r/careerguidance

Right now, all I have been seeing are people getting laid off from their jobs and then struggling even more by not being able to find a job in this job market. As a student pursuing college, I don't want to spend the next 4 years of schooling to not find a stable job. Even with fields like engineering, I am seeing people struggling to find a job.

I don't really want to pursue healthcare and trades, even though it's probably faster to get a job in those fields and those fields are always needed. So what should I do?

I know it's asking for a lot, but what careers allow you to be comfortable (as in, not worrying about bills, expenses, etc), while still allowing you to have free time and good mental health?

I'm not really sure what I want to do as a career. I just know my strengths are in English and history. I'm not too good at math, but I'm decent at chemistry and okay at biology. I know I wouldn't do well in trades either. I'm in the U.S.

I recently quit my job without another offer lined up. I’d been job searching while working and had a few interviews, but nothing landed. Honestly, I was so mentally consumed by work that I don’t think I gave those interviews the preparation or focus they needed.

I didn’t quit because of a toxic culture. My colleagues and boss were fine. It was more that the processes, constant changes in direction, and overall way of working were taking a toll on me, and I couldn’t see myself staying there long term.
I thought quitting would finally give me the headspace to properly focus on finding something better. But now that I’ve left, everything has gone quiet. Not many openings I’m interested in, no interviews coming in, and we’re already well into Q3 heading towards Q4.

Now I’m starting to panic a little. I keep wondering how long this will last and whether I’ll actually find a role/company I’m excited about, or eventually have to settle because I’ve been unemployed too long.

Has anyone been through something similar? Especially quitting without anything lined up around Q3/Q4. How long were you unemployed, and did things eventually work out?

I was hired as a senior lab tech at a small start up lab last month after moving abroad and marrying my partner.

I'm seeing a lot of issues and wondering if I need to prepare to be let go for not being a cultural fit during my probationary period.

The role was advertised as fast paced, very busy, quality-driven, and requiring someone with versatility and experience. They also emphasized they would provide training on an instrument I've been eager to learn both in the job description and in the interview.

The lab doesn't have any clients or samples yet after 3 years, which I didn't know before accepting the job.

I've never had trouble integrating into a workplace or group before this, but from day 1, I've felt excluded here. My three coworkers (including my direct manager who interviewed me) are always 15-90 minutes late in the mornings and go out for coffee, the shops, or lunch for hours at a time together every day, but they don't say anything. I'll just realize I can't find them in the building and then check the parking lot, and they're all gone. I wasn't given anyone's contact info outside of company emails so I have no way to contact them if there's a problem in the lab either. Or they'll sit in the canteen chatting for hours about people they know that I don't, so it's impossible to join in.

They've mentioned previous employees that left within a year and made some off-colour comments about how those employees seemed disinterested in learning the work or had personal issues with them.

My onboarding process was rough as well, but I chalked it up to the boss being away on a business trip.

My second week here, I was assigned to teach myself how to use an instrument they've left dirty and unused for 7 months (not the one they advertised, which I can't seem to get any answers about when they plan to start using it). Any questions I ask the other lab techs and manager are met with disinterest or irritation, even things like "what's the password for the computer and software for this instrument?" And they keep telling me to take my time, there's absolutely no pressure, but I kind of feel like a good job has a good amount of pressure just like a shower. You don't want a power washer but you also don't want like ... a leaky faucet dripping either. I'm good at finding things to do, but I feel that is not what this team actually wants.

The job market is tough right now, so I'm not exactly eager to jump back into applying and interviewing. Does anyone have tips for surviving this kind of environment, or should I be applying for other jobs like my life depends on it? I know I have blindspots and quirks like anyone so this could be my fault too. I'm open to any criticism or advice. Please help!

I'm 34 years old and have been working in corporate healthcare administration for about 6 years now. I feel like I'm nearing the end of my rope. I used to be such a lively, passionate, driven person and I barely recognize the shell of a human I am now.

I feel so whiny for feeling this way because I have a relatively stable position with a 6 figure income, I've been promoted twice in my 6 years with the company, I work remote, and my workload is completely manageable. I'm able to log off by 5:00pm about 98% of the workdays a year and I honestly rarely have even close to a full, door-to-door 8 hours of work to do a day.

