r/careerguidance

One thing I've noticed is that careers rarely move in a straight line anymore.

People leave industries.

Start businesses.

Go back to school.

Begin again in their 30s, 40s, or 50s.

Sometimes those changes become the most meaningful chapters of our careers.

If you've ever reinvented yourself professionally, I'd love to hear your story.

What happened?

What pushed you to make the change?

Looking back, would you do it again?

I messed up and need some objective, realistic career advice.
I am a 27m. I’ve been with my company for 3 years. For the first 2 years, I had an excellent track record with zero issues.
However, management eventually began piling on a massive amount of extra work with no increase in pay. At the same time, I was dealing with heavy personal problems outside of work. I tried to compartmentalize everything, but the combined pressure broke me. My frustration turned into bitterness, and for about a 6-month stretch, I let that anger completely bleed into my job.
I started talking back to my manager and acting out. Looking back, I realize how much of an asshole and man child I’ve been, and I hate it. I don’t want to be that kind of person or worker anymore.
Lately, I’ve been trying hard to repair the damage. For the past several weeks, I’ve been showing up, putting my head down, and performing perfectly at my job to stop the bleeding. But even though my behavior has changed, the environment hasn't. The atmosphere still feels incredibly strained, tense, and damaged.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some realistic advice on how to get my foot in the door as an Epic Analyst. I recently graduated (May 2026) with my MS in Computer Science and Engineering.

During my time in grad school, I worked as an Analyst Researcher processing large epidemiological datasets. That experience really solidified my interest in healthcare IT, and I know I want to build a career in this space—specifically working with Epic systems. I've been actively on the job hunt for Data Analyst or Epic Analyst roles, but I’m running into the classic "experience paradox."

It seems like almost every Epic Analyst position requires you to already be Epic certified, but from my understanding, you can't get certified unless a hospital system or consulting firm hires and sponsors you.

For those of you who have successfully navigated this or have broken into Health IT from a traditional tech background:

• What job titles should I be searching for? Should I be looking for "Associate Application Analyst," "Epic Support," "Business Analyst," or something else entirely?
• Where is the best place to look? Are there specific job boards I should monitor, or certain managed service providers/consulting firms that are known to hire and sponsor entry-level candidates?
• Should I target a stepping-stone role? Given my CS degree and background in processing epidemiological models, are there specific non-certified IT or data roles within a hospital system that I should target first to get internal access to Epic and eventual sponsorship?

Any advice, reality checks, or pointing me in the right direction would be incredibly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some honest advice from people who may have been in a similar situation, especially those on F-1 OPT/STEM OPT or early-career software engineers.

I recently started working as a contractor at a large Bay Area tech company(FAANG) as a Software Engineer in Test. The brand name is strong, and I feel like having this company on my resume for a year could help my future career. The work is more testing-focused than development-focused, and it is not exactly the domain I want long term, but in this economy I’m grateful to have something.

The issue is the pay. I’m making around $35/hr as a contractor, and I also have about $50k in student loans to clear. On top of that, with the current H-1B wage/filing uncertainty and my pay level, I’m worried this role may not help much for next year’s H-1B situation.

At the same time, I may have an opportunity for a full-time California state government IT/Application Developer role in Sacramento. The work seems closer to software development, mainly application development, and internal government applications. It is full-time and the monthly pay before taxes would be around $8k. The downside is that it is government/legacy workflow, likely not as modern as big tech, no sponsorship, and I would have to relocate from the Bay Area/San Jose area to Sacramento. My STEM OPT extension is still pending, and changing employers during this process is also something I would need to handle carefully.

The monthly difference after considering rent, relocation, taxes, and living expenses may only be around $1,000–$1,500 more, but that extra money matters to me right now because of loans and financial pressure. Career-wise, I’m torn.

