r/careerchange

This may be long so bare with me. Just a little context, I am 26 and have a predominately sales/business background. I’ve held a job since I was 14 and always worked in customer service jobs. Then I worked in a car dealership in their business development department for 6 years and honestly loved it, the pay was amazing for me (78k a year because I worked my butt off for commission) and the fact that I only hold an associates degree.

I left that job when I moved to a new state and became a CNA because I decided to start the process of getting into nursing school. I did have a dream as a kid to be a nurse like my aunt (who’s basically my second mom) but I feel like I’m sticking it out in order to not let her down and not thinking about how miserable I am.

I’m currently a CNA at a hospital and I started nursing school this month. To be honest, I hate being a CNA and the more I go to classes the more I realize that maybe nursing as a whole isn’t for me. It’s not even the workload because I’m good under pressure and I’m fine with being busy, I just hate everything the job entails. My patients love me because I would never let that show but I find myself crying before shifts, calling out, and just overall have been super miserable since I left my desk job. I’m constantly told that things will get better when I’m a nurse but then those same nurses complain about how much they hate their job too.

Now with my job and school, I’m realizing that maybe healthcare isn’t for me. Ive been filled with such extreme anxiety since starting school and all I can attribute that to is that maybe im trying to live out a nursing dream for someone else and not for myself. I’ve tried looking at the positives but I can’t find any. Ik a lot of people say there are different specialties, different job titles, money is good, and hours are great but I just don’t see a light at the end of this tunnel for me.

All of this to say. For anyone who did drop out of nursing school, what did you pursue after. Overall I’m completely okay with working 5 days a week, overtime when needed. My CNA job hatred has nothing to do with the time I put in or the workload I take on, I just don’t think healthcare is for me. I was perfectly happy working a five day a week desk job, the place I worked for was just tough because the department I was in had no room for growth and I was also moving to a different state regardless. I just think a job in business and even if i have to work my way from bottom to top is more my speed. Ive looked into construction management, IT, data analyst. Just curious to know if anyone has ever felt the same way and what they did after

The title pretty much says it all, and I’m looking for any advice or suggestions from you guys. I’ve pretty much worked in the restaurant industry my whole life, and I’m beyond burned out at this point. I turned 40 in April, and have come to a realization that this is not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. While I have enjoyed working as a chef, this is just not worth my happiness or sanity.

I’m currently doing research on what I want to do, and I’m pretty much open to anything that could be a long-term career choice where I could really grow. I am in good physical shape, I’m capable, I have a lot of drive, I have a good mindset, and I still feel like I have much left in the tank.

That being said, has anyone else here made a career change at my age or maybe older? Would trade school be worth investigating, or maybe trying to get into the healthcare field?

This is my first time doing this type of thing, so I appreciate your kind responses and any help you can provide. I hope everyone is doing well, thanks!

36f did master's degree and is now unemployable, help

So I have a very complicated situation and I am hoping you can help me. I am out of ideas and feel I need professional help. To start off, I have some limitations: I have adhd, a memory problem and dyscalculia (math learning disability). So jobs like data analyst or project manager are out of the question because I am too disorganized and bad at math.

I graduated from school in 2012 with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Conservation biology. My original goal was to go into research, but I could not pass the required math classes and was told that my goal was impossible if I could not pass the math classes. So I graduated and got into nonprofit communications (social media). It was okay for a while, but I found out after doing it for a while that I was pretty terrible at the type of writing it requires. I am a great writer when it comes to writing factual content, but I am really bad at marketing writing/PR. On top of that, I had some severe health problems that persisted for a number of years. So, then I got into the really bad situation of being fired/laid off repeatedly because I would get sick a lot and was honestly not good at the job. I also didn’t like the job, but I thought that if I kept trying it again and again, I would get somehow better at it or like it more, but it never happened and I kept getting fired.

This went on for a number of years, until I finally got a diagnosis and got stable on meds after being on disability for a year. I had seen jobs online at major nonprofits that seemed really interesting to me, but required a master’s degree. Unfortunately, I did not have enough money to get a master’s degree in the United States, so I discovered that I could get one almost for free in Germany and went there in 2021.

