I'm afraid I'll never find a job

Career Advice
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Hi. First I’d like to apologize if some of you are already sick of my posts… I’m really sorry, I don’t know where else to talk about this stuff since it’s related and I found the community here to be supportive.

I’m 25 years old and, well, I’m not a very successful person, if at all successful. I’ve been doing minimum wage fast food and factory jobs for all my working life (a few years basically, and been unemployed for some years due to personal reasons).

I have a 2 year diploma in software engineering, so I come with some background already. That said, the diploma isn’t helping with finding a job. I finished a year ago and only one of my classmates has found a job, in QA. I eventually figured companies are looking for experience, or a degree which I don’t have. I haven’t yet started with the curriculum because I’m doing another Udemy course, but will start very soon.

I’m desperate to improve my life, but it somehow feels that if someone hasn’t managed to build a respectable career by my age, chances are they never will. Combine that with the fact that I’ll most likely apply for a CS degree soon and the fact that it will take a few years to be ready for a job, and well I can’t see why a 30 year old fast food worker who has never had a career job would be an impressive person. So I’m naturally really afraid that it’s simply never going to happen to me. I’m in love with web development and that’s the career I want, but my fear is keeping me back sometimes. My only motivation is the fact that I’m enjoying it, not actually because it might get me a decent career.

I’ll be honest, I kinda want reassurance and encouragement because this feeling is obviously not doing me any good, yet I can’t help but obsess over how unsuccessful I am. I honestly feel it might be too late for me, especially due to the fact that I’m nothing but a fast food worker. And I don’t mean it’s too late now, I mean it would be too late in a few years from now once I’m job-ready.

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hi @AmirF27 my pep talk won’t be very long because it’s 1 am here and I’m knackered.

You’re only 25 . I’m sorry if that sounds patronizing but you are young.

Career? At your age? Why not? I’ve been changing careers more or less every two years, I’ve always managed (don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s easy or that I’m rich. But I’m free.)

You finished a year ago. Depending on the diploma and the country, it’s not unusual at all to have to wait this long and more between graduation and a job actually related to it ( and I know lots of people who took a job only remotely associated to their degree).

I’m not minimizing what you’re going through, I understand it perfectly.

“impressive person”… Employers are desperate for serious employees. I know this because of my job which takes me to a lot of different companies.

Don’t think linearly. You’ll apply for a CS degree, you’ll train to get a job: it can happen at the same time.

I’m not thinking clearly but get on with it. You’ve got something that a lot of fast-food workers (as you called yourself) don’t: ambition, a goal. It makes the situation sometimes more difficult to bear, but it also gives you a drive to get out of it and, in a way, it gives sense to it.

So please, get back to work, learn, build stuff, make an app for people like you, make an app for employers who are so scared of hiring the wrong person that they let checkboxes do the job for them, be impressive :wink:

[edit] also, start your tribute page and portfolio.

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lol 25 … 46 here … stay at home dad 10 years only experience is factory work … and still optimistic about getting a career if i work hard at this … also added bonus can become self employed or work from home … personally I would have preferred to discover my passion for learning at 25 rather than in my forties but as they say better late than never … now you had your … i feel sorry for myself moment … (we all have them) … time now to look on the positive side and get to work learning.

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Here’s a 56 year old sharing his reasons to learn how to code, despite his more advanced age compared to all the young 20-year-olds out there learning to code as well. I hope his post is as inspirational to you as it was to me. Good luck.

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Have a cup of tea and listen to this:

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I’m honestly never impressed by “impressive” people. People name names, but I think they’re mostly garbage. Society fetishizes youth and elevates the kids working feverishly on some ridiculous startup they think is going to change the world by gamifying trash collection or building a robot that organizes your drone collection or some other rich-kid problem. You’re only “someone” if you’ve squandered a truckload of investor capital by the time you’re 19, or something. And yet, the tech industry is full of people who are, quite frankly, scum of the Earth. It seems like every other week there’s a new story of some Silicon Valley demigod beating the crap out of an Uber driver or being acquitted of rape or making racist comments, and I don’t think they’re just “bad apples”. There’s something corrupting about the way society worships people for having an easy life.

I can’t speak for hiring managers, but the people who impress me the most are the ones who strive to be who they want in a world that wants them to be nothing. It’s why I don’t really care for Mozart, but love Beethoven. It’s also why I’m inspired by the people who work through the curriculum here (anywhere, really) despite having full time obligations at work or with family. Don’t compare yourself to “impressive” people, because if you really look around and listen to people’s stories, you’ll know that success doesn’t have to mean a degree or an age, but just attaining a goal. Simple as that.

It’s not going to happen to you. You’re going to happen to it.

I know some people your age who just want to get drunk. That’s actually their hobby. You’re much better off than you think. Also, I don’t think it’s going to take you 5 years to be job ready. Keep up the learning, and I bet you can get hired at 26.

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You can’t be stressing about something that hasn’t happened yet. You need to start coding; code every day. Learn the code, live the code, become the code. I am a full-time diesel heavy duty equipment mechanic and I get worried that hiring managers wont even look at me, but that doesn’t stop me from trying.

Somewhere there’s someone out there that’s going to hire an ex-pizza delivery guy and an ex-greasy mechanic, just keep thinking positive and tackle these challenges.

Everything will fall into place.

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Cmon bro. There are people who play the piano with their feet cause they have no hands. I don’t know your personal situation but believe me we all have our struggles. Practice some gratitude and get moving!