Option 1: Stay in the big tech contractor Software Engineer in Test role
Pros:

• Strong company name on resume
• Bay Area location
• Better chance to network internally
• More modern engineering environment
• Could help future job search

Cons:

• Lower pay
• Contractor role
• Testing-focused, not my preferred long-term domain
• No sponsorship certainty
• May not help enough financially right now

Option 2: Move to Sacramento for full-time state Application Developer role
Pros:

• Higher pay
• Full-time stable role
• More development/application work
• Better for paying down student loans
• Government experience and stable work environment

Cons:

• No sponsorship
• Relocation from Bay Area to Sacramento
• Possibly legacy systems and slower tech stack
• Leaving big tech name early
• Need to manage STEM OPT employer change carefully

Long term, I want to grow as a software engineer/backend or application developer and eventually find a role that can sponsor me. But right now, I also need to be realistic about money, debt, immigration timelines, and the current job market.

Has anyone here chosen between a big tech contractor role and a full-time government/state developer role while on OPT/STEM OPT? Which option would you choose in this situation, and why?

Any advice on career impact, STEM OPT employer changes, future sponsorship chances, resume value, or financial tradeoffs would really help.

Mine is simple: Being good at your job is only 30% of the battle. The other 70% is managing visibility and optics. You can be the hardest worker in the room, but if the right people don't see you doing it, or if you don't play the social game, you'll get passed over by someone who does half the work but talks twice as much.

​What’s a harsh truth about navigating the professional world that you had to learn the hard way?

Before I worked for my mentor, I was a bartender trying to better my life by getting a stable job. I applied to be his assistant and even though I had absolutely no administrative experience, he took a chance on me and gave me the job. I was a hard egg to crack but I eventually had a real talk with him about my future and any feedback so I can be better at my job and hopefully a career. He was real with me and I listened to every constructive criticism he had to say about me and my work ethic. After that I feel like our work relationship grew closer, not just with us two but our team of three, all different personalities but somehow made it work and got along so well. Work was effective and we all learned how to deal with each others mood swings and never took anything personal, we had each others back and he was our Yoda, the sounding voice of rationality. I grew to cherish this man so much I took his word like it was gold, if he didn’t like someone, I didn’t either. If he trusted someone, I did too.

After two years of working with this team, I was approached by our department chief and offered me a position as his assistant. I would have a lot more responsibilities since I will be handling all of the branches within our department. At the same time I was applying for a different position, I wasn’t sure what route to take so I asked him for his advice in what I should do. His advice was to take the assistant position due to the networking opportunities and learning experience, so I took the job. I loved this job and learned so much as well but he did not get along with my now new boss and vice versa. Both had apposing perspectives when it came to problem solving and I often felt like I was put in the middle of their petty problems. I tried to stay out of it as much as possible but this was the one time I did not dislike someone he disliked.

The department chief took me under his wing while I was working for him and in his own way mentored me as well, so I had no reason to dislike him just because of their petty problems.

Today I work for a whole different department, there are rumors that I used my department chiefs name to get what I want and get away with anything which isn’t true and I didn’t care what anyone said bc I had my people who know me having my back. Until I heard that my mentor who I first worked for wasn’t saying very good things about me before I got hired into my new job.

People from my new job were asking around about me to make sure I’m a good worker and the type of person I am before I even started. Apparently, he wasn’t saying good things about me. Part of me thinks it’s because of his beef with the department chief and by association he took it out on me, but I have worked so hard to stay professional at work, to stay humble, to have my shit together, to stay organized and on time and it’s all thanks to his constructive criticism.

It hurts my feelings knowing that his personal beef got so bad he tarnished my name and reputation, knowing how important it is for me to upkeep a decent reputation. I definitely cried and everything in me wants to confront him but at the same time I want to just let it go and just be careful who I trust next time.

I cherished everything he said and I took his word like gold and would talk very highly about him to everyone, is it even worth confronting?

Hello everyone.

I'm getting more and more frustrated with my job.

I got hired 8 months ago in a financially struggling company as a Senior engineer.

When I got hired, the official policy was 1x a week in the office and I was fine with it. The team usually come on Wednesday.

My manager whose is super anxious and micro manage me non stop for some reason is now imposing me 2x a week, only for me while the rest of the team is still at 1x a week. His reasoning is that since I'm the only senior in our team, I have to come in the office more often to inspire my coworkers. I find that bullshit and I'm not sure how to proceed.

For some people, it can be easy to go to the office. But for me, it means 1 hour in traffic just to go work in a empty office with my boss. And the worse thing is that the office is completely empty all day of the week except for Wednesday.