What's starting to kill me (or maybe what already has) is the exhaustion of trying to "fake it" while slogging on through the robotic monotony. My corporate world is fake. Everything is "urgent" and it feels absolutely pathetic to play along and act like it's real when there are no tangible real-life consequences to my powerpoint deck being late. My team is meant to do a lot of strategic planning and implementation and I can't help but to feel that our entire purpose is to be a bunch of annoying busybodies who buzz around, make up problems, and insert ourselves to make up solutions. When I sit in on team meetings where people are having active discussions and trying to collaboratively problem solve, I feel like an insane person that a single person in the room cares enough to engage in the conversation at all. And that is so not me!!! I love being engaged and passionate; I want to work hard and have a career that I actually give a part of myself to. I'm not someone who wants work to "just be a paycheck" for me.

I've started completely numbing myself during the day to get by. I blankly stare at my phone watching more Reels than a person should be able to; I play more repetitive rounds of Fortnite than is healthy, and I have a constant stream of Real Housewives on in the background. By the time my day ends, I have no energy to socialize, no energy to date, barely enough energy to get myself to the gym and home and get some food in my system. I miss my joie de vivre and my spirit and I want to spend some more time tending to those aspects of my life, but I start and end my day feeling like I've lost myself so substantially throughout my day that I just don't have it in me anymore.

Ultimately, I'm trying to make a career change and go into the nursing field. I'd much rather be engaged in harder work if it means being in person, interacting with real people and tending to actual problems that have legitimate impact.

My question to you all is - How do you do it? How do you keep sane while living as a shell of your true self in the corporate world? Even if I do make a career shift into nursing, it won't start until at least Summer 2027. I'm so desperate for anything that can keep me sane and help me get my spirit back in the meantime.

I am currently working in a completely different industry (healthcare) as part of a broader career break after my ex company fired half the 4000 pax workforce leaving me with survivor guilt and extreme burnout (workforce optimisation, ironic).
There is an amazing opportunity for me to return to corporate. they are offering to buy out my notice period and have me start immediately.

I don’t feel it’s right for me to do it to my current employer but the flip side is that the company can fire us on the spot but we have to give 8 weeks notice so really why I am hung up about this. if it’s good for me, should I just resign and leave?

never been in this situation

I’m a woman in my early 30s with a communication degree. Between freelancing, internships, volunteering, and my current job, I have 10 years of marketing experience. I can’t seem to break $40k/year income, and I actually took a $10k/year pay cut just to work in my field in hopes of being able to move up to better paying roles. It’s clear that’s not happening.

When looking at other careers, I’m finding that many of my interests and skills don’t align with roles that pay what it takes to live. I struggle with STEM and physical/manual labor (I have a bad back and bad ankle, and need to work a desk job). My interests aren’t even important right now, I just have to be good enough at what I do to get a job in it. But everything I’ve gained experience in (marketing, customer service, fundraising/development, administrative work) doesn’t pay the bills.

I do have interests in careers I think could pay well, but I know I’d either suck at the jobs themselves or flunk out of the schooling for them due to my incompetence with STEM. Similarly, there are jobs that aren’t super interesting but I think I could be good at, and the pay seems to suck.

So does this just mean I’m doomed to be poor forever? What the hell do I even do?

Three years at this company. In that time I’ve watched an incredible number of good people walk out the door, and almost all of them were leaving the same person, an exec I’ll call Mark.

Mark is genuinely brilliant at his job. Hyper-performer, delivers, the business loves him for it. He’s also a bully. There are multiple open HR tickets about him and everyone knows it. Nothing happens. We’ve lost 50% of the team this year alone that’s under him.

My first taste was month two. I was presenting to the entire company and he called me out mid-presentation, publicly, demanding content I’d already flagged as not having in the deck and something I would share as a “quick-follow”. I tried three times to defer it politely. He kept going. In front of everyone “your boss has asked you for something - do it”.

For a while I was insulated. I had a manager who knew how to handle Mark and consistently made me look good to him. Then that manager left.

Within weeks, one of my direct reports went straight to Mark and told him I get stressed and that it lands on the team. Honestly? Probably true. I do carry stress badly in an environment like this and I own that.

Here’s how Mark handled it. He moved me sideways to lead a “new and exciting team,” sold to me as an opportunity. He gave my actual old role to the person who had complained about me. Then, two months later, he took the new and exciting team off me and handed it to someone with about two years of total work experience, roughly ten years less than me, and moved me again. This time into something with no scope, no team and no remit. In practice it was doing admin for him. So he built a role for me, watched me get it running for eight weeks, then gave it to a kid and parked me. They left shortly after anyway. Obviously.

