LostInLife: I am 22 years old and feeling lost in my life journey 🌟
Hey there! I know it can be tough when you feel like things aren’t going the way you hoped they would. But don’t worry, you’re not alone in feeling this way. Let’s break down some actionable steps that can help you navigate this challenging time in your life.
Assess Your Current Situation
First things first, take a step back and assess where you are right now. Reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, and what you truly enjoy doing. This will help you gain a better understanding of what direction you want to move towards.
Job Search Strategies
Since you mentioned having trouble finding a job and zero internships, let’s focus on strategies to enhance your job search:
- Networking: Utilize platforms like LinkedIn to connect with professionals in your field. Attend job fairs, industry events, or even reach out to alumni for advice and potential job opportunities.
- Skill Development: Consider taking online courses or certifications to enhance your skills and make yourself more marketable to employers.
- Internship Opportunities: Although you missed out on internships in college, there are still companies looking for interns. Look for intern openings in your area and apply to gain valuable experience.
Building Connections
Making friends and engaging in social activities is essential for personal growth and happiness. Here are some tips on how to build connections:
- Join Meetup Groups: Explore local meetups related to your interests to meet like-minded individuals.
- Volunteer: Get involved in community service or volunteer work to meet new people and give back to the community.
- Be Open: Remember that building friendships takes time, so be open to new experiences and meeting new people.
Embrace Your Journey
While it’s natural to feel regret about missed opportunities, it’s essential to focus on the present and future. Embrace your journey, learn from past experiences, and use them to propel yourself forward. Remember, it’s never too late to create the life you want.
Seek Professional Help
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cope, don’t hesitate to seek help from a therapist or counselor. Talking to a professional can provide you with additional support and guidance during this challenging time.
Remember, life is full of ups and downs, and it’s normal to feel lost at times. Stay positive, stay resilient, and keep moving forward. You’ve got this! 🌈💪
Got a question? Ask away! 🌟
Try to focus on the better things… what’s done is done. If anything use that as fuel for a bit til you establish the discpline, to do everything you need/want to do outside of your career.
You are 22 relax lmao
Hey man, I totally feel you
Check your dm
Sorry man I had a shitty time in college too. Fuckin tech schools right? You have a solid and hard earned degree, stay positive!
Your situation is frustrating. Outside of your education, at 22 I was very much in the same place as you. I know it seems like you’ve missed out on life, but I promise you there is still so much for you to experience. Although trite, it’s true.
The job market is tough and new eng grads seem to need experience or connections to get on with some of the big companies.
I’ve worked in project management for large and small utility companies here in CA and without knowing much more, if I were you and I wanted to work as an electrical engineer this is what I would do:
1. Dig up the approved contractors list for the electric utilities in the areas you want to work – Start small and be a big fish in a small pond. It’s easier to get on with a contractor for a utility than a big company off the bat. The pay may not be amazing, but this is to be expected. Get some experience, your PE and when you apply to the big companies (if you still want to), you’ll have a much better chance at not only being considered, but being hired.
2. Review the construction companies, the design firms etc and apply to the roles that you want.
3. Format your resume to fit the job description.
4. Reach out to the HR department of the companies you’re applying for to introduce yourself and inquire about the role <—-this last part is crucial. I can’t tell you how many offers I’ve received from companies that I took the time to email. Some of these companies are small and not only would your email be well-received, but especially in some of the more distant areas, a manager would bite at the chomp for a UCLA alum to be on their team.
In my experience, some contractors for the big utilities rarely seem to allow hybrid or WFH so be prepared to relocate.
Please note this may be different for eng working with consulting firms.
Feel free to PM me. Best of luck, OP.
Look out of state. Build a life regret is a waste of time. Reflect, correct, and try not to make the same mistake twice. Look at states with best cost of living index.
Two things:
1- sounds like you have some social / emotional difficulties. To unpack that, you should consider a therapist to process your feelings and to develop a plan so you can move forward in your life in a healthy way.
