New Job Directionless

LegacyUser

So I started my first job based on my college degree some months ago, and in a way I sort of hate it. I am incredibly luck to have gotten a job in my field, and some days its great, but most days its somewhere between meh and down right disastrous. I look around and see all my colleagues who are older than me and somehow have found themselves trapped in a office job they never really wanted as they got comfortable, at least that is according to one of my colleagues who has been working there 10+ years, for everyone it seems that joining said company was only meant to be a temporary thing, and I'm afraid this is what will happen to me too.

As it stands, I have no life outside of work, my friends are still in college so are gone home at the weekends (the only time I am free) or go out midweek when I cant as I have an early start for the shift that I work. I went into this company with the intent of it being a temproary and applying for a (long, stressful and expensive) conversion course. My life is currently sleep commute work commute sleep. I am lucky if I have time to go to the gym, and texting and social media and tv and meeting up with friends or hobbies is a thing of the past. My job is pretty basic, I am on good pay for the industry/position I am, however unfortunately that doesn't say much as the industry is not a particularly well paying one (as it stands I am on a pay that is slightly above minimum wage, meanwhile I know people from secondary school who have freshly graduated making the same amount of money I will hopefully be making in about 10 years if I work my way up through the company).

I feel that I am somewhat letting my brain die as well, literally maybe 45 minutes from the 1st year of my 4 year course is applicable to my job.

So what do I do, I want to make sure if I change career directions I want to be 100% sure without a doubt that it is definitely what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I am afraid this is something I will never know for sure anyways and I'll end up like my work colleagues, whose job tbh, do not sound appealing at all. My family want me to stay in this company and in this sector and in this county. I feel like I am back in secondary school where I am trying so hard to convince myself I like it but deep down I know it is making me miserable. I am afraid I am just going to end up "waiting it out" and just end up here for the rest of my life.

I know I am so lucky to have gotten a job in my field straight out of college, especially in the company I am working for, I just, am not that happy in it, but I don't know what would make me happy.

DFJ8X

If you don't like your job, it is not worth it to stay there, especially if this is your first job. As far as being "100% sure without a doubt that it is definitely what you want to do for your life," well, that's impossible. Life changes and people change. It sounds like you are in your 20's, which means you have the rest of your life ahead of you. YOUR life. No one else's. Trust yourself. If you are miserable, make a change and don't be afraid of it. Despite what your family wants, they are not living your life. It's okay to not know what would make you happy, but it is important that you try different things and take risks to find out. Just make sure to find a new job before leaving the old one. Leave on good terms and never burn bridges.

Addle

A lot of people just work to get paid-so what.

It's up to you to find your own direction.

You must have a crazy commute of driving if you've no time to even text.

Caranica

I did a degree in field A
Did a part Masters in field B (using skills I acquired in field A)
Got a job in Field A (pay was lousy)
Got a job (16 years) in field C (using skills I acquired in fields A&
Got a masters in field D
Got a new job in field E (transferable skills from fields B&C&D)

See a trend here? Don't put yourself under pressure. There's always a way

Ursus Horribilis

What sort of hours are you working if you've no time to do anything? Is it a case of managing your time better? It makes no sense that you have no time to go to the gym or even send someone a text. Even if you're doing shift work you'd still have time to do these things, wouldn't you?

I wonder are you projecting when you say you "see all my colleagues who are older than me and somehow have found themselves trapped in a office job they never really wanted as they got comfortable". That's quite a sweeping statement. The place can't be that bad if all these people ended up staying. You've come out of college and possibly have unrealistic expectations about what a job entails. Unless you're very lucky, any job you have is going to involve a certain amount of drudgery and have times when you wish you'd stayed in bed.

Early in the thread you mentioned wanting to do a conversion course. That implies that you've got a plan to further your career down the line. That doesn't mean you have to continue working in this place. Are you earning enough to be able to save for this course? That's the main thing for now, I would have thought.