I’ve been in a different role six months now and I actually like it. But lately Mark has started calling me out again. Notably, he’s also been getting called out by one of his bosses, so I think I’m just downstream of his stress. My current manager’s advice is “water off a duck’s back.”

The problem is I’m terrible at that. I don’t even know what it means in practice. Everyone says it like it’s a switch you flip, and I genuinely do not know how to be a person who hears that stuff and lets it pass through. Every comment lodges somewhere and stays.

So here’s where I’ve landed. This guy has enormous sway over decisions and headcount. Twelve months ago I was building a case for promotion. Now I lie awake convinced I’m getting fired. I second-guess every email. I’ve stopped taking risks. The anxiety has quietly become the main thing in my life.

I know “just leave” is the obvious answer, and maybe it is. But I want to hear from people who have actually worked under someone like this.

How do you stop a person like this from living rent free in your head while you’re still in the building? And what does “water off a duck’s back” actually look like when you’re bad at it?

Did anyone survive one of these and come out okay? Did anyone stay and win? Or is the only real answer the door?

38, with a bachelor's in design. Ive worked in design, advertising, marketing in various roles ( designer, art director, creative director ) over the last 16 years. Ive picked up a lot of skills over the years and good at my craft with a good portfolio but if im behing honest with myself its always been an unstable career, highly competitive and has been cheapened for a lot of reasons. Anyways I didnt come here to gripe about why my field of work stinks, im in a great position for a career change I have no debt, no obligations but im unsure what to get into and how with all these years of experience and luttle to no interest in anything adjacent to design. Prior to university I was a mechanic and always a hands on guy and like to tinker in general. Ive been thinking of getting into electrical as I have some knowledge and experience but its really overwhelming to "start over" espically in a trade. Curious what some of you might have gone through with a career change later in life. My current priorities are stability, resilience to automation and NO OFFICE!

I’m 19 and from a small rural town, and I’m trying to figure out what career path actually makes sense for me. I feel like I’ve already changed directions several times and don’t want to keep making expensive mistakes.

My work history is pretty limited. I worked at Subway briefly at 16, then started at Kwik Trip, where I’ve been for about 2.6 years. I’ve mostly worked in the kitchen, currently making around $15–$16.80/hr. The job is fine, but I don’t really want to move into management, and I don’t see much long-term growth there.

After high school, I applied to various jobs in hospitals, manufacturing, custodial work, and assembly but got rejected. I eventually enrolled in a welding technology program at a technical college because it seemed like a practical career with decent pay, a scholarship, and an internship.

The problem is that I’ve realized I’m not very good at the math, reasoning, or hands-on work involved. I’m also becoming less interested in welding. I’ve already spent around $1,000 on books/PPE/equipment, with about $600 of tuition left after a $3,500 scholarship. The program starts in a couple days, and I’m seriously considering dropping it.

Meanwhile, I’ve explored some other options. I had a USPS CCA offer fall through because of an I-9/application issue, and I have an RCA position available, but it would probably require putting a lot of money into my aging car. I also interviewed for a forklift job seven minutes from my house, but there may not actually be an opening unless someone retires or goes back to school.

Now I’m considering CDL training and truck driving. There’s a CDL school about 20 minutes away, and possibly companies that sponsor training. I don’t mind being away from home, and I think I’d tolerate driving/delivery better than welding. The main appeal is being able to increase my income relatively quickly.

My biggest concern is that I don’t want to make another impulsive decision. I’m also unsure about the long-term outlook for trucking with automation and whether CDL training is actually a good investment.

Financially, I have about $47k invested and another $5k in other assets, so I’m not desperate for money. I’d just like to increase my income while I’m young and keep building my savings/investments.

For anyone who has actually worked in trucking, welding, manufacturing, or similar fields: what would you do in my position? Is getting a CDL a reasonable move, or am I just jumping into another career because I’m frustrated with my current options?

I’d rather make a rational decision now than spend the next few years bouncing between jobs and programs.

I currently work in aviation, overseeing 100 direct reports, and 3 airline clients. We have people doing work 24/7. Any call off from supervisors or above I personally have to cover unless I can get someone else in. The company added a new client last year that increased profits by 50 percent but gave me a 4 percent raise. Since then I’ve been looking for other work. I finally got two offers, one from FedEx at 28 per hour W-Sat. Obvious decline. Then another from a Janitorial company. I’ll have a company car and travel to buildings 1-2 hours from me and perform audits, place work orders, have no direct reports and no weekends.

