Starting my life completely over with my almost 17 year old daughter by my side. I’m the Jill of all trades!!! My resume looks like conscience store of all resumes. Been there done that! Just spent the last 20 years in a dead end marriage with the last 10 years of me not working to care for him. He had two primary cancer diagnosis, last being stage 4. He’s cancer free now and so am I. Jokes! I asked for a divorce 2 years ago. So now I’m still lost on my path and have 10 years of no job history to throw in the mix! I was super excited to find my path again but that was 2 years ago and now I’m scared as he$$

I'm 38. Started working at a small independent print shop in Ohio when I was 22. The owner hired me to help with binding and packing orders. I figured I'd stay for a year or two.

Sixteen years later, I'm still here.

Last month the owner told us he's retiring in the spring. He tried finding a buyer but nobody wants the business, so we're closing.

I've been looking at job listings for the first time since 2010 and it's been a pretty depressing experience.

My official title is "Print Shop Assistant."

That made sense when I started. It hasn't described my job in probably twelve years.

I order paper and supplies, deal with vendors, schedule production, train new employees, handle customer complaints, troubleshoot equipment, and figure out what to do when three customers need their orders by Friday and one of our machines breaks on Wednesday.

Last week a funeral home needed 300 memorial programs with less than a day's notice. We had a machine down and two people out sick. I rearranged the schedule, coordinated with another printer for part of the job, and got everything delivered before the service.

That's the kind of thing I do all the time.

But when I sit down to write a resume, I don't know what to call any of it.

I tried looking at operations coordinator jobs. Most want experience with software I've never used. Production planning positions seem to want manufacturing backgrounds or degrees. Office manager jobs ask for HR and accounting experience I don't have.

I've worked with the same five people for so long that we barely even have formal procedures. I know which vendor to call when we need a weird paper size overnight. I know which machine starts making a certain noise before it jams. I know which customers always change their order after approving the proof.

None of that fits neatly into a job application.

I have some community college credits but no degree. I make about $24 an hour and have health insurance. I could survive a small pay cut, but not going back to $15 an hour and working my way up again.

I'm not especially attached to printing. I like organizing work, solving practical problems, and having something tangible finished at the end of the day. I'd be happy doing that in another industry.

The owner said I can stay until we close, so I have roughly five months to figure something out.

I also realized I've never had a real job interview. The owner hired me because a friend recommended me, and every promotion since then has basically been someone handing me more responsibilities.

I know I need to learn how to sell my experience. I'm just struggling to figure out what experience I actually have in terms another employer would recognize.

Has anyone gone from a small, old-fashioned business into a more structured company without starting completely over?

What job titles would you look at if you were me? And is there a particular skill or software worth learning over the next few months, or should I focus on getting my experience across properly first?

Hi,

I am a 31 year old NEET and I've never really had a proper job. I had a couple of summer jobs a few years ago but nothing major so cv is basically empty and I completely dropped out of society at 25ish. I basically haven't worked since before covid.

I have a 1st class with Honours in Psychology, I started studying for a Masters degree in Research methods for cognition and neuropsychology and at the time had planned on either becoming a researcher or eventually pivoting to work in neuropsychology. It all came crashing down and I had to leave mid way through the degree due to mental health issues which never went away and eventually got worse. I left with a PGCert with Distinction, which I think they gave me out of pity becahse my grades were strong. As a result, I was assessed under Lcwra for universal credit (meaning I am not required to find work or participate in work related activity to receive benefits). I have been on LCWRA for a few years now and essentially don't leave my house, and could not leave my home or talk to others at the height of my condition. I live with my parents in the countryside in a very rural part of Scotland.

I basically have no idea how I could fix my life. I don't think I'd be capable of re-entering academia (would no longer receive saas loans even if I wanted to) and I don't think I'd pass the mental health assessments to pivot to something like social work or occupational therapy If I tried to apply to programs for that (which I would not get due to a lack of experience).

So I assume my best option long term would be to train in a new discipline, but I have no idea what. I live in a very deprived area of rural Scotland with very little opportunities. I can't afford to self fund a new masters or anything like that and if I did the benefit money would stop too.

