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neonsofa

mariaalice wrote: »

Consider two people pondering this issue.

One is inclined towards being negative and dissatisfied ( personality trait ) and or has metal health issue every careers/job/ life situation always has something wrong with it, but they don't have the insight in to themselves to understand that its not the job/career/ in and off its self that is the problem its the way they view the situations.

The other person is not sure if they are happy with their working situation/career choice but understand they have some control over their situation( not total control over their situation) The also have a more realistic and optimistic view of their life and the potential to be contented with life.

I love my job and am happy in my circumstances generally, I am very positive and I worked really hard to get to where I am but at the end of the day I know I am mainly just very very lucky and I know that if I hadn't been as lucky I'd have no option but to go back to the ****ty jobs that I didn't enjoy. There is optimism and then there is just doing what you have to do. But I do agree that remaining positive where possible is important.

BrianD3

It's over 17 years since I finished my first degree (degree is in a well regarded "STEM" field) and I clearly remember how difficult it was to get a job. Any job. I kept copies of many of the letters, CVs and applications that I sent to employers. Also, I kept all the email correspondence that I had with my college mates at the time who were in a similar boat.

The OP mentions working in a lab so let's presume that she is a chemist/biologist/scientist. A poor career choice in my experience - yet we are regularly bombarded with hype about STEM, how it leads to an interesting career and how there is a shortage of graduates. Stories about developing cures for cancer and about space travel to Mars are often thrown in to ramp up the hype :rolleyes:

17 years after my first graduation I have two more degrees and have an "OK" job and good savings. But much of this was down to luck. Plenty of my peers are still struggling.

Degree
Can't get a job
MSc
Can't get a job
PhD
Short term postdoc contract
Get a job
Treated like a piece of sh*t
Let go
Back to academia
Unsuccessfully trying to gain tenure
Now pushing 40, crippled by rent prices, hasn't saved the deposit for a house and wouldn't get a mortgage anyway.

The above is REALITY for many hard working, intelligent people. My own career is only OK and I am allegedly smarter than the average person.
Leaving Cert points - 97th percentile
IQ - 99th percentile
University exam results compared to classmates - 85th to 100th percentile

Yet I needed luck to have a half decent stable career.

I have saved like a f*cker over the years and have considerable savings now. Many others who made better career choices squandered the money that they earned and could have saved to give them a level of financial independence and free them from wage slavery. "You're a slave to the money then you die". My advice to anyone starting out would be to lower your expectations as to what lifestyle you can afford and save what you can, if you can.

mariaalice

BrianD3 wrote: »

It's over 17 years since I finished my first degree (degree is in a well regarded "STEM" field) and I clearly remember how difficult it was to get a job. Any job. I kept copies of many of the letters, CVs and applications that I sent to employers. Also, I kept all the email correspondence that I had with my college mates at the time who were in a similar boat.

The OP mentions working in a lab so let's presume that she is a chemist/biologist/scientist. A poor career choice in my experience - yet we are regularly bombarded with hype about STEM, how it leads to an interesting career and how there is a shortage of graduates. Stories about developing cures for cancer and about space travel to Mars are often thrown in to ramp up the hype :rolleyes:

17 years after my first graduation I have two more degrees and have an "OK" job and good savings. But much of this was down to luck. Plenty of my peers are still struggling.

Degree
Can't get a job
MSc
Can't get a job
PhD
Short term postdoc contract
Get a job
Treated like a piece of sh*t
Let go
Back to academia
Unsuccessfully trying to gain tenure
Now pushing 40, crippled by rent prices, hasn't saved the deposit for a house and wouldn't get a mortgage anyway.

The above is REALITY for many hard working, intelligent people. My own career is only OK and I am allegedly smarter than the average person.
Leaving Cert points - 97th percentile
IQ - 99th percentile
University exam results compared to classmates - 85th to 100th percentile

Yet I needed luck to have a half decent stable career.

I have saved like a f*cker over the years and have considerable savings now. Many others who made better career choices squandered the money that they earned and could have saved to give them a level of financial independence and free them from wage slavery. "You're a slave to the money then you die". My advice to anyone starting out would be to lower your expectations as to what lifestyle you can afford and save what you can, if you can.

