#UnemploymentStruggles #CareerChange #MentalHealthMatters
Hey everyone, I could really use some advice because I’m feeling super bored and a bit overwhelmed. Here’s my situation:
- I’m 32, graduated college a decade ago with a degree in Art History—yeah, not the most useful for job hunting. 😅
- I quit my data entry job in June 2022, thinking it would be easy to find another office gig. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
- After my unemployment benefits ran out, I moved back in with my mom in rural Iowa after living in San Francisco. Talk about a reality check!
- I’ve tried working at Walmart twice as a cashier. The first time I quit after having a hard time adjusting back to that level of work, and the second time I couldn’t handle greeting customers at self-checkout. It felt degrading after having a decent salary in the city.
Now I’m left wondering: what do I do next? I feel completely unemployable. The idea of working at a fast-food joint makes me want to curl up in a ball. I thought about signing up for community college but the Human Services/Social Work program requires an internship for graduation. Who would take me on as an intern with my gaps in employment and no references?
Honestly, at this point, it feels like my only option is to game in my mom’s basement, but I really hope that’s not true! 🎮💔
Here’s where I need your help: What steps could I take to get back on my feet? Have any of you experienced something similar? How did you navigate a tough job market? Any tips or insights would be super appreciated! Let’s chat!
Start a small business. Mobile car wash or landscaping.
I’m kind of in your position
I’m 33 years old
I have a degree but didn’t get to use it how I would have wanted to so it’s basically now (more than a decade later) worthless
I could have a better life and higher salary if I pursued my own plans
I quit my job after experiencing psychosis and lost everything and now I’m working a job that pays $20,000 less while living at home
The reality is that any job is better than no job
And I think furthering your education is the only way to move forward and I’d personally suggest a certificate in payroll and working your way up to higher paying positions
Yup, buddy…you aren’t alone. 34, English degree; worked in low level journalism then marketing in the gig economy. Quit/issues with a job before Covid—started freelancing again then covid smacked us and it’s been a slug fest ever since. Been advising and consulting ever since then because of myriad of factors. Even picked up a night job to supplement income while working freelance internationally and domestically. Just grabbing whatever money there is by the fist-full and throwing it at whoever is next in line demanding it from me 😂🤦🏻♂️
Honestly, I’m pretty done with it all and just decided to start a YT channel while I peek around the job market for a FT role but the job market is a dumpster fire (almost 5% unemployment in USA). The Hemingway Exit is looking better and better every day tbh. No savings, no woman, no dog, no house, no job, no purpose, and no future. It’s fucking bleak out here for a lot of us.
But you’re in good shape—you’ve got parents to live with and a trust fund coming to you. It seems from previous post (glanced at your profile) that is the case. Hunker down at home, create a plan of attack, execute, and then pursue that course for a bit and let it be supplemented by the trust fund. You’re in much better shape than a lot of people; you should leverage those resources now with strategic thinking and a solid roadmap.
I appreciate that you both were brave enough to share. I feel your pain.
I quit a good job 3 years ago, thinking I could do better. I haven’t.
Thank you for your comments. I too, feel like I’ve wasted so many good opportunities and want to get off the road to self-destruction.
Here’s to replacing the unhelpful thoughts and behaviours with more helpful ones. It is useful to hear from people in similar position, that any job is better than no job and as degrading as it feels – take it. Then work towards a higher salary, while employed.
May all of us find jobs that we can like a little and make brighter futures for ourselves.
Is this a problem that just men have? Honest work shouldn’t be degrading. Washing dishes, greeting, running food, retail, who cares? A paycheck is a paycheck. It’s a means to an end. I kind of prefer the mindless “no skills” job bc there’s less take-home stress & I like to keep busy. The problem is just that those jobs don’t often pay well enough and you don’t get any benefits. I say this as a person who now has what most people would consider a “professional career.”
It sounds like for OP finding the funds to leave rural Iowa might be priority #1. Move somewhere with temp agencies, try out a bunch of different things and put in long hours. No one knows what they want to do when they grow up and we all have useless degrees, who cares?
It might help to pretend like you have no past, bc comparison *really is* the thief of joy.
We’re the same age and I like to think it’s still young. Certainly a lot of working years left. Remember when u were like 18 and would have sold your soul for just about *any* job, just to get a paycheck? Try to get yourself back in that mindset and let your pride take a backseat for a while.