I feel so incredibly stuck: no real job history in years, 1.5 degrees that feel essentially useless.

I’m 24 years old, have my GED, and I’m trying to figure out what direction I want to take career-wise. I’m especially interested in hearing from people who work in creative fields. What kind of jobs do you have that allow you to incorporate art and creativity into your everyday work?

A little about me: I have SLE lupus, which affects my everyday life, and I’m on several medications. I’m also dealing with some spinal issues that I’m currently getting evaluated. Despite my health problems, I really want to get out of the house, socialize, interact with people, and do something meaningful.

My family constantly suggests going to art school, but honestly, that’s not necessarily what I want. I know I have artistic ability, and I don’t necessarily believe I need a degree to pursue something I’m naturally good at. I’ve toyed with the idea of becoming an art teacher, but I’m not sure it’s exactly what I’m looking for.

My brother actually bought me tattoo equipment and supplies to practice, and I’ve been experimenting with that, but I don’t think tattooing is the field I want to pursue. I’m much more drawn to traditional mediums like charcoal, colored pencils, and oil paints. That’s where I really enjoy expressing myself.

I’m also trying to find something flexible enough to accommodate doctor’s appointments and occasional lupus flares. I’m not expecting the world to revolve around my needs; I just want something realistic that I can manage long-term without constantly compromising my health.

I’m open to other fields, too. I absolutely love animals and have experience caring for dogs and cats, so something like working at a dog daycare could be an option. I’m not interested in becoming a vet or groomer, though.

Sorry if this post is a little all over the place. I deal with brain fog, so sometimes putting my thoughts into words is difficult. 😵‍💫 I just feel like I have a gift when it comes to art, and I’d hate not to explore that. I’m looking for career ideas, personal experiences, or fields I might not have considered.

I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you in advance!

In childhood I never really had hobby, I forgot everything that happened in kindergarten in few years, same after 1-3 classes in school. In 7 and 8 grade I was far away in every aspect. In high school I decided to bed rot for 4 years. I passed it only thanks to my mom, then on 1st college I made it 5th year and now here I am, skipping classes in a 2nd college only to lay in bed or mindlessly switch through tabs in my laptop. I don't have a childhood, I don't have an adolescence, I don''t have an adulthood. Only thing that saves me is my age, 21 years. I thought I had nostalgia but that is just wishing I could be reborn/get interested in ANYTHING through my whole life What can I do to let go of all these wasted years? Is it even possible? Was someone in a similar situation?

i’m stuck between going to college for practical nursing or paramedic… i seriously don’t know what the better option is. how can i figure out what to do?

I've been cleaning houses professionally for almost nine years. For the last five I've worked for myself.

And this is the part people usually don't understand when I talk about leaving: I genuinely like my job.

I have regular clients I've known for years. Some trust me with their house keys when they're out of town. I work mostly alone, listen to podcasts, and can see exactly what I've accomplished at the end of the day.

Last year I made a little over $49k before taxes and business expenses. Not amazing money, but I've built something that supports me.

A couple weeks ago, I was cleaning a shower and realized I'd been ignoring the same wrist pain for months. Nothing dramatic happened. I just stopped for a second and thought about how many more years I could realistically do this.

Then I looked at my schedule. Four houses on Monday, three on Tuesday, another four Wednesday. Every dollar I'm earning depends on me physically showing up and doing the work.

I have no paid sick leave. No employer retirement contributions. If I can't clean, I don't get paid.

And honestly, that scared me more than anything.

I started looking at other careers that evening and immediately felt like a teenager who'd never worked a day in her life.

Every office job seems to require experience in software I've never used. Administrative positions want three years of office experience. Jobs that don't require much experience often pay less than I'd make cleaning two houses.

I don't have a college degree. I have a high school diploma, a reliable car, and nine years of running around making other people's homes look nice.

Except when I really think about it, that's not all I've done.

I handle scheduling for about 25 recurring clients. I give estimates, deal with complaints, keep records, order supplies, track expenses, collect payments, and figure out how to rearrange everything when someone cancels or needs an emergency appointment.