Suppose there is this person from eastern europe or a former Russian state with a top notch degree science/ engineering or something along those lines they can't get a job in science/engineering so they end up in Ireland working in a call centre or the services industry have they failed at having a career.

Glenster

BrianD3 wrote: »

It's over 17 years since I finished my first degree (degree is in a well regarded "STEM" field) and I clearly remember how difficult it was to get a job. Any job. I kept copies of many of the letters, CVs and applications that I sent to employers. Also, I kept all the email correspondence that I had with my college mates at the time who were in a similar boat.

The OP mentions working in a lab so let's presume that she is a chemist/biologist/scientist. A poor career choice in my experience - yet we are regularly bombarded with hype about STEM, how it leads to an interesting career and how there is a shortage of graduates. Stories about developing cures for cancer and about space travel to Mars are often thrown in to ramp up the hype :rolleyes:

17 years after my first graduation I have two more degrees and have an "OK" job and good savings. But much of this was down to luck. Plenty of my peers are still struggling.

Degree
Can't get a job
MSc
Can't get a job
PhD
Short term postdoc contract
Get a job
Treated like a piece of sh*t
Let go
Back to academia
Unsuccessfully trying to gain tenure
Now pushing 40, crippled by rent prices, hasn't saved the deposit for a house and wouldn't get a mortgage anyway.

The above is REALITY for many hard working, intelligent people. My own career is only OK and I am allegedly smarter than the average person.
Leaving Cert points - 97th percentile
IQ - 99th percentile
University exam results compared to classmates - 85th to 100th percentile

Yet I needed luck to have a half decent stable career.

I have saved like a f*cker over the years and have considerable savings now. Many others who made better career choices squandered the money that they earned and could have saved to give them a level of financial independence and free them from wage slavery. "You're a slave to the money then you die". My advice to anyone starting out would be to lower your expectations as to what lifestyle you can afford and save what you can, if you can.

Tell me more about your IQ...

josip

OP, have you considered George's Marvelous Medicine #4?

Dohnjoe

NegativeCreep wrote: »

It's not even that I hate the jobs that much, it's just that I hate the fact that I have no free time, someone is constantly on my back piling more and more work on me. I have a 2 hour commute into work and a 2.5 hour commute home from work (travelling within Dublin on public transport which in itself is a joke) which leaves me with about 4 hours at home in the evening but I'm too wrecked to do anything then. There are weekends but that's only 2 days and they go far too quickly.

Live closer to work, or work closer to home. Also, if you are smart, keep your options and eyes open, study and put effort into it - you can find work with less hours. You can also find work that allows 4/5's time or 1/2 time (with corresponding reduction in pay)

I get paid peanuts, can't afford a car or to move out of my parents house. I have no time to spend with my boyfriend as he is in the same position.

I suppose the question is; when will I get used to this? Or will I ever get used to it?

Straight out of uni the first few years can generally be less well paid. As you gain more work/life experience (and depending on your attitude) you can expect this situation to improve

I estimate that I have about 2000 weeks of this ahead of me assuming I retire at 65. Do I have to wait until I'm 65 to do the things I want to do? to be free? Is this what adult life is? Work for very little in the hopes that by the time I'm retired I'll still be of sound enough mind and body to do the things I want to do?

Previously we had to work in order not to starve to death and put a roof over our heads. Thankfully these days you can get the social welfare if unable to find work, not to mention free courses, free online courses, a good jobs market, being in the EU (the ability to travel/work in Europe)

Basically more options/choices than at any point in history

I know I'll be called a whiny millennial and that's ok because I am a whiny millennial and there's not much I can do about that.

Many people dislike working, so they study/keep searching for work/job that they hate less or even enjoy

An open mind and positive attitude is beneficial for this, also a perspective on how good we have it here and now compared to other countries and the past

Other posters will chime in about how they have degrees, masters, phDs, experience, etc, etc yet repeatedly can't find solid work - in my experience of these cases (and I've worked with a lot of these people) - the single biggest hurdle to these people is almost always their negative/entitled attitude toward life and work