I gave up on a study course after five years of hell and now I’m back at my parents’ house and must make a big decision on what career to pursue and find a job asap. But I just can’t decide, I can’t picture myself in 5/10 years from now and can’t even imagine what type of job I’d love, bc everything seems out fo reach and impossible, just like it felt when I was 20.
I’m from Italy, and I made my previous choice based on job perspectives here, now I’d like some perspective from abroad…
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business and economics This is a course in English, I also speak French and in an ideal world I would have studied foreign languages (but in reality, I would have found no job, here at least, or nothing promising). Studying economics in English would sort of fulfill that, I’d study other languages and strive to become an export manager with time. Other than that I could combine it, in THe future, with studies in cultural heritage, which would be my first choice if only I could live off of that. And find related jobs as I go.
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computer science. Never interested me that much, I had a basic programming course which wasn’t that bad, I think I’d be able to do that… But I don’t know if I’d really want that. I’ve thought about it bc I’m interested in data journalism, and I could combine it with data visualization, design, writing… But that’s more like an interest, I don’t think I’d like the actual careers I’d have access too… I don’t even have that much knowledge on what possible jobs would be like.
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management engineering Again export or project manager. I’d prefer economics, but bc of my age this might give me slightly better chances of finding a job asap?
Of course the careers I mentioned require years of work and I’m willing to do that, the problem is I feel very confused, I’m afraid of wasting time bc of my age, maybe studying and not finding a job and also how can one know if a career is the right one for you? You first have to get there…
Any type of advice would be of great help, thank you in advance
In my 20s I worked a lot of different jobs in a lot of different industries and learned something from each one. There is nothing wrong with making a living until you can make a career.
Museum guide?
can’t even imagine what type of job I’d love
Fun fact! Most of us don’t love our jobs. We just do them to have a roof over our heads and food on our tables.
Well of course, but the context is I’m choosing what to major in… And if you read you’ll see I’m choosing between things I don’t hate that much for more job opportunities, but still in hope I’ll get a chance at something I like.
Love is a big word but that’s what came to me in the moment, and being that ppl ho read me usually can contextualize, I used it without fear of being misinterpreted this much
You won’t love your job. Get a job you’d be good at and that pays well. Spend your free time doing what you love.
I think a problem is that many jobs exist in the world, and we don’t even know that most of them exist or what they are. If there are any really large companies near you, see if you can get in doing something, anything. Once you are in, you can learn about the different types of jobs in the company and maybe start trying to work towards something that you like better, either within that company or in another company. Also just having co-workers or a boss to discuss these things with can be a big help and open you up to some new possibilities that you didn’t know about. But yeah, don’t worry about finding your perfect job right away. Having any job will open doors and connections, making it easier to land that perfect job in the future.
I’m 48. You have ages. Do it now or you’ll be me remembering when I was you.
Jobs are just a means to live life. If you can make money doing something you love, great. But if you can’t, use the money from work to pursue your hobbies and interests.
I travel (I’m on a flight to Queretaro, Mexico right now), paint, play music, run a D&D game, and snowboard. I also speak several languages like you. Use them or lose them, literally.
Live a full life; your job doesn’t define you.
So far, I found that many people underestimate the soft skills they bring. For many (not all) jobs the actual knowledge of the field you need to fulfill the job can be learned quite fast. But they need people that are good organizers or good communicators or good critics, or people that dive in and check every detail or people good in seeing the bigger picture. I sometimes think its more important to find a job fitting to your softskills than to your degree. In an ideal Job it would be both of course.
For example. My father switched fields from social worker to systems administrator. Most would say what a big shift, but he just loves to help people - no matter if its their daily life or their computers he can help with. But IT had better job opportunities. He is very happy.
Tell us more about your skills and maybe we have more specific ideas for you.
You’re right.
Well I’ve always been great with languages, intuitive with technology (but I’d prefer to avoid working with it, or living with it in general), I’m detail oriented and good at getting organized (when I know what I want haha). I like helping people, I’m understanding and I love interacting with others, I’m curious and I like variety even though I’m a bit introverted and reserved. But being of service is a good way for me to bridge that gap, if it makes sense.
