Hello everyone, I am 26 and I’ve been working at my company for close to three years. I currently work as a fleet supervisor and am responsible for everything around the trucks. I currently make 75K in the northeast, which isn’t enough for my wife and I to live comfortably. I often find myself down because I have no trade and no skill. I am in line for a promotion, but that will only put me at 90 K, which is not enough in my area. I have always been interested in exploring the concept of going into business for my self one day but at this point it doesn’t look likely as I have no skill. About once a month I go into these existential crisis about joining a training, school or something. I don’t know.

regardless of pay
what job did you enjoy the most?

I’d love to hear some good stories to get motivated

I’m 40. I finished a BS in Computer Science in 2024. I have 20 months of internship experience in the field. I have a BFA in Fine Arts from 2008.

My internship ran out and I wasn’t offered full employment. I’m having a tough time finding a job. I turned down a job last year because my job at my internship was supposed to be guaranteed and I didn’t want to move cross country if I didn’t need to.

I feel like age discrimination has been a huge problem but I don’t know how to get around it.

So i applied for the role of Executive Assistant (or PA) in a startup, gave the interview and he selected me instantly. He was already impressed by my resume and was looking forward to the interview, i could feel that.

But the part where this gets shady is — all of his employees are working online and i will be the only female to be in the office with him. That too it's located in a different city than my hometown. He said he will pay for the travel expenses (flight tickets) but i will have to join immediately. Should I go forward with this role? Does anybody have any suggestions or opinions on this?

I’m finishing up my military career after 9 years as a mechanic. Over time I realized that line of work isn’t for me (too much wasted time, but that’s another story).

I already have an associate’s in Information Technology with an A+ certification, and I’m working on my bachelor’s in Network Engineering plus more certs. I’ll be moving to Dallas at the end of the year. I know I can land an entry level IT job, and I’m not worried about pay right now, my focus is getting experience.

That said, I keep hearing that the job market is rough (partly feels like politics, but I get that some of it is real). So as a backup, I’ve been considering using the GI Bill to go to school. Something like radiology tech or medical equipment tech appeals to me since the medical field is always hiring, and I don’t see myself becoming a doctor or nurse.

What I’d like to know: If you had 2 years of school fully covered, tuition, rent, and bills, what career paths would you consider, especially ones people might overlook? I tend to prefer working more independently, but I can handle teamwork if needed. Just not sure I’d thrive in an office with 6 other people everyday all day per se

I’ve been working on an idea and wanted to get some feedback. Imagine a platform where you could “rent a day” with a professional not in a weird way, but in the sense of shadowing them and experiencing their real day-to-day life.

For example: You spend a day with a chef, not just learning recipes, but actually being in the kitchen, watching how they manage chaos, prep, and create. Or you spend a day with an architect, seeing how their ideas move from sketch to reality.

The idea is to turn “theory” into “experience.” Instead of just watching YouTube videos or reading guides, you get to actually live a day in that world.

Do you think people would be interested in this? Would you personally want to “rent a day” with someone in a profession you admire or are curious about?

Long story short I have been with a company about a year. Have been promised a promotion for the last 6 months. In that time 8/10 off colleagues have left. We have a horrible manager. I’ve taken on so many AORs and have been working up to an additional 20 hours a week.

I feel instead of promoting me they are expecting me to work at the lesser rate forever and not give me the title change. I’ve started looking elsewhere. Last month I submitted my notice. All of a sudden now everything is “in motion” for me to move up they stated they were going to pair me with the training manager to get me ready for promotion this was said to be competed asap. That was 2 weeks ago and still nothing.

I turned down the alternate job and now seriously regret it. I will not make this mistake again.

Can anyone shed light on what they have experienced similar or advice on how to overcome this? I am interviewing for a new role again and this time I am not going to submit a notice. Any advice is welcome!

I came out of school in 2014 with no degree. I didn't know what to do so I followed my sister's footsteps and went to temp agencies. Until now they've never given me a chance for anything but factory work, no matter where I asked.

I hate doing the same mind dumbing task for 8hs and how it has killed my brain cells over the years. I hate having to chitchat to pass the time. I hate having to work with machines. I hate the social pressures with constantly being around other people.