2- Are you interested in engineering as it relates to infrastructure? Organizations such as ASCE, AIA, ACEC, AGC are full of thousands of member companies from architecture and engineering firms to general contractors that need engineers. The number of civil and other (non computer related) engineers in the US is abysmal and companies all are actively hiring. They may not pay as much as Facebook or google right out of college but you’ll still make a good salary. Have you looked into your local Port Authorty, Airport, Municipal water or construction agency/ authority in your city/state?
There is so much money out there rn from the IIJA (federal bipartisan infrastructure law). Dig deeper.
Examples of companies (these are large ones and would be more competitive, so should look at smaller to medium sized companies as well): AECOM, Suffolk, Bechtel, Parsons, STV, WSP, Trane, Arcadis, Judlau, Kiewit.
Reach out to your local / college ASCE chapter and look to network with some folks and possibly get a mentor. Lucky for you is that since you have a foundational knowledge of engineering, when it comes to learning structural, civil, mechanical engineering, most can be taught on the job.
How did you get rejected by every club? Aren’t there basically no requirements to join any student org?
1. Average time to find a job after college is 3-6 months. To me that actually seems short. 9 months seems like a possibility. Because most companies hire in spurts. Right now budgets won’t allow a lot of growth. Fall is when things should pick up. I went months with nothing and suddenly had 4 interviews in a week so be ready for a lot of hurry up and wait.
2. Have your resume professionally reviewed and edited. You may have a format that an algorithm sees and removes you.
3. A lot of companies start people in contract roles. You may have to do that for a year or two to get a foot in the door.
4. Look for industry niches. Research them find out what specialized knowledge you need and take an interest. I found my career while applying for jobs. Didn’t get the one I originally wanted, but asked the people in charge questions and figured out what I needed to learn. You have starter knowledge and are going to be seen as a blank slate with enough knowledge to understand how to figure out what you need to learn and when to ask questions.
5. You’re regretting abstract things rather than taking that interest and pursuing it. Like people here said find adult leagues or things that sound fun to you. Otherwise, the sense of isolation gets worse.
This may have sounded harsh, but it’s the reality of the situation. You’re not in the top 1% of your class, so starting will be harder.
You’ll be fine dude
Not to be rude but bruh at least you’re graduating my GPA is dogshit, I have no money for food and yet I’m still trying my best to keep my head above high water. Just got a lil part time job so incomes coming in, got another appointment with my advisor and PCP for medication…shits moving forward fr me. You should be grateful of where you’re at, many people wish they could be there, including me.
Apply with big companies. Boeing (always looking for electrical engineers), GE, Lockheed, Microsoft, Raytheon, etc. These guys have the budget and the training resources to at least get your foot in the door. You may have to relocate for a few years to build up the experience needed to get another, possibly better job, but it gets your foot in the door.
As far as I can tell, nothing at all has gone wrong with your life. You’re graduating from a top school with a very desirable degree. So you’re better off than most people, even the ones who went to college.
You’re 22 and have an EE degree from UCLA? Quit bragging about your lifeÂ
You’re actually really lucky to realize that you aren’t where you want to be in life at 22 rather than at 25 or 30 or 35 or 40 (etc, etc). If you act now you have lots of time and opportunities for the life you want.
I don’t know you but I’d highly advise you write down a list of everything in your life that you think is stopping it from being what you want. Then you should start by trying to fix some of the smaller issues that will take less time. With a little less of a monkey on your back it’ll be easier to tackle the bigger issues.
Just please, please, please don’t get dejected and do nothing about the situation, Then you will REALLY waste time and trust me the feeling of regret will be a lot more painful.
You can even message me if you want, maybe I can talk through some things with you.
What would you charge with the knowledge you currently have?
If it makes you feel any better I didn’t do any of that and didn’t graduate. Got my ged though. And didn’t go to college lol. Best shape of my life cuz gym is all I’ve got. You will eventually land something I’m sure we are just in a recession right now, next year could be better for jobs. You are definitely dedicated and smart just have to wait for the opportunity! Left my job back home in December and have only gotten temp jobs that don’t last or kick you to the curb after a couple weeks/months.