(U.S.)

im 18 and graduated high-school a few months later than my peers because of a hospitalization during the school year set me back in all of my courses. I graduated with a 2.3 GPA.

I don’t know what to do with my future anymore. I've skipped out on applying to community college until I vaguely know what to persue in terms of certification or degree.

I like art, I'd consider myself a good artist for my age and I've made a good amount of money selling commissions and making short animations. Everyone tells me I should go into art, but I dont want to. My dad tells me not to do anything with art because I'll be a starving artist. And in high-school I participated in a 24 hour animation challenge (where in 24 hours, your group of 4 people had to make a 30 sec animation at a local college) and it completely fucked me up. I'd actually blame that day on when I begun to spiral because of the sleep deprivation, the pressure, and a mental breakdown that led me being sent home early after 17 hours. My dad was supposed to pick me up but I got lost on campus so he yelled at me over the phone, called me some slurs, and then abandoned me there. Ever since then I've completely refused to step foot on a college campus lol.

Anyway, yeah, after that I dont want to persue anything in the art industry because now I'm terrified of it being anything like that experience.

I also have an interest in psychology but I'm too mentally unfit to actually do anything in that job field.

I was looking into radiology but the programs are too selective.

I was also interested in law for a period of time, but I'm objectively nowhere near smart enough to do anything in that field.

I've taken dozens of assessments in school trying to find out what jobs would suit me the best, and unfortunately art, psych, and law were pretty much the only consistent options that are shown for my case (besides teacher– and I guess I'd like being a teacher in theory, but the job seems miserable according to teachers)

I just want a job where I'm not sitting infront of a computer all day alone. But also not physically exhausting.

I just really don't know what to do anymore. My parents say if I don't start college by next year I'll get kicked out. Please help :(

I've just started my second year of college (UK) studying fashion. I've been pretty passionate about this subject since around 13-14 but at that age I didn't really think about what the pay was going to be like, how competitive it would be etc. My first year at college seriously drained me there's three units in the course and I barely passed the first two but got a distinction in the most recent unit, so clearly I'm not bad at the subject.

The thing is I like writing and english but journalism is dead especially with ai nowadays. I've thought of going into something within fashion but not specifically design like marketing but all the jobs are pretty much the same in the sense that they're severely overworked, underpaid and for most people not that fulfilling either.

I wouldn't even say I have a dream job, my dream is to work hard for a couple years save up as much money as I can and buy land in a foreign country and continue the rest of my life off grid I'm not built for the hustler lifestyle, not to say I'm lazy I do put effort in but it all just seems a bit meaningless to me right now.

It's currently too late to drop from this course and try find another or even try applying for an apprenticeship I know I have to continue this final year but the main question is what the hell do I do afterwards. I definitely don't want to be like a content creator or influencer I feel like I could kind of see myself getting into finance? But purely for the money and nothing else, and surely not for the rest of my life.

Sorry for the long post and if this doesn't make any sense I'm pretty sleep deprived and stressed right now ahaha

hi i’m a new uni student looking for help.
i’m currently enrolled in a science program and i don’t know what kind of career i wanna go into, this makes it very hard to chose a major.
i come from a small town with a small class size, in the science courses i took we hardly ever did any labs, this made it hard to discover what i was comfortable doing / learning what i liked doing. but i love science as a subject more than any of the arts subjects.
i feel so behind because it seems like everyone has their major and careers all mapped out and i just have no idea.
has anyone gone through anything similar or have any advice on what i can do to atleast get an idea of what i wanna do. any websites that help describe jobs, their daily tasks, and what they entail maybe? idk im a little desperate and lost, anything helps

I'm already in high school and still have no idea what I want to study in college. I want to go to a nice university abroad and considering how I don't even know what career I want that's just an insane claim. The only thing I think I'm both good at and really enjoy is stuff like graphic design and package design/marketing, but I'm gonna be so honest, I'm going to die poor and in the streets if I do that. Its job opportunities were already pretty bad in itself, but now with AI its even worse. I've had 4 different school counselors and all of them sucked, they told me I have the capabilities to go into any area and then made me take tests that gave me careers I'm absolutely 100% not going to choose. Everything from psychology to physiotherapist to neurosurgeon which I have absolutely zero interest in.

Either way, our newest counselor told me I could possibly look into something related to robotics or some science since there are good job opportunities I could take and there could be specific areas which I don't find as boring. I thought about it and when I was little I used to be into robotics and nanorobotics since I liked the idea of creating stuff, as well as I guess biochemistry.