I'm naturally good at decision making and problem solving, I'm logical and pedantic with a profound respect for rules. I don't belong in a factory. Everybody I worked with knows I don't belong there. Doing this for so many years has made me so unfulfilled and depressed that I simply have no energy for these jobs anymore so in the last few years I kept getting fired.

I havn't worked in 6 months now because I don't know what to do. I can't keep begging for jobs I despise but I don't know how/where else to proceed.

I have ADHD. Reason why I dropped out and why customer service is out of the question.

I'm stuck choosing my next path.

In school, I did Arduino projects with Python and really liked it. I built a bunch of projects like an automated gate system, automated lighting, an automated dice game, etc.

At home, I've been learning cybersecurity on platforms like HackTheBox, TryHackMe, and PortSwigger Labs and i like that too

I started my career in IT in October of 2022. I was at Spectrum for about 2.5 months then went to an MSP in January of 2023, where I’ve been up until now. I started in the NOC, got promoted to NOC II, then to a level 2 helpdesk technician role (system administrator). I’m so burnt out from MSP work. We have a 30 hour a week billable expectation. I have no problems hitting 30 hours a week, I even exceed the expectation and sometimes hit in the 40’s. We get bonuses if our quarterly averages are above 30 hours, so I’d need to average 32.5 hours a week for an entire quarter if I wanted to take a week off in order for that quarter’s average to be 30.

I technically have unlimited time off because I’m salaried but I still stress about taking time off because the billable expectation is always in the back of my mind, and also because I fucked around and became important at my job so I’m the one person they rely on for a certain task. I’m pretty sure I’m OCD and/or autistic (undiagnosed), and I don’t trust anyone to do what I do correctly, which is also why I have a hard time taking time off. I have high functioning depression (diagnosed) but there’s only so much more I can take. The grind of hitting 30 hours a week is fucking exhausting.

There are so many incompetent people at this company, ranging from upper management, to everyone in the middle, and to the NOC (entry level lowest position). ESPECIALLY THE NOC. My company’s leadership (or lack thereof) is so frustrating and I just want out. I know every company has their downsides but here it just seems horrible. Maybe it’s that way because this is the longest job I’ve ever held as a 25-year-old. I’m so burnt out but I don’t know what to do in terms of a different job or career. I don’t even know what path I want to take, like network administrator, cybersecurity, etc, or even if I want to stay in IT. I make decent money for my education and experience (relative to where I live) but I don’t know if I’ll get it as good anywhere else. I also feel like I have impostor syndrome, so that doesn’t help.

I also just recently spruced up my résumé and have been applying elsewhere just for shits n giggles and have an interview at a place tomorrow but I’ve read on Glassdoor that the reviews of the place are less than ideal… Any advice, suggestions, or thoughts are welcome. Thanks in advance!

I’m just feeling completely and totally lost. I went to college for video game design. After I graduated, I got an internship at a VFX studio startup doing VFX work, which worked out great until the pandemic hit and then the studio went under.

I got a job at a video game studio doing design work, which was fine. I ended up switching back to VFX because I liked the work more. That worked out for 2 years and then I was laid off due to the writer’s strike.

To pay the bills, I took a job as a leasing agent (because there’s literally no work anywhere in either industry) and I’m trying to figure out what the heck I’m doing with my life. VFX was super fun and I loved it but there is literally no work. Nothing. So realistically I have to pivot and do something else. If anyone has literally any kinds of suggestions, please share.

Things I enjoy or have skills in:

-Working with people -3D modeling -Spreadsheets -Content creation -Production/project management -Vintage clothes/fashion -Customer service -Light coding skills (Python, JavaScript)

I’ve been toying around with so many ideas; going back to school for something else, switching gears and becoming a lawyer, getting into marketing or project management … but honestly I’m just plain lost. Send help, y’all :’)

Hi everyone,
I could really use some outside perspective on my job situation.

I started working at a startup this January as an HR Generalist. When I accepted, the pay was lower than I wanted, but I had been out of the workforce for 2 years and decided to take it for the experience. Once I joined, I realized the workload was even heavier than I expected. The company has been around 10 years but never had proper HR policies—so a lot of things are being built from scratch.

