Feeling empty.

[AKM]

There's always the fact that if you decide to get a job and have money which you'll self indulge yourself with as a result, you're going to be another person that is killing the world and will be forgotten in a few years after your death, if not decades.

 

You could always exit the rat race and become a freegan, travel the world and doing whatever work you find/comes your way so as to pay for the next meal, work towards waking up the societies around the world that we're destroying our very own planet, etc.

 

Having a job is not the zenith of life, despite what you have drilled into you during your first couple o' decades of life. There's MUCH more important and/or worthwhile things to do than having a career.

 

Two points, one negative, one positive.  On the negative, there's a point at which working for your next meal is no longer at your body's capabilities, though I know a guy in his 70's who does pretty much just that.  He's got a house and car et al, but I can't imagine much reserve cash.

 

On the positive, absolutely true about there being more to life than just a career.  Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the number of "aha!" moments I've had where this reality became apparent.  One example was an evening on a sailboat with three friends.  One of the best nights of my life, bar none.  Just feeling the wind in the sails and the water through the tiller, watching the beautiful sunset, no noise but the water lapping on the hull. Just watching the world and poking along.  Nowhere to be and in no hurry to get there.  It was paradise in my back yard and hasn't happened since.

[Emily]

Competition is fierce, Economy is unpredictable, People are pressured.

 

And paradise is not for the living.

 

The Church are betrayed.

 

All price going up until someone discover alternative energy other than the petroleum.

 

[Dude500X]

still no job

 

have resorted to selling all my junk now for money, I feel sorry for the sod at cash converters whose going to be sorting thru all the crap im taking to them

[Emily]

.... hope you don't get schizophrenia.

[AKM]

Talked to a friend last night who is under employed.  He'd put in 50 applications... and heard back from one.  Yep.  O-N-E.  Very few will even let you know they even got the application.  It's hard not to get discouraged, yet I can understand why people with jobs to fill don't respond; they're being flooded with applicants.

[Userper]

still no job

 

have resorted to selling all my junk now for money, I feel sorry for the sod at cash converters whose going to be sorting thru all the crap im taking to them

 

Don't feel bad dude.

 

I've been unemployed for a year and a half now...   i lost my job at Oracle through redundency and haven't worked since.

 

From what i've seen most working age adults aren't working anymore, I literally live in a place where everybody I went to senior school with is at the doal office when I go to sign  

[lollol]

I will go to university next year, but how do I choose something that will actually have potential towards starting a career? I'm concerned about over-saturation of people trying to get into an industry, and outsourcing. I don't necessarily trust info provided by the government and the universities about employment opportunities. I decided not to do Computer Science after a friend from India talked about someone he knows who was doing programming work for an Indian company that takes work outsourced from Microsoft, they work on Windows, Microsoft Office, etc, all for far less then having it done in the US/Canada(employees seem to get around 5-10% what an American doing the same work would get paid). I also asked and was told similar stories from people from South Asia. 

[DSXX]

I do know what you mean.

 

I am graduating in December as an English major. I don't know why I picked it as a major to be honest. I suppose it is because I really, really love poetry and literature of all sorts. It was a poor decision though when it comes to career choices. I am at the point where I am thinking, "Now, really, what ever am I to do with my degree? Do I pursue a career in education? Hardly a field teeming with possibility. Do I go for a PHD so that I can teach as a professor at a college? I hate talking in public, so that's a bad career path for me." 

 

Allegedly, employers also have a hard time figuring out what one does with an English major. It's like the grand Rubik's cube of bosses seeking to hire. "Where do I stick this person who reads books and knows about literary devices? Eh, I will throw her/him in with the interns and she/he will find something to do eventually."

 

If one is even hired at all. 

 

I should have pursued programming, as I am apparently really good with programming logic. 

 

I may decide to flip around and go to Law school. I might pursue graphic design, as I really enjoy that kind of thing too..even though I am not much of an artist.

 

Not quite sure yet. 

 

Then there's the issue of being transgendered. Apparently 50% or so have been discriminated against when it comes to hiring. So, my prospects really look great so far!

 

Sorry that you feel this way.

 

I had this issue with my History degree. I took it because it was something I actually liked and could be taken seriously all around, and it is. Issue was that people thought 'Well why did you do history? Did you want to be a teacher? Do you want to work in a museum (seriously?!)? Become a teacher!'. Quite narrow minded views and people never really thought outside the box until I explained my feelings on the matter. 