Are you in LA? I recently saw an archivist job at the Getty that required art history. Maybe you could wiggle your way into that interview room with some BS’d archivist job history. Tell them you did nonprofit work or something for a private collector and describe your duties (which you will go learn on YouTube right now). I think it was an 80k job. You can live on that.
I’m an old art nerd in the same boat majors rough right now.
I read your post history as I thought you were a bot. Seems like you’re the real deal.
So here’s my two cents:
– You being trans has nothing to do with not getting a job. Sure, there will be a few challenges along the way, but not on a massive scale. It’s more your own mindset, your own insecurities, that may stand out and make the employer reluctant to hire you. Think of it this way: if you’re unable to be even remotely proud of yourself and in control, how do you expect the employer to ensure you’ll be proud of the work and the security you exert for his company? They’re quite necessary.
– Volunteer. Without any experience, one can still volunteer to different events, be it social events, volunteering to helping out the elderly, volunteering to help animal shelters, volunteer for pride and/or country events, volunteering at homeless shelters, etc. At the sams time, this builds up a resume of contacts through the volunteer work that you can use for references, or even job opportunities within that scope of volunteering.
Good luck out there.
You start by buying yourself a copy of “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron and working through the exercises to find your path. It takes 12 weeks, but within the first week you will notice a change. By week four, you’ll start recognising your old self again. By the end of the book, you’ll know who you are and what you want. Good luck mate.
Don’t people hire interns from educational experience, not as much work experience??
How the heck were you living in San Francisco making $25 an hour surely you had 3,4,5 roommates in order to split an apartment
Kinda where I ended up tbh.
Was in a similar boat at 23. Graduated with a degree in Music Production which was cool as a hobby but absolutely useless when it came to gainful employment. Went from one shit job to another until I was 27, becoming increasingly depressed and cynical with each application rejection letter and dead-end job. Got to the point that I felt I had to make a change, so I made the decision to move back in with my mom and go back to school for computer science (incurring a lot of debt in the process). Graduated ~4 years after that and got my first programming job at 30. Now I’m 33 and still steeped in debt, but I can at least say that I’m financially independent and in a job where I can preserve my dignity.
So for you, this approach may be a numbers game. If you hypothetically decided to start from scratch and go back to school, you’d have to consider the costs and benefits. I’m not sure how many, if any, of your prior credits would be transferable, but assuming none are transferable you’d have four more years until you’d graduate (or maybe 2.5 for some accelerated educational programs). That would likely put you somewhere between 34 and 36 by the time you earn a new degree. So you’d need to determine if it’s worth the time and debt.
Alternatively, you could possibly go for a trade like being a plumber or electrician, or attempt to do some independent learning and build a portfolio (e.g. web or graphic design) that could possibly serve as a replacement for a degree on a resume.
Whatever you choose, fuck degrading jobs. I understand if that’s your only option, but just know that there’s a random internet dude empathizing with whatever rage, frustration, and despair you might be feeling. I hope that in the meantime you’re able to find some sort of employment that allows you to be an independent human being and not a doormat for asshole karens. Think about something like landscaping, night security, or something else that doesn’t involve much direct interaction with customers. Hell, I’d probably try to become a janitor before working at a fucking grocery store again (not dissing janitors, just saying I’d rather clean shit out of a toilet than have to swallow being yelled at by some pastor’s wife for not having any more lobster tails in stock).
Farm
You live in Iowa. Farm
I’m probably going to sound like an ass, but oh well…
The biggest thing you need to do is get over yourself. You sound so condescending in saying that the work as a Walmart cashier was “degrading.” To me, it sounds like alot of Walmart cashiers have themselves put together better than you do, so I don’t know why you think that work is below you.
The only person that put you in the position you’re in is you, and if you want to get yourself out of it you’re going to have to learn some humility. At the point that you’re at with your job history, pretty much the only thing you will likely be able to get is entry level work. And you are going to have to trudge through that for a good while in all likelihood before you’re looking at advancement.
Learn to be humble and teachable, and you can put the time in and work your way up. Myself, I graduated with a Master of Arts in Counseling, and ended up working as a correctional officer for almost a decade. After that, a couple opportunities for advancement presented themselves and within 4 years of moving up from there I’m now a regional supervisor for a state agency. I’m not making crazy money, but I’m making enough that my wife was able to move to part time to spend more time at home with our kids. But the biggest thing that made me appealing, in my opinion, was that even as a supervisor no job/duty was below me and I was always willing to learn, even from my subordinates.
But if you’re not willing to do that because it’s below you, you’re pretty much looking at living off your parents and/or the welfare system.