The compensation conversation

In March (still in probation), I brought up compensation, hoping for a small increase eventually. Looking back, I realize that was a strategic mistake asking so early. Nothing came of it, but I did notice other people getting raises just by asking, which made me feel encouraged at the time.

Issues with my manager

Since then, my manager has been… difficult. She didn’t onboard me properly, rarely answers my questions, and sometimes makes me look like I’m not doing my job correctly—when in reality I just don’t have the necessary information. I eventually raised this (carefully) to her manager, framing it as “I want to learn more from her, she’s very knowledgeable” rather than complaining. After that, my manager actually apologized and admitted she had avoided training me because she thought I would quit after the comp conversation.

My gut still tells me not to trust her, but I’ve been trying.

PTO drama

From the beginning, I told them about my sister’s wedding overseas and that I’d need 3 weeks off. They agreed: 1 week remote, 1 week paid, 1 week unpaid (we have unlimited PTO). A week before my trip, my manager suddenly said they had “security concerns” and wouldn’t let me work remote. That cut me down to 1 week paid, 2 weeks unpaid.

I asked my manager to advocate for me with leadership, but she came back saying they said no. Since I didn’t trust her, I asked her manager directly—she wasn’t even aware of the situation and said she’d look into it. But she also told me “the company isn’t responsible for your finances,” which felt harsh considering they told me last-minute.

The sudden PIP

The very next day, I got a message full of vague “performance concerns” (despite them praising my work just 2 weeks earlier). Then, one day before I left for PTO, my manager hit me with a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).

It feels like retaliation for bringing up compensation and for pushing back on the PTO/remote situation. It also feels like they’re setting things up to fire me after PTO without unemployment eligibility.

My questions:

1. Should I just focus on getting out ASAP (I’m already updating my resume and applying while on PTO)?
2. Is this worth pursuing as a retaliation case with my state labor department?
3. Any advice on how to protect myself in case they’re trying to get rid of me?

I honestly feel blindsided and discouraged. Would love to hear if anyone’s been in a similar situation and how they handled it.

Thanks in advance for reading this long one.

Anyone just got the advice that after high school is complete go to university for four years and get a good paying job at some company. And life will be secured. If not then continue working unskilled jobs entire life. I wish I had the clear path of going college straight after high school was completed but things didn't go as planned. I ended up going to community college but that didn't go well and somehow silently stopped taking classes. Worked at fast food and retail but everything felt unfilling and repetitive. Same earnings same position same routine no sorta growth and advancement opportunities. I told myself maybe I need to go college again but I'm already in late 20s sighs not sure what to pursue

As the title says I'm 23m about to be 24 in a few months and I got my eyes opened for the first time in my life (after 23 years) and now I'm worried how will I get a family and kids having done nothing so I need to start making money.

I know what you all are thinking, why haven't I done something earlier, and I wish I could tell you but I have no clue why this happened either, I guess I was always a shy, awkward, introverted kid which led me to not pursue a lot of things.

Anyway, I'm thinking of grabbing the world by it's balls and jump starting my career because if I won't I get really bad dark thoughts that I'd rather not share. So I'm starting of joining community college and get a course in my field.

I need your advice on what to do with my life, I am in business/accounting field and my whole life spent on perfecting this and just now I found out that I should've pursued IT or anything in STEM and it would've been more beneficial for me as they make more money and have more jobs.

What should I do now? Should I get a 2 year diploma in some related field or invest in stocks or forget everything else and get a dead end job like a cashier.

Edit: Thank you all for your feedback and advice, I have definitely learned what to do next involving my career, I have taken into account every person's perspective to understand where I should be headed. This may not seem much but to me it helped out a lot in the most confusing part of my life.

I am currently studying a diploma in IT which requires internship as the final module. I just attended the first day and now i dont even know what to think or do.

I am not the brightest student, i kinda flew through the course juggling the different subjects, but now i seehow i could not code much in the languages taught to me such as java, javascript etc, i suck at mysql. The company is focused on IOT, i have not touched a micro computer/hardware related stuff like a raspberry pi.

i feel lost even after the supervisor and the seniors in the company said i could use AI or search the web for solutions. I feel kinda useless, i feel like i learned nothing, i cant seem to do something independantly. Is this common? How do you guys in IT work/do a task given to you, say prepare a raspberry pi? Or maybe write a program in python? I have not used github.