 

I can't say I truly had an issue of emptiness when I left Uni. This is principally due to knowing what the goal afterwards was so it was yet another step forward. However, the issue I had was how to get there exactly, how to make that next step in the right direction and proceed accordingly. Do you have any true end goal in mind? If you want to be a teacher, great, if not, what do you actually want to do? Avoid the stereotypes and avoid becoming that example of a type cast if you're lost for options or you may end up miserable going into a job you're not a fan of, or you might not! Lol. Either way it doesn't have to be related to the degree. Make the degree as universal as yourself.

 

My lecturers had said to me, towards the end of Y3, that they frequently had the same reoccurring situations once a group of students had graduated. That it would be approx 1 year after graduating and they would start receiving multiple emails requesting references and guidance for being a teacher, despite these students saying during their uni days they had something else in mind. It's almost like a default 'I have no idea what to do' profession. I see it as a 'I want to do this, I like it, I like the idea and I'm comfortable with it' profession because it involves a lot of work and not something I personally see as a 'might as well do this'.

 

Grab a goal which you feel you can reach and go for it.

[Rogue13]

lord_d,

 

What you're feeling is normal and natural. There is still a perception out there that you get a decent educaton and work hard and you're set.

 

The good news is, it's true (mostly). The frustrating thing is that the advertising tends to indicate that employers will be lining up once you graduate. This is a lie (also mostly).

 

The most frustrating piece of income advice I ever received was that I should "find my passion and do that", the idea behind this common lame piece of advice is that then the time you spend working won't really feel like work. I have met many people who claim to be doing a job that is their passion, a school teacher, a chef, a realtor, a musician/music teacher, ect and I believe they are lying, mostly to

themselves. Don't get me wrong, I believe there are those who are able to make a living doing what they love, I just think these fortunate people waded through a lot of crap to get there. Try to be one of these fortunate people.

 

Many Western Europeans have a decent approach to living. Unlike N. Americans, who are more prone to define themselves by their jobs, their income and their consumerism, many Europeans tend to work basic jobs (not necessarily CAREERS) simply to be able to afford the things they want to do. The most fullfilled man I know is a cousin in Britain who is extremely well travelled, educated and happy. His passion is birds of prey, he works for minimum wage at a Chemists (a pharmacy), and volunteers most of his waking, non-work time, at a birds of prey santuary near his home.

 

I admire his contentment, but his path is not mine. This is not an option for me here (nor are flying clawed menaces from above). My obligations require that I make a decent salary, at least if I want to keep my wife (and I do).

 

I like my job, but I want freedom. I have a plan to get it.

 

For me freedom is time, unallocated time. The single greatest demand on my time is my job.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're young, healthy and educated, the deck is stacked in your favor. You may be in a lousy place atm just don't remain there. Identify a long term goal. Take a previous poster's advice and keep busy. The economy is turning around. Take a minimum wage service job while you wait for something better. Any job experience is better than no job experience. So far this year I've hired 7 people to professional positions, 2 full-time permanently (temp and part time are just part of today's job market). I will not hire someone who has no job experience, or someone who has been out of work for a long time without reason. The reason for this is that these people tend to be prima donas and piss off other employees. If someone, hasn't held down a lousy job at Subway, Taco Bell or Starbucks I can get little sense of their work ethic from their resume. Also, if they haven't had to do a poor job, they will never appreciate a good job offered to them.

 

Also, ignore the baby boomers (i.e. your parents and grandparents) these people came into the job market at a time when the economy was flourishing and jobs, good jobs, were easily found. They also came into the workforce at a time when wealth, easpecially through home ownership, was easier to aquire. In my experience, boomers simply cannot comprehend the current realities of the job market. Best to just nod and smile.

 

You done good so far lord_d, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. I am saying I think you'll suceed.

[woodenstick]

I will go to university next year, but how do I choose something that will actually have potential towards starting a career? I'm concerned about over-saturation of people trying to get into an industry, and outsourcing. I don't necessarily trust info provided by the government and the universities about employment opportunities. I decided not to do Computer Science after a friend from India talked about someone he knows who was doing programming work for an Indian company that takes work outsourced from Microsoft, they work on Windows, Microsoft Office, etc, all for far less then having it done in the US/Canada(employees seem to get around 5-10% what an American doing the same work would get paid). I also asked and was told similar stories from people from South Asia. 

 

Haha did you just admit to being a minor? Anyhoo I would completely disagree with what your friend said, yes there is coding work being outsourced but in the computer era we're in now practically every job needs coding experience. Seriously, you cannot go wrong with compsci/engineering these days if you're looking for a job. That being said, I would tell you to really consider doing what you like instead of what has jobs/high pay, going into a career you hate is just as bad as going into one without any job opportunities. If you fuck up now, you can always switch midway into your degree, of course this would have some bad consequences in terms of credits being transferred and whatnot. So it's not the end of the world if you screw up, in fact about 30% of people I know changed their degree/career path after getting to uni.