To ask for your help with my life?

Similar position here and working in an industry being rapidly overtaken by AI. Probably wont have my job by the time this year is out. Wish I had some sort of trade /something else to fall back on.
I'd definitely focus on the dog grooming/walking business. Im no expert on interior design but I do know an architect who had said that interior design is very affected by AI already. Maybe it's better if you build up manual skills e.g. painting etc as part of it...
Anyway I think you sound like you're doing well for someone of 20. I was living abroad teaching English at that age having lots of fun but with hardly a thought to my career or future!

52% of 25-29 year olds have a degree in the UK. There are people with degrees in thermodynamics, engineering, pure maths who work full time in Aldi. Degrees have been devalued and spending years finishing a filler degree you don’t want to work in isnt time well spent. Bsc doesn’t mean anything if its an irrelevant degree.

There are only 4,000 forensic practitioners working in such roles the whole of the UK! Why thousands do the degree each year baffles me.

Wait until your degree is done, or drop out if it seems pointless tbh, and then reassess. You can do whatever you like and change every 10 years if you want to. But don’t do 300 things at once because you’ll end up blowing them all due to burn out.

DH and I set our lives up first and then travelled aged 30. I’d say it was a touch late because we weren’t happy slumming it and found so much of it uncomfortable. So maybe 25-27ish would be a better age for that.

Which was kind of my point. It's actually getting a handle on how you manage stress which is key here. I am not judging: I am the same but it's taken me a long time to figure out that the stressing is actually more of a thing than anything I am stressing about. For me, regular exercise (even if it doesn't come naturally), spending time out doors, giving myself permission to switch off and not do anything productive all important. Have tried mediation as well, but am less consistent with that.

It will allow a BSc after their name whatever they do, which doesn't hurt.

Why are you stressing about housework ?
In a small house with no children.
Is your boyfriend equally stressed about it ...?
If not why not ?
Take a leaf out of his book or redistribute tasks.
And don't be a perfectionist.

How many points do you have towards your degree and how many credits are you talking each year?

You could take a year out or do just 30 one year.

There are a lot of choices but I think how far you have to go is key. If I only needed another 60 credits, I'd just get it done but if it's a long road, you can have a break and pick it back up again.

Even if you don't go into the field, having a degree is valuable and gives you additional options long term.

However, running a grooming business alongside your current work seems like a good fit and I might prioritise doing a course in this and having a break from your studies.

Interior design is harder. Again you might be better to start with the more practical elements like upcycling and upholstery. Get some skills under your belt which are useful regardless of whether you use them professionally or not.

I think you can't go too far ahead. Do you like your current set up in terms of work/living? If so just decide what to focus on for the next year, see where you are at the end of it and then decide on your next steps.

I'd go the dog grooming route on a mobile basis ... much less hassle for owners.

I'd reconsider interior design on its own as a career to generate a regular income.

it's one of the jobs that often comes up in lists of jobs vulnerable to AI. Along with graphic design, media, photographic web marketing. A lot of people are doing things like that for themselves using AI, that they would previously have given to an agency.

the latest thinking is to develop a T Shaped career, in other words, develop a deep specialism but also a broader range of compatible skills such as project management, risk management, business analysis to give yourself a unique combination of applicable practical skills

Interior designers tend to run in well off circles that can afford to hire interior designers. You could work to get your house first, interior design that (to experience the realities!), maybe start a blog about interior design to document what you do, share ideas, get your name out there and make contacts.

When I went to uni, I knew of many many people doing forensic psychology (as well as forensic science) but the reality is that there really aren’t that many jobs in that role and the jobs that are usually require at least a master’s or phd! Saying that, it’s still best to finish the degree as many jobs just require a degree qualification even if it’s not particularly relevant.

interior design…. Due to the internet and AI tools most people would/can design their homes themselves. Unless you live in a wealthy area I’m not sure how many jobs you’d get?

police….. soooo many people want to work in dog handling and again, not many jobs (exh is a copper)

saying that, don’t pick a career just because it has good prospects. I’m very arty but ended up being a biomedical scientist in clinical chemistry 😂 made a shit tonne of money but absolutely hated it. I’ve always had a side hussle of doing up furniture to sell to get my creative fix

If you're interested in photography you have the perfect 'in' to make money from it from your dog business - take your camera on walks and get professional grade photos of the dogs having fun and sell downloads for £5 a go. Or if you move into grooming - "Get your pup groomed then have its own professional photo shoot...". From there you could follow up with family portrait offers once people see great photos of their pets. Reinvest the money into upgrading equipment and taking trips for yourself to go an photography the things you really want to see.