I am shit scared throwing it all out here, the first day i have not been given any serious tasks yet. Was asked to look into raspberry pi. This may sound kinda childish to some🫠 but honestly, do i have any hope left? What should i do?

As someone who is looking into pivoting into sales, I suffer from stage fright and I stutter a lot when giving presentations. I can do one on one easily but for some reasons I tremble and start stuttering.

Hi All,

I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a masters in Health Psychology. I've been working in the mental health field for nearly a year and it just isn't fufilling me in the way I wanted it to.

I've always had a passion for aesthetics - whether than be interiors, fashion, or just generally making things "look good" (not the most insightful but stay with me). Does anyone have any ideas/experience of career pivots I could take to try and help me enter and be successful in a career which involves those? I was thinking UX/UI design, but it seems like quite a saturated market and that I would have to get another degree for me to stand out and be successful in getting an entry level job & then progressing. Marketing also seems like an incredibly oversatured job market too. I have a little experience with data analytics using SPSS & R studio. Soft skills wise - I'm pretty good at building relationships between agencies, and am very organised. This is in addition to my psychological educational background.

I'm willing to do some short courses/online courses and also spend a bit of money on these, but just am not wanting to get myself into £1000+ of debt for another postgraduate degree.

Any ideas/inspiration would be grately appreciated! Thank you.

I'm considering learning Mandarin but wondering if it's still worth the substantial time investment given and how advanced AI translation technology has become.

Can anyone share their experience about whether learning such a difficult language still provides meaningful benefits compared to relying on translation technology?

Studied at Oxford PPE and ranked high in my class. Then did a year at a family office in London and now at a large Indian PE (1yr). How possible is it to get a decent job in London after 2 yrs here - consulting/IB or buyside finance? Or would it be necessary to do further education there?

Currently quite dislike living in Mumbai even though the work is great - and look forward to returning to London

I live in a third world country. I graduated from EEE with 3.78 cgpa just when corona pandemic started. Everything around the world was in chaos. During that time, I started to learn something about web design and beginning level of programming by my own but without any planning. Then after one year i thought I should try govt job which is prestigious in my country but i failed several times. My elder sister is govt Doctor. Our own flat is in another district from where my sister's posting is. So my mom remained with her and I had been shifted with father to our own flat after 2 years of corona pandemic. then i started choosing from multiple options and ended up going into nothing. Then again tried into govt job but failed. Then I choose internet, some books to find out what I want to do but ended up mind fluctuation and distraction. Then different AI comes, I tried to use them and tried to understand what can be done with them and from different internet source I got that some non tech background guy build something with AI and made thousands of dollars, then I found something else about that is someone who have proper background in cs their success rate is high in this category and to those who have financially stability to support themselves before their projects bring money. And in between, I choose to move into abroad but due to my error in NID I couldn't be able get my passport. it's a long process in my country to make correction if someone has no link internally with govt officers. And then news has been spread that due to AI revolution massive layoffs are happening in abroad and college graduates are not getting entry level jobs. This made me more hesitated and I am ended up doing nothing. Also I have some psychological issues since final semester of university is to compare myself with others that he is more talented than me and he has more privilege than me. And it took me into irrational thinking. And due to lack of my concrete goal, I ended up in doing family stuffs, interfering family matters and when things didn't go according to my mind then I created quarrel with families. Now just one thing whispers in my mind that if I would do this or that today I would have that position. And this stops me from taking further action. And several months ago my mom has been diagnosed with cancer which made me mentally weak. I am 28 now. Now I am unemployed, have no concrete aim. I just knew I wanted to be highly successful but I couldn't control myself. And I know I like technical stuff, design something or create something and exploring something new.

Any type of advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Creatify AI careers - Has anyone applied here yet? My dad applied here and just wanted to know if this is legit?

Hi there everyone,

I'm a south-EU guy, I'm in my mid 30s, and I am in need for a career switch. I've given my soul and my health to learn what I do, but it doesn't pay back and I'm strongly at risk for my future.