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I am 35, and I’ve worked as a cashier at the same wal-mart-ish store for the past five years. Sometimes, I get discouraged by people that say that I’m too old and the wrong gender to make it in the computer industry. And then, I read some article about a woman well into her 40s that’s making it happen. The computer doesn’t know how to be ageist or sexist.

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@timotheap My main worry is that I’ll hit 30 with the only experience being making pizzas, and having never had a fulfilling career. This would be disheartening. Very disheartening and discouraging, when most people have had a career ever since the moment they finished high school probably, or at least they’ve started their first career at 21 or 22 years old max. And here I am, only 5 years to 30 with absolutely nothing to show for it.

I’ve got ambition and a goal yes, but if this goal never comes true then I’d probably be a hopeless person with a hopeless future. I’m really sorry I’m talking this way, but it doesn’t feel good being in my position, it doesn’t feel good at all. Especially considering the fact that I tend to obsess a lot about my future. You may be right that 25 is young, but it’s only young compared to other older people. It’s definitely not young to have never ever had something resembling a career, and I have a feeling it may truly be too late.

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@JohnL3 I wish you success. :slight_smile: Your post does encourage me I admit. Thanks.

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@erictleung Thanks for the link. It is inspirational. Though, I would like to note that this guy already has a career, he’s not stuck making pizzas, and he said himself that he would probably be making less than he currently makes. I would be making at least 3 time as much as I currently make. I mean it’s a huge difference, and I think you can see the disappointment if I never manage to find a job. With the that said, I’m not doing it for the money and as I’ve already said my only motivation is that I enjoy it a lot.

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@JacksonBates Will listen to it when I get the time. Thanks. :slight_smile:

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Nope, you’ll hit 30 having started to build apps and websites on your own at 25, showing dedication where others might have followed the tracks. Stop watching the news, stop watching series. where all we see are happy stories built on sheer luck, privilege or super powers.

I’m not going to talk about the people you mention, those who seemingly studied “the right thing” at the “right time” (18) because it would fail to address the immense variety there is in there.

Youth is overrated if one thinks that it automatically brings all the qualities it’s supposed to have, and so is “maturity”. There’s no quality linked to age alone.

So yes, there’s a bunch of people out there who believe in pedigree - dig deeper and you’ll see they have nothing else to hold on to.

Now where’s your tribute page? What have you read today in programming? What is your favorite thing? Do you think you’ll spend time working your CSS now or you’d like to work it “as you go”, focusing first on programming?

You need to talk and I get that - how about setting up your own blog, even if run only locally at first?

Get back to work, man.

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Hi @P1xt. I already saw the first post you’ve linked. I definitely don’t want to take the easy or fast way. I want to go through the entire curriculum, at least until I finish the back end section (I understand so far no one has finished the non-profit projects). In addition to other resources you’ve suggested on another post of mine. I want to be the best I can at what I’m doing. I want to learn EVERYTHING I possibly can, and even though I still haven’t started with the curriculum due to another course I still haven’t finished, I’m devoting almost all of my free time to learning web development. I want to stand out. Still, with all the effort and time it’s going to take I really really hope I manage to find employment at the end, but still my fear remains and I don’t know how to deal with it, because to be honest it’s a realistic and possible outcome.

How is my age not relevant though? It may have not been relevant if I had a decent job and making a decent income, but I don’t, and currently don’t have a chance to have one. I can’t live with my mom forever, and once it’s time to move out, then the amount of money I’m currently making would barely be enough to survive with nothing left for anything else, let alone spend any money on learning something. That’s why I don’t want it to take forever, and that’s one of the reasons I’m having this fear.

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Don’t worry about it! I’m 26, I dropped out of school at 16 to work in the construction industry, without ever completing my Leaving Certificate. (The Irish equivalent of completing high-school). Ireland was one of the first countries to get hit by the housing crash, and after spending a couple of years bouncing between being unemployed and working temporary jobs, I returned to education. I completed my Leaving Certificate, got accepted to college and am currently in my third year of a four year course. 8 years ago I couldn’t find a file using Windows Explorer if you paid me. At the minute I’m about to finish up an internship with a large Enterprise Software company and I feel like the future is bright.

Don’t give up, here’s a video I was shown on my first day of college, to show why someone would want to become a programmer. I still watch it every now and again when I get disheartened.

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In all fairness, some people are acquited of rape because they’re–wait for it–innocent of rape. Accusation is not the same thing as proof of guilt.

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Amir, I’m 37, I have a wife and five kids, and I have a long scholarly background (I’m talking about Talmud, not academia) but hardly any work background. If you’re in trouble, I’m in deep trouble. But I’m not. There are a lot of potential employers out there, to say nothing of possibilities as a freelancer or starting my own little programming shop. Put in the work and you’ll be fine, God willing.

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Man, are you sure you don’t have a depression? Because what you say is complete bs, sorry for the language. People show you examples, explain to you that yes, it is ok to start learning and making career now, yes, you will find a job in IT eventually, yes, you are young, but still you insist that you are old man who will never have a decent career. Please, be more kind to yourself. And don’t worry about being impressive, worry about being a good person :slight_smile:

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I see you are devoting quit a bit of your time whining of the Internet :rage:

In your last topic you received a ton of advice and encouragement.What have you done since? Show us something. All I see right now are excuses. Stop whining and go back to studying.

I won’t give you any encouragement, because I feel that it will fall on deaf ears anyway. It feels like you just want someone to feel sorry for you. Well, I don’t.

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