Complex life AIBU and unsure what to do!! Please help.

[WellAlwaysHaveParis]

Will try and keep this relatively short, but want to be fairly detailed, so that I can explain my situation fully.

I'll be turning 26 in a couple of weeks.

A few years ago, I went to Cambridge to study French and Spanish, and finished university in 2015. At university, I was very involved in writing for student newspapers and in editing them, and also did work experience placements with national newspapers during my summer holidays, as I really wanted to go into journalism as a career after university.

I realised, whilst doing these placements, that journalism can be very, very difficult to get into as a career. This was a useful lesson to learn, but also very frustrating, as it made me lose confidence and actually put me off focussing on going into journalism as a career. It also made me feel unsure about how I could even begin to go into a journalism career, as it seemed to me that one of the main ways of establishing yourself in (print) journalism is by studying for a journalism MA and/or doing a lot of unpaid internships during and after university, with no guarantee of a paid job at the end.

Since graduating from university in 2015, I haven't really had any idea at all about what I want to do as a career. Straight after graduation, I worked as a self-employed tutor (advertising to clients on websites and via word-of-mouth) and as a freelance copywriter for a digital marketing agency (which I didn't really like for several reasons) until summer 2016.

I then started a teacher training course in London, which I resigned from in autumn 2016 for several different reasons. I resigned because I felt suicidal for a long period of time during the course, and didn't feel able to carry on. I've had counselling since resigning.

Since resigning from the teacher training course in autumn 2016, I've been working as a tutor in London (self-employed, but I get given assignments from different agencies) and training to be a volunteer for a Citizens Advice Bureau (since autumn this year). I'm really enjoying the tuition and the CAB training, but still feel very unhappy and confused.

I know that I need a career, but I'm still unsure what career I would like to go into. So I feel it might be best if I just apply for a variety of different jobs that I like the look of and eventually forge out a 'career by happenstance'. I've looked into translation as a career, but it seems to be mainly a freelance career, and also very tough and competitive.

I've also looked into the Civil Service, and have been applying for jobs with them. I applied for the Civil Service Fast Stream this year, but didn't get past the e-tray exercise.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I'm based in London at the moment. I would really, really like to move to Paris or Brussels though (Paris, in particular).

I speak fluent French, as I lived in France with French families during my gap year and also lived in France again during my year abroad at university during my degree. I spent three and a half months living in Paris during my year abroad, and fell in love with it.

I've been seriously thinking about moving to Paris or Brussels for at least a year, now. My only worry is that I don't have a stable career (well, I don't have any kind of career to speak of) that I could fall back on during my move.

I really do think that I'm going into this with my eyes open, and I do think I'm being careful and cautious. I know the move will be tough.

My feeling is that, with regards to the move to Paris or Brussels, it's now or never, really. I will regret it forever if I don't go. You only get one life!!

I also want to make the move before I'm established in London with a career and before I have a family (don't have a partner or kids at the moment), and I also want to move to Paris or Brussels in order to start being an EU resident so that I could look into eventually getting EU citizenship before Brexit happens.

My plan is to tutor English (and possibly Spanish) to get some money coming in whilst I job-hunt, although I will job-hunt before leaving the UK.

My AIBU is: could I justify moving to Paris (or Brussels) without having a career that I could transfer when/if I move? Please help. Am I living in cloud-cuckoo-land?

Thanks!! :)

Paris, do you want to be a journalist? What appealed to you about it? What sort of journalism were you aiming for?

Agreed with princess

Do whatever you fancy doing, life will work it's way out.

Definitely go. I lived in Paris for 3 years - 1 as part of my degree and 2 years when I was 27-29. Had an absolutely amazing time.
Have a look on the website of the British Embassy there for locally engaged job vacancies. Lots of people I knew worked there and some eventually came back to London and got Civil Service jobs...

Go. My dilemmas at your age were different but parallel and I did the same. I had fun, it was an experience and a challenge, and although I didn't make my career totally out of it (you don't have to become editor of Le Monde) what I did is still a CV talking point.

its not unusual not to have a career yet, and if you keep looking for jobs you will come across things you have never even heard of.

It is also quite common for language graduates to end up in careers not related to languages,

Well done for leaving teaching, that was definitely a sound move!

I have lived in both France (1/2 hour train ride from Paris) and on the outskirts of Brussels. I used to go to Paris most days for training. Train links if you don’t live in the centre are excellent and very cheap. My unrestricted season ticket cost less a week than paying for two day returns.

Brussels has a large expat community and because it’s smaller than Paris, it’s more concentrated. I didn’t look for or find one in Paris as I’m fluent in French, married to a Frenchman. Rents in both cities are very very expensive.

If you chose Belgium, you’d get on better in a French speaking area as you will be up against multilingual Dutch speakers, who French, English and German.

I understand you don’t necessarily want to teach. But it could be a way in if you can’t find something more suitable. I didn’t teach english in France or Belgium but I did teach it in Germany through a couple of language schools. A lot of the people there applied to the language schools before they left the U.K. But as you can imagine, a lot of people want to teach in a capital city so idk if you’d be offered a job where you want to be.

The one thing I would say is if you still have an interest in journalism, don't give up. I'm a journalist and I have no formal qualifications beyond A-levels (obviously if you were going for a career in court reporting the lack of NCTJ/law training would be an issue but if it's general news or feature writing you want to do, not so much of a big deal).

The fact you were a self-employed tutor and able to hustle for work suggests you know how to network and pull in clients, and it's really the same kind of process for making yourself known in the media. It sounds like you've done some writing already on your placements so set yourself up a portfolio, stalk editors on twitter to find out who works where and get pitching some ideas. The only thing I will say about journalism is it definitely wont make you rich - rates and salaries are falling to really quite shockingly low levels.

as for moving to Paris, I would just be mindful of the fact that you seem quite frustrated by your current career situation, and would a move to Paris be kind of running away from the problem? You may be in surroundings you love but you'd still feel the same frustrations you do now. I'm not saying don't do it - I'm absolutely all for seizing the moment and throwing caution to the wind and all those things - but I'm just saying as someone who's lived in a few different cities in search of "something", nothing really personally fell into place until I was on track job-wise and socially. But if you feel moving to Paris would be the motivation you need and there would be more opportunities there, absolutely do it!

The Cambridge career services will have knowledge of opportunities in Paris, and will also have computerised tests to help you work out what sort of career might help you.

You should definitely go asap. It will be brilliant.

Have you considered the British Council Language Assistant scheme (if you haven't already done this via your uni year abroad)?

Would mean that you'd have a guaranteed, steady part-time job upon arrival in Paris/Brussels with very decent pay? Did the scheme myself for a year and it was a good 'way in' as there's a little bit of handholding when you arrive and a ready made social circle of other language assistants. After the first few weeks, you're just left to get on with it.

A lot of places in Europe will take you on as an English teacher if you have any kind of degree. The pay's not fabulous, but you will probably do very well if you specialise in teaching professionals. (I imagine your French skills are good enough for this.). Professionals need to know how to write business letters, format CVs, etc.

Haven't you posted about this before? I seem to remember the same existential angsting. Your family are getting annoyed you haven't found your path, right? And they're still funding you?

You don't need to decide on a career now. Most careers tend to develop organically. What you do need is a job, & that's the bit you seem keen to put off.