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Tomorrow I start my first job, and I'm scared shitless because...
- Thread starter Feltrol
- Start date
MikeHattsu
Member
True Savior
Member
Go rob a bank -> Profit
don't go rob a bank.
Had the same concerns, it worked out fine. You're young, have all the time in the world, give it a year and see how you feel. Certainly don't judge it but your first month or even prior to your first day.
Depending on the job the experience could well surprise you. I had fears of sitting at a computer all day yet I found a good 25% of time is spent talking to others working on projects/issues and the rest of the time is planning/troubleshooting like a logic puzzle. It was the impetus for personal growth for me and at the very least this will give you some adult world experience to better know what you want to do
The work, sleep, repeat thing is much easier if you're in a city though. If you can develop other interests that get you out of the house it'll be that much better. Take up kickboxing, got to art classes, open lectures at the local university. You're only working 1/3 of the day
You're not committing to doing this for the next 40 years or even the next 40 days, leave the worrying until you are settled in and still don't feel right.
Depending on the job the experience could well surprise you. I had fears of sitting at a computer all day yet I found a good 25% of time is spent talking to others working on projects/issues and the rest of the time is planning/troubleshooting like a logic puzzle. It was the impetus for personal growth for me and at the very least this will give you some adult world experience to better know what you want to do
The work, sleep, repeat thing is much easier if you're in a city though. If you can develop other interests that get you out of the house it'll be that much better. Take up kickboxing, got to art classes, open lectures at the local university. You're only working 1/3 of the day
You're not committing to doing this for the next 40 years or even the next 40 days, leave the worrying until you are settled in and still don't feel right.
Shadowhelper
Banned
Also in tech. Web and app development. I dunno, sometimes I think its great I have a stable job and doing something I don't hate. I've had far more tedious IT jobs in the past. Get to work from home quite a bit. Got a great boss. Still, everything is not right.
But I used to be more in the graphics part of the company and now more technical shit, and I really don't know if I want to do this forever. I also don't know if I enjoy 3d modelling at all. I have a couple friends that do 2d animation, but they are much more skillful at that than me. Id rather do that.
Like OP I would rather be a creative, but its so hard to do that when you have work to do. I do work on my creative shit on the side, but between work and my GF always hassling me to do shit, its just not realistic at the moment unless I break up with my GF and even then it would be a struggle.
Basically, if I want to try my creative ambitions outside of work, I'd have to be an efficient working machine. But if I don't try other things I feel like I am just waiting to die almost.
But I used to be more in the graphics part of the company and now more technical shit, and I really don't know if I want to do this forever. I also don't know if I enjoy 3d modelling at all. I have a couple friends that do 2d animation, but they are much more skillful at that than me. Id rather do that.
Like OP I would rather be a creative, but its so hard to do that when you have work to do. I do work on my creative shit on the side, but between work and my GF always hassling me to do shit, its just not realistic at the moment unless I break up with my GF and even then it would be a struggle.
Basically, if I want to try my creative ambitions outside of work, I'd have to be an efficient working machine. But if I don't try other things I feel like I am just waiting to die almost.
SlickShoes
Member
I'm 34 and have worked in IT for 11 years, I have no idea what I want to do with my life either. Never have, probably never will. Tried many things, seen friends and family go on to have successful careers.
I am about to stop working and move to another country with my wife as she got a new job, everyone keeps telling me it'll be great and that I can focus on what I really want to do but reality is that I still have no idea what that is.
If you can find a job that you remotely enjoy that makes good money, snap it up and don't let it go. If you have a real passion that you feel can't support you as a career just make it your main hobby and see where it takes you.
I am about to stop working and move to another country with my wife as she got a new job, everyone keeps telling me it'll be great and that I can focus on what I really want to do but reality is that I still have no idea what that is.
If you can find a job that you remotely enjoy that makes good money, snap it up and don't let it go. If you have a real passion that you feel can't support you as a career just make it your main hobby and see where it takes you.
