I (23M, American) feel completely paralyzed from a career perspective because I have no idea what the hell to do. If I choose the wrong degree program, I have to pay back all the debt with nothing to show for it. Even if I get a job, there’s no telling how long that will last. Everything keeps changing so fucking fast and it seems like any field I could go to college for could cease to be viable by the time I finish. On top of that, I have chronic health conditions to worry about that limit what I can even do.
(Edit: Basically I have POTS and a neck injury, so it’s hard to do physical labor and I suffer from dizziness, brain fog, and fatigue from being up for an hour or so. I don’t know my exact limits yet, since the severity of my condition varies by day and there appear to be ways to partially recover from the fatigue without having to lay down.)
I think stuff like urban planning and designing walkable environments would be cool, but I’m not sure if that’s a viable path in 2027 and beyond. I also used to be interested in programming, but ever since AI and mass layoffs hit the scene, I’ve become disillusioned and stopped pursuing that path.
I used to feel like the world was stable and I could pick a career based on my passion and be fine. But ever since 2020, everything has felt increasingly more uncertain. The world seems to be losing its collective shit and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
Is staking your sense of stability on your career the wrong way to think about this? Should I be trying to find close friends or some kind of supportive community that could act as a safety net? Or is everyone too hyperindividualist to look out for each other?
This is fantastic advice in terms to your approach
An additional prospective to consider is the environment you want to work. Do you want to be indoors, outdoors, traveling? around other people? Practical or your brain.
From there you can likely start to hone in on some careers. Don’t be scared to look at unique or niche areas. I know making money is essential but a balance between chasing steady and chasing gold is a must. A lot of people chase a mindset ‘want/love’ rather than a lower option that is satisfactory but lucrative.
There is always cycles. Ask yourself questions that can guide yourself…like Who has money and what will they spend it on? What is a problem that needs attention? - a Real problem. In the last 20 years people are making solutions but id say half are a false solution focused on sales rather than stemming from a problem.