I like researching and collecting stuff, mostly when it comes to things I like, be it music or films or books.
Random suggestion: International genealogy and emigration support. I have Italian ancestry and my siblings and I are working on dual citizenship to have an option to get out of the US. It cost a fortune for the researcher/lawyer. I bet they need bilingual help.
If you wouldn’t really want to do programming, don’t. That only gets worse for a lot of people. It’s something I enjoy and have done well at, and it can be tempting given the number of jobs and growth, and good pay. However the people I know who are most miserable are those who weren’t especially interested in the work but the jobs and the money.
I’m sure you could do programming, and you’d deal with it a few years, but it’s a specialty that not everyone will enjoy, and you may just get more and more miserable.
I Personally believe not enough people start from the other side, the subject matter interest. Pretty much every field needs programming or technical skills, and data science is exploding across many fields. Definitely an option to consider is whatever subject you like, but the technical skills to bring the automation or the data analysis. That going to be huge!
Since you’re not sure what you want to do, I say don’t pursue a specific career, but pursue a field that interests you. You might not have the luxury of finding a job opening for exactly what you want, even if you did have something specific in mind, but by having relevant skills you can get closer and eventually find something that works for you.
I went to school for a certain field, found a job that was in no way related, and eventually got a position there that did use my education (I was chosen because of it). 10 years later, found a new company in “my field” that uses both my education and the skills from the previous job that I thought would never be useful elsewhere. The more things you can put on your resume, the better, especially in a world where AI will be screening thousands of applications for the most keywords.
I can’t picture myself in 5/10 years from now and can’t even imagine what type of job I’d love, bc everything seems out fo reach and impossible
You’re approaching this with 100% the wrong view and attitude. You sound like you’re trying to define your life by what job you have. Your job should just be the way you fund your life.
Find out what you want out of life. Do you want a family? Do you want to travel? Make art? Build community? Learn what hobbies you enjoy, how you want to spend your days, who you like to surround yourself with. Then figure out what you need financially to make that happen to the best of your ability. (Nothing will ever be perfect, and you shouldn’t expect that.) Then find a job that can fund the lifestyle you want.
Who cares what the job is? That’s not what life is about. That’s just how you pay for your life. Most people don’t love their job. Hell, most people don’t even like their job. It’s just how we get food and shelter.
Yes you’re right but what I’m talking about refers to the job side alone. I’m going to opt for one of these three things, and I don’t know how to choose
Research what working in those fields is like and choose the one that has the highest pay for the least time commitment. Whichever requires you to actually be at work the least is your best bet.
Which of the majors you are considering pays the best?
Which has the most available jobs?
Which has the most flexibility?
And which of those three answers above matters the most to you?
The first option sounds to be fitting your interest the most, so why not go with that?
As it reads like another study course, the question is if the reasons for giving up your original course still persist. If so, deal with that first, I would suggest.
“Discover What You Are Best At” by Linda Gail.
I was about the same age as you are now when I found this book. It led me to a career I’d never even sonsidered before.
What career was that?
The book summarizes your skills and points to jobs that use them.
A Product Demonstrator and a Paramedic both need dexterity, good people skills and imagination.
The skills are the same, the jobs are completely different.
I’m talking about your specific career that you took as a result of that book, though: what was that?
Also, paramedics need exponentially way more skills than product demonstrators! But yes, they both need at least those skills.
yo all 3 of those jobs sound fucking boring to me. but you do you. i hate business and finances. the only cool part is the culfural side, but who needs to manage a business for that?
not even sure why I’m commenting if we’re that different lol have a nice day though, good luck
um, i will say i do truly love my job, and i think most lemmings dont, so maybe dont listen to them either
First: stay strong, you got this.
If you’re “not really” into CS, I would think long and hard before committing to it. While it’s very useful to pick up a few basic skills, studying theoretical computer science is a whole different level. I’d suggest you look at the basics, start programming on some of the websites people have suggested in the comments and do a few small projects for yourself. Then at least you’ll know, if you have fun programming and problem solving.
I studied computer science without knowing much about it when I started, and it was a good decision for me - however it wouldn’t have been for everyone.