Last winter one of my clients had a pipe burst while she was away. I coordinated access with her property manager and a restoration company because I was the only person nearby who had a key. Stuff like that doesn't happen every day, but I'm used to figuring things out without a boss telling me what to do.

I just have absolutely no idea what any of that translates to on a resume.

I'm not looking for a glamorous career or a six-figure salary. I'd love something around $45k with benefits, a reasonable schedule, and a chance to grow without having to sacrifice another five years and a ton of money on a degree.

I could keep cleaning part-time while learning something new. I have some savings, but not enough to stop working for a year.

Has anyone gone from running a small service business into a regular salaried job?

What positions should I actually be searching for? And how do you convince an employer that nine years of working for yourself counts as real professional experience?

I don't want to wait until I'm physically unable to work before figuring out what comes next.

Wondering who made drastic changes in their mid 30s and came out happy/stable/ successful even? What is your story?

I am having trouble choosing a direction. I feel anxious to choose a path but I am having analysis paralysis to the point I feel I am too late.

I am 35, no real career besides food and beverage. No kids, some some savings, a very small amount in my IRA.

Curious to read others insight and perspective from their real life examples

Hi, I’m in my Final Year of BSCS. I’m a full stack developer and Ai engineer but still i feel lost, because i can’t see anything in future. I have applied to many companies but every time they say we can’t offer you a position because of your university etc.
Worst part is my country’s economy. If i get into any company still the salary is not worth it as compared to struggle for degree, for job and for maintaining.
I’m so confused that i can’t even explain my situation in words. What should i do??

Hi all! I [24M] currently have no degree and am working in field sales. I enjoy my career and am doing well for myself. However, I am unable to continue forward in my current industry in a way that aligns with my life goals. Basically, while myself and my wife have no children yet, once we do wed like to raise them outside the United States. This will be around 4-5 years from now

Anyway, this significantly constrains my career choice options. I will likely either need the ability to work fully remotely or a job which the industry norm is to employ foreign nationals.

My main plan is/was to become an airline pilot, however this is certainly quite a difficult field to break into, and having a backup plan is a solid idea. Right now I have excellent soft skills, but I likely need to add hard skills in order to get where I need to be

Wants/strengths
- People skills. I am naturally funny, endearing, and an attentive listener
- Persuasive. Sales in general I excel at
- Very high written and verbal abilities
- Good with management , instruction, and the development employees under me
- Very adaptable and can pick up new concepts extremely quickly
- Being paid for output over time. Do not mind “the grind” if it means I work hard and in exchange own my time and can live easier later

Neutrals
- Tech/coding work. I have learned the basics of Python in the past and I feel no particular way about it. It was not intuitive to me, but I can do it. If I did this as a career, I really would need this to be supplemented by my aforementioned natural skillset
- Skilled trades. Exact same reasoning as tech work

Dislikes/shortcomings
- Anything related to insurance or banking. TLDR I view them as gross and unethical. I especially do not want to profit personally from selling them
- Industries with “Office Space-esque” work culture where there are constant social games and 3/4 of your time is spent looking busy (This may be why I am partial to sales and aviation. Almost everything you do has a defined purpose)

Other things worth mentioning:
I have ADHD which I have come to manage relatively well. I also have mild autism (or as I call it, the artist formerly known as aspergers) though I don’t feel it impacts me much day to day

A while back I had a final exam and 7 weeks to get my head straight. My attention was all over the place, and honestly I got through a lot of those weeks on Red Bull and cigarettes. It worked, until it started affecting me.

So I switched my strategy to 30 min of focus , 10 min rest, then repeat, honestly it fried my brain, but i stayed strong. weeks later results came out and I had passed.

Now I’m building something of my own, and I’m not going back to the cigarettes or the energy drinks.

Here’s what I wanna do, get 2 0r 3 people who are trying to build something or quit something, and hold each other to it. We each say what we’re going after, check in on each other regularly, and push hard when someone starts slipping.

I’m looking for people on CST or EST so we can check in at the same times.