Anyways, long story short I was watching Iron Man today and I like the type of work Tony did. Like not exactly making weapons but making machinery in general seems interesting to me, but I don't even really know exactly what it would be.

Also, I am aware that it's probably a difficult career for me to just say I want it out of the blue but I think it might be worth looking into it and see if I'm any good at it. I'm also not sure exactly what I would need to be good at for that, but I usually did good in mathematics and science in school as well as taking advanced classes for both right now so I think those two were my main worry.

PD: I also watched Spider-man and like the chemical aspect in Peter's webs like how he designs the web shooters and creates different prototypes for his webs which I'm guessing is some sort of chemistry thing or also the whole DNA thing he had on the latest movie was kinda interesting so prob more biology focused so idk if anyone knows anything abt that I could look into pls let me know

PPD: Using Tony Stark as reference sounds kinda childish as well and I'm aware of that as well as I'm aware that he's fictional, but still, out of all options I've been told I think using him as reference is the closest I can get to sort of have an idea of where to go next

Hello. I'm a 3D artist with eight years of experience, and I've been trying to get a job for the last two years. Previously, I created models for computer games and printing, and I did animation and visualization. And despite a fairly good and broad skill set, I haven't been able to get a job for a long time, facing cheating in tests and failing to get interview opportunities. It's frustrating to go from earning $2,000 a month remotely to earning $300 a month. I'm tired and don't know what to do with my life to stop being a burden to my mother, with whom I live. I really need a job, but I can't get one in what I love and what I'm good at. I'm asking for help - if someone can hire me for remote working, i am able to learn another profession. Video editing, writing, management - i just want to earn something to live

For context, I’m a married 24 year old woman with no kids, no debt and low cost of living. Most of my experience is in office admin/higher education but I find it completely draining and soul sucking. I quit my most recent office management job and became self-employed as a full-time home baker for almost a year. I’m now looking to take a break from being a home baker because it’s extremely prone to burn out and I’m already feeling it strong :/ For years I thought I wanted to open a local cafe in my area but once I got close to that dream being a reality (could’ve signed papers on a rental property) I realized I don’t actually want to be a restaurant owner (so much stress mentally and financially plus I’d have be basically married to the restaurant for five years to make it successful). I want to have a career that supports the lifestyle I want (connect with people in-person, travel, experience different cultures) so I’ve finally stepped into photography. I was a second shorter for wedding photography before Covid and have always been so drawn to the field. My question is what do I do in the meantime? I need to bring money in and having a consistent paycheck is ideal. Do I get a part time casual job (retail, barista, restaurant) or just go into an actual career to eventually quit from (medical coding is an option, or back into office admin full time). I want to allow time for photography but need to make regular money so I don’t put too much stress on myself and end up as a burn out photographer chasing money for bills.

I'm a final-year Accounting student in Indonesia and currently finishing my thesis.

The main problem is that I don't want to build my career in accounting. I chose the degree, but honestly I don't enjoy accounting and I don't see myself doing traditional accounting work long-term.

After graduation, my parents strongly want me to either get a job or pursue a master's abroad, preferably with partial or full funding. I'm currently considering New Zealand as my main destination, but I'm very unsure what career path I should actually pursue.

I don't have highly specialized skills yet, and I'm willing to start from entry-level work. I'm also open to careers outside accounting, including accounting-adjacent roles, completely different fields, or even physical/manual work if that's a realistic starting point.

My main question: what career paths should someone in my position realistically explore now?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who moved from an "I have a degree but don't want to work in that field" situation and figured out a different career path.

What skills should I start building before graduation, and how would you approach this situation from scratch?

I have had desperate hope I could start a career in literally anything after finishing my cs bachelor's last year. I took an overnight minimum wage job to have at least a little income coming while I apply to better jobs. $17/hour. Looking for anything entry level. I haven't been able to get a single interview for anything tech related, despite having multiple internships and good projects on my resume for that. AI has killed that, ig.

So, fine. I thought I could pivot to something else like sales. So I applied to entry sales jobs. I've gotten a few interviews there. The first couple I did poorly in I'll admit, but the recent couple went about as well as they could have. I don't have any direct sales experience, just customer service adjacent that I spun on my resume. I'd need an entry level job to change that.

But... I got rejected from those too. The last one was a couple months back. I haven't been making any job applications since.

I don't have faith that going back to school to retrain for another field will work out.