An NC or equivalent qualification in photography would give you all the necessary skills to start out. Great second hand equipment can be had for good prices on ebay etc. I'm a pro wedding photographer and about 75% of my entire kit came from ebay!

Definitely finish your degree. It will be done in the blink of an eye and then you will have that as ballast.

It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. You sound like a very resilient, intelligent young person and you should be very proud of yourself!

Hi op! I have two daughters around about your age. Your twenties are for discovering the sort of life you want to live. So don’t get stressed about this! You have time and youth on your side so take a breath! You’ve also done really well to set up your own business so young.

My first piece of advice would be to not follow your passion but do what you are good at!

Many of us want to be artists and designers but whether we have the ability is another question. Don’t get me wrong; if you are talented you should go for it! But realise that financial success in any sort of design or creative arena is as much about organisation, marketing, self-promoting, accounting, logistics, and good time management and hard work as any other profession. You must know that already running your own business!

You don’t need to follow forensic science and I have little idea of the jobs you can do outside of police related roles, but it would show resilience to get one degree under your built and finish it. It is proof to others, should you need to be employed one day, that you can assimilate information, and that you stick to something, even when you realised it wasn’t for you!

I don’t suppose you would want to join the police and become a dog handler? I think there is a way of joining via a graduate route? And then develop a dog training business on the side?

Aside from that, in your shoes, I would focus on the dog side of things. It sounds you live in such a unique location, it would be a shame not to profit from it, and there is huge demand for dog walking, pet sitting, training, grooming and as you know, people are willing to pay quite a lot for these services. Given time you could expand to doing dog photography? And take some courses aligned with that? And then start taking photos of dogs in their owners’ homes and get in to interiors that way? Creating sets if you like?

And go on some great holidays and travel and see the world! Go at times when you are not needed for pet sitting eg February and travel to Australia for example.

When you say you are stressed, I know that working and studying is a hard combination, but trust me, you have a lot more in you! I discovered that once I had dc.

How are your time management skills? Have a look at Mel Robbins interview with Laura Vanderkam, who breaks down the 168 hrs we have a week! If you subtract 40 hrs work from that plus 56 hours sleep, you have 72 hours left for other things. Even if you subtract an hour a day for washing, hair and make up, and say one hour’s cleaning per day a week to include laundry, that equals 58 hrs left over. If you take eight hours away for leisure that’s fifty hours free! Even if you take away 8 hrs per week for meals and washing up that’s still 42 hrs a week left! Two hours a week away for food shopping and you have forty hours free!

I think you are feeling tired because you have all of these options going through your head and you are not quite sure where your life is going! The uncertainty and stress of that is draining your battery.

Good luck making some decisions op! The last piece of advice is, most decisions are not definitively right or wrong! There is more than one way to skin a cat! And you already have made a great start by doing and creating your own little business that can lead you to a number of different areas involving creativity. For example, if you are dedicated and work hard, a small business can develop organically like this:

>dog training, grooming, walking and pet sitting

>dog photography,

-dog and owner portraits in their homes

>designing sets for photographing owners and dogs at weddings or at special events

> you create your own dog beds and blankets which you use in your photos, people ask you where you bought them, you create a sideline

>sideline leads to designing dog friendly utility rooms and gardens

OK so that all sounds a bit fantastical but you see the point I am saying, you can use your skills to focus on a number of things and be ready to pounce on any opportunity that come your way!

Another scenario could be;

> forensic science degree
> join police
> join dog handling unit of police
> set up dog training business on side
>retire from police and train dogs for search and rescue!

Read the rest of the thread and considered it a bit more and also think you should finish the degree. Loads of people do degrees in things they don't use but also I did a quick google and if you are considering Australia they offer visas for Forensic Science jobs, so might be worth looking at that option too if your partner can also use his skills.

Why are you stressing about housework?

You’ve had a disrupted youth, so I imagine that makes you a bit more anxious about stuff.