While doing the master’s degree in Germany, I was an idiot and didn’t realize that I needed to get way more job experience than I did to be able to get a job in a new field. I did a few internships but none led to a job. I spent a whole year looking for a job, had some interviews for positions I would have liked better but was rejected from for not having enough experience, and the only one I could find was in nonprofit communications again. I thought maybe this time it would be different and I could do a good job and maybe move into something better later.

Long story short, that job was a horrible experience. I was dealing with housing instability in Berlin, and although I tried very hard, I was honestly not good at the work. I was also experiencing severe work anxiety, as I had been fired so many times before, I was terrified of being fired again and I would have panic attacks. The work place was also very stressful and toxic. I got fired during the probation period and we had some meetings where they told me that I basically did everything wrong possible, from being bad at the actual writing to being bad at project management and forgetting things.

I am back in the USA now and I am at a total loss of what to do. The first problem is, after basically ten years of failure, I fear maybe I am not capable of having a professional job at all. The second problem is I have no idea what type of job would fit me, and if there is any job in the environmental field that I could do. It’s also really hard to find any jobs to apply to, as even entry level positions require years of experience which I don’t have, and also, I don’t know how to do anything else. What I need help with is trying to discover a new career path in the environmental field that I could actually be successful at, and then figure out a way to get experience in that new field. Or any type of job. At 36 I feel it may be too late. 

I've been burnt out on corporate America and I need to make a change. I'm trying to comb through Reddit posts and find out what else is out there that sounds interesting to me. I know I no longer want to work with sales/marketing as I don't think I could be in another role that has a quota or I have to cold call again.

I have a psychology Bachelors and during my university I worked two work terms in employment. I have worked the last year doing operations and administrative work at a law firm, I liked the work from home aspect but I do not make enough money and I really want to get out of debt. What careers can I get into without needing to go back to school? I am struggling with these applications and I don’t want to get stuck doing backend stuff forever for 48k a year.

I am a 29 year old man living in Texas, I have tried to do college on and off for several years but struggled due to a combination of mental health issues, financial instability, and fulfilling my responsibility as a partner.

My plan was to dedicate myself to following through on my education in 2027 once I saved up enough to comfortably do so by the end of this year. My wife told me shes embarrassed by me still working retail and doesn't want to wait years for me to have a real job.

I know the market is incredibly volatile right now and that is why I have been extremely demotivated in the last few years, but I can't stand being in a dead end job in my 30's if my wife is also embarrassed by me at the same time. I have no passions I can monetize and no marketable skills, is there any entry level jobs or trades that can pay well with low training time?

Please feel free to ask for more details about my situation, I'm having to be very general to keep the post brief.

Update: My wife sent me a long and really sincere apology for what she did, so you guys can calm down a bit. I am still keeping the post up because I still wanna get out of retail obviously.

Hi all,

I have been looking into getting out of this field and was hoping to get some input from those who have done so successfully or observed others do so. For context, I have been in my current position for a year as of this month. I never intended to go into this line of work, but my degree (Sociology) isn't exactly the most specialized or sought after and I needed a job after graduation.
For those who have made it out successfully, what do you do and how did you get there? In my current job, I worry that the skills I'm using aren't directly transferrable to many other positions. Most of my work consists of doing interviews and data entry. I enjoy the autonomy as I get to choose how I schedule clients, but it's not intellectually stimulating and I find it pretty boring. I don't like dealing with the clients, either. While it's not a traditional long-term case management position per se, the workload is still brutal as I have a caseload of almost 300.
Overall, I'm not happy and I know I want out. While at this position, what kind of things should I try to do to develop more marketable skills inside or outside of the workplace? I tried to get into IT before this and even got my CCNA, but I haven't been able to land a job due to lack of experience. I am open to doing anything besides going back to food service. I have looked into the data analyst field and related certifications, but from what I've seen here on Reddit it also seems hard to break into without concrete experience. Even then, I worry about the role of AI in those sort of jobs.
I appreciate any input or guidance from the community here!

I was going through career questions with a subject I’ll call Rowan, and one answer felt useful for anyone who is in that ugly middle stage between “I cant keep doing this forever” and “I know exactly what I want next.” He was working a job that clearly was not his dream job. When we asked about it in a deep session, the answer was basically: it is not the worst, it is not the best, but it can give him a restart and some recovery while he figures out something better.

