Need Some Advice for My Career to Restart My Life

Misty Echo on 15/09/2024 - 20:26

Hi everyone,

I’ve been feeling quite anxious these days. Some of my friends have already bought their second or third house, with their children playing in the spacious living rooms. Meanwhile, I’m still renting and browsing OzBargain for cheaper deals to save a few cents every day. I’m already over 30, and I feel like I’m falling behind my peers. That’s why I’ve decided to quit my dead-end job in retail and pursue a brighter career path, or maybe even start my own business. Hopefully, this will help accelerate my life progress.

So, my question is: What are the promising industries in 2024 and beyond, where a rookie could work or start a new business?

Being over 30, I can’t afford to make the wrong decision and lose more time. I’ve asked GPT, but I’d also like to hear some human advice. I’ve worked in retail for ages and hold a degree in IT (BA). However, I’ve only had some project experience and haven’t yet worked in a full-time role in the field. It’s been quite challenging to find an IT job this year, should I continue pursuing it?

Thank you in advance for your time and valuable advice!

Education & Work

Comments

  • Iwantthebestprice on 15/09/2024 - 20:35
    +23

    If you know IT and are good at it cyber security is only going to get bigger as AI gets bigger.

    • Misty Echo on 15/09/2024 - 20:47

      As I’m not very skilled in coding, do you think it’s worth returning to university and starting over with cybersecurity?

      • Tricon on 16/09/2024 - 10:06
        +5

        Contact Richard Buckland and ask. Perhaps find some of his lectures and see what is involved. Programming experience is likely not a high priority in all cybersecurity areas.

        • JamesTurne18 on 16/09/2024 - 13:58

          He seems like a good person, but he also comes off as quite self-deprecating.

      • 852 Neon Nights on 16/09/2024 - 13:06
        +7

        University is a money pit.

        Regarding university education, for many people, a university education is a poor investment unless you need it for compliance so that you can practice in fields like law, medicine, or pharmacy. The stress of becoming a doctor, pharmacist, solicitor, or barrister just isn't worth it when there are quicker ways to make money.

        What is that quicker way to earn money going to be for you? Only you can answer that, and it depends on the kind of person you are. Look at how you were as a younger person as that will reveal the type of person you are. "If you’re just an ordinary person, and there's nothing wrong with being ordinary, then you can't really expect to achieve something extraordinary.

        Almost exclusively everything I learned about cybersecurity was self-taught because there was not a dedicated Bachelor of Cybersecurity or a Cybersecurity Major. I guess that is what makes me extraordinary. If you only learn what the university teaches you, you're just repeating and applying old material to your life. You aren't ever going to be on the cusp of innovation. You need to do something that is unique and special to yourself.

        The graduates that have been brainwashed into doing a Bachelor of Cybersecurity just because they want to make money are going to have a hard time competing against someone like myself. I can't help but wonder if these graduates from certain programs often end up working for government agencies that push for regulations requiring tech companies to create backdoors. It just oozes incompetence at its finest. These are the same students who are likely to be involved in poor implementations of cryptography. While such methods might benefit ASIO in infiltrating others, having them used internally within ASIO itself would be quite concerning.

        It takes a special type of person to be successful in cybersecurity. It is the type that constantly seeks to explore things. It is someone who breaks the software inside their television as a child and learns how channels are scanned as in old school televisions you did not have auto scan. It is the one who finds cheat codes to kill someone's Tamagotchi because they don't have the time to be resetting their device to get perfect the monster's stats. It is the one who does not have the time to play Neopets flash games, so you just send the score directly to the server to collect the points and the trophy. It is the one who is using macros to play Runescape because who has the time to study and play games. It is the one who codes a bot to play Astonia bypassing the macro daemon's math questions. It is someone who one who manages to get their disk limit increased from 20MB to 100 GB in high school.

        Either you are, or your aren't cybersecurity material. If you don't have anything special about you, then you can just become a Brian Krebs, which is more of a marketing guru rather than a cybersecurity specialist.

        Sure you can be an ordinary IT worker which these days are mostly imported from overseas. However, you cannot be a successful Security Architect. We "had" talent here in Australia, but most of us are now domiciled overseas due to the racism we experienced from the Australian Government, partly due to the outsourcing of recruitment to companies which were frankly full of racists. These companies included Manpower, something that starts with One or has a One in their name, possibly also Saville but I believe they only provide the tests, and various others that I briefly remember but do not have any digital records of to confirm. This was in the period around ~2010 when racism was not a cancellable event. Over the past decade, DEI policies have been introduced, but for those of us who feel mildly disillusioned with the country of our birth, these efforts have come too little, too late.

        From my perspective I see people often criticise China for having red lines, but the constraints in Western society are even more arbitrary. At least in China you know if you screwed up, you can't go to jail for being a normal disgruntled citizen. In the West, you could end up facing significant challenges and not understand what you have done wrong unless you have time to read through all the legislation on a random topic. In Australia you can go to jail for being a journalist and having a book that promotes terrorism because you were doing research to write an article for the Murdoch/Fairfax newspapers. I don't remember the exact details, but these arbitrary nature of arrests in the West are similar to what happened with Pavel Durov.

        Durov was arrested for refusing to comply with Mandatory Key Disclosure laws. As a coder, you probably don't even care about those laws. It is a side issue. Tough luck for the government because frankly why are they not disclosing everything that ASIO does? Of course, that's not allowed, is it? What are you trying to hide? Freedom of Information requests are heavily redacted, but it's clear this isn't a national security issue. The reality is, there's significant corruption in the Australia — that's just how it works. The CFMEU scandal is just the surface of it.

        In a recent interview before Durov was arrested they tried to convince one of his developers to implement a poorly coded open source cryptographic suite which would make it easier for intelligence agencies to break. I would like to know which one this was because frankly I would not be surprised if CIA does not fully cooperate with ASIO and they have a backdoor right into every one of the Australian Government's dealings. Remember Whitlam's dismissal, that was the USA subverting Australia through its relationship with Kerr. It is like Australians never learn.

        Today, I see the Australian Government are making the same mistakes again, but it seems the bureaucrats don't view things the same way I do or they wish for some pipedream that is not reflective of reality. You do what is best for your people in Australia, but instead what I see is that you do your best to retain the system of government that disempowers and taxes your ordinary citizens to fund stupid wars in foreign countries. How can you become an innovator in Australia with these constraints? Even companies like Airwallex have domiciled in the Cayman Islands. That is how far Australia has failed. I don't blame them because look at what Australia is doing as a country. It's disgraceful.

        Ask yourself, are you willing to go to jail because you want to get into Cybersecurity? Those red lines in Australia are unknown. You live in Australia, some of my colleagues call it affectionately Ausjailia because it is a giant prison island. e.g. "Oh sweet, you escaped Ausjailia, nice to have you here." This is not some random country like Ukraine or Romania where you have more freedom to code anything wild. In Australia I do believe in the future people will go to jail for coding Artificial Intelligence that exposes government corