Young Adults Lost in Career Direction
Many young adults are feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about their career paths. They're exploring different fields like digital marketing, UX/UI design, engineering, and business analytics, seeking guidance on skills, education, and job prospects while grappling with concerns about AI’s impact.
SOURCES (60)
“24M, lost my job and don't know what to do next I'm 24M, B.Tech CSE graduate with a 9.16 CGPA. I recently lost my IT job after around 1+ year of experience. My previous CTC was ₹4.05 LPA, and I'm currently looking for a job.…”
“I’m currently a BBA student, and I’m feeling really confused about my future. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do, what I’m interested in, or what kind of career would actually suit me. A big part of the problem is that I feel like I don’t really know myself that well yet. I’m not sure what my strengths are, what I genuinely enjoy doing, or what I should focus on in the future. I’m also unsure about what I should study after completing my BBA and whether I should continue in a business-”
“Hey everyone, I’m a final-year engineering student in India and I’d really appreciate some advice on how I should think about my next 2–3 years. My long-term goal is to break into Product Management . Here’s my situation: I recently got placed on campus at Flipkart for a Supply Chain Operations role. The compensation is pretty decent. Previously, I worked at Snabbit for around 3 months as a Business/Product Analyst , so I have some exposure to analytics and product-related work. Currently, I’m w”
“Hey guys, I done B.Tech degree. I tried starting a business, but things didn’t work out. About two years later, I came to Bangalore hoping to build a career and get an IT job. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into IT, so I took up a tech support job. It’s a work-from-home job, and I’ve been doing it for the last four years. Over time, I became comfortable with the job because of the work-from-home setup. But now, with my marriage approaching, I’m starting to feel extremely stressed and lost. The sa”
“I am Mca pursuing student 1st year 22 years old .I don’t have any skill in my graduation i do some coding but do not stick to it I don’t know what i am interested in which domain should I choose now because my family is not also stable i need to get employed as soon. I am having anxiety and stress so much can’t decide what to do if I choose a domain if there will be fresher entry or not too many thoughts please help me guys to find a path or give me advice that will help me Also I am very introv”
“I am Mca pursuing student 1st year 22 years old .I don’t have any skill in my graduation i do some coding but do not stick to it I don’t know what i am interested in which domain should I choose now because my family is not also stable i need to get employed as soon. I am having anxiety and stress so much can’t decide what to do if I choose a domain if there will be fresher entry or not too many thoughts please help me guys to find a path or give me advice that will help me Also I am very introv”
“I’m 19M from India, and honestly, I’m exhausted and confused about what direction to take. I completed higher secondary in 2025. After school, I spent nearly a year preparing at a Merchant Navy coaching centre, eventually securing a rank and now looking for DNS sponsorship. But I’m no longer sure I want to pursue it. I like the travel, meeting new people, and earning potential, but I’m not sure I want the lifestyle, risks, and sacrifices that come with it. I’m more interested in compute”
“25M from India. B.Tech in a non-CS engineering branch from a mid-tier private college. Graduated in 2023. Career so far: * Customer-facing role — \~₹3.3L * Project/operations role — \~₹4L * ~10-month unemployment gap * Joined a small B2B SaaS startup in 2025 at \~₹5.4L fixed in Customer Success The CS role was partly survival. After the gap, I needed to get back into tech. But within a few months, my actual work expanded heavily into QA/Product Ops. Today I work on release testing, bugs, feature”
“Hi, I'm 21 and recently completed BBA in marketing major. I'm looking for guidance on how do I start my career because mostly I end up being confused when I think about options. I want to start earning but I'm confused how? I'm looking for jobs, but I'm lost. I have prior experience from primary market research internship last year in winters and i do have a digital marketing certificate but it's of now use now because I completed that course back in 2024 and due to some”
I am from India. submitted by /u/Severe-Sleep-5246 [link] [comments]
“Like I'm in class 12th(pcm) like every god damn day my aspirations change and I have no idea what to pursue I'm not only looking into science as a career I'm open to anything..pls help submitted by /u/Forsaken_Income_8782 [link] [comments]”
“32_Guy with 37k income. 56% in Btech & 75% in PG Diploma in Tools Design Currently working in a defense R&D related company where I manage the manufacturing cycle. Complete the cycle of raw materials stage to end use product along with its relevant clearance from concerned agencies. Tried to check out what are all my options to upskill. Found out PMP (Project Management Professional) is a way but not sure if it has any better future. Or else where can I get paid career guidance Aim is to”