Spaced Harrier
Member
If you started at 8am summer time, then just a half hour to go before you quit.
God Speed OP
God Speed OP
Not if they have his computer ready.
WhereAreMahDragonz
Banned
just because you have a degree in one field does not limit you to that area of study for the rest of your life. your career is what you make it, so do what you feel is best and let the rest fall into place.
I graduated with a BA in criminal justice and had no idea what I wanted to do with it, so I joined the military. Now I'm working electrical systems on multi-million dollar aircraft. Night and day from what I thought I'd be doing after college, but it's a job and it's opened a lot of avenues for me.
My point is, don't limit yourself. This degree and your skills is not the end. There will be so many other things in life you'll get to experience later on that could change your life. There will be opportunities out there, no matter what. Just have to look for them.
I graduated with a BA in criminal justice and had no idea what I wanted to do with it, so I joined the military. Now I'm working electrical systems on multi-million dollar aircraft. Night and day from what I thought I'd be doing after college, but it's a job and it's opened a lot of avenues for me.
My point is, don't limit yourself. This degree and your skills is not the end. There will be so many other things in life you'll get to experience later on that could change your life. There will be opportunities out there, no matter what. Just have to look for them.
KiwiLannister
Member
I'm 22 and just started working full time too op. I love my job (engineering).
One thing that I think is a big problem is this self defeating attitude about routines. Routines are great. They help you use your time more efficiently so that you have more useful time for your hobbies. I feel far more fulfilled from doing a good job due to sticking to routine, than I felt procrastinating everything to the last minute at university and feeling sorry for myself.
Also recommended that you find some good hobbies, live as close to work/life as possible (shit place with a great commute is worth it).
Also take some pride in doing a good job, don't spend the day looking at the clock.
One thing that I think is a big problem is this self defeating attitude about routines. Routines are great. They help you use your time more efficiently so that you have more useful time for your hobbies. I feel far more fulfilled from doing a good job due to sticking to routine, than I felt procrastinating everything to the last minute at university and feeling sorry for myself.
Also recommended that you find some good hobbies, live as close to work/life as possible (shit place with a great commute is worth it).
Also take some pride in doing a good job, don't spend the day looking at the clock.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Unless you live in Japan really you're not going to do the same thing the rest of your life.
Shadowhelper
Banned
The difference is you love your engineering job. A lot of people, including me, find that stuff a bit boring. I dunno, when I tell people I want to leave my job for something else, everyone thinks I'm fucking nuts.
Not that easy to get a decent job, really. Just find I'm better at other things and find other things interesting. But as a minority in Britain, I don't have the same opportunities. It's not America here. You're stuck in lanes. Working on creative things though, and family money will eventually role in, perhaps enough for me to just quit and do whatever i want.
Fox Mulder
Member
You're just a part of the machine now.
I left school and got my first job at 16, I moved out from the parental home at 18.
That was the done thing back then, I get that jobs and houses are a little more unattainable now, but there are a lot of people who seem to just sit back and think that there is more to life than working, unless you're lucky enough to be able to live without working, then it's a cycle that most people just have to got used to.
That said, work to live, don't ever live to work.
That was the done thing back then, I get that jobs and houses are a little more unattainable now, but there are a lot of people who seem to just sit back and think that there is more to life than working, unless you're lucky enough to be able to live without working, then it's a cycle that most people just have to got used to.
That said, work to live, don't ever live to work.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I love how the blue fish behind him on the highway is also in the same place behind him at work.
Gravy Boat
Member
By the time I was 22 I had already been working for 8 years. 22 seems super late to be starting your first job.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Seriously. First job at 22, scared of growing up, overthinking the future which hasn't even happened, wants to 'create' but doesn't seem to have any work ethic to that end...
