<p>Hi all, I've been lurking CC since I was a high school student, but this is my first post. I graduated from Harvard this spring and entered a relatively low-paying field that I care about. Now, I'm feeling dissatisfied with the salary and anxious that it'll limit my economic freedom and opportunities in the future. To be honest, I'm already kind of bored with the work and unsure if I want to stick with it, and I want to realize my potential to do bigger things. I'm also having a hard time adjusting to the city I'm living in and feel like I made a mistake moving here. I want to start looking into other opportunities soon, like jobs in government. I have strong foreign language, analytical and communication skills and a solid grasp of policy issues, but I'm not sure if that's enough to find a job and I'm nervous to look. I also feel overwhelmed by the breadth of fields to choose from - I know I should see this as a blessing, but it's overwhelming nonetheless. Grad school is also on my mind, but money is a concern. </p>
<p>In high school and college, I couldn't have imagined how confusing and stressful my future would be. I was always very high-achieving and loved school, and I figured along with everyone else that I'd be fine and successful. I suppose that in reality I am doing fine, and I feel a little silly complaining about being a confused young adult. On paper, I know I'm describing the classic symptoms of a quarter-life crisis. But many of my peers seem better adjusted and less confused than I am, and I feel like I'm falling behind. I want to make a change. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice about how to overcome the anxiety and move forward? How to reassure myself about my circumstances? Has anyone been in a similar situation? </p>
<p>I was joking, of course. Although, I don’t see what the problem is. You are young, healthy and have a Harvard degree. You have the world at your feet.</p>
<p>Is it possible that you were one of the vanguard of young people who thought they’d do this and that and get into their dream school and then someone would hand them a sizeable salary and everything would be peachy ever after?</p>
<p>The most successful people have a variety of experiences which lead to something bigger. Maybe a few years in the service of your country, military or otherwise, polishing a foreign language and getting some confidence in overseas postings would lead to something, huh?</p>
<p>We have a high school teacher locally who attended H, had several reasonably well paying jobs for a couple of years and decided he felt better about becoming a teacher in his old school.</p>
Haha, guilty as charged, JustOneDad. I realize that few people start out with the salary they want or at the company they ultimately want to work for right out of college, which is important to keep in mind. But I along with lots of other people my age worry that we can’t count on the same economic mobility that our parents’ generation did.
Economic mobility is directly tied to skills, which you are still acquiring! If you want to change fields, you already know how to do that–start making connections, call those old contacts, apply for grad school, or whatever (you are vague about your field so we really don’t know). If you like your field but not your job, start positioning yourself to move up, or at least figure out what they want out of you to move you up… Some fields never pay, even at the top of the field. Some pay more starting out. I’m a little unclear if it’s $$$ or the field itself that you are unhappy with…
I suppose it’s both. I like the work fine, but not enough to tolerate making the salary that I am. I’d be happy if I were at a different company in my field that paid more, but the jobs are hard to get. I think I would also enjoy other fields just as much and make a salary commensurate with my abilities and probably have more job security.
The switching careers bit is what I’m afraid of. If I’ve never held an internship in government, for example, why would they want to hire me, even for an entry-level pathways program? I have a couple peers working in government, but they each had internships in the same agencies during college.
I plan to start networking and looking around on LinkedIn and the like. It’s hard to know what to say in networking emails, and I don’t want to sound self-serving or annoying.
I’m really grateful for everyone’s responses. It’s all a huge help, even if it doesn’t seem like it. For recent graduates without a lot of experience in the job market, navigating career choices, networking, and so on is so daunting.
You are not alone. Way back, my son’s first job paid well but was boring, no feedback. He was miserable. So, even a few months into job, I encouraged him to move forward.
I know government jobs are quite competitive, but throw your hat into the ring. Look for other opportunities as well. Life is too short to stay where one isn’t challenged, doesn’t like the area, and doesn’t get enough compensation. If you liked the work, the last two criteria would not matter so much.
if you want a federal government job, you might want to consider the grad school + [gov] internship route. You might also be able to leverage your foreign language skills into a job, depending on what jobs you would like and what languages those skills are in.
I never had a job that was “boring”. I always made it into something and it always worked out.
Same with economic mobility. Very successful people make their own circumstances or at the very least, grab the ring when they see it. Most people don’t for some reason or another.
See what you can find WITHOUT investing in grad school at this point. I’d definitely start looking to switch jobs into a field you are more interested in. Get some experience, and then decide if it is worth investing in another round of education. Start looking for a new position that appeals to you more – that is your first step.