“So I’ve been thinking really hard on what I should do for a career lately. I just turned 23 and I do want to get some kind of education since I only currently have a hs diploma. I am more than likely only limited to online schooling because I have to take care of a family member for the next year at least during the weekdays. My main drive and focus is from a practical standpoint I ideally want to get into something where I won’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. I also don’t really have much j”
“Hi, I'm 22yo and have been studying math for a little as a hobby with the goal of getting into a STEM career. I have only learned algebra, trigonometry, precalculus, and am now learning calculus 1. I'm doing well in it and feel strong in math, but I have a problem. I have no clue what I want to pursue, or rather I have too many things I want to pursue, and it honestly makes me overwhelmed, I need some direction and would appreciate some help deciding. About Me: I like math (as already st”
“I’m a 21-year-old BBA graduate (HR + Marketing) and recently joined HCLTech as my first job. I’ve been here only 3 days and I’m already extremely confused about what direction to take. **I was expecting a Graduate Trainee role, but I’ve now been allocated to Incident Management / IT support / infrastructure. I know I’m new and I may be panicking early, but I’m quite clear that I don’t want to build my career in IT support or infrastructure.** I don’t really know my exact “dream career” yet eithe”
“Hello everyone, I am a student and I have no real idea where to start when it comes to choosing a career. I am more interested in a lifestyle than a specific job title. My ideal job would be: Something I can tolerate and not hate Pays enough to live independently and support a family later Little to low commute (remote or hybrid is ideal) Does not burn me out or exploit me I tried searching Google for career test websites. But most of them ask 100+ questions like "Are you interested in plan”
“Hello everyone! Let me give u a brief intro about my situation I'm currently an undergraduate who has to choose their field of work and apply, and I am VERY confused. So, I've narrowed my options down to 2, medicine or dentistry. Everyone in my family wants me to do medicine and “become the first doctor of the family,” but I am very worried about my interests in the field, and also I do not LOVE being a doctor uk, anyways, Idk if it's the eldest daughter in me that wants to please th”
“I’m a 21-year-old BBA graduate (HR + Marketing) and recently joined HCLTech as my first job. I’ve been here only 3 days and I’m already extremely confused about what direction to take. I was expecting a Graduate Trainee role, but I’ve now been allocated to Incident Management / IT support / infrastructure. I know I’m new and I may be panicking early, but I’m quite clear that I don’t want to build my career in IT support or infrastructure. I don’t really know my exact “dream career” yet either. I”
“Hi I am Prateek Kumar 20 year old class 12 pass with Biology stream writing this because I feel completely stuck and unable to make any decisions in my career. Overthinking, fear of missing out, fear of regret, procrastination, i have found all these things within myself. I don't understand what my interest is and what my goal is. I am interested in many things I feel like I have potential, but I can't decide what to do. I am unable to accept just one option. I have an interest in many f”
“Hi everyone. I graduated with a degree in Mechatronics Engineering in 2023. Initially I enrolled for undergraduate (BEng), but in sophomore year, my uni signed a partnership with a UK university and we were told that we'd graduate with a dual degree (MEng). I signed up for it, paid an amount and that's it. No additional courses. No additional thesis. I just completed my regular undergraduate courses and received both BEng and MEng degrees. I guess this is because MEng in UK is typically”
“is there any field that is good and does not take years to study ? and also what is the best paying job? submitted by /u/joe_yoi [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone, I’m Dhruv. I’m currently in my final year of B.Com from India and I’m really confused about what to do after graduation. For the past 2.5 years, I’ve been working at a board game café in Dubai while studying. I handle the café’s social media and marketing — shooting/editing content, posting, influencer outreach, content planning, etc. I also work as a Game Master. My academics aren’t great. I expect around 5.5–6/10 CGPA, mainly because I’ve been working full-time alongside college,”
“Hi everyone, M19 here from Sri Lanka who did international advanced level and with plan to study abroad. I just finished my A Levels and I’m about to start uni next year. I’ve always liked computers as a kid and I used to take apart remote controls and other small pieces of tech at home to see how they work. I’ve done a lot of Arduino-based robotics projects in my school clubs as well and participated in local competitions. This made me want to do computer science or computer engineering as a de”
“Hey I am a 17 year old male in the last year of my highschool. I want to talk about my problem which is the "lack of information" to be specific in the career, courses, colleges and the current job Market, I am very unaware about the current happenings in the career which i may pursue because some people say it's an opportunity for prosperity or others who say that it does bring a job to your table so I am really confused and oh my subjects are business studies, Economics and accou”