However now I make 84k with a ten percent bonus. 3 weeks vacation. No 401k match.

The offer is 70k. 2 weeks vacation. 3.5 percent match.

I spent my 20s working shitty marketing jobs for sketchy vape/smokeshop warehouses. I wanted a job that was less soul sucking so I decided I wanted a creative career. i always liked video editing so I decided motion design was my path. I took 2-3 design bootcamps including one full year at Shillington School of Design because I can’t afford to go back to college.

I managed to find a decent job paying 65k a year (it’s just a straight 5k a month for daily videos/posting/analytics) and I basically manage the social media and make social media edits for a few influencers I’m friends with online in a niche journalism space. It’s nice cause I work from home but I’m broke and none of it feels impactful or important. I feel like anyone can do this basically, it’s not that demanding even though I try to challenge myself creatively.

Now I’m doing School of Motion, I paid for a year but progress is slow. I have to keep up an apartment on my own, keep up with a girlfriend, keep up with my dogs, keep up with my health and fitness, while trying to manage this at the same time.

I am having trouble reconciling with the fact that I wasted my 20s and my life from here on out will always be far behind everyone else. I’m competing with college grads who studied design their entire life and I’m 3 years in and still honing in design principles in a professional way. No matter what I do I will always be behind because they wasted less time than me.

Frankly I feel pathetic and like an adult child for still learning at 30 years old. No one is going to look at me and be impressed with my resume in any way whatsoever. i know a lot of people will try to be warm and say I still have plenty of time and that comparison is the theif of joy, but the cold hard world of corporate does not give a shit about any of that. it’s either be in the top 30% or be left behind. This is the brutal reality I’m facing and I need someone to be real with me for a bit about this. Why am I pursuing this if I’m just going to be broke and not be good? I should give up and become a plumber or something instead because at least you don’t have to be talented for that

I currently make $27k and am essentially on call 24/7. I work in the travel industry, and I’ve developed significantly since I started. I manage client accounts, handle travel arrangements, and have specialized knowledge of our group/tour business that I’ve spent years developing.

The new owners have previously discussed increasing our salaries, giving us a portion of the commissions we generate, or giving us a portion of the revenue from the tour groups we put together. None of those conversations have gone anywhere or resulted in any changes.

Recently, a new employee no-called/no-showed for an entire week and was let go. My boss reposted the position (which is essentially the same position I currently hold) for $38k–$50k.

I make $27k.

I genuinely don't know how to process that. A potential new hire could walk into essentially my position making up to $23k more than I currently make, despite me having over two years of experience with the company and extensive knowledge of our systems, clients, and group business.

I know I'm not perfect and I don't think I'm irreplaceable, but I do believe I bring significant value to this company and have taken on responsibilities well beyond what I was doing when I started.

What would you do in my position? Would you use this job posting as leverage to negotiate a significant raise, or would you take it as a sign that it's time to start looking elsewhere?

Part of me feels guilty about leaving because I've invested so much time here and have built relationships with clients, but another part of me feels like I can't justify staying at $27k when the company itself is advertising my position at $38k–$50k.

27F if that is relevant.

Before to mention my distractions,mess and unknown destination I want to introduce myself
I’m 25f Syrian born and raised in Saudi,
I’m struggling now to find where I can start and how
And what is the best for me without wasting time,
I already know what I want, i am looking to find myself free from anything that drown me out society,family,country,environment,friends,toxic people, etc.

Energy is seen in me but, I can’t find where I can use it and how to grow from it, there is struggles that is limiting me to grow and to work hard in my own race, every open door seems to be locked but, energy and steadiness is here and I don’t want to waste it.

Let’s come and see what are my struggles, being in a place where you can’t see yourself secured for future
Will you think to leave and move on as let’s say to work ?
If yes what you should have to be accepted if u persisted to leave and where I can find opportunities for Someone to build his future ?
Second I didn’t finish my high school and this is also a limitation itself, I do have skills and knowledge to grow myself and keep learning in every field as I’m interested in philosophy, cultures,science, behavior and history,
But, that won’t let me to start a career or to move for another place to begin and grow, how can I manage this ?

I used to be a real estate marketer but, now it’s limited for citizens only I shifted to car sales and the work is weak you can’t depend on, now i have to strengthen myself and build a career journey that fit me and the way I think.

Is there a way or idea that I can’t see because of my mess and distraction ?

I’m open to chat and speak about my fears and what i think of to overcome my weakness and build myself from nothing.