And in parallel, he keep saying in our 1:1 that we would like to see me grow in the company (the company is struggling bad anyways).

How would you handle this ?

I've been thinking of a career change because I hate my job, but I'm worried the actual reason is because I dread the concept of working to survive for the rest of my life. How do people tell the difference?

My current job has good pay (~90k), nice coworkers and managers, good benefits, and is indoors/is a "cushy" office job. I feel ungrateful for being miserable, but I'm constantly angry at work because of the frustrations, crying about work, or exhausted after work/during the weekends to the point i just lay and do nothing all weekend. Everything I do feels meaningless.

I was thinking about switching careers for a job that I personally think might have more fullfilment/meaning/purpose (environmental/healthcare) or something I have an affinity for (creative work). It would require me to get an associates degree or start from scratch/entry level at the very least (I have a non-STEM degree, and not in the creative arts). I'm worried of taking the jump if I will continue to be miserable - just this time with a worse job with less pay, worse benefits, more debt, wasted time, etc.

What if it's not the job, and just the hopelessness of knowing I will have to continue to do this for the rest of my life? If that's the case, I might as well just stay at the current job.

Notes: While I have impulsively thought of this a few times, I will not be quitting my job with no plan. I do have depression, but I am on medication for it. I feel content during breaks (I sometimes take a week staycation to recharge) so I personally feel the above emptiness/exhaustion is specifically because of the job and not just life in general.

I’m in my mid-20s with no college degree, currently working as a delivery driver. I’ve hit a wall and need a career with a higher income ceiling and better stability.
I’m looking into the insurance industry—specifically Claims Adjusting or Sales/Agent—since it doesn't require a degree. Before I start studying for licenses, I'd love an honest reality check from people in the field:

1. Is this actually a good move? Does the industry still offer the stability and income potential it’s known for?
2. Claims vs. Sales: What are the pros, cons, and day-to-day stress levels of each?
3. Burnout: What is the turnover rate like, and is it worth the jump?
   Any insight on what the grind is actually like would be awesome. Thanks!

Question for the hivemind. On occasion I hear people say that they love their job/career. I can honestly say I have never loved any job that I have had and I'm 44 Male from BC Canada. For those of you that have had different careers or even those that have only had one. Do you love your career?

I have always wanted a career that I love, but if I were to work at something I love to do, I feel like it would ruin it for me and I would never be able to live off the income it would create. What's the secret? Is it just a lie you tell yourself to get you through the week??

I recently applied for a job and in the job description, it said the expected pay range is $80k to $100k. When asked about my desired salary range, what would you say? I appreciate the transparency but I wonder if 100k is only for their top candidates. I am tempted to say 100k to 110k but if they think my minimum is their maximum I am afraid I won't move forward.

What if I give them a range of something like 98k to 108k that way if they offer a little lower than 98k I can still get close to their maximum?

Any advice is appreciated.

I recently received a job offer for a Marketing Manager position paying $54,000 per year. I’m based in Michigan and recently graduated with a business degree.

I have about 4 years of social media and marketing-related experience. For the past 2 years, I have worked as an administrative content creator for a company. I created two websites, managed and organized a media library for different customers, created social media content, and helped with marketing materials and digital content.

Before that, I had a on campus college internship as a social media intern for a nonprofit organization.

For people currently working in marketing, especially Marketing Managers, how much are you making, what area are you located in, and how many years of experience do you have?

I’m trying to figure out whether $54k is a solid starting salary for this role or more on the lower end. The position also includes government-style benefits

Every workplace has that one person who escalates everything or creates unnecessary pressure.

What's the most professional response you've seen that politely but clearly put someone in their place?

I keep seeing posts about following your passion, but honestly, I don't have one burning interest that I want to turn into a 9-to-5. What I do want is stability, decent pay, and enough free time for my actual life outside work.

Is that a valid approach, or am I setting myself up for regret later on? Has anyone here chosen a "meh" career for practical reasons and actually been happy with that decision long-term?

Curious to hear your experiences. 👇

I'm in kind of a tricky situation mainly due to relationships.