“Hey everyone, I’m 22M from India and honestly pretty confused about my career right now. I completed my BBA from a regular college affiliated with Lucknow University. After BBA, I wasn’t really sure what to do, and based on someone’s suggestion I joined a 3-year LLB. I’ve completed 1 year of LLB now. The problem is that I don’t really see myself growing in law. I don’t think I have the interest/personality for a legal career, and I’m seriously considering whether I should continue LLB or explore”
“I’m currently in year 12 and I study maths chem and cs . I like using computers and tech and i am interested in Ai but I also like stuff like stock market and stuff like that I want to be very rich and have a job where there’s pretty much no limit to pay . I am interested in stuff like the stock market and like the job of investment banking because of the pay and fast paceness and also it’s quite interesting. I also like jobs like Ai engineers software engineers as I find the topic very fun to d”
“I am a computer science graduate of 2023. In my college days I did not focus much on job preparation due to lack of guidance. After my graduation I joined BPO to support my family financially simultaneously I continue to prepare for full stack development whenever I get time in week offs. Now its been 3 years and I learnt the skill but there is no jobs available in IT industry for freshers and now they are saying to learn Agentic AI but I am not interested in AI. Also there is no career growth i”
“I'm currently in 4-1 Btech (CSE), and my training has begun. Please stay with me . I'm unsure whether to focus on my training or pursue higher studies like M.Des. I'm not interested in IT jobs, especially those requiring relocation, which lack work-life balance, and where getting leave approval is difficult. I prefer designing, floor plans, choosing flooring, cabinets, colours, etc. I started Btech without knowing about placements, drives, or DSA. Every time I planned to focus on DSA”
“So I did commerce as UG degree. I did certain internships which are kind of useless right now because AI automations have swept the full time jobs in the market. While I see people earning big bucks in corporates I’m still finding internships. I know it’s not right to compare with other people’s life. But I’m at a certain age where I can’t help it. I came to a conclusion that it’s okay having a slow growth. But now the thing is, I’ve to find a job/internship where something that doesn’t get done”
“Hi everyone! I’m from Hungary and currently feel a bit stuck about what my next career step should be, so I’d be interested to hear other people’s opinions and experiences — both from Hungary and from abroad. I’m 23 years old, currently in the final semester of a bachelor’s degree in International Business, and I’m also studying for a part-time BA in Psychology. I’ve been working for almost two years in an international SSC in Hungary in an administrative role. My work mainly involves handling c”
“Hello! Okay so, I graduated 2025 with a bachelor’s in Mechanical engineering and been working for a year in the industry, completely hate it! I’ve always been curious and love my research during my senior year, I’m considering into applying for a PhD, but most comments here seem to not recommend it at all? Is it really that bad? First, I’m not even sure if I want to do it in mechanical engineering, not sure how to find research that I could be interested in as well. Second, I’m scared I won’t be”
“I graduated in 2025 (CS engineering) and I'm trying to figure out my direction. Admin pls don't delete this I want some adive My first internship was video editing at a marketing agency (₹5k/month, 2 months). I left because I didn't want to move away from the technical side. After that I freelanced for an AI startup, making explainer videos for their open-source agents, which turned into a 5-month internship (Nov-Mar) where I ran their Instagram, worked on ai demo vids and built agen”
“Hey guys I am confused , i have given 2 years to govt exams but didn’t succeed, I am doing bachelor’s of arts with economics ( also statistics) , sociology and english as subjects , i am in final year (5th sem) and confused what should I learn to get a job in private sector. My collage is teaching Digital marketing in course but i dont think the things they are teaching will even be enough to get employed. I thought of starting to learn Data analytics but saw market is full of people who are une”
“TLDR: Need advice on what career path to opt for given my previous interest of video editing, and the fact that college placements suck. I am just beginning my final year (BTech CS) at a tier 69 college from Bhopal. I have secured 2 video editing paid internships but 0 technical internship experience. My tech stack includes mainly Backend with Java and Spring Boot, and a little bit React Native, along with decent DSA skills of course. I have 0 expectation of a good placement from my college, eve”
“12th is the final year in school in India. I am just putting it here for anyone who understands the Indian context/market and can guide me. Things went great until 10th grade, and then everything fell apart. Dad left at 6yo, mom has a few ailments, and cue everything that can go wrong. tl;dr: Will my profile get selected by any of the Tier 1/1.5 colleges if I get the required %ile in CAT next year? General Category, 28M. Around 62% in 12th (Matriculation) with 42% in Math and similar near-misses”