Look, OP, it's just a job. Nothing says you have to do it forever, nothing says you're stuck but you. Do the time, get experience, grow up, develop your interests on the side. And when you've actually learned what it means to work for what you want instead of what you need to do to survive, go for it. It's not complicated.
AlteredForms
Banned
You're a small cog in the machine that is America. Tonnes of civilians work endless hours to contribute towards their homes and society, time to start contributing OP!
So did you actually put any effort in this dream of making your own comic / story in the last 15 years? Creative stuff is just a much work as "normal" work. It sounds to me like you have been dreaming about this but never really put much effort into it.
I´ve been an illustration freelancer for the last five years. I kinda got into the field by a guy working at a big client remembering me from school and suddenly I got jobs from them all the time.
But now these jobs have dried up. I get jobs occasionally from other clients but in the last few months I´ve really noticed it in my bank account. Younger, super talented people come after me every year, and they probably have no problem working for less money than I did (pay getting worse as the market shifts).
And suddenly I start realizing that my work attitude has been absolute dogshit. By that I mean: I would always do my jobs on time and to the best of my ability (I mean, I did actually work with them for over 4 years). But I completely neglected my own self driven disciplince to learn new styles, techniques and even software. I didn´t even make a proper budget because I always thought "Well, I´m getting more than enough money each month, this is probably going to go on like that forever!" ...and, yeah, now I don´t have much saved to fall back on.
I´m also currently going through a little crisis wondering if I´m actually as passionate about my creative stuff as I thought I was or as I think I´m SUPPOSED to be to keep working in this field.
If you want to make a living from your passion, be ready for your passion to suddenly include a market value and a daily pressure to prove yourself on a marketplace filled with other people like you who might be more driven, more skilled or better at marketing themselves than you.
And the thing is, I never learned anything else. This IS what I´ve gone to school for. I can´t suddenly switch professions (though I´m considering going into the art teacher direction, maybe). Maybe expand into other graphical or artistic fields.
So, just a little heads up that making a living from what you currently love might not be a guarantee that you will love doing it with the needed intensity and daily routine that it needs for the rest of your working life. It´s hard enough to make a living from a creative job for a while, but doing it over several decades requires an even more refined attitude, especially when it comes to self motivation and creative stamina.
Do your job but carve out a part of every week to write. An hour each day, a couple of hours on the weekend, whatever. Just set aside time that doesn't belong to you, but belongs to your desire to write. Your life can accommodate both so long as you don't spend as much time on things you don't care about, but invest some of that time in writing.
Put enough hours in where you can find them and you might reach a point where it can support you financially. Maybe. But you have make time to write that isn't based on 'when I get the time / when I feel like it' - have it on a timetable just like work and realize that it might be inconvenient, and it might feel like a waste of time at points, but the alternative is a 0% chance of fulfilling that childhood passion.
Put enough hours in where you can find them and you might reach a point where it can support you financially. Maybe. But you have make time to write that isn't based on 'when I get the time / when I feel like it' - have it on a timetable just like work and realize that it might be inconvenient, and it might feel like a waste of time at points, but the alternative is a 0% chance of fulfilling that childhood passion.
Great tip. A daily routine, even if it´s just 30 minutes, is a world of difference to just keep vaguely dreaming about it and maybe doing it "some day". "Some day" usually never comes. It´s incredibly easy to be sucked into a routine of putting it off just another day, and then another, and suddenly yet another year has gone by and you haven´t done even the slightest bit to go further into the direction of your true goals.
(I speak from experience. I´m just learning this now. I wish I had learned that 20 years ago.)
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
The job is a means to an end and for someone who hasn't worked before, you really ought to take a step back and calm down. Fact of the matter is, even if you were doing what you love, you'd be stuck in routine and possibly working even longer hours.
What do you think aspiring actors and actresses in NYC do to make their dreams come true? They work in restaurants! Set schedules, shitty pay (some) and shitty people, yet they know they have to do it because it supports what they love to do when they're not serving food.
