To ask for help to work out what I want to do with my life?

[Nutellasandwiches]

I'm mid twenties in a low paid job I'm starting to strongly dislike. I have a degree and postgrad degree in a social science subject but sadly may well as not bothered - found both courses so interesting but it's the usual tale in that you don't walk into a career as such. I have regrets about my choices now.

My jobs have always been customer services/admin based, no real responsibility, which was fine in my early twenties but now I feel pretty rubbish about it. Truth is I have no idea what I want to do.

A part of me is thinking of going back to uni to do my PhD and pursue academia (which was my original plan and why I pursued my MA), but I don't know whether I'd be doing it for the right reasons. I look through job adverts and I just feel lost. I'm also afraid my CV will start to look like I'm a job hopper but I don't think I can face sticking in my current role for too much longer.

I'm sick of earning a low salary, being in jobs that are below my skill set when I know I have more to offer. My self worth and self esteem are in the gutter and my brain cells are evaporating by the day. I'd love a job where I'm not stuck within the same four walls everyday and where I get to be up and on my feet and out and about. I think I need to be challenged. The thought of going back to uni to retrain frightens me a bit and, again, no clue what I'd study.

I'd love to hear from people who equally have/had no clue what they're doing in life and it all worked out okay. I just feel so disappointed in myself.

Not having your career figured out in your mid twenties is absolutely nothing to feel ashamed of OP! You are still so young. My DH has just turned 30 and is about to career change into something completely new because he isn’t passionate about his current work.

Can you start applying for lots of grad/training schemes for things that seem interesting to you? The civil service always have a fair few and I imagine you would have built up a good set of transferable skills working in customer service and admin.

In the mean time, are there any other departments at your current company that interest you? Perhaps you could do a bit of shadowing? Or speak to your line manager about extra responsibilities, even if it isn’t exchange for more pay it could stand you in good stead for applying for a scheme.

I honestly wouldn’t feel depressed about not having it figured out yet though. I’m also a similar age and I’m still sussing that out and trying new things and so are a lot of my friends. It’s what your twenties are for! Just try and use your frustrations to galvanise yourself into doing something about it rather than beating yourself up

Thanks for your reply. Nothing seems particularly interesting and I'm too old for grad schemes now. They want people fresh out of uni. I have taken on extra responsibilities and that does give a bit of a boost but it doesn't help with the day to day drudge and feeling like I'm wasting my life.

You’re not too old for grad schemes. Lot of people only get a grad scheme around your age. I’ve know a few people who did one in their thirties. I would suggest listing criteria for the kind of job you want (how much do you need to be paid, what kind of environment do you want to work it, are you dead set against public sector/working with children/whatever and so on). Then look at what you can achieve within those parameters and what you need to do to get there.

What was the social science you did? What interested you about it? What part of studying that did you enjoy the most?

You aren’t too old for grad schemes.
I know someone my age (28) who started one in January who graduated 7 years ago!

You sound really fed up and I think you need to maybe work out a bit of a direction first and then start looking

When I was in my late teens (a long time ago admittedly), my mother took me to Vocational Guidance in Upper Harley Street in London as I hadn't a clue what I wanted to do. I had to do loads of tests and then they suggested suitable fields of work - many that had never crossed my mind or even heard of.

I expect there are similar places these days. It may cost a bit but could be worth considering.

Its reassuring to hear I'm not too old for grad schemes. Wasn't aware of that.

It was sociology. I enjoyed specialising in particular areas of interest to me. I enjoyed the studying because I'm good at it, I like learning, and I enjoy the process of researching something and producing a piece of work on it.

There are lots of jobs that involve researching and producing a report anything with the word "analyst" might suit you. Try looking up roles to see if any of them interest you e.g. business analyst (might have an IT focus or strategy or process), marketing analyst etc.

Firstly you aren’t too old for grad schemes. I started one at 28 and a half.

Secondly you need to figure out the career you want and then go for it hard. Without direction you won’t get anywhere.

Thirdly for the love of job don’t do a PhD to get into academia. The job market is beyond dire.

Unless you would be totally unhappy anywhere else and are prepared to throw everything else on the scrap heap to get there, it’s not a path I’d recommend to my worst enemy.

There are lots of options out there for you. You need to figure out what you want.

Your degree is a good background for consumer insight type jobs. Market research, branding, advertising, trends, stuff like that. You’d need to be in London though.

Laurie - those are exactly my thoughts and worries about academia. The job market is not great I know.

I'm not near London and have no intention of moving at this point .

How do you find your direction when you have very little to go on?

Where are you based?

Social research opportunities are good in the NW where I'm based. Otherwise as pp's have said, market research/communications/engagement etc might be suitable?

Civil service?

Have you looked into publishing roles? Managing editor of a journal or commissioning editor for a book programme would involve your people skills and also some travel as you may need to attend various conferences. You'd be mingling with academia and if the topic is interesting, it is basically like watching TedTalks for a living and then trying to persuade interesting people to write on the subjects.

Nursing or midwifery! I’m biased because that’s what I did when I had no idea what I wanted to do, being a mature student is a plus, every day is different, loads of different areas you can work in when qualified, plus you’ll almost be guaranteed a job at the end.

I was in a class with people re training in their 50s OP. You can go onto lead a normal life after this!

I'm close by Bravo. When you say social research opportunities what sort of roles do you mean?

That sounds really interesting Daftodil I'll certainly look into that.

Sadly nursing isn't for me.

I work in Manchester where there seem to be social research based roles in the NHS, universities (I know you said you would prefer to stay away from academia but these are permanent positions rather than PhD/post docs IYKWIM), PR, marketing etc. Possibly worth looking at a few different companies and seeing if there's anything project wise in their backgrounds that interest you.

I work in the research and technology sector mainly with charities/ youth related organisations. I see lots of collaborative work with LAs and universities so there's sure to be work there - just have to find it! It can be buried a bit/not obvious from recruitment sites so I would try to contact companies directly if you can.

Given your social sciences background would you be interested in training to become a social worker? There are vacancies across the country in both children's and adults and often the opportunity for sponsored training.

Thanks Bravo . I would never have thought of approaching companies directly. Feels very bold! But I suppose it doesn't hurt to try. Would you recommend just giving them a call and asking to speak to a relevant department? Or making connections on linked in etc?

Shiny - my apprehension with social work is how easy it looks to become burnt out. It's something I've thought about but it looks very stressful, high workload for very little reward (social workers are always pointed the finger at for every wrongdoing or so it seems sometimes!)

Surely it's not too late for something like accountancy or law, despite them being hard to get on.

Oblo - both are good suggestions. Its fear that's holding me back I think. Fear of the wrong decision so I feel stuck.

I did law at sixth form and loved it.