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?

Is your job office based? Could you move with it? Sorry if I missed that in your posts.

Well, in a way you are sorted. You have skipped that phase. You have a good job, and you are at a prime time in your career to move on. You've got an income to live on while you research and apply for the next step.

What is daunting about London?

You said lots of uni friends have moved there so you already have a social starting point.

London is full of 20 somethings in flat shares so you can find a place to live easily.

The job market was graduates with good quantitative degrees really isn't that bad and besides, you now have two years work experience.

Don't rush into living in a quiet small town just because you can buy a house there. Enjoy your youth. Have adventures. Go travelling. Live with some weird housemates. Get lost. Go to a sticky floor dark cellar dive bar. Get a tattoo. Date a handsome but unavailable artist.

You have a decade or more to do that before having a family.

Time to cut the apron strings a bit and be less influenced by what your parents think. They love you but they are flawless, all-knowing super humans. They look at you through the eyes of what they want, not what you want.

Yes, I know that. I was simply using her wording. "The thought of starting over completely feels terrifying though."
Although I'd add she sounds more that "mildly worried".

The other thing I would say is rereading your posts, is that you are clearly very good at what you do, to be offered a role without interviewing and for your boss to clearly want to keep and develop you despite your obvious reservations about the role.

I do wonder how much of this is general life ennui rather than specifically about the job itself.

As I say, book yourself an adventure holiday as a way to dip your toes into what travelling feels like. Then start applying for other roles stilling your inner critic. If you don't get interviews fine, take another approach, but the only point you need to decide if you genuinely want a role or not is when it is offered, and then your gut will tell you loud and clear if it's the right thing for you or not.

@Ponoka7

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.

😆This is excellent advice. The North is beautiful in parts, housing is cheaper (generally speaking) & yes, there are indeed some fit men there.

I’d strongly advise against a PGCE. Teaching is brutal in terms of workload and stress levels and won’t improve your quality of life.

Yes I hear this a lot about PGCEs which is sad. Again my parents are out-of-date and think it is a nice family-friendly career with holidays off, etc. I’m also looking at ed psych. It seems that, whilst no longer an actual requirement, a PGCE is still the best route into this? I’m aware that’s no breeze either and is extremely competitive. Yet I feel more motivated by that than a civil service role.

Run to, not from. If you don’t, you could end up making a massive mistake. I changed my career at 24 and whilst it’s never made me rich I have had an enjoyable 26 years making a difference. I decided what I liked about old job and what I wanted to be able to do in the new job and off I went.

What do you currently do? Why did that attract you in the first place? What would you like to do now?

Do not impose false constraints upon yourself- at 24 you can go off and do (almost) anything.

Think about what motivates you and what you hate.

There’s no such thing as a perfect job but there are jobs what will suit you more than this one.

Life’s too short… .

Don’t rush, do your research and find out what you want to do. Are your skills transferable to a more attractive job?

Don’t be intimidated by going for a graduate job. Your work experience may be beneficial. I know graduates who are now school leaver apprentices schemes.

At 24 you really don't need to be stuck for life in a job you hate and a town that no longer meets your need...

It is much easier to change direction when you are young.

I don't think you should aim to stay in a job you hate for 25 years like your father did. That's soul destroying and not something that most people do anyway in the current job market.

Your parents seems to be guilt-tripping you and being 'horrified' and 'devastated' because you simply want to choose your own career, explore your options and live your own life is completely over the top.

Psychology could be helpful in marketing/advertising, if that’s of interest at all.

There’s a huge shortage of Ed Psychs in the public sector. I’d pursue that in your position. Start finding out what the training options are- do your local LA sponsor student EPs?

And also- get yourself on Bumble, have a few dates, see what happens. And join a hobby group. Running? Singing? Knitting? Get out and start making the most of the life you’ve got now whilst also making plans for the one you want.

The other thing you could do is move in a different direction.

Good data analysis skills are relevant for lots of careers in the private sector, often with good long term financial prospects.Cybersecurity for example is a growth industry and they are trying to increase the number of women in the sector, I managed to get a free place on a uni accredited evening course for this in Scotland, there may be other opportunities elsewhere.

If you were my daughter, I’d be telling you that you’re only 24 and should be following your dreams. You’re far too young to be feeling like that going in to work every day considering you probably won’t have a retirement age!

I probably wouldn’t just Jack it in, I would look around for something else, maybe study for something else. Have a good think about what direction you want to go in. Good luck OP. The world is your oyster!