I won't lie, you're provably going to end up in a 9-5 for most of your life because, well, most of us do, but that doesn't mean you can't do what you love on the side.
What do you think aspiring actors and actresses in NYC do to make their dreams come true? They work in restaurants! Set schedules, shitty pay (some) and shitty people, yet they know they have to do it because it supports what they love to do when they're not serving food.
I won't lie, you're provably going to end up in a 9-5 for most of your life because, well, most of us do, but that doesn't mean you can't do what you love on the side.
IT is luckily not that bad of a job and pays pretty good if you can chase your dreams try so while you do the job so that you have income.
And maybe who knows it becomes a new way to make money later. write stuff share it online for opinions improve etc and if you think it's good enough or get a publish deal then great and otherwise you can still do it in your free time.
Also doing a IT study and honestly i don't know what job i want either honestly i might just become a banker or a good ITer in the future cuz i never enjoyed work really so in my case i just want a job that pays well so that i can enjoy life in my free time.
My dream drop is on the sea on a boat/cruise ship (thanks Zelda Wind Waker lol) or another means of travel job but that means way less free time to enjoy what i like in my freetime + if i have kids + Wife later they would miss their father/husband for months/weeks at times.
But if after trying i don't enjoy IT or a banking job a single bit i will try that seafaring carreer still later. I honestly would not mind office jobs if i can surf the web a bit during work tho.
Another few carreers i liked as a child is fireman and police (yeah fuck that now with how bad the police is in my country imo) and paramedic on a ambulance.
Edit: oh and the only other thing i can think of now is start up a bar/cafe maybe just might do that when i earned enough spare money on my savings account. With the it or bank job.
Or tattoo artist but then i need to atleast improve my drawing skills big time lol.
And maybe who knows it becomes a new way to make money later. write stuff share it online for opinions improve etc and if you think it's good enough or get a publish deal then great and otherwise you can still do it in your free time.
Also doing a IT study and honestly i don't know what job i want either honestly i might just become a banker or a good ITer in the future cuz i never enjoyed work really so in my case i just want a job that pays well so that i can enjoy life in my free time.
My dream drop is on the sea on a boat/cruise ship (thanks Zelda Wind Waker lol) or another means of travel job but that means way less free time to enjoy what i like in my freetime + if i have kids + Wife later they would miss their father/husband for months/weeks at times.
But if after trying i don't enjoy IT or a banking job a single bit i will try that seafaring carreer still later. I honestly would not mind office jobs if i can surf the web a bit during work tho.
Another few carreers i liked as a child is fireman and police (yeah fuck that now with how bad the police is in my country imo) and paramedic on a ambulance.
Edit: oh and the only other thing i can think of now is start up a bar/cafe maybe just might do that when i earned enough spare money on my savings account. With the it or bank job.
Or tattoo artist but then i need to atleast improve my drawing skills big time lol.
TheChewyWaffles
Member
...because you use click-bait titles?
I've been working since I was 13 years old, I'm now 22 and just graduated, currently pulling 50 hour weeks as a bar manager and I start a teaching job in September. Seems pretty late for your first job, be grateful that circumstances allowed for you to focus solely on your education. After the first week of my first ever job, I had to walk 3 miles in the snow to ask for a cash advance so I could help my mum pay a bill. You're lucky.
Welcome to the rat race.
Welcome to the rat race.
You left school and started working at 14?
How did that work?
superNESjoe
Member
Dude, just be lucky you made it to 22 without having to get a job. I had my first job at 16. The summer I finished High School I was immediately working full time.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
They probably mean part-time, as used to be the norm around 15-16 for kids. I don't count babysitting when I was 12 as my starting point, but I was pulling a proper check at 15 part-time.
shira
Member
Robots will have most of the jobs in 20 years
Skiptastic
Member
So you have a dream and a passion that could theoretically become a career. That is very important and something not everyone has (myself included).
