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
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.
Museum guide?
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.
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
I have one friend went to school for veterinary medicine and zoology. He’s now an endpoint engineer. I have another that went for his MBA and is now a butcher. I worked retail, never finished school, and now I’m a Desktop Support director.
Pick what you’re interested in, pursue knowledge and growth over anything else. People mostly want hard workers who show they are able and willing to learn imo. A degree in anything shows that that.
Obviously this doesn’t apply if you’re persuing something high level in a specific field. But if you’re lost as I am in this crazy world I think it’s a solid choice lol.
Don’t bother with “do a job you love and you’ll never work a day” that’s garbage. Not only does it lead to existential dread, it often doesn’t put food on the table, and often times doing what you love for a living ruins that love for you to boot.
Get something you don’t hate that’s easy to find employment for - maybe accounting, for example. Think of things everybody needs, don’t get a niche specialization.
If you get the bug to go after something your heart calls you for later, you have a stable and well paying job to keep you afloat while you take night classes or whatever you gotta do to switch careers. There is no rule that says you gotta stick with whatever you pick first
What was that study course and what made it hell? Might want to a avoid a similar situation in the future.
What exactly seems out of reach and impossible? If you had something specific in mind but gave it up, it might be a good way forward to consider something similar with less (or more manageable) obstacles.
Have you considered job perspectives abroad? It might be even harder to get a good picture of the situation abroad, but there could be chances there.
What are your passions or things you like? Languages, obviously, and that is great because that gives you a much greater area to look for jobs (if you want to maybe go abroad).
I don’t want to share too many details, but I’m happy to talk about my passions.
I love music, cinema, literature, and theatre. I’m also interested in psychology and sociology. In fact, I’d put everything I enjoy under “sociology” because what I like is understanding society from different perspectives and media.
If I had to merge these, I’d say design, but I’m not particularly fond of the kinds of work that involve it. Enjoying something doesn’t always translate to enjoying a job related to it.
This is why I find it difficult to identify a job that I would enjoy more than others.