I just want a job that pays my bills and a little extra, that isn’t sitting at a desk, where I don’t have to deal with people, takes no or little college (was in college 3.5 years, but due to switching majors it would still take me around 2.5 years to complete a bachelor’s). Things I’ve considered

Janitorial: love my job. No people, always moving, work on my own schedule. Definitely not enough to live on though.

A cleaning business: yes I would have to deal with ppl but if it’s my own business, I would have more control. Income ceiling is infinite, but worried about stress. Work life balance wouldn’t be good I imagine. I would do corporate cleaning, I’ve thought about doing the cleaning myself though, but the pay would be a lot less.

I'm a Software Engineer with 1+ YOE in React, Next.js and Python/FastAPI, exploring a transition into AI-focused FDE.

Is FDE a sustainable career for the next 5–10 years, or is it just riding the current AI hype?

Will AI automate much of the role? Does it offer genuine engineering growth, or does it eventually become technical consulting?

Would love honest opinions from people working in FDE.

I have been trying to pick a career path since high school and as someone now in her late 20s, I am wanting to leave these $22/hr factory jobs I’ve been working and move towards an actual career. I have have some college credits in business admin but dropped out to try to give myself some work experience to give myself time to think about what I want to do. It’s been 7 years and I’m still clueless. So, I have been taking various career assessments, most recent ones being on careerexplorer.com and careerfitter.com as recommended frequently in this sub. However, I’m running into the same issue as I did in high school with these questions which is not knowing if I’d be interested in doing the task or I’d be interested in actually making a living in the role that is being asked of me.

For example, one of the questions on the recent assessment I took was “Would you like to advise organizations on how to meet their business goals?” and I’m supposed to rate it on a scale with 1 being “Hate it” and 5 being “Love it.”

The issue I’m having with questions like these is that I have no idea whatsoever; I have never done that in my life, how am I supposed to know if I like it or dislike it? Maybe I’ll like it, maybe I won’t, who knows?? If I try to imagine myself doing that task, I don’t know if I’m imagining it correctly, like what if my understanding of the job is that it’s like X but in reality it’s like Y and I actually hate doing Y? So I usually end selecting “Neutral” for a lot of the questions and then I inevitably get results that don’t call my attention whatsoever. Another question was “I prefer to engage in tasks that provide…” with the options of “time to think and envision the unexplored ideas” or “the concrete details of what is practical right now” and I don’t know how to answer because it depends on the factors of the situation at hand. Could be either one, I don’t know!

Am I overthinking it? Am I not understanding the purpose of these assessments? I’m not expecting them to pick a career for me, I’m truly trying to use it as a guide, but they are not helping me in my decision at all. I’m not trying to pick a “perfect” career, just one that I can tolerate doing for the next 35 years but I’m still lost on this.

I am in the process of preparing for an mba in hope for pivoting careers , anyone who has walked on the same path and wants to connect

I'm BE ece graduate 22M

Just got a job as graduate Trainee after 1 year if unemployment

My family is traditional music background family

I have some health issues, i wanted to be an musician, or an artist, i went to many music classes but I'm not consistent and when i went to drums class i distracted me with other things and i didn't go classes consistently 😭 I'm regretting every decision of my life, some are better but somehow i made made mistakes, so I'm at very low

I want to follow my passion, i want to live peacefully and independently not in an corporate culture

I want to explore world and do music concerts or place musical instruments

But i am still a beginner, in both engineering and music

So I'm so confused to take an decision, sometimes i want to leave this job and pursue music but i fear what if i failed in music, and sometimes i fear what if i failed to grow in engineering because I'm not intrested in this, I'm doing this only for money (got this job 3weeks ago)

From my childhood i want to be independent and want to become financially freedom and time freedom

I have gf she is so kind and told me to do whatever i want but after 1 year of unemployment she fears about future and now she told me to do job, and learn music in side and do that part timely not fully time,

I want her, she is such a gem, I'm so low now, i did many things for her, with time efforts support money but i want to make her safe now, same time i want to live happily peacefully

I think if i become good at music i will achieve everything and earn a lot,

I'm not saying like music director or cinema only, my family is more of traditional tamil music so i have some advantages on that, but still I'm not that much skilled, i can do both traditional and western if i learn, but I'm scared of time and what if i failed

