Career Path Difficulties

I am a 21-year-old male (well, turning 21 soon).

From the age of 15, I have worked the following jobs:

Grocery Store Clerk (9 months)
Door-to-Door Canvasser (two summers)
Intern at Recording Studio (5 months, co-op)
Assistant to Grad student (4 months)
Research/all-around help for small business (5 months, on-going)
+ several odd jobs

I have completed a year and a half of university. Then, I dropped out for two years. I have since returned (this summer, so far).

My main issue is that I don't know what I should do next. I do not know what sort of job or career I can realistically get and will enjoy. I enjoy writing, making music, computer programming. I have several interests, ranging from linguistics, to art, to physics, to math, etc. I have found that a school environment doesn't suit me well.

How can I pursue a career in what I enjoy and still be able to support myself financially? This question has plagued me a long time and I have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. I do my best to improve my situation but this overreaching anxiety causes me to feel defeated lots of the time.

Thanks.

Hi Davos,

I just turned 21 myself and have been going through a similar issue.

I think the answer lies in remembering that you can still do what you love even if it's not as a career. In some cases, it's even better to do it for free, just for the love. Like with your music and art...once you plan on doing it as a career, you risk having to sacrifice your artistic integrity to pay the bills.

Maybe you should try to find an interest of yours that could lead to a solid career. This seems pretty possible for you, given your interests in linguistics, computer programming, physics and math...That way you could pay the bills with a job you like and make time in your personal life for the other interests you wish to pursue.

It caused me a lot of anxiety to think about as well, but right now I guess I'm okay with where I'm at.

I hope you find a solution that works out for you. If you wanna keep talking to me about this, feel free to PM me anytime.

Best of luck!

No matter what the career; one has to start at the bottom and learn the career and that takes time. One has to practice, that takes time. Think about your interests and hobbies and how long it took before you actually knew something about them and others respected what you had to say about the subject, etc.?

It is the same with careers/jobs; you may go to school and get a degree in accounting but you don't really become an accountant until you have practiced real world accounting for 10 years. I remember when I turned 21 and was "grown up" but I did not feel grown up until I turned 30; at that age, even my parents recognized that I was grown up?

What would you like to do for that long? It looks like you might have been interning, assistanting, researching in an/area(s) that interested you? I would keep with that as you go to school so you have some practical experience to at least get you a job in the field when you get out, get you enough ahead of the people just going to school, not working in their chosen fields? I think it is a little like teaching, where they make you be a student teacher in order to work as a teacher when you graduate? Any evidence you can show of overall interest in your field, besides just book learning, will help you get a job in that field.

Thank you all for the advice.

I do my best to keep practising and honing my interests daily; each day I try to learn new things.

Now that I'm in a better state of mind I realize that I should be more calm about this :P.

I have found things that I like to do, but I don't feel able to make a career out of them, although I have tried and I still try. On top of that, I have yet to find a job that doesn't drain me.

But I will try to approach my problems one at a time.

Hang in there. Some days are tougher than others, especially if you're feeling particularly anxious.

I noticed on your profile that it says you have depression. Perhaps that could explain why you find the jobs you work to be draining? Being depressed could be preventing you from having more energy and drive.

Yes, it really is quite possible that depression contributes to my difficulties with work. But I don't really know how to get help with that. I am on medication that is working well; I feel like I function properly. Except in work and occasionally in school.

I've given my two weeks notice to my boss. I'm going to be focusing full-time on school in the coming school year. Hopefully this works out for me. I hope the lack of funds isn't going to be a big issue.

At least your medication's helping you out. Hope you find success in the upcoming school year. Maybe you could do odd jobs here and there if you really need the money.

Yeah, I think things overall are going well. I would love to do odd jobs, but in general I find it difficult to find work (but I think a lot of people have this issue).

Yeah, it's tough all over. Hope things get better for you with time!

You are telling me! I have had many jobs that I have loved at first, but then in my manic pulse I end up losing them. I, too, enjoy creativity- art, music, etc. much more appealing but to make a living with it is tough.

I don't have advice on what to do, but only offer my encouragement that you are not alone in this. The modern workforce is so full of sharks and insensitivity, I can barely stand it.

If you can, try to sell on ebay. It is a solo deal, and can make you enough money to live off of. The way I did it for a while was picking up second-hand name brand jeans at garage sales and flea markets, and selling them at 5-10x my purchase price.

The secret to ebay are the photos. The more you have, and the higher quality of your photos, the more sales. Imagine you are shopping, what would you want to see? Every angle possible, right?

Anyways, I wish you the best, and pray you find something you like out there

I am a songwriter (in my spare time LOL) and as a hobby I write, mentor a couple young singers, and record them. Who knows, someday I might pen a hit song.

I'm 53 and I used to be one of the best guitarists in San Francisco, at the time, that was significant. I gave it up to be a husband and a father. At this time I'm divorced with child support and I have a physical disability that limits my guitar playing. I have no regrets over the decisions I've made, and seeking the day job route over slugging it out in the nightclub circuit was a choice I made for someone I thought would be there for me. Sadly that didn't happen, and although your relationships is not an issue here, just not going for your passion out of your own doubt, could be something you can regret.

One of the other replies says to seek for a thing you would do for free. If you can figure out how to make that pay for your bills, well THAT'S GOLDEN!!!

Best of luck in your path.

Again, I want to thank everyone who posted and offered support. I also appreciate the personal stories everyone has shared with me, and I wish you all the best.