I liked that because career advice often treats every next move like it needs to be The Move. The perfect field. The meaningful calling. The thing you can finally explain at dinner without adding “for now.”

But sometimes a job has a smaller and very important purpose. It pays debts. It lets you rebuild savings. It gives your week structure. It takes enough pressure off that you can think again instead of making the next decision from panic.

Rowan had a lot of interests and abilities, which actually made the question harder. He was good with people, organizing, computers, cooking and photography, and music had always mattered to him. There wasnt one giant arrow saying THIS IS YOUR CAREER.

The guidance was more like: stabilize a little, keep your eyes open, notice what comes, and follow the opportunities that actually feel alive when they appear. That feels more realistic than demanding certainty before moving.

A bridge job is not failure if you know it is a bridge. The danger is only forgetting to keep walking once you are stable enough.

If I were using this practically, I’d give the temporary job a job description of its own: what does it need to provide before I move again? Maybe a savings target, a repaired routine, one qualification, three experiments in another field, or just enough breathing room to make a less desperate choice.

Not every useful career move needs to become your identity. Sometimes its whole purpose is getting you back into position to choose.

Hello everyone,
I am a 35M that has been in the call center world for the last 13 years. Over the last 5 or so years, I’ve realized that this is not what I want to do long-term, and I need a change. To make the change, I decided to get my associate’s, bachelor’s in business administration, and now halfway through my MBA. I work for one of the big banks and am not looking for another employer. I’m simply looking to move into a different line of business. Since getting my bachelor’s (April of this year), I’ve been applying and getting more not selected emails than I’d like. My question for you guys is this: what helped you get from your current role to a new role without any experience that the new role is asking for? I’m getting degrees to make me more knowledgeable however it seems like recruiters and hiring managers don’t care. Any advice would be helpful.

I've been a Secretary for 4 years here in the UAE and I want to switch careers into Welding, I already enrolled for a SMAW course and also intend to learn MAG and TIG soon but I don't know how to proceed from there after I get the training and certifications. I try looking if it's possible to migrate as a Welder without experience but most of them need at least 1-2 years of experience, but working as a Welder here in UAE is not sustainable given that the offers were extremely low so I'm really conflicted about what to do and how to proceed after the training 🥺

Anyways, I want to work off shore/FIFO

Would really appreciate honest opinions, especially from people who have actually worked in welding or made a similar career switch.🥺😢

Hello!

I’m here to chat careers so if you don’t have anything to add besides “job market bad rn” then please move along because baby, I know.

I’m hoping yall can help me figure out what the hell I should do next—both in terms of what careers might actually be a good fit and also if anyone knows of specific opportunities that might have an opening where they think I might do well.

A lil about me: I have a bachelor’s degree in Communications (Journalism & Electronic Media) with a minor in Political Science, and I’ve spent the last \~15 years working in marketing, advertising, and business development in various capacities, both agency-side and in-house. Can do a bit of everything from marketing strategy to writing to design, etc. have served in a couple of marketing manager roles for context. And frankly, I’m so sick of it.

I don’t want marketing to be my primary career anymore. I’ve gotten to the point where I genuinely dislike doing it, which makes it difficult to convince myself that I should just find a “better” marketing job. I’m also having a bit of an existential crisis because I’ve started to feel like so much of what I do is completely pointless. I’m tired of coming up with the 3,728,365th different way to say “We’re a bank you can trust.”

One of the things I’ve realized is that I really don’t like how subjective so much of marketing is. My success can be entirely dependent on someone else’s opinion of whether they “like” an idea, a headline, a campaign, a color, a strategy, etc. I’d much rather do something where the work has a more concrete purpose, a tangible outcome, or where there’s an actual problem to solve. Lots of times marketing is being asked to solve a problem that’s well beyond marketing.

I know “just change careers!” sounds easy in theory, but starting completely over 15 years into your career is harder than people make it sound. Not only is it extremely hard to get a role in something you have no background in but there’s also usually a huge pay cut involved. I’m not looking to throw away everything I’ve learned and start at entry level if I can avoid it. But I will if I have to. However, I’d love to find something where my existing experience and skills actually transfer.