“URGENT CAREER ADVICE NEEDED. So I'm 21. I just finished Bcom from KC College, Mumbai with a 8.1 CGPA. 95% in in ICSE 10th and 87.4 in ISC 12th ( Best of Four was 92.4%) Anyways I cracked CA foundation with distinction in 1 subject in 1st attempt but failed CA Inter 4 times. I have taken offline coaching for 1 year for CA Inter May 2027 but I'l already be 22 by the time I clear CA Inter and 25 by the time I clear CA Final (Not guranteed, delays can also happen) Should I drop CA Inter afte”
“i'm 2025 graduate in B.E specialized subject in electrical and electronics i have knowlegde of electronics,PCB and home appliance troubleshooting for 8 years i've been learning and working in my father's shop and i alos has some knowlege in tradeing i started tradeing during my enginnering but i am very much traded in safer side with minimal loss but i was profitable, also i have done import export i had knowlege in that feild to but the capital is lacking, and also willing to learn”
“i'm 2025 graduate in B.E specialized subject in electrical and electronics i have knowlegde of electronics,PCB and home appliance troubleshooting for 8 years i've been learning and working in my father's shop and i alos has some knowlege in tradeing i started tradeing during my enginnering but i am very much traded in safer side with minimal loss but i was profitable, also i have done import export i had knowlege in that feild to but the capital is lacking, and also willing to learn”
“Maine Textile mein postgraduation ki hai, but Textile industry ka work environment mujhe suit nahi karta. Isliye sirf degree ki wajah se isi field mein long-term career nahi banana chahta. Ab career switch ya low-investment business explore karna chahta hoon. Business experience nahi hai, capital limited hai, aur ghar se financial support bhi bahut kam hai, so I can’t afford a big risk. Mere village mein main road par apni shop/space bhi hai, but area abhi zyada developed nahi hai. Ye sirf ek op”
“Hi everyone, I’m currently in Class 12 Commerce, but to be completely honest, I’m not interested in pursuing core accounting or technical/CS fields. I'm planning to do my undergraduate degree in Bangalore and want to focus on my creative strengths instead. What I Enjoy & Am Good At: Interests: Watching C-Dramas, K-Dramas, movies, and reading books. Skills: Fluent in English and passionate about digital/video editing. My Dream Career Goals: Working in creative roles (like media production”
“After completing b.com i don't want to pursue further studies but I feel like there's no future in b.com after completing it So I need some help i have no one to ask what should I do But I want secure future It would be huge help from someone who's more submitted by /u/Spirited-Series6496 [link] [comments]”
“After completing b.com i don't want to pursue further studies but I feel like there's no future in b.com after completing it So I need some help i have no one to ask what should I do But I want secure future It would be huge help from someone who's more senior to me and some suggestions would also be help submitted by /u/Spirited-Series6496 [link] [comments]”
“I am class 12th students with pcm stream. don't know what do further. and don't know about my favourite subjects. I do love maths most because I have to practice alot to complete home works other that I don't know what to do please guide me submitted by /u/Wild_Shop_5916 [link] [comments]”
“Recently, especially this year, I’ve been thinking about my future a lot — like, a LOT. I wanted to pursue engineering (aerospace), but I’ve also considered becoming an astrophysicist or astrobiologist. There are just so many things I could do that I can’t decide, and honestly, I don’t even know if I’m actually interested in those careers. The one thing I’m definitely interested in is space. I know some people might say that I still have plenty of time to think about it and that I shouldn’t deci”
“How can I persue a career in STEM as 16 year old guy studying in class 12 in India [link] [comments]”
“Hey guys pls help me out, I just completed my 12th standard in India and I want to become an entrepreneur in the future and need help with that to pursue which ug course now so that it will be best for my future aim ? See I even want to earn from side hustles from online now and later in the future want to do my business, maybe whatever I do now i may can continue that as my future business or may not be too I'm just confused about which courses I should take so that it will be best accordin”
“I am studying a computer-related major at university. Classes are starting soon, and I also want to work on personal projects on the side, but I can't decide which direction to take. To be honest, I don't have a strong preference for any specific area yet. I considered buying a Raspberry Pi to learn, but with the case, fan, and accessories, it would cost me a little bir much for now, which felt a bit steep. As for Arduino, I tinkered with it back in middle school, but it feels a bit too”
“Hello, I have recently completed my A levels and my subjects were Business, Accounting, Urdu and Digital media & Design. I have no idea on what I should do in my future. I have a dream to study abroad and my family also insists that I should go out of the country to study and work there. I have thought about doing ACCA here in Pakistan then going abroad for further education or stuff. I have totally no idea and since I don’t have anyone to talk to, that’s why I am here. Please if anyone can”