​

I am doing an internship as a recepcionist, I started like two weeks ago. My manager approached me today and said that a customer told her l smelled very bad. The customer was very apologetic about it and my manager was very kind. I'm mortified, I had problems with hygiene before but I thought I was doing pretty good. The fact that all my coworkers could smell me stinking up the place is fucking me up. I'm going to up my higiene obviously but I can't bring myself to look them in the eye again knowing that they think of me as "that intern who stinks". I'm overanalyzing every interaction I had here. If I didn't still have 11 months of contract I would've probably quit on the spot. I was actually really liking working here and benefits and pay are good, but IDK how I can force myself to act normally after this.

I was thinking maybe I could become a bartender but I don't know if that'll pay the bills. I was also thinking maybe I could go to school and eventually be a private pay art therapist but that'd take like 10 years and I'd be 30 by then

Location: Massachusetts

i’m technically still in highschool but i want to start making my way towards becoming like a basic car shop mechanic, however idk the first step i should take, i’ve been told start with trade school or sign up for online classes but my family’s not well off so i don’t want to start trade school and then be screwed over by it, if anyone has decent advice or can tell me the path they took it would help out a lot

also some info just incase it’s needed im 18, have a low paying job and, have a way to get around on my own thanks in advance

I posted this in another subreddit and got told that this one would probably be better to ask in

To give a sort of breakdown of where im at in life:

I got a divorce earlier this year from being a stay at home wife, i got a job working front desk at a hotel. Im 26 years old and for awhile I entertained the idea of going into accounting, or computer science or even nursing.

The issue with accounting is that i was worried i wouldnt make a lot because I dont want to be in tax(im more open to it now though, i was just scared of all the laws as a teen), i also worried about the work life balance.

I had a draw to cs but with thay going down hill and I know i lack strong enough passion to stand out i havent pursued that further (i did learn on my own some stuff awhile back and enjoyed it)

Nursing is... a more difficult sell for me, it feels like a really intimidating profession, i dont know if i want that kind of pressure if someone's life on my hands as well as I am not a people person. That career is more for the money whoch seems wrong, i do care about people im just not sure i could do well with it.

Anyways so, i just feel so lost i want something to push toward, my job is slightly above min wage, im stuck living with family because I cant afford my own place on this pay. I know it all ends up the same "i want money i dont want to work hard for it" thats not a full lie im sure most people do, im willing to work hard im jjst scared of prospects in this economy and my preferred job id work maybe3-4 days a week so I had time with my dog and to explore other hobbies. I dont need mansion but owning a home feels like asking the same lately.

After job hunting for over 8 months, I finally got a job offer, and a very good one at that (good salary, above average PTO, fulltime at 38h a week, seemingly nice colleagues).

However, today I also had the 2nd round of interviews with my dream organisation, that would fit my specific profile and interests, that are very niche and it's one of the few organisations in my city which have said profile.

I got the job offer with the first company yesterday after my interview on the day before yesterday, so extremely quick. I told them, that I still had an interview today, and that I would first like to hear what they have to say. They told me to message them today and tell them my choice.

Come today, and of course my dream organisation hasn't made a decision on the spot, but I told them, that I have another offer and asked them, when they think they'll make a decision. They told me during next week, so I asked the first company if I could have a bit more time, they only gave me until tomorrow.

My plan now is to accept the offer tomorrow, as I can't know for certain if I will get the position at my dream organisation. I asked my parents and friends about what I should do, if I will still get an offer from my dream organisation next week and they told me to simply decline the offer with the first company.

I know logically, that it is probably the best course of action, and that I don't owe them anything, but still I feel extremely bad if it were to come to that and worry about like future consequences, if I were to want to apply there again etc.

What would you guys advise me to do in my situation? Just accept the first offer, and decline the other one, if it were to come to that? Or follow my parents and friends's advice and accept, then later decline the offer?

What does this message from a company's recruiter mean? I had the first call with the Head of the entire dept where the job is. I then had an interview with 2 of the managers on the team, and then yesterday an interview with one of their associates. I have expressed I really want the job and liked the team. Today I got an email from their head of HR that said the following: "The team enjoyed meeting you. Do you have time for a call tomororw or monday with me? What works best". I think its really neutral, and the last interview didnt go very well and planted some seeds of doubt. Its a smaller company with not a very structured interview process so far, and i honestly think its a courtesy rejection call. It just sounds too neutral and the "meeting you" doesnt sound like theres much of a future to be had. Anyways, any insight from recruiters or whoever would be helpful!