I'm willing to try to invest my time and my hard earned money to try and get IT certifications. While I haven't worked in IT, I still have some small experience and it's relatively easy for me to learn it (beside studying it at high school back in the days and still using some small skills every day), but I'm not very interested in programming.

I was hoping to do some very basic job and then, hopefully, move to IT admin roles. I found the whole Microsoft Azure stuff interesting too, but I don't really know what to do.

An academy offered to give almost 70 hours of course - 3 hours/day, but I doubt I can use the laboratory since I'll follow the course at home - to prepare me for the CompTIA A+ (1000€, exam excluded).

I'm wondering if it's worth to pay for a course and, most of all, if the CompTIA A+ is a decent start or if I should try get something else.

Thanks in advance 🙏

I am in a situation where I need to find remote work in the evenings. I’m finding that in the U.S., this doesn’t really exist outside of customer service, and that industry was awful for my mental health so I can’t do it again. However, there seem to be opportunities at companies in Europe and Asia, during their daytime hours which would be nighttime for me.

Is it worth applying for these roles as an American? How would I know which companies hire Americans?

Difficult Decision To Make

For those who have more wisdom than me, this one’s for you guys. Here’s context. I Currently work a 4 on 4 off shift pattern for an airport, fuelling aircraft’s. Now this is my first “proper” full time job and the money is decent for what i need at the moment. However, i have been known to not give jobs the benefit of the doubt and struggle to see myself working at a place for years and years. This is no different. Could be ADHD, might not be who knows. This job has been fun to learn but if i was to stay at the airport i would likely change departments as it is mentally and physically taxing for the pay. I struggle with making small mistakes and multitasking and this job requires A LOT of both. However, recently i have been presented the opportunity to join a company as a collections agent (glorified debt collection) over the phone. This is a traditional 5 on 2 off, but it is 3 weeks remote and 1 week in office. The remote work entices me. My mind is all over the place. i have only been at my current job for 2 months. Here are the pros and cons of each.

Pros to airport: -More money in my current role (not by a large amount) -More job stability (they hire internally) -4 on 4 off shift pattern (allows for more time off work and holidays on days off) -Overtime -Fairly close to home - Quite flexible

Cons to airport: -Not remote -12 hour days can make it feel like you live at work for those 4 on -In currently role it is complicated work -Lack of career progression -Older work crew (find it hard to relate)

Pros of collection agent: -Remote work for 3 weeks (can fit gym schedule around work and sleep at reasonable times) -Room for career progression as well as other departments to try -Money is similar to current role (still less by a couple thousand) -Office is very close to home -Similar age group to myself

Cons of collection agent: - Friend who works there told me the department is quite stressful -Have heard of your away from your computer for a few minutes you will be notified -Calls are recorded -Have seen some reviews saying your just a number (can be subject to release)

For me work is just a means to an end, i do the things i enjoy in my free time as well as work on my side hustle. I don’t seek thrill from my job as i 1. don’t know what career i even want and 2. get my thrills from outside of work. I just want work to get me enough money to enjoy my life whilst not stressing me out too much. Hope you guys can help!

Hey everyone, I wanted to get some outside perspective on whether my pay matches the work I do.

I manage a 50 acre horse boarding and animal sanctuary farm in New Jersey. On a daily basis I: • Care for 20+ horses, multiple donkeys, and a few minis • Oversee livestock including pigs, goats, alpacas, sheep, poultry, peacocks, cows, and emus • Handle feeding, turnout, medication (oral, sub-q, IM), and hoof trimming for goats, alpacas, pigs, and sheep • Schedule/coordinate vet, farrier, and dentist visits • Order grain, bedding, hay, and run to feed store and other stores to pick up supplies • Supervise staff and cover shifts when needed • Work 40 hours a week. This includes holidays and Sundays • Interview, hire and fire employees • Drive/trailer animals to the vet in certain situations

I’ve been at this farm for 6 years (2 as assistant manager, 3 as manager). I currently make $20/hr, haven’t had a raise in 3 years, and also get discounted board for my 2 horses (field board normally $650 per horse, I pay $853 total). I do get PTO and time and a half on major holidays.

Does $20/hr with those perks sound fair for the level of responsibility and workload? Or should I be negotiating for more at this point?