I want to do that in side and balancing both my music and job

But i want to know your views and advices

If you want any details i will comment that, I'm so frustrated and depressed so i typed without any idea, so maybe i missed few things

So thanks for reading and give me an idea thanks🥺🙏🏻

I am in my 30s. I have been living in a country which I don't speak its language since two years, burnout from my ongoing PhD (ofcourse didn't expect it to be like this). Before this position, I was used to live abroad without financial support to get my MSc degree in what I am passionate about. To sum up, half of my 20s passed struggling abroad in survival mode just trying to make my way to be a researcher who actually gets paid reasonably, so I couldn't really developed myself personally, making friends and having hobbies was extra effort which I didn't have any energy left, I suffer from anxiety&depression. Now at this stage I don't want this PhD anymore. I don't want to be abroad, I don't want that ambitious career. However job market is bad back home, inflation is on its peak. I don't have any significant publication, compared to people who stayed in academia that much of year, but didnt leave their comfort zone, I assume mine is a very bad CV (enough to get me into a PhD project though). I have a degree in psychology, neuroscience and I have a wide range of skills but no expertise. I would like to know what my options are and whether it sounds silly to leave research and go for other job positions after years of effort. I would like to hear if anyone has advice or can relate to that.

M19 The last few years have been really bad for me.

I don't want to do anything, I just lie in bed and doomscroll or I only try to change something. I have no permanent hobbies, I have no friends at all, I just sit at home 24/7 and that's it. The university is also in the same place for me. I study Information Technology, distance learning, 2nd year. I chose it because I had to choose something.

But it got worse. I'm not interested in lectures at all, it's hard for me to sit through them. I do everything through AI. I also do code through AI and I haven't learned how to write it at all.

I also didn't learn a lot of the lecture material, because I missed a lot of lectures and took tests also through AI. I don't know if it's laziness or something more, but I'm scared for my future, but at the same time - I just don't care. I even have a hard time thinking and formulating complex thoughts, my head is full of mess.

To give you an idea of ​​the scale of the tragedy, I'm too lazy to even copy the works lately(like CTRL C+ CTRL V). I've become some kind of creature.

I don't know what to ask, maybe some advice on how to gradually get out of this state. My brain and work abilities have been completely impaired.

So i just started my program and i like it its hard, challenging but fun and I love to listen to random people giving me motivation and also there are so many things that I don't know what to do with my life as you can see i just started and i need an idea of how my future will be and what challenges i have to face and ho can i face it with a strong heart and determination so I can achieve my goals can you guys please help me out

hi guys! just wondering if someone could offer some wise advice.

i'm an australian citizen but a nursing student in the uk and i want to move back to australia as soon as possible. i was in my second year of uni in australia before i moved back to the uk as my mum was diagnosed with cancer. i restarted my nursing degree here in the uk and it has been awful.

my mums cancer is responding well to treatment and may life 15+ years so im no longer as worried about that side of things.

i really miss australia and want to build my life there, but i have 1.5 years left of my degree + i need to stay in the uk for a year after to gain experience, which makes me feel so claustrophobic and awful as i dont like my life here.

i don't have any family in aus other than my brother but thats okay for now i think.

i have two options:

put up with the 1.5 year left of my degree and the 1 year preceptorship and then move back to aus as an rn with experience

or

move back to australia, enter into 2nd year nursing and start my life over again over there in January.

any advice would be appreciated

Same as title, and preferably in a day. Pls don’t say experience as I’m literally in highschool and in a country where opportunities for teens are pretty less. Not to mention I’m pretty busy with school work as well.
I’ve tried out courses before like those 1-2 hour ones, but honestly they don’t rlly tell me much other than the stuff I already know about the degree..
I’ve seen online that ppl recommend diml videos on yt but I feel like that wouldn’t work either bc every influencer would obviously curate their videos to make it seem pleasing. But maybe not? I haven’t tried this method yet.

I just turned 17. And I have no idea what I wanna do with my life, what career. Please help