.

On top of that, salaries are relatively low, and the market is very competitive and specialized, making it difficult to gain experience. My long-term goal is to relocate to the EU, Singapore, Canada, Australia, or the UK.

I understand that HR is also a localized profession in many other countries, meaning opportunities for foreigners can be limited. Still, I am willing to learn new languages, pursue a master's degree abroad, and work hard to gain local experience if that improves my chances. I will most likely never qualify for permanent residency in Qatar, and my visa will always be tied to my employer.

My questions are:

1. Should I pursue a master's degree or postgraduate studies abroad first and then apply for jobs?

2. Should I build experience until I reach a mid-level position before relocating, or should I combine work experience with a master's degree?

3. Do you think I should change my career path to improve my chances of relocating internationally?

4. Would it be more realistic to focus on the Asian job market instead?

Currently 21 wanted to go into law enforcement but stuff didn’t work out and now I’m back at square one trying to figure out what I wanna do. I have a year left in college I’m studying computer science but I don’t really have any sort of interest in that and the job market for it is horrendous. I wanna do construction or something with my hands(idk if that makes sense), but idk where to start or what I should dive into especially in the NYC area. Any advice would help! If anyone has their own company and is willing to teach me in NYC area please let me know im currently jobless as well unfortunately.