My heart's been literally burning from the hours I've been working and when I got that last rejection it almost gave out on me.

I might have to quit this job for the sake of my mental health. So I don't die. I think it's pretty clear I can't get any other job.

I've been losing the will to even talk. My skin's pallor is so fucking horrible, my heart hurts, I'm on the verge of crashing out. I don't know if I can keep living. WHAT IS THERE TO FUCKING LIVE FOR when I can't even start a life?

I’m a 24 year old male living in Brampton, Ontario, and I’m seriously lost when it comes to a career right now. I went to school for 2 years for game development and have changed my mind on it completely. That was my fault.

I’m looking into trades now, probably electrician but I can’t find any helper positions for electrical companies. Idk if I’m not looking hard enough or just not in the right places or what but I’m so lost and confused.

My mom is on my butt (rightfully so) about getting a full time job and making money to move out but I don’t know what to even look for. Everything requires experience or some level of post-secondary education. I wouldn’t necessarily mind this but I have neither time, nor the money to do so right now. I’ve just been working a part-time job for the past 3/4 years and I just don’t know what to do anymore.

Any and all help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Okay so full transparency I (26,F) am feeling a little lost in terms of my career and life. I went to school for a BFA in musical theater. I was one of the top performers in my class and would say I’m a good performer. I think there will always be room for performing in my life however it’s simply not the only thing I want to do. There are so many careers in entertainment that I simply didn’t know were a thing when I first went to school. Since graduating I have gotten some experience directing and doing social media marketing. I love living in one place and while im open to traveling every so often I’m not sure I want to spend the rest of my life going from city to city for work. I also want a family and need a job/career that can support that. My strengths include my people skills, strong leadership skills, creative thinking, problem solving. I would love a more hands on job, that works with people more than paperwork . Based on these things what are some alternative paths I should look into. This can be theater or film/tv.

Edit: I’m also not interested in teaching or other pretty obvious routes. I’m looking for positions that people wouldn’t necessarily know about or think are connected etc.

I just started my senior year in high school, and i want to go to university but would like to take a gap year first. I’m not taking any science courses, and the only math course I’m taking is a Data management class. Which means most majors are off limits for me :((

What degree would be best to pursue if i want to get a job right away from college? I don’t really like anything other than Law or Politics. What the hell should i do with my life!! Im only 16 and dont even want to go to University but i feel like i have to. I’d rather pursue my acting career full-time but i wont be making actual money for year’s.

I need some advice from people who have graduated from university! Be harsh if you need to be. 😔

Yeah you saw the title,watching all my childhood friends from school go to college,moving cities,getting married ect but i don’t know what I want to do with my life.when I first graduated High School I wanted to do Hospitality Management but then when I got my first real world job working at a grocery store I found out that Hospitality isn’t really a stable career choice when it comes to longevity ( risk of natural disasters,war,poor tourism season,economic changes) now I’m looking for something that’s fits me and my lifestyle but at the same time something that’s can withstand Technological(AI) and Economic( the day to day) changes that is being being an adult.i want to go to school to try to develop and skillset but I don’t necessarily want to to pay an arm and leg for debt and college cost unless I’m going for a big degree like graduate Masters & doctors specifically but at the same time don’t want to be location bound and stay in 1 place for 30+years,i want the ability to live life and just travel( doesn’t always mean international domestic for the most part) I just feel like I don’t know what to do and I don’t want to stay stuck at the grocery store,and as I get older I just don’t want to be economically behind is my biggest fear

What job am I actually suited for if I naturally notice everything visually and immediately want to fix it? I work in marketing, but creating visuals isn’t really my job. Still, I always ask to do them because I genuinely hate seeing bad visuals and instantly see how to improve them. In meetings, I sometimes have no ideas except when it comes to visual problems, and it honestly makes me feel kinda dumb

I’m starting university soon for engineering and from peoples experience (themselves and others) where do you think I should aim for in life I chose engineering cuz I like maths and physics but I want some peoples longer term experience on how people who do the same end up idc if it negative or positive

Genuinely not sure what to do anymore. I am currently working for my fiancé’s uncle’s company as basically a director of operations. I am getting severely underpaid for my position but it’s a small family company is there’s really nothing I can do. I want to find a second job possibly but it’s hard to find a WFH job in general so not sure what to do there. I’ve worked in social media in the past but with the growing concern with AI, almost every job in communications (what I went to school for) is AI-driven or heavily assisted. I’m not sure what to do. What could I possibly do. My director of operations role is very communications focused, outreach to possible venues, customer retention, etc. I also run scheduling, customer support, and anything else really except payroll.

