[krillbee]

Warning: long read, skip to cliffs at the bottom if you have too short an attention span.

I am pretty lost at the moment in deciding what I want to do with my life. I know this is not a question you can just have other people answer for you, but I figured I would post up on here for ideas.

I am 22 years old, and just graduated school with a BA in psych / business minor. As some may know, there aren’t too many places looking for people with BAs in psych. I choose a psych degree because the classes were fun and my parents wanted me to go to college. I do not want to go to graduate school, or do any more schooling if I can avoid it.

Right now I am living at home with the parents, and I want to move out, be independent and be on my own. I live in a large metropolis area and rent isn’t cheap here unfortunately. I have no clue exactly what the cost of living is, but I know 1 bedroom apartments are 600-700 (depending on which part of town you are in). Right now I don’t know of anyone looking for a roommate, but that’s okay, because I think I'd prefer to live alone.

I currently am unemployed and have been for a few weeks, just got done doing a 3 month IT contract in a desktop support position. I am pretty good with computers and worked at the helpdesk in college for 2 years, so I could probably continue this route, but honestly I'm not sure if I could stomach it for very long. Also I'm not sure if I could ever afford to buy a house, if working as a lowly IT helpdesk person.

I like jobs that are very physically active, but I know that in reality people nowadays are paid to use their minds not their bodies. For example, I'd love to load boxes or something 8 hours a day (boxes not heavy enough to break my back, though) but I know that jobs like these only pay 10 bucks an hour or so tops, which I doubt I could live off of in my city.
I also like jobs where I’m trying to market an idea or product to someone, but not if it means working on commission.
I also like problem solving and fixing things, hence why I kind of like IT. But I would probably get sick of IT after awhile.

I know I should find a job soon, but…
I don’t want to jump into some other contract where I'm in the same boat looking for another job in a few months. Nor do I want to pick some crappy job or some low paying job, where I want to find another in a few months.

So, that’s the boat I'm in.


Cliffs:

-I'm 22 yrs old. Looking for a job. Have a BA in psych / business minor. Don’t want to go back to school. Have some IT experience too (but not sure if I could keep doing IT)
-Need a job that pays enough so that I can move out and live in an apartment or something (rent is 600-700 around here for 1br apartments)
-I like marketing ideas/products, I like fixing things, and I like active jobs
-I don’t like contracting jobs, commission jobs, and prefer not to work extremely inactive jobs.
-Need advice

[Rumor]

Become a chippendale

[screamingFit]

The best advice I can give you? Do NOT settle into a career right now! Don't even THINK of getting married or buying a house for the forseeable future.

Get a restaurant gig or something that doesn't require a lot of personal investment, save up some money and go experience life. Bum around some foreign countries, fall in love many times, write some poetry/draw/paint/photo and when the freedom of doing what you want, when you want gets to be too much, settle back down into a career in your home locale with all the responsibilities that you don't need right now.

Do that and trust me, in 10 years you'll be thanking me.

[Doofy]

This man's soul is obviously crying out to be... ...a

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by screamingFit 

The best advice I can give you? Do NOT settle into a career right now! Don't even THINK of getting married or buying a house for the forseeable future.

Get a restaurant gig or something that doesn't require a lot of personal investment, save up some money and go experience life. Bum around some foreign countries, fall in love many times, write some poetry/draw/paint/photo and when the freedom of doing what you want, when you want gets to be too much, settle back down into a career in your home locale with all the responsibilities that you don't need right now.

Do that and trust me, in 10 years you'll be thanking me.

oh believe me, i wasnt planning on getting married or buying a house right now, lol.

all of the stuff you are mentioning above sounds like fun though. travelling does cost money though and so does falling in love.

but i really just want to be able to make enough money to move out of my parents house. i do not want to become the 30 yr old guy living in his parents basement.

[Jellytussle]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

This man's soul is obviously crying out to be... ...a

I know it's something of an internet cliché, but i just had an authentic laugh out loud. Of course, i have been self-medicating all evening.

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by krillbee 

oh believe me, i wasnt planning on getting married or buying a house right now, lol.

all of the stuff you are mentioning above sounds like fun though. travelling does cost money though and so does falling in love.

but i really just want to be able to make enough money to move out of my parents house. i do not want to become the 30 yr old guy living in his parents basement.

Love is expensive. Lust is cheap.

[vmarks]

Find a machine shop, find a furniture manufacturer, - you like working with your hands and lifting, at least do it where you have some investment in the results.

