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

[BitterAndJaded]

I was extremely fortunate to fall into ‘a good graduate job’ straight after a Masters at the age of 22. I’d done some work experience there and was offered the position without having to apply or even look at anything else. Totally unlike everyone else I know who went to masses of assessment centre days and interviews only to receive multiple rejections, meanwhile having to do low level work in bars and call centres to support themselves.

Honestly though, two years in I’m hating it. The work involves doing research for the public sector and it simply isn’t anything I have any interest in at all. I spend whole days in a room on my own crunching statistics and it is mind-numbing. I truly feel like I am starting to become depressed as I am losing the motivation even to get out of bed in the morning. I doubt I am ever going to be able to get significant promotion here as I just can’t seem to get engaged with it at all (not that there’s potential to ever make big money anyway).

Admittedly I took the job partly because it meant being able to stay on in the small town where I’d studied. At the time this seemed very attractive as I felt settled here and was slightly in love with it. However all my friends have now moved on for jobs elsewhere (mostly London which I confess I find daunting), my student boyfriend and I are ancient history, I’m no longer part of the university scene and there’s not really a lot else. Dating prospects are frankly crap as it’s so small and the demographic is just all wrong (mostly older people who are already settled basically, other than a handful of PhD students).

My parents have been devastated though when I’ve talked about wanting to move on. They think of me as nicely settled here and onto something good. When I tell them how incredibly dull I find the work they say I am expecting too much. My generation’s expectation that jobs should ‘feed our souls’ is unrealistic. My father stayed in a job for over 25 years which he never much liked so that he could support us all, yet he didn’t complain. It would be realistic to think I could manage to buy a flat here in a few more years which would not be the case in London or many other places. Isn’t it worth hanging on for that?

Yet there are moments where I wonder whether I can keep going even one more day here. AIBU?

carry on for now, while making plans, and looking into new qualifications etc that could move you into a new direction. I have an adult child in a similar situation, they are going to make it to 3 years in their first job, which looks good on their CV, and in the mean time they are doing evening classes to apply for a different type of job they have found out about. They won't leave their first job until they have sorted out their next job, obviously, but yes, they have decided on a complete change of direction. Still the references and experience from their first job will be with them for life.

Lots about not liking your current job but not much on what you’d like to do instead. Do you have plans?

It sounds like a move would be a good idea but I wouldn’t rush into it until you have something to move to. Much easier to get a job when you have a job.

Alternatively is it possible that your current job is just a dull rung on the ladder to something much more interesting? Presumably something attracted you to it in the first place? Most entry-level jobs have boring bits to them- getting through that stage can be necessary before you get into the good stuff. But whether that’s the case here, I don’t know.

I honestly wouldn’t jack in your job too hastily. Do you have any thoughts on what else you might like to do? What are your passions? What are your skills?

I would figure out what you want/enjoy/your passion. Maybe you need to take some time off and see the world? Maybe you need a job change? But I would figure out what that might look like before just ditching what you have.

perhaps consider a hobby/distraction outside of work?

but no, you don’t have to stay in a job/life you hate… especially not at your age with no dependents or commitments.

You're 24. Far too young to be stuck in a job tat doesn't interest you. Your parents still see you as their child and of course don't want to think of you as growing up and moving on. You need to forge your own path. You need to build your own experiences. Life won't be as easy if you move out of your area. But that doesn't mean it'll be worse.

You should absolutely explore other opportunities. There is a whole world out there and you are WAY too young to resign yourself forever to what you have now.

You can start to look for other opportunities while doing the job you have now - talk to recruiters, look at interesting ways to use the skills and experience you have, be prepared to take risks (if they make sense). You're early enough in your career for a complete change if you want that.

If you feel bored and limited now, imagine how much worse it will be in 10 years.

You are still young enough to change direction successfully. If you are hating it so much and have outgrown the town, start looking for what type of roles you’d like and put steps in place to head that way.
give yourself 1 year, don’t resign without having everything in place first.

Go on city breaks, especially up North. It isn't grim up here (I'm in Liverpool) and houses are affordable. There's also lots of fit men. You have no commitments and qualifications that mean you can earn well. You've got to forge your own life. Work isn't work when you enjoy it.

Unless you’re planning to travelling, don’t leave your job before you’ve found a new one. There is nothing to stop you applying/seeing what’s out there, and if you get a new offer that’s the time when you can sit back and decide whether it will be better than staying where you are.

2 years work experience in your first job is the perfect time to leave and you’ll find it much easier to get another job with that on your CV. Your 20s is the perfect time to move around and find the industry and role that suits. We take on about 10 grads a year and only 2/3 are still here after a few years.
Sounds like you have lots of transferable skills, have you looked into market research (much more exciting than public sector research) or data science/analytics type roles.

Change your job now. I got a very, very prestigious job, which I grew to hate. I only stayed in it because my parents said they would be “devastated” if I left. I am finally leaving now that they are both dead, and to be frank, it’s something I should have done 20 years ago. I will say though, don’t leave your job until you have something to go on to.

Never leave a job without one to go to… however, once you have found an alternative plan, just do it! Life is too short to be stuck somewhere miserable - my first job after my degree was horrible and I hated it. I stayed longer than I should as I felt I had something to prove and when I moved on, I wished I’d done it the year earlier. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. It’s your life and do something that will make you happy!!

You're only 24!
Change your job, change your town, change your hair, change your country! Do it all, experiment and try stuff out. If it doesn't work then you've learnt something. Dust yourself down and move on.
Life is (hopefully) too long to be stuck at your age. Do it all before you have responsibilities that make it harder.
Apply for some other jobs in different places and see how life unfolds.
It's out there waiting for you, take it!

Agree with others here, certainly take some time to think about what it is you’d like to do, where you’d like to live, use your weekends to stretch your wings and visit friends in other cities - but don’t quit until you have your next job/move in the bag. A period of unemployment is not what you need right now!

Sort out a new job first.

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

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.

I’ve talked about going travelling, or at least working abroad. My parents find this horrifying though. I’d be using money I could put towards a flat here one day. Although admittedly the idea of tying myself even more to somewhere with such limited prospects for finding a life partner does worry me. I would definitely like to have a family and, whilst it would of course be lovely to get on the property ladder soon, I wouldn’t want it to come at the expense of that.

There are no other comparable jobs doing what I’m doing in this town. If I wanted to stay here I’d have to commute, which wouldn’t be worth it at this stage in my career (although may be later on I suppose). Or just stay in this current job for life which feels like an awfully depressing thought.

The obvious place to move to now would be London, yet the thought it quite terrifies me. I realise competition is extremely tough. Two years in this job isn’t that much and realistically I’d be competing with the huge pool of new graduates there.

I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.

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.

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).

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

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.

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!

I have a reasonable cushion. I’m thinking I need to change direction completely though and quite possibly retrain, otherwise I’m likely just to end up unhappy again further down the line. The thought of starting over completely feels terrifying though.

If I were to stay in my current field, by far the obvious option would be the civil service. Yet that would mean applying for their very competitive new grad scheme as the experience I have is not enough to go in at a higher level. I’m not convinced I’d stand much chance though as I just don’t think I have the degree of passion required. I had a look at the application form last night and it’s full of questions like, ‘What interests you about this the work we do? What makes you want to join us?’ Errr, nothing and I don’t think I do really <rolls eyes at self>.

The university careers service will see me for two years after graduation, which is fast approaching. I have an appointment with them this week.

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.