For interior design, I would start with the antiques refurbishing and photography side of things- stuff you can do in your spare time and build a brand/reputation. And offer to style friends’ houses for free, so you can post them on your insta or whatever. you can do all this while earning money with your other interest, the animals. Sounds like you have lots of strings to your bow! Personally, I think interior design knowledge is just a few tips and tricks followed by lots of experience working with builders, upholsterers and decorators. So you could maybe find a job or apprenticeship in a firm. But if you want to set up on your own without doing that, I don’t think there’s a certain qualification customers will look for. (Perhaps business customers do, I don’t know.) I did a two-day course once. Maybe you could do something similar to have a certificate to put on your website. Equally, doing all the above would make you a credible candidate for the right kind of job.

As far as the timing for travelling is concerned, you are very young! Many of your peers are still full-time students. I feel like you’re ahead of them in the maturity stakes. Anyway, personally I would travel first rather than disrupt the establishment of your career. You could think about the interior design when you’re on your travels - maybe you could bring back influences or supplier knowledge.

Agreed.

My impression of interior design is that it's packed full of wealthy women (mainly) who like the idea of the job but also don't actually need to make any money.

Dog kennels / grooming / walking would be a much safer bet IMO.

OU is hard work, but in your shoes I’d complete the degree and then think about what you want in the future.

If you were my daughter I’d be very proud of you and give you the following advice:

1. Finish your degree
2. Keep working and saving until you graduate
3. Treat interior design as an interest and continue to enjoy learning about it
4. Everything else goes on the back burner until you graduate.
5. Every time you feel stressed remind yourself of your priorities and that everything else is on the back burner
6. After graduation reassess your interests and opportunities

You don’t have to decide everything today, you are in a good place, keep at it.

I was a dog groomer for many years before I quit last year. Its back breaking, underpaid and stressful as hell work and you are not going to get rich from it believe me!
Id

I would agree with others that the degree isn’t really impressive if you’re not going to use it, and as an employer I’d query why you put 3 years into something for seemingly no point, it certainly wouldn’t sway me to hire you if it was entirely irrelevant to a job you were applying for. So on that note I’d really think about why you want to do it, if it’s just to say you’ve done it then okay but that’s a very expensive path with no actual end goal that is going to benefit you.

One of my friends is an interior designer and did a 3 year degree and then did a course with British Institute of Interior Design, even with both of those things it was a really competitive field for her to get into and you’d be going up against people who actually do have the relevant qualifications. She had to build a portfolio and to do that she ultimately worked for free for quite awhile, redesigning her own home, she did some rooms for friends and family for free, she did some work in one of the local cafe’s and community centre for free for example all to build a portfolio alongside working in a shop to pay her bills, she spent a lot before she ever made a penny and even her first paid job in the area was with Wren Kitchens as a designer there and wasn’t really what she wanted to do but was another stepping stone. She loves it and is now really successful and sought after but it has taken her basically 6/7 years to get to that point and she had been competing every step of the way.

My honest advice is re-think.

Interior design is a shrinking industry due to the use of AI. The people who will use interior designers in the future will be a very few, very high ultra net worth people, and some businesses. The people who will get these jobs will be people who already walk the corridors of power in these worlds - think the daughters and wives of the wealthy and powerful. Interior design is not a hugely meritocratic world anyway (it's a lot about connections) and will become even more so.

I say this to save you future heartache.

ive heard that interior design is incredibly hard to make a living from. A friend qualified and had to go back to banking because people simply aren’t interested in paying enough to make it viable. Dog grooming may well be sustainable

Definitely finish your degree as that gives you more options.

Friends who have moved into interior design generally did it with support from a high earning partner and began building their portfolio by giving away free advice. It's a very hard industry to actually make money in and AI is only going to make it worse. Dog walking and grooming seem a much better bet and keep the interior design as a hobby for now.

Why not just focus on now, I have barely given a thought to my future ever and I'm 34 now. What can you do to feel calmer now? This stood out to me "stress about the housework" - you said you live in a tiny property, and no kids, so I cannot see what is stressful. Surely you can clean the whole place in an hour, we can clean our 3 bed house in a couple of hours. Maybe adjust your standards, as long as it's hygienic it really doesn't matter. Finish your degree seeing as you've started, and keep your business going. I'd personally say that AI is going to replace a lot of interior designers in the near future so why not keep it as a hobby / interest rather than a potential job. We did a year travelling when I was 27, husband was 30, we went and worked in Australia on working holiday visas, saved up and spent all the money going travelling, so was a cost neutral year!