Careers evolve, they don’t start and end with the ‘good grad job’ you get at the age of 22. If you were my daughter I would be encouraging you to think broadly.

You are well educated and you have some experience under your belt.

I get that London seems daunting - my own daughter felt the same and now she’s taken the leap it’s all turned out ok. As others have said, London is full of young professionals sharing houses or flats and working out what they want their life to look like.

Join LinkedIn if you’re not on there already, check out what your friends and uni colleagues are doing and how did they get there. Use contacts - my daughter took 2 weeks annual leave from her job and spent the time doing some work experience in a company she thought she might like to work for. They offered her a permanent job and she’s glad she took a leap of faith.

You are not stuck at all. The world is your oyster!!!

Dont leave this job until you have something else lined up though, be it abroad or local. You are bored , good, life is for living. The people who do the best are the ones that keep moving.

Good luck!!

I agree with this. 24 is so so young! You're at the beginning of everything still!

You have so much time to figure out and pursue something that's right for you. Life is too short to spend it being unhappy. I'm not saying make an impulsive change without research but please live your life for you and not your parents. They mean well but they don't live your life.

You keep mentioning London. Why is that, surely there is something in between, small uni town and the capital?

for what it’s worth I think you should live your life. Don’t just quit your job but get a plan together, if you want to do some travelling then make a plan for where you want to go and when is the best time to visit then save and plan for that in 2025.

Its a regret if mind that I didn’t do similar and stuck on the corporate career ladder that I found myself smugly on straight out of uni.
now i
look back and think, it really wouldn’t have impacted my career to have taken some time out in my early 20s.

there are loads of jobs you can get with a psychology degree or masters. One different option to what you do now is working in brand marketing, I work with agencies who do customer segmentation research and analysis. Which then helps big multi national brands understand their customer demographics, what drives people and motivates them so big brands can better engage and relate to their ideal customers.
look at Red Blue and Gusto.

if you had a husband and kids relying on you then your parents would be right, you put their needs above yours when it comes to earning an income. But you’re young free and single, this is the time to explore the world and do a job that makes you happy

You've had loads of really good advice that you don't seem to be taking much on board. It takes drive and determination and a non defeatist attitude.

I know it's rare, but find employers are fab! My new job they are incredibly pro training, paying for youngsters to do all sorts, cima accountancy qualifications, project management qualifications, masters that give you a level 7 HR qualification, for a young 20 year old young lady at my work persuaded my boss who is very pro training to fund. What are your plans?

Are you going to get counselling? For low self esteem. Address the parent relationship wanting to stay. Take career advice, Set goals and work out career options and how to to get to where you want to be?

How else can posters advise you, to help?

Best advice.
I went to uni...got into a good job ... Stayed years but wanted to build up experience from that job , looks great on cv and no gaps whilst looking for something else. I applied for jobs whilst still at old job.. got interview, luckily it was my half day off...got the job , packed other job in. Im happier now. And.... better paid...due to experience at last job. Don't leave unless you have some other job in place

As others said, you should explore other opportunities.
Take an online course or an evening class in a career that interests you
I wouldn’t leave the job yet, I would just manage it for now while simultaneously pursuing another career. Then you wouldn’t feel so down as you would be actively searching for something new.
It could just be that you need a bit of a break.
You did a masters at a young age and haven’t had the time to relax
Could you take a sabbatical and work abroad or something?

You absolutely should change your role. Can you imagine working until you are 65/70 on that job?
Can you travel but try and get some work along the way that interests you in relevant or transferable.
For Civil Service it sounds like you have lots of great experience and you don’t have to been on a grad scheme to get on in the organisation.
Lots of people enter at lower grades and very quickly move up. I would look at where you might want to live outside London and then look at what civil service roles are available in that location.
if your parents aren’t supportive, that’s fine but you are your own person with your own life to lead. Make the change now before it becomes too hard to leave.

There’s also some great advice though. Thank you everybody. I do really appreciate it.

I think my main problem is that I don’t have a clear path forward. There are lots of push factors but not really pull factors. Definitely my biggest priority though is being able to have a family

2yrs sounds like a good time to starting looking at what else you could do and where else you could go.

Whilst you have a regular income save, save, save and then start applying for other roles/schemes

Good luck!

Go travelling for a year and do temp jobs/ volunteering, get perspective, ideas, meet people and have some fun!