I joined my best friend's dad's company several years ago because I spotted an opportunity for a lot of growth if we executed a business strategy right. The salary for the position was insanely low given what I could've gotten if I worked elsewhere (or continued my own business), but I made a bet on the equity/revenue upside since I felt like there was a huge amount of untapped potential in that business vertical.

A couple years later and that obviously has not panned out, and I shifted focus away from my own company to work on this new one so my own income has declined significantly since then. I just signed an offer to join a different company at literally 4x the total comp (3x the base salary), but I just have a lot of anxiety over how to break the news to my friend's dad without completely burning bridges.

I feel like he'd be blindsided by the news, and given that I'm the lead for the current projects being worked on it could potentially sink the entire business. I'm still going to offer to help out with transitions, providing knowledge & mentoring, and even some hands-on work here-and-there, but I don't know if there's anything else I can / should do.

Have not talked with my friend about the new position yet, I was intending to earlier but we couldn't meet up due to schedule conflict. New position starts in 4 weeks, so I'd need to give notice either this week or next week.

Just looking for advice on what you would do in my situation. I'm grateful for the opportunity I got to grow and build new thing (even if I think the comp wasn't competitive, but I'm not going to make a big deal about that given flexibility in other areas that a traditional company would not give me).

Classic case of mixing personal relationships with business, it's something I try to avoid but networking is a huge part of how I've even gotten this far with my own companies / lines of work so it's hard to have that separation.

I have never written a Reddit post so please bear with me. Not sure how formatting and all this works but I really need some support.

I’m 28 and I’ve been working for a large sportswear company for the past 5-6 years. From the moment I started I was overwhelmed and crying every day. I thought I’d get use to corporate jargon, being in office, and people trying to crawl over everyone to get to the top. I’ve had many roles at the company and I’ve always felt the same way. Recently I took a job I hate more than life itself like this job might have me ending up on short term disability. Sadly I have to stay in this role for a year. Im losing my mind! I cry daily. I hate life because of work. I understand that I have a great job and I should be grateful. I feel so selfish saying that I can’t handle everything but I seriously can’t.

On another note is the feeling of being trapped. Like how can I possibly make more money freelancing or with social media. Like I have no clue where to turn or what is the next step. Im genuinely scared know that I can’t handle something but I have to till it breaks me.

Do you all have any advice for getting out of this? Or how to cope better? I know some will say this is what you have to do to afford your life - GET OVER IT. Basically saying to quite quit (I have already done that).

Any advise will help!

I’m not trying to be a doomer, but with layoffs happening every quarter en masse, lack of job security, lack of willingness to train employees, worsening work cultures, and lack of idk humanity - where do we go from here?

It just feels like a constant squeeze, most companies are understaffed and cutting despite profits, or some version of this. Benefits are meh.

Even before some of these issues starting becoming more prevalent, most people I know or have worked with have felt burntout and just over a lot of it. Most people are questioning what is the actual point in a lot of this, and if you’re in corporate- why is it so life or death urgent?
There’s just so much BS around all of this.

Being in your 30s you have nearly a decade of work experience yet realise you have another 30 years of working, without anything feeling really worth it at the end of the day.

I’m not quite talking about fulfilment, but more just respect and the time-sacrifice being worth our while. Having something to invest in and feel some sense of reward and appreciation.

I say this as someone who was in a well paid career, yet it still wasn’t enough to prevent wrecking havoc on my soul from the inside.

Sorry guys, reposting this after my original post got removed for adding a link. Appreciate all the comments from the prior post, and I have read them all. Feel free to repost your comments.

A few weeks ago, I received a job offer that I declined. After re-evaluating the offer after a couple days, I asked the recruiter if they'd reconsider me, and they did. Since then, I have accepted the offer and moved forward with the background checks.

Now, embarrassingly, I'm again having second thoughts on it.

If I choose to withdraw, how would this look going forward? Could I be held liable for certain things?

Since this might sound relatively surprising, I'd like to add some additional context.

1. It's for a large company that is looking to fill dozens of vacancies.
2. I'd have to move across the US for it, where I know nobody.
3. I currently have a stable job with a short commute and strong financial stability, but limited long-term growth and promotion opportunities.
4. This job is super far away from where I reside. It offers higher pay, better career advancement, and aligns with my long-term goals. I'm afraid of leaving my family, familiar routine, and the comfort of living at home for an unfamiliar place where I know no one. I feel torn because, despite my current stability, I also feel stuck and like I'm living inside a velvet cage.