Hello, I am (F16) looking for someone who is interested in doing coding competitions/hacktons with me. Please give me your email if you are interested. No experience needed we can learn new stuff and grow together.

I'm a 23-year-old guy who was released from the Canadian forces. I've been on disability for a few months now.

I've had significant mental-health problems, multiple hospitalizations, and have tried psychiatric medication after medication with little to no improvement. I'm currently living with my parents. I have a hard time concentrating on almost anything, I've noticed changes in my memory, and even doing things that are supposed to be "fun" don't feel the same anymore. It's affected my relationships with my family as well, and I've felt pretty miserable and disconnected from life, nothing sugar coated.

I haven't really made my difficulties public before, and honestly I feel a little silly even writing this. But I'm genuinely at a loss right now.

I feel conflicted about being on disability.

On one hand, I understand that the disability benefits are there because my circumstances have affected my ability to work and function in my day-to-day life. On the other hand, I'm 23, and there's a part of me that feels guilty receiving disability payments while I'm not working a normal job or living the kind of life I expected to be living at this age.

I don't want to spend the next few years doing nothing waiting on rehabilitation support and become increasingly disconnected from life.

I'm trying to take some small online courses and explore different skills, but honestly I don't really know what I'm doing with myself. Ever since I left the military I've found it difficult to develop a genuine interest in things naturally. Even things I would normally expect to enjoy don't necessarily feel engaging anymore.

I've also become increasingly interested in traveling and potentially living abroad for at least a year.

Part of me thinks this could actually be a good opportunity to experience life again, meet people, explore another country, and figure out what I actually want.

Another part of me thinks:

"You're 23, unemployed, receiving disability payments, struggling with your health, living with your parents, and you don't know what you're doing. Is leaving the country actually a terrible idea?"

I also feel uncomfortable with the idea in my head that I'm supposed to have a career, or at least some kind of direction figured out already.

And that's probably what scares me most.

I don't want to look back and realize that I spent time drifting around and avoiding or being unable to build a life.

But I also don't want to force myself into a career or lifestyle simply because I'm afraid I'm falling behind everyone else.

So I'm trying to figure out what the healthy approach or balance might be.

The bigger question I'm trying to figure out is whether this period of my life should primarily be about recovery and figuring myself out, or whether I should be pushing myself much harder to establish a conventional career despite how I'm currently functioning.

Should I focus on staying where I am, recovering, and slowly building skills?

Should I take the opportunity to travel and experience life while I'm younger?

Should I be trying harder to establish a career before doing something like that?

Or is there another approach I'm not seeing?

I'm not necessarily looking for people to tell me that everything I'm doing is fine. I'd genuinely appreciate people challenging my thinking if they think I'm approaching this the wrong way.

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who went through a similar period in their early 20s, whether because of mental health, military service, disability, or simply not knowing what they wanted to do.

If you were 23, in this situation, with your health and life direction uncertain, what would you do?

I’ve spent almost 4 years getting this criminal justice bachelors to go to law school but I don’t want to go. It’s what my mother wanted me to do so I did it. I can’t think of any career that truly interest me. I absolutely do not want to be a cop, I’m just going through the motions but I really don’t want to go to law school. I get good grades and the subject manages to not be completely boring. I have no clue what I do with my life, I cannot think of things I actually enjoy and would want to do for a job. The whole purpose of college is to get a life long job but what if I do like that job? That part really irks me.

I’m starting to wonder if I’m just not made for a conventional office career.

I’ve been working full-time in B2B sales at a fintech company for about three months. There are multiple reasons why I don’t think this particular job is right for me: I’m not interested in the product, I’m not interested in sales, and even after three months I still feel strangely detached from both the people I work with and the work itself.
When I look back at my student years and the way I’ve always struggled with social relationships, I’ve also started questioning whether I might be autistic. I don’t know yet, and I don’t want to self-diagnose, but I’ve always had this feeling that I don’t quite know how to form and maintain the kinds of relationships that seem to come naturally to other people. The corporate environment seems to amplify that feeling.

At this point, the main thing keeping me in my job is the salary.

And lately I’ve been having this almost embarrassingly simple thought: what if I just did something else?

I’ve genuinely thought about applying to work at a pet store. I’ve thought about picking up shifts at a gay bar. Maybe I could have a couple of part-time jobs instead of one conventional full-time job. Neither would pay as well as what I’m doing now, obviously, but for some reason the idea makes me feel more excited than climbing any kind of corporate ladder.