What have you done to cultivate it? Taken writing classes? Drawing classes? Are you artistic? Have you put any of these characters to paper?
What resources do you have to do the things you need to do in order to make that passion a career? Do you have rich parents who will help support you while you take art classes or writing classes? Do you have local programs that are free or cheap that could help? Do you have online resources or groups that can help you cultivate that passion?
Finally, how comfortable do you need to be in your life? Your last sentence makes me thing...pretty comfortable. If you need to have nice things but still want your passion, that adds complications. Do you want to have an active social life? Can you work your IT job to support your survival then work nights on what you're passionate about? Living comfortably shouldn't be your goal if you have a passion. Making your dream your career should be the goal. Whatever comes from that is an added bonus.
Start thinking about how you can turn your passion into a career. Start planning the steps needed. If you don't know the steps, seek out people who have done what you want to do and ask for advice. Once you have a rough plan in place, start executing it however you can.
Don't be scared shitless. You're 22. You've got plenty of time to figure out your life. My brother is five years younger and he stopped his prior teach career plans in their path to go back to school and follow his passion of animation. Now he has a career in animation and seems to be much happier with his life than where he was heading. You can do the same thing but don't necessarily need to have such a dramatic halt. He had resources that helped him. If you don't, then take your time.
But please, dear heavens, pursue your dreams in some way. I have no dreams or passions, so I don't mind being a cog in the machine.
Ha! I started my first job at twenty fucking eight (last year 
)
Took me a while to get into studies that really interested me.
In the end, I didn't feel as passionate about it as I thought I would.
Now I'm 29, not even a full year of experience, and already regretting my choice.
Still don't know what to do with my life.
It sucks, but hey, gotta make a living.
)Took me a while to get into studies that really interested me.
In the end, I didn't feel as passionate about it as I thought I would.
Now I'm 29, not even a full year of experience, and already regretting my choice.
Still don't know what to do with my life.
It sucks, but hey, gotta make a living.
Gravy Boat
Member
I worked weekends and some evenings, averaging 20 hours a week. You don't need to leave school to have a job.
I wish I stuck to routine during my younger years - discipline is an important aspect of life you need to learn as you keep growing older. Don't think of it as a grind, think of it as like an RPG, with you as the character needing to take on life's battles to gain EXP.
It might surprise you, but a lot of people are in the same boat as you. I know plenty of people who did college/university, but ended up doing something completely different and/or reskill their abilities. Again, with the RPG analogy, changing the class of yourself requires you to reach certain requirements, obtain an item (a new diploma) and there you go. It might be difficult, but it's entirely possible to change course later on in life when you've finally lost patience with the path you're on.
Not a lot of people know from the get go what they want to do. Some of my friends knew they were born to be doctors, lawyers etc. Good for them! But most of my other friends didn't and simply followed what their parents told them to do. A guy I knew applied for pharmaceutical studies for his university, but these days he's competing in Jiujitsu competitions and doing part-time studying for myotherapy (yes, he's beating people up and then healing them!)
As someone mentioned earlier, it's better for you to build a solid foundation with work experience and practice routine. When you've had several years under your belt, feel free to start experimenting with your creative side. The discipline you gain from routine will help you set up a side business balancing creativity and financial reality.
The worst thing for you to do is compare yourself with others - their paths in life are their own, and they may be successful now but who knows about tomorrow. They ride the same highs and the same lows as you do, and their paths are as winding as yours. Nobody takes the straight road to success, and everyone has hit bumps along the way.
Speaking of which, the fear of failure is completely natural. We want to protect the ones we love, we want to have food and shelter over our heads. But the thing is - failure is just another step towards success. It's not about the mistakes you make, it's about how you respond to them and how you learn from them.
Long post, but mate you're only 22. You've only just gotten out of the tutorial section of life and now you're ready to explore the world in front of you. It seems daunting, but you got this. Run towards your goals, lose a few hearts to a stupid low-tier enemy (mistake), everything's an adventure!