The thing that got me to reconsider a 2nd time was after doing comprehensive research. I discovered that despite the better pay, I'm likely losing an extra $20k/year associated with the cost of living away from home. Now, I could tolerate this loss. It would just be uncomfortable. Obviously, I should have done this weeks ago, but this is my first time going through a dilemma like this and I just lack the experience. If this job was 20min away from me, I'd have accepted in a heartbeat and would not have looked back.

That's kind of why I'm so torn on this issue. I know I might look like an indecisive fool, but this is honestly the hardest dilemma I've ever faced in my entire life.

(Apologies for some vagueness on my job however the specific office I work at is one I can get in trouble for posting about)

I (26M) got a job at the end of last summer (September 2025) after graduating with my masters degree. I was very excited to receive this offer because it is in the exact line of work that I am looking to be in and most of my friends at similar points in their careers have been struggling significantly to find roles that they actually want. The job itself required me to relocate to a new state where I did not really have much of a support system but because of the poor job market I decided to take the leap and try and make it on my own for a bit.

The way the office works is because of the high learning curve, standard practice is to sign all new hires to a one year contract and either terminate their contract at the end of the year or to promote to a higher up position that is permanent; this is what has happened with every single other employee who started here under the same circumstances as me. While the job was extremely challenging and demanding the first few months, I made a conscious effort to improve and excel at my assigned duties and as I got the hang of it what seemed like a lot of work in my first month turned into not a huge amount of work by 6 months, and most of the time I am able to get all of my work done by the end of the week. At multiple points during all this management expressed satisfaction and commended me for my work. Flash forward to about 2 months ago we reach the point in the year where performance reviews occur and my bosses give me a glowing review along with a 10% raise, significantly more than some of my more senior coworkers received. At the end of the performance review my director gave me a very long and warm speech about how she wanted me to stay with the office for years to come, that all of my coworkers they have spoken to have nothing but praise for me, and that she has been impressed with my work.

About 2 weeks later one of my more senior coworkers announces that he is leaving, leaving an opening for me to move up right on time for the exact role that I have been trained for 10 months to do. At this point my director calls me, and tells me that instead of the standard practice of promoting from within, they will now be looking to hire someone from outside the company and that while I am welcome to apply, I am not promised the job. According to my other coworkers this has never happened before and no reason was offered for this change by management. Regardless, I apply through the proper avenues and go to my interview, where my director again tells me that not only did I perform fantastically in the interview, but that I speak about technical aspects of the job in a way that some of her employees who have 5+ years of experience can not articulate. However less than 24 hours after this interview, my director calls me into her office to inform me that they are hiring someone from outside, and that they had made an offer to this person before they had even interviewed me. In the same meeting, my boss offers to extend my current contract by a year and expresses again that she wants me to stay and that I will be considered for any future openings. While I was disappointed, I accepted this offer and went about my day. About a week ago, a second one of my coworkers in the same role submitted his resignation; and within 24 hours of his announcement, my director announced that they have hired a new person from outside the company, with no discussion of whether I was interested in applying again or even any announcement that there were going to be interviews for the role. My coworkers have told me they do not know why this has suddenly happened and that they can’t think of any instance where something similar has happened, however they have commented that our boss is ageist in many ways and has done several things in the past to make working here more difficult for 20-30 somethings in the office (I have no way of proving this from a legal standpoint).

So the situation I find myself in is that I have been passed up for promotion twice in 2 months, despite the fact that when I was hired I was verbally promised multiple times by management that I would be promoted at this point in my time. Not only that, but they are signing me to a second trial year, something that they made up especially for myself and one of my other coworkers in the same position (he is planning on quitting over this). The money is just barely enough to get by and now that I have been fully trained for a more senior role in this office, my weekly responsibilities are complete by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest and I am left sitting for days doing nothing with no extra work even when I ask for it. The big draw to this job was how much of a resume booster it was and the immediate track to a higher paying position, however that is now not happening based on the actions of my director. My current lease is has about 8-9 more months on it, should I stay until I am able to move again? should I try and leave sooner? Should I stay and hope the next vacancy they decide to promote me?