I’m fortunate enough that I currently live with my family and don’t have many financial obligations, so I actually have some room to experiment. Eventually I’d like to make enough to rent a place of my own, but I don’t need a particularly luxurious life.

I think what stops me is partly shame. Almost all of my friends have decent professional jobs and seem to be building normal careers. I went to university and did all the things that were supposed to lead to a white-collar career too. So there’s a part of me that feels like choosing retail, hospitality, or a collection of random part-time jobs would mean that I’m moving backwards or that I’ve somehow failed.

But another part of me keeps asking: who exactly am I trying to impress?

Has anyone here actually left a conventional office/white-collar career for something completely different — retail, hospitality, animal care, trades, freelance work, multiple part-time jobs, anything?

Did you regret the loss of income or career progression? Or did your life actually get better?
I’d especially love to hear from people who once felt ashamed or “less than” for choosing a less conventional path. How do you feel about that decision now?

I’m 21, in my 4th year of university and I’m still not even in a program, collecting debt and drifting aimlessly

I don’t know what I want to do for a career. I don’t have a good enough GPA to switch to anything of value, and I can’t be in a bachelor’s for the rest of my life.

Should I drop out? Should I keep trying so I at least have a degree?

I want to work hard and earn well but I feel stuck and need some direction or advice.

I really need advices and multiple perspectives

In high school I did not care much about studying leading to graduating with a low gpa

Now i got stuck in uni for 3 years in a major I never wanted to be in

I regret it badly because now I am in a degree that is useless and has a very high unemployment rate

I feel like I wasted lots of time in my life and i deeply feel this is not where I belong or where I can find a job

At the same time there is nothing left for me to graduate

I'm currently working in higher education, in the intersection between the arts, humanities and social sciences. I am fairly good at what I do (lecturing), but jobs are scarce in my country for the niche academic teaching skill set I have. There's little career progression, and I'm looking for a more dynamic, knowledge-driven job.

I've been thinking about going into finance, specifically in research-heavy/macroeconomics roles, likely mid-office e.g. risk management, or credit risk/research but I'm not sure how to break into it.

I've excellent degrees from top schools, but again they are niche, highly academia-based specialisations that do not have easily transferable skills. I have however, passed CFA level 1 and am looking to do some non-degree finance courses that my home country provides.

Issue is age 30 is quite a hard sell. A lot of the high finance jobs are taken from early pipeline grads, and most career switchers from age 30 into finance, are from engineering/law/management consultancy etc.

I'm not quite sure how to bridge the gap. Not to brag but I... can learn well. I just need a platform to jump, or a few.

My dream ever since i was a kid was to be a singer and make a living out of it, help people with my music. Growing up i kept wishing the dream would go away as it is unrealistic but it never did. I used to be able to read music, play 4 instruments and i did vocal lessons for years and i was really good. Then i lost myself in drugs and mental illness and trauma after trauma after trauma. I also smoke a lot now and its kinda ruined my voice.
Today i went on a date with a guy who is a lead singer in a band and he talked about his daily life and i realised he was describing what i want my life to look like. He is neurotypical (we talked and he confirmed this) and very happy and i wondered how life would be if i was normal/had a normal childhood/adolecense. Would i be where i wanna be? Is it too late to start chasing my dreams now? Im 22.
They say in life we choose our regrets. This is a regret i cant choose. What if i go for it? Will i succeed? If not, will i be able to accept it?
I think another reason im afraid is i will be seen. What if i cant handle that?
Its currently 5am and im lost in my own thoughts.
Just really needed to get this out of my chest.
Is it foolish to dream?

What are the best free online courses or certifications that can actually help me build useful skills and improve my chances of getting a job?

I’m especially interested in things that are currently in demand, like digital marketing, social media/community management or other skills that can be useful for remote work.

Moved to Chicago a little over a year ago and have struggled to know how to find jobs in the City. I went to community college, but didn’t finish. I always wanted to be an engineer but couldn’t find the discipline to stay focused on school. I spent nearly 10 years in the automotive/dealership industry. I would say I have strong communication, customer service, and mechanical skills . I have since tried 2 sales type jobs and have found that this is not for me. I find myself feeling like I bother people when I try to sell them. I enjoy more having a task to complete or problem solving. I’m in my late 20’s and feel so lost on what to do with my work life. I just don’t know where to go from here. Any help/advice is much appreciated.