To jack in my ‘good graduate job’ and change direction at 24?

I’m going to show this to my 24 yr old, beautifully said.

You are in such a good situation. You've recognised you need change but you need to hone down on what you want rather than what you don't want. Honestly 2 years experience in a good job at your age is gold dust. You will have many options open to you.

What is it about travelling that's going to help you? Do you know? Because at the moment your posts are just coming across as running away.

What is so terrifying about London? Loads and loads of people spend their 20s there, figuring out what they want to do and getting work experience. The whole city is set up for it, and for meeting other 20 somethings too. It's basically lots of small areas that have coalesced into 1 big place. With excellent transport. Go see your friends and find an area you like, then set about finding a flatshare. You don't have to stay there forever, a lot of people end up leaving in their 30s for various reasons.

Figure this stuff out. Figure out what you do want rather than what you don't and you'll find so many open doors.

It doesn't sound remotely like that. OP move jobs! Start looking, make a plan. London is just a city like any other. But you already know people there who can put feelers out for rooms in house shares. Do it.

Yes lots of people do a job simply as an ends to a means. But you have no family to support, and a degree which means actually you can and should set your sights higher and aim for a job you enjoy. Otherwise what was the point of the degree.

I agree - get out into the world! I really don’t know anyone who stays put in a job at this age. There’s years to find what you really want.

Also - while you plan, start a non competitive hobby that requires in person attendance with people your own age. It’s hard to make friends when you leave uni/school.

Do you mean ‘grade 7’? If so then there isn’t specified minimum experience and roles vary a lot but it can be competitive. If it appealed to you it’d be much more likely you’d get a job to enter at HEO level and seek to do well and progress.

Can you access any low cost careers services?

You are terrified because of your parents attitude. They are also terrified of you moving out. Moving on. But that's not enough of a reason to keep you shackled where you are. At 24 you have so much life ahead of you. Yet your username is @BitterAndJaded. That's incredibly sad. If you were 44 and 20 years in a job that didn't interest you then that username would be appropriate.

You will be scared. Of course you will. But everyone is at first. It will be the making of you to move out and move away. I 100% understand your parents position. My teenagers are fast approaching university, adulthood, working life etc and I can't say I'm not a little apprehensive about them heading out into the world. But my job as a parent is to get them to the point where they feel ready to move on. I mightn't like it, but that's how life is supposed to go. I would be failing in my role if I held on to them and discouraged them from finding their own path and forced them to stay close and dependent on us. You are still dependent on your parents. You are dependent on their approval. You don't need it, and honestly you are unlikely to get it. So that means you need to stand up for yourself and make those decisions regardless of your parents.

Nobody said being an adult was easy 😉. This is your first challenge. You can do it and your parents can too. This is your first step now where you have to relate to them as an adult, an equal, rather than as a child who needs their approval.

Good luck. As the mother of a young adult I wish you nothing but good. Don't be still stuck there in your 40s. Please.

If I were going to change jobs, requiring actual retraining, I’d save up a years worth of expenses beforehand. I’d want to be able to focus on the training, without the pressure of running out of cash. You know - give it my all, and all that.

what about the civil service in an area that you don’t do? It’s an opportunity for a whole fresh start, so try not to look at it through the lens of your current job. You would like to travel - what about the foreign office? Do any of your skills (not tasks) map over to a role there?

Could you develop project management skills (or sell yourself as having them)? Many private companies need a good project manager to keep things on track.

and if you prefer to travel - how about getting one of those visas for Australia that lets you go and work there for a while. Would you qualify?

in the current economy, i wouldn’t easily walk away from a good job. However, I know what it’s like to be trapped in one you dislike and you do in that case need to plan an exit.

I hope the university careers centre is helpful.

OK so your qualifications and Cv will give you many job options, which is great!

in the short term you could focus on things to help you feel better whilst you make big decisions - eg you seem lonely, so could visit friends for a day or weekend, try to meet new people, schedule nice things to do.

you could research many options.