So I (22F) have been in my first corporate role out of college for 7 months now. I love my coworkers and managers, I love the company and the benefits, but I absolutely feel like the work is sucking my soul out of me. I hate staring at a computer, having pointless meetings, trying to meet all these arbitrary goals and KPIs. Long story short, it’s the actual work/corporate grind that I hate a lot, not the people or setting. So if I don’t like it here I don’t think I will anywhere. Sucks I got a degree in international marketing, I am really using that, and don’t want to at all anymore. I feel like a spoiled brat wanting to leave this role while so many people can’t get a job. But alas, I was slipping into such horrible depression and anxiety again, I knew this wasn’t right for me. Since I respect my managers so much, I put in 2 months time to give them ample time to find a replacement and they were very grateful and understood that I am transitioning into something else. To make my life easier, I told them I have a role lined up in social work, which isn’t a total lie or total truth. Which leads me to my WWYD? In my mind I’m seeing 3 options once I quit.

Option 1: full fledge into social work. I’ve thought long and hard about this and this is the industry I want to transition into. I know it’s “low pay high burnout” which is true and not true. Climbing the “education ladder” can get you to a very decent comfortable salary, esp if you work all the way up to your LICSW. I’d start in a $22(ish) position, but most companies do tuition reimbursement, most community colleges are really affordable, and I don’t have any major financial constraints, so long story short I could support myself off of this even if I’m kinda broke, could always bartend 2 nights again too for extra money. I have a social work company that I was referred to and interviewed for and they don’t have an opening yet but told me I’m the first call when they do. So that’s great but not set in stone tho which sucks. The social work role is a residential case manager for girls 14-21 who self elect themselves into the program. Not an emergency placement location, which can be a very different setting, for context.

Option 2: travel. I have about 15k saved up and really want to see Southeast Asia. I feel like it’d be a totally life fumble and regret if I didn’t do it while I have the time, ability, and money. I would do a budget trip staying in hostels, getting cheap street meals, just living in the day to day. I really want to see Vietnam the most. I have one friend that might come with me, really trying to convince him. He’s been wanting to quit for months now and I think he should and just come w me. But even if he doesn’t, I might do this alone. I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. And everyone says you meet so many people along the way. And all the opportunities of jobs and schooling and such will still be waiting for me afterwards. I’ve never been to asia and am such a sucker for history, mountains, and the ocean, so Vietnam sounds like my dream destination. I don’t wanna move away from my home and family but I do have a desire and drive to just travel and see other cultures and bring pieces and bits of the whole world back home with me. And I haven’t been on a big international trip since I was abroad in college, I recently visited a cousin in Hawaii, and it resparked my travel bug.

Option 3: kinda combine social work, schooling, and bartending. Work part time bartending and part time social work so I’d be making more money. And go back to school. This is pretty similar to option 1 I know but two part time jobs is definitely different than 1 full time and 1 part time. Plus schooling on top of that. But I wouldn’t start school until Fall 2027 so I’d have a lot of time to figure out that additional piece. I’d probably be making more money too doing them both part time than just social work full time and bartending part time. I am also trying to move into an apartment of my own at some point so the more money the better. But I also am trying to prioritize my next steps in my career so I am still totally fine staying with my parents at home a little longer. Life isn’t bad at home by any means, just slow and boring. Not for nothing, I also MISS the service industry. Talking to people, being around all types of people, just engaging with humans. I miss it, in the office it’s like we’re all robots who only talk about corporate life and rarely have small talk about real life.

Anyway, the invisible option 4 of staying at my corporate role is out of the option. I already put in my 2 months (managers agreed to be references since they appreciate the way I’m leaving very much) so something new is coming my way come September. Idk if it’s gonna be Vietnam, starting a new job in a new city (the social work role is in a city I’ve been to many times but never lived in, plus I’ve only been there being 21+ a few times so it’s like a whole new experience lol), or maybe it’s back to the service industry while I figure out the next best steps. I would appreciate and love any advice, personal experiences, devils advocate questions, support, questions, comments or concerns! My friends and family are supportive of whatever I choose, I just need to actually choose for myself and just do it.