Hi, guys.
Im at my lowest point. Im 23 years old, bachelor of electrical engineering, going to masters of the same thing and I absolutely hate it, worked since I started college in everything from IT corporations to medium enterprises and programming there.
I have a lot of friends, but just for drink or two, no clubbing, no excitement, no adrenaline, also no money even Im working and studying for last 4 years. Im still not able to go live alone and am living at my parents. Im currently working at most awful place in the world and Ive sent more than 300 job applications and just negative responses.
I want to travel, I need to relax a bit, but on the other side I want to do big stuff which I know Im capeable of, but just every fucking thing is against me right now.
How to make real money and just get away from all this bullshit?
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Sounds like you are just starting out. How much do you make? What makes the job so bad?
Everyone else has that urge to travel too, so we get you, but money is a limiting factor.
You don’t say where you are, but I had very good luck getting a job in a more rural area. The pay wasn’t as good, of course, but the cost of living was so much lower that the net effect was… profitable.
But then, I was always into camping and outdoorsy stuff rather than clubbing and the like so the rural environment was WAY more interesting to me as well.
Few things here.
You’re only 23 and, of you complete your education you’re poised to be in a better position than 80% of people so don’t stop that.
You’re young. You can stay at home as long as you need(parents willingness is considered). I left home at 26 only after finishing trade school, two years later I bought my house.
You’re young, again. You’re going to be working hard for the next 20 years. You’re only missing out on what you control. However, if you work hard and make the right moves, you’ll be laughing into your late 30’s and 40’s where you’ll still have plenty of energy to do the things you want. I’m 38 and feel better than ever.
You’re probably burnt out. You’re doing A LOT and your body is tired. That’s OK. It’s up to you to schedule rest and relax time for you.
And obligatory, check your diet, caffeine intake. Sugary foods. Exercise is important. If you have all these checked out and you still feel horrible. Maybe it’s time to see a Dr. But that’s usually not the case. You’re most likely just burnt out.
Yes you’re young. Try to have some fun. But don’t forget you have a goal in mind in regards to your education. Try to get a job in a field related to electrical.
I am a master electrician and it has its good days and had just like anything else. Could I work harder? Make more money? Sure but I would, and have burnt out. I am comfortable where I am in my career and have found a nice happy middle ground where I still have plenty of time to enjoy my life. I was busy as hell at your age and it will get worse, trust me on that.
Once you start working you’ll be busier than you are now. The good times are now. And later, if you choose.
Not to sound insensitive but that’s part of life. We all struggled. I was a morbidly obese, single, alcoholic (110lbs overweight) drug addict with poor work ethics, called into work constantly, no money, terrible with money management and a very poor credit score, and a college dropout. Plus both of my parents died within a span of 6 years and the house I lived in was facing foreclosure.
One day I decided I had enough of the suffering and it was time to change. I just did the opposite of what I was doing. Now, I’m in the best shape of my life, four college degrees, sober for 15 years, married, home owner, manage my money well, have the best job I’ve ever had, making decent money.
The suffering teaches you what’s important and how to do the things you need to do. It exposes your faults. Knowing your faults is key to change.
If you want to travel, take a year to work on a cruise ship but finish school first. Get that out of the way. If you don’t, you’d regret that most.
Also know, as long as you’re hopeful, it’ll all work out in the end. What helped me is having a goal and following the steps to complete the goal. You have to develop unwavering discipline. It’s tough but worth it.
You’ve got an EU passport, you could move to a wealthier part of the EU for a start e.g. Germany, France, Scandinavia maybe?. That should give you a sense of adventure whilst also boosting your income and living standards!
You’re young,
if you think you’re at your lowest point Imagine in 10 years lmao
Military. That’s what I did.
Bro you are 23, keep your head down and keep working hard twoards your goals. Itll get better
I took the control of my life at 25 when I started working a little every day for the goals I wanted to achieve
Do the things you know you should do. Stop being lazy.
We all know what we should be doing. Shouldn’t be drinking this beer? Don’t drink it. Get up early? Get up early. Go exercise? Go exercise. Look for a new job? Look for a new job. Do that course? Save and do it.
Just do it.
Do you like engineering? I love engineering. I hate large companies like the one I work for. I didn’t like school so I didn’t keep going to it after my bachelor’s.
I see a lot of Gen Z who are 23 or 24 years old towing about how they’re at rock bottom and they have never been able to find success.
I finished my bachelor’s during a very bad job market. I lived on savings. Couldn’t find a job. Eventually wound up in jail. Moved around. Broke, homeless. Working for minimum wage doing manual labor. I was 25 I got a field engineer job. Dirty, dangerous, frankly a waste of my time. Long hours for salary. But still great compared to being a bum! I spent years working my way into a comfy, relatively well-paying job. Now I’m grinding that one for years and years. It’s still a waste of my time and immense talents and I still don’t make what I could, but… The point is 23 is young and it could be worse. Do I sound like a narcissist, whining even though I have a good life that lots of people would only aspire to? Well then don’t be like me.
Become a “sudionik u gradnji” and make electrical projects for buildings. I’m a licensed architect in Croatia and electrical engineers in our field make a much better living than us. The building sector isn’t slowing down and is generally more stable than IT. It’s not as glamours and the ceiling for what you could make is lower (because the product isn’t scalable). But it’s an honest living.
In the meantime, you’d benefit from some cognitive reframing. By all means, try to improve your circumstances… But you need to stop buying into the lie that’s been sold to you!
You say you want to travel, you want to relax, you want to do “big stuff”. You want to live alone (alone at 23?). You want to be able to buy/finance a decent car (alone at 23?). You want “real money”… Clubbing?
Where do you think you are? 90s USA? What drugs or content have you been consuming? Here’s the reality: In your 20s, in today’s economy, if your parents can’t give you a head start, those things are extremely rare. In the US, in the EU, and especially in Croatia.
Follow Gary Stevenson of GarysEconomics as to why and what can be done about it.
If you have a BSEE, go into instrumentation & controls field service. Once you get a year or two of experience you will be making six figures. Keep learning in that field and your salary and opportunities will only grow.
I worked as an engineer (chemical) for about eight years, specialising in manufacturing and process improvement, and I honestly never loved it. I didn’t have any sort of passion for what I was doing, right from the start, and I never felt like I ‘belonged’ in the companies I worked for either. I was an engineer because it ‘sounded cool’ and because I needed ‘earning potential’ for my partner at the time. In my early thirties, finally, I was made redundant from my position (suspiciously close to the time I told them I was suffering from depression…).
I swore off trying to follow that career any longer, and then have slowly been building a life I want to live. It’s taken a lot of work, and failures, and a lot of growth and healing; but that’s the journey of life, and I wouldn’t change it, because it has made me who I am now. I now make a living by serving my community with the various practical skills I’ve learnt along the way – assembling furniture, renovating houses, building websites, etc.!
I would suggest to either persist with your engineering, and have patience and faith that you’re building valuable skills (technical and people) that will pay off, or do something else. Either way, it’s YOUR DECISION, as a man – and that’s a powerful thing.
(And from a 39-year-old with a sore back and knees and shoulders, enjoy your body and your youth! It’s the one wish I would ask of a genie: to have the body of a twenty-something-year-old again!)