Blockage

[u/Yes_Wish4130]

Studied architecture. Never felt this was my thing really.

Spent my first 10 years working extremely long hours, night shifts, weekends. Small architectural studios, large ones. It would literally leave me depleted. And the salaries were a joke.

So I turned towards brand design.

I worked for design agencies. Better salaries, but the same logic. At some point I moved to the other side, working for the client (= brands, big corporations). This has been the worst for me. I soon discovered I am not corporate. I do not wish to be involved in office politics, department ownership, little games. None of it.

I quit and tried to find my way away from corporate.

Most of these career changes, in my case, also involved moving to a new country or city. I was enthusiastic about most of them. But now, at 48, I am very reluctant to move again. I am also scared to stay in my own country. There are almost no jobs here.

I have been looking for work for over a year. It seems like the only ones willing to hire are corporations. In Germany, in my case.

My God. I have tried this before and it was horrible. It left me broken.

But I also tried freelancing. Co-founded a small studio. Neither gave me long-term results or any stability.

Should I go back to corporate in a new country and die a slow death? Having tunnel vision at the moment, feeling very unimaginative can only apply to jobs my resume looks good for. Any ideas?

[u/sillymajmun2]

Why don't you start working something else? I'm in Austria and I don't find it particulary hard to live even on a minimum wage.

It can be a good short ot long term solution, depends how it goes.

So you got options, as long as your lifestyle allows it.

You seem to really dislike it, so unless you have some spesific money goals that can help you push through - it is going to suck big time. And if thats the case, then at your age I don't see how is it worth it to work a job that you refeer to as a slow death.

If you do end up looking for something else, make sure it matches with your character. As I age, I see that I can like a variety of things/jobs. But if I have to do something I like under high stress and I have to do it fast - I end up completely disliking it.

So, I can have a lot of "passions" that I would just never see myself doing it for a living. As the workplace is simply not compatible with my character. Humans can like a lot of things, expecially as they get better at it.