u/ConsiderationTop1323

I’m 25F with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and have worked in corporate marketing since 2020. I never wanted a corporate career, I was pushed into it by dad. I’ve never lasted more than 10 months in a marketing role. Since I was 15, I’ve had my mind set on working in healthcare, at 18, I wanted to study nursing in uni but my parents were against it. In 2025 I actively planned to transition into nursing.

I now live in Victoria with no safety net to fall back on (like family) and job security matters a lot to me. The corporate job market since 2020 has felt brutal, and nursing appeals to me because nurses will always be needed, especially as the aging population increases. I’ve also had friends in nursing who gave me insight into nursing and none discouraged me from pursuing it.

On reddit I mostly read about burnout, pre-shift anxiety, emotional stress, and new grads struggling to find nursing jobs. I’d genuinely love to become a nurse for the right reasons but now worry if I’ll survive as a nurse. My plan was to become an AIN or EN first before studying to become an RN, so it’s easier once I’m a graduate to land a job. I’d love to be a nurse but I’m just seeing negativity. Any advice for me?

I’m 25F and graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), but I never actually wanted a corporate career. I originally wanted to be a nurse, but growing up my dad pushed me into choosing doctor, lawyer, engineer, or business. I wasn’t allowed a gap year or much freedom to figure out what I wanted.

I interned in marketing in 2020 and struggled to land an entry-level role because everything required experience, so I stretched the truth to get my first job. From 2020–2026 I worked junior marketing roles across 5 companies and never stayed longer than 10 months. I’ve had to remove those gaps from resume and hide it during interviews and past jobs. I was dealing with a lot mentally caused by family, but I also think I just never liked marketing. I stayed because the pay was good.

I later moved overseas, got an arranged marriage under family pressure, divorced, and moved back to Australia 2 months ago. I’m now no-contact with my parents, unemployed, on welfare payments which covers my rent and all bills, and have $17k in savings.

Over the last 2 months I’ve had around 18 marketing interviews but no offers. The bigger issue is I dread going back into marketing. I can’t see myself staying in corporate in 10 years and still think about healthcare and other fields outside corporate. What do I do?

I’m 25F and graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), but I never actually wanted a career in business or corporate. I originally wanted to become a nurse or something in healthcare, but growing up my dad pushed me into choosing from doctor, lawyer, engineer, or business. I wasn’t allowed a gap year or much freedom nor time to figure out what I wanted.

I interned in marketing in 2020 and found it really hard to get an entry level job because every role wanted experience. I stretched the truth to land my first role. From 2020–2026 I worked junior marketing roles across 5 companies and never stayed longer than 10 months. I’m not sure why I was dealing with clinical depression and family issues were the cause of it, but I also think I just never enjoyed marketing. I stayed because the pay was good for my age. I’ve had to lie in each role to cover up the gaps on my resume, nobody would’ve hired me if I had been truthful. But I’m tired of lying, it makes me anxious and I hate that I have to.

I later moved overseas, got arrange married under family pressure, divorced, and recently moved back to Australia 2 months ago. I’m now no-contact with my parents, currently unemployed which makes me anxious and sad, I’m on JobSeeker payments, living with housemates, and have $17k in savings. I live comfortably on these payments though, it covers rent and all bills and I’m still left with $100 each month.

Over the last 2 months I’ve had around 18 marketing interviews but no offers. The bigger issue is I dread going back into marketing. I don’t feel passionate about it and can’t see myself staying in corporate long-term. I still think about healthcare and can’t picture myself in an office job at 35.

I’ve tried pivoting a few times into different careers such as Business Analyst roles, risk and compliance roles but they all require experience and especially the compliance roles need extensive background checks, which doesn’t work with my resume gaps.

Do I keep pushing for marketing jobs and take whatever I can get, or use this as a chance to change paths and start entry level somewhere?