KiwiLannister
Member
I enjoy my job because of my attitude towards it more than anything. I'm a big believer in Mike Rowe's philosophy around bringing your passion to work rather than the other way around. If I followed my passion I'd be trying to make it as a video game designer not an industrial engineer.
My job is mostly emails, calling people, writing reports and talking to people on site. I don't spend hours being creative or playing sports or coming up with innovative shit. There's nothing intrinsic about the job that makes it fun.
"work, sleep, repeat". is certainly the first thing that came to mind when I first started doing internships and jobs but it's not as bad as you think.
You get used to the 40 hours a week and you get to keep enough energy when you get home to do fun stuff and stay up a little later.
Believe me, the moment when you're out of work and sit at home, you're going to miss working. Weekends mean something when you're working and going home is something to look forward too.
Just don't let it become your Ground Hog Day.
You get used to the 40 hours a week and you get to keep enough energy when you get home to do fun stuff and stay up a little later.
Believe me, the moment when you're out of work and sit at home, you're going to miss working. Weekends mean something when you're working and going home is something to look forward too.
Just don't let it become your Ground Hog Day.
God millennials are the worst.
You don't want to work, sleep, repeat? That's fucking life dude just be happy you have a job.
Or go work with your buddies at Applebee's part time for a few years, while you create your book or whatever. Then, when you fail you will be right back where you are now, but with fewer options.
That follow your dreams shit is for the movies.
You don't want to work, sleep, repeat? That's fucking life dude just be happy you have a job.
Or go work with your buddies at Applebee's part time for a few years, while you create your book or whatever. Then, when you fail you will be right back where you are now, but with fewer options.
That follow your dreams shit is for the movies.
SaviourMK2
Member
Congrats on the job. The important thing to remember is that right now, just starting? You don't need to worry about your future right now. You have plenty of time to research, plan out and fulfill you're desires. Right now you're goal is just to earn and save money in the event you end up between jobs, or want to put money on a car/apartment, give yourself a couple of months to fatten your bank account as a fall back.
Consider yourself fortunate, I'm going to be 30 in October and I'm still unsure of what I want to do with my life.
Consider yourself fortunate, I'm going to be 30 in October and I'm still unsure of what I want to do with my life.
Can confirm.
IlGialloMondadori
Member
Don't be an asshole. You sound like a spoiled asshole. Try working for a change.
I think the word that is appropriate these days is cosseted, rather than spoilt.
always crazy bacon
Banned
OP sounds like a special butterfly that's too scared to spread his wings in case of failure. No job before and you're 22? Deal with it and stop mooching off your mum who you are too worried about dissapointing.
I have never heard that word before, but it's pretty accurate for anyone who's had to deal with helicopter parenting.
Thanks!
So what's stopping you from doing this while you work IT? Nearly every aspiring actor/actress/screenwriter/etc I know all waited tables while trying to pursue their career.
You have a job that will pay better and still allow you time to do things you want. Just don't get stuck in a company that's a toxic and pushes you to work crazy hours. There's tons of jobs in IT out there at, don't settle. A government job will probably be the least pressure.
You can work and still write like 6 hours a day. You're probably not going to benefit from trying to write more than that anyway. I have a friend who's a mom to 4 young children and still found time to write a couple books (self published through Amazon or something) and ended up making enough to pay down their house.
If your pay is good you can live an exciting life off the clock.
I don't get paid well but I love my job, so when I'm off the clock I can't do much.
For most of us, we have to make compromises. Not too many people love their work and get paid well enough to do exciting things.
I don't get paid well but I love my job, so when I'm off the clock I can't do much.
For most of us, we have to make compromises. Not too many people love their work and get paid well enough to do exciting things.
I started working at 18, I'm 32 now and Im exactly in this same spot.