Some things I know about myself:
I love solving problems. Give me a complicated problem and I will become a dog with a bone until I figure it out.

I’m extremely resourceful and good at figuring out who/what/how to get something done or why something is happening.

I like strategy, but I don’t necessarily want to do “creative strategy” anymore (but will).

I’m very good at planning, organizing, coordinating, and managing a million moving pieces.

I’m a strong writer and communicator—actual communications, writing, editing, messaging, etc. I can make a TikTok if I absolutely have to, but I would very much like to never be responsible for one again.

I’m good at layout/design and have a strong eye for how information should be organized and presented.

I’m an ideas machine, but I don’t necessarily want to use that ability in a traditional “creative” capacity anymore. I’m honestly not sure how else to translate that skill.

I’m comfortable working with lots of different personalities/stakeholders and have experience both in-house and on the agency side.

I like being helpful and recently learned through my interns that I’m “the best mentor” which came as a huge surprise to me.

What I don’t want:
- Social media/content creator/influencer-type work
- Being judged primarily on subjective creative output

I’m pretty open-minded at this point. So I welcome any and all advice. I’d especially love to hear from people who have made a similar pivot after 10–20 years in marketing/communications/advertising. What did you move into? What skills transferred? Etc

And if anyone reading this works in a field where you think someone with my background could be a good fit, please DM me. I’m happy to chat and send my CV. At this point I’m basically standing in the middle of my career going “Surely there has to be something else I can do with my experience.” Please help🥲

Hey all !
I’m a burnt out therapist looking to switch careers as I feel like I need to quit and explore other areas. So any advice/ recommendations are welcome. Do you work with psychology masters. Or are you a therapist that has made this change would love to connect with you

For context, I finished a bachelors in psychology in 2023, however right in my last semester I realised I enjoyed statistics, getting really into maths so I taught myself calculus as a hobby.

So I decided to not pursue my original plan of becoming a psychologist and instead started a masters in data analytics. I graduated from my masters 8 months ago, and recently landed a job in the data analytics field.

It has been a huge struggle since I started, as I’m realising how little I enjoy it, finding it incredibly boring and feeling like I have little guidance on what I’m meant to be doing.

Basically, I feel so lost as it feels like I’ve wasted 2.5 years studying a masters when I could have continued with psychology and I would’ve nearly become a registered psychologist by now. I feel like it’s too late to change as I’ve already spent the last 6 years studying, so I feel like it’s also a dumb idea to go back to doing my honours and masters in psychology.

I just need some sort of guidance or advice, as I feel completely stuck in a deadlock and like I’ve made the dumbest irreversible decision

As the title says.

I've been a self employed gas technician for 6+ years, but the job is very lonely, demands are high, costs are skyrocketing and I just feel the return isn't worth the effort anymore - not to mention I do want out before my body gives in like so many when they've been in the trades.

I have a degree in business law and digital marketing (though is from 10 years ago), management experience in retail and have been self employed for 6+ years as a gas tech. I'm 33.

looking to move totally out the trades, really want to get out of gas and plumbing.

What kind of industries and jobs would be good to move into or to retrain in - I was looking at trading standards officer but I feel that the pay cut would be too much to sustain for a few years whilst learning

TLDR - self employed business owner in the trades, degree in business law with digital marketing and a few years in retail management. Where's a good pivot for that kind of experience?

I dont mind a slight pay cut- but would prefer something that would get a wage atleast in the 40k range so I'm not seeing a massive obvious decrease in lifestyle

I have a question regarding the career trajectory of civil servants after they have spent several years in government service.

Suppose an officer successfully clears the UPSC Civil Services Examination and joins the IAS, IPS, Indian Foreign Service, IRS, or another Group A civil service. After serving for several years—perhaps reaching a fairly senior position—if the officer eventually feels that they want to pursue a different career path, are they legally and practically allowed to leave the civil service voluntarily and transition into other fields?