Right the first thing to do with your nest egg is book some counselling. Work out why you have such low self esteem, what you feel passionate about and how to break free from your parents'over influence
(I listened to my parents about your age, didn't do a gap year, didn't go into law because you live on air for a few years. I recognise that whole "we worked in 1 job" thing.
Don't berate yourself for decisions you made at 22. But do move forward now with gusto.
Your fertility starts to fall off a cliff about 30. I'm not assuming you want kids - but if you do you have plenty of time to change your life.

Have you spoken to your employers about your job. Is there anything they can do to improve it.

Do some grad jobs only accept fairly recent graduates? Is that a thing?

Jobs in the civil service are across a very broad range of sectors and many graduate trainee positions are outside the 'very competitive new grad scheme', which I assume is the fast track.

Look on civil service jobs for EO, HEO and SEO posts outside London with some key words that reflect your interests and qualifications.

We (specialist technical roles) don't ask those questions on the application form either but ask for qualifications and a personal statement about how we match the person specification and details of relevant experience and skills.

Your parents thoughts and feelings shouldn’t be a high priority.

To be fair to them, whatever you do you it’d be good to make sure that will not need to live with or have any further support from them financially. That is primarily what stopped me from travelling at your age, like most people I had limited funds and prioritised financial independence - others made different choices and took more financial risk and were fine too!

London has pros and cons, housing costs and instability topping the latter. It has loads and loads of good jobs. There are many other options too.

Travelling or working abroad could be fun, but you would still have the problem of uncertainty on what jobs you might prefer and it will be harder whilst abroad and having left a ‘graduate’ job to get a good job for your return, both due to practicality and your CV.

Another option would be to work out what you might prefer, apply for that somewhere you know people or might like to live, and try that first. You sound overly negative about your prospects to secure another good job.

I don't agree with moose at all about the grass being greener. At 24 it's important. You've done well to get where you are, but your job sounds sole destroying.

Don't do anything rash, just very calmly and gently think about where you wanna go and how you're going to get there. make small steps and provisions to enable that . What do you want? Have you done a lot of tests online?

Could you ask your company for a careers advisor / a coach, or a mentor, (2 of my friends admittedly aged 50 both had one recently , one got privately the other supplied by her employer Barclays! ) or get one from outside your organisation. to assess where you are, Where you want to get to, And how many Eg 2 sides steps that you need to take in order to get there.

Good luck.

But you wouldn't really be competing against a pool of new graduates when you already have 2y of experience under your belt.

Get cracking and applying for jobs!

Definitely look for a new job now while you don't have commitments that make it harder to leave.

I also agree with the suggestion about looking in northern cities as lots of opportunities and life and as a graduate you'll have a better chance of buying property, even if you do it alone.

Definitely move on. You’re so young! You’ve got loads of time, and enjoying your work is really important, it’s where you spend most of your life.
agree with Validus - make a plan. Start saving, register on all the jobs site, get connected on Linkdin.
maybe look for opportunities to work abroad too?
when you get a job offer, use all your remaining annual leave to have a two week travel in Eastern Europe (cheap, beautiful) then step out x

Can you say more about what you do now? People might be able to suggest some options. What was your degree in?

I think you’re placing too much weight on what your parents think (or rather, what you imagine they will think).

You’re not unreasonable BUT you need to plan this properly.

1. how much have you saved up? If you don’t have a good cushion - you need that first.
2. Where might you like to move to? You need to visit to check.
3. what might you like to do? You need to identify job requirements, match them up to your current skills, and then look for training to fill the gaps.
4. its easier to get a job when you already have one. You need to maintain your current job while you apply elsewhere.

Oh my God you must not stay. You hate this job, the reasons it was attractive are gone and you have one precious life. I loved the job I did 22-42. Not as mad on this one but there are reasons why it works around childcare. That’s when you make the compromises - after you have caring responsibilities. Do you know what you’d like to do?

Oh and the parents? They’re putting their stuff on you. They’d rather not have to worry about you taking a risk. Stuff that. A small, insignificant life follows if you put that first…

Also - London’s great.

You can’t continue in a job to keep your parents happy and while no job is ever perfect you can find ones you enjoy; I’d never stay in a job that makes me unhappy. Also now is a good time to change direction, do it now before you have a commitments that make it even harder