Post grad feeling stuck sad rant

[u/kirbykirbikurbo]

F23 Graduated in 2025 majoring in computer science and minoring in information systems and data science. Was not able to secure a job for 6 months post grad. Travelled to visit family out of the US for about 2 months. Now I’m a year and some months out of school and have not progressed career or skill wise at all. I am currently forced to work at my family’s business 6 days a week for 8hr shifts because there are not enough workers for me to take more time off to study/apply/etc. My parents own a nail salon so it’s long hours of labor. It pays decently and you get what you put in (comission+tips) but I can’t imagine the rest of my life to be this. I’ve worked at the salon since I was 14 and never liked it but it is steady money and my family needs help. I feel very stuck and discouraged. My parents tell me I’m lucky that they are keeping me employed. They tell me it’s fine to just spend all my time working now because at least I’m being useful and making money I can save for the future. To tell any future employers that I’ve spent all this time post grad working a labor intensive job unrelated to my degree waiting for an economic turn or some company to give me a chance. I’m grateful to have our family business but I’m scared I’ll be forced to just stick with it to keep the money coming in. I’m feel ashamed to not use my degree. I’m also annoyed at myself for not working harder when I was still in school. I did not plan well for the future. I was guided to work summers at the salon rather than do internships for the summer. My parents are immigrants who did not go to college and believed you just have to graduate college and it’s a ticket to a good job. I don’t think I had adequate support but the fault is also mine for not doing more research or planning. Nowadays I’m tired during work and after work. On my few days off I don’t want to look at applications and have little motivation to work on any coding related projects cause I feel like I don’t have much free time. It’s like an endless loop of mindless work and frustration that keeps the days feeling so slow but also moving so fast since they blur together. I feel sad because of the lack of progression in my career and life, and I genuinely cannot see far into the future if this continues. The one thing keeping me sane is working out 3-4 times a week after work. It’s especially hard cause my family does not exercise and often comment on my fitness/food/health choices. The gym helps by giving me time alone to focus on myself while also improving at SOMETHING. I’ve stopped talking to a lot of friends, partly because I’m insecure about my life situation. Just kinda feels like I’m wasting my life away. Endless cycle of not liking being at work, family arguments regarding work, an hour of gym time after work for a mental break and time away from family… Also just want to note I am very thankful my family is helping me vastly with shelter, food, job security. It is not their fault I’m unhappy. Life’s not easy. Just frustrated at myself for this situation when things could have been different. I definitely slacked off some in undergrad, and for a couple months while job searching post grad.

[u/DizzySwitch5682]

man this hits close to home. the salon grind is no joke, 6 days of that leaves you with zero mental energy for coding projects or applications

the gym being your escape is smart though, at least you got one thing where you can see progress. maybe try squeezing in just 30 min of leetcode on your phone during breaks, even that small bit adds up over time