It's not rewarding to move lots of boxes, but work can be if you're involved in design or craftsmanship, something that invests you in the results.

[turtle777]

Why not something in the HR-related field ?

Psychology and business mix well theses days.

-t

[shabbasuraj]

I say go travel the world. Do so while you are young. Maybe you find a job elsewhere.

[anonymac]

Become a bum. Freeway onramps are your ticket to riches!!!

Or you could be a car hobo and travel while living in your car. This will also allow you to avoid the social awkwardness of being a known bum (which could also get your ass kicked should you run into the wrong people.)

[SpaceMonkey]

Jeez, 600-700 per month for a 1 bedroom in a "metropolis" isn't very expensive at all. I pay 650 to share a 3 bedroom with 2 roommates. If I was looking for a 1 bedroom, I would be shelling out at least a grand, probably more.

[Rev-O]

Join the military, just not the Army or the Marines. Right now would be a bad time for those two branches. Air Force or Navy, hell you'd get to do some interesting stuff.
Only half kidding.

[Pierre Capretz II]

few things you can do:

you like to lift stuff? you can come to my house every tuesday and take out my trash. there are at least 4 fully stuffed hefty cinch sacks that you can either put out for the trashman to collect or keep for yourself. occasionally I may ask you to dig a hole in my lawn. I'll provide you with a ham and lettuce sandwich as recompense.

perhaps you possess an untapped gift for the craft of notorizing? become a notary public. this could be your calling.

If you like to write: you can write a skit and perform it on the corner. The key to this act is to leave your hat on the ground in the front.

finally you can work at a hotel in this metropolis you speak of. There are many things you can do there: porter, doorman, truck unloader, maitre-D, concierge, coat check person, manager, cleaning lady, elevator button presser, revolving door technician, late-night attendant.

there is a lot you can do.

[krillbee]

Originally Posted by vmarks 

Find a machine shop, find a furniture manufacturer, - you like working with your hands and lifting, at least do it where you have some investment in the results.

It's not rewarding to move lots of boxes, but work can be if you're involved in design or craftsmanship, something that invests you in the results.

as long as my hands dont get messed up, im game

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

Why not something in the HR-related field ?

Psychology and business mix well theses days.

-t

I've thought about HR. i'm going to look into those possibilities.

Originally Posted by shabbasuraj 

I say go travel the world. Do so while you are young. Maybe you find a job elsewhere.

doing that does cost money though

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Jeez, 600-700 per month for a 1 bedroom in a "metropolis" isn't very expensive at all. I pay 650 to share a 3 bedroom with 2 roommates. If I was looking for a 1 bedroom, I would be shelling out at least a grand, probably more.

hmm do you live in San Fran, LA, or NY?

Originally Posted by Rev-O 

Join the military, just not the Army or the Marines. Right now would be a bad time for those two branches. Air Force or Navy, hell you'd get to do some interesting stuff.
Only half kidding.

i would consider that, but i wonder if i would be able to have much a social life while doing that. i mean like you cant bring a woman back to the army base!

Originally Posted by Pierre Capretz II 

few things you can do:

you like to lift stuff? you can come to my house every tuesday and take out my trash. there are at least 4 fully stuffed hefty cinch sacks that you can either put out for the trashman to collect or keep for yourself. occasionally I may ask you to dig a hole in my lawn. I'll provide you with a ham and lettuce sandwich as recompense.

perhaps you possess an untapped gift for the craft of notorizing? become a notary public. this could be your calling.

If you like to write: you can write a skit and perform it on the corner. The key to this act is to leave your hat on the ground in the front.

finally you can work at a hotel in this metropolis you speak of. There are many things you can do there: porter, doorman, truck unloader, maitre-D, concierge, coat check person, manager, cleaning lady, elevator button presser, revolving door technician, late-night attendant.

there is a lot you can do.

were any of these serious? lol. the hotel ones might have been, but im not sure about the others.

[Pierre Capretz II]

they were all serious. however don't limit yourself to serious jobs. the professional birthday party clown industry is experiencing a revival of epic proportions.

Ushering should be a paid job in my opinion. perhaps you can strike a deal with your local church or build yourself an amphitheatre

buy a 1000 zunes tomorrow and sell them to non-US residents on ebay.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

Why not something in the HR-related field ?

Psychology and business mix well theses days.

-t

You can screw people out of benefits while making them feel good about themselves.

Sadly, there is probably a lot of money there.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by krillbee 

hmm do you live in San Fran, LA, or NY?

Washington, DC.