For example, can experienced civil servants resign or take voluntary retirement and subsequently move into senior positions in the private sector, such as strategy, finance, consulting, corporate affairs, public policy, or director/leadership roles in major domestic or multinational companies? Can they also move abroad and pursue senior professional positions in other countries, or start and operate their own businesses and become entrepreneurs?

More importantly, how common and realistic are these career transitions? Does significant experience in the IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS provide a strong advantage when entering the corporate sector or entrepreneurship, or are there substantial restrictions, particularly regarding conflicts of interest, cooling-off periods, government information, or businesses and companies that the officer may have dealt with during their service?

Hola part of my troubles is when I was 18, I bumped up with this toxic relationship I was in and got myself a misdemeanor that makes it hard to get some jobs due to its nature
I did try college. Went for graphic design, changed my major to photo media arts, was almost done but ran out of fin aid the very last semester. Tried other colleges like full sail but that was too fast paced. Tried two other colleges including this cosmetology place but I’d be paying 150 after the six months of school and it felt very mlm.
Most of my jobs have been fast food, grocery, warehouse, and maybe two selling jobs at phone companies. I was even at the post office for almost a year but I was not fast and my bosses would harass me about it which gave me panic attacks
I don’t have any passions for anything and I’m even considering getting certs but I don’t know what would interest me.
I’ve tried therapy several times over the years and gotten no closer to finding one that sticks nor what my passions are.

I’m getting exhausted bc I was also diagnosed with ptsd borderline personality disorder and an anxiety disorder as well as some form of depression.

Another issue in general seems to be interviewing even if I practice

Hello everyone, I'm 25F and recently lost my sales job (BDR at a SaaS B2B software company) due to continuously not meeting my quota and being placed on a PIP. I actually never wanted to go into sales in the first place, but when I graduated college in 2023 with a BBA in marketing, the marketing job market was so saturated I took a sales role instead to boost my social skills and because the money was good. Ended up finally being pushed out after a year and a half, and I am now looking to pivot industries - but not sure what roles my experience would best align with.

Asides from my first "real job" out of college as a BDR, I only have retail and fast food/barista experience. Ideally I'd like a remote or at least hybrid role with more analytical tasks, no quota or high pressure metrics, and in general a job where my success doesn't rely on skilled social interactions.

If you have any guidance or advice around position titles that exist that I may not know about, or common pivots from sales jobs, I'd appreciate it. I'm also open to acquiring any certifications that may further me into a more stable career path. TYIA!

edit: grammar

Hi!

I am looking into anyone who has had a career change or looking for advice.

I’m 32 and considering working on my MRI cert. it would be 3 years at my local college, 2 for radiology tech and 1 more for MRI. I would be starting over around 35/36 years old. I live and exceed in academia.

I do love small interactions with others, helping people and love sciences.

I currently have a bachelors (2018) of science and work in biopharma. I’m tired of the lay offs, the work life balance, and the low pay and just unhappy with my career. Plus putting on a bunny suit everyday is exhausting. I’ve been in biopharma for 6 years and can’t see myself doing it forever.

So, is this a good field to go into? Anyone else got a bachelors first? Is the 2 years better spent getting a masters?

Thank you!!

Hello! In short, I have found myself tired of working in a corporate environment after only about 4,5 years in. I work as a Workday consultant atm, the job itself is not bad but working for a corporation is what i dont want anymore. But also the fact that the job is not that fulfilling. Its stimulating in general but not fulfilling. Im looking to do something that i will actually enjoy, atleast as a side hustle for a while, but im not sure what it is that i want to do. Yes, ive gotten to that point. If i knew what it was, i would start looking into classes, courses, research about the job etc, but i dont know what it is that i want. How did you manage to find that? Was it something you knew from an early age or found out later in life? Share your stories please

But I very limited options. I don't know where to start or how I would do it.

I am an Architect in a Construction company. I don't find my job very fulfilling anymore. The 10-12 hour work isn't as glamorous as what we studied for in College. The job is too demanding of time, a lot of people pleasing and pretentiousness. I feel it has lost its humanitarian side. I have lost interest in climbing the corporate ladder and would much rather stay where it is more peaceful and less stressful.

I wonder where I could find my place in this world.

I wanted to find a job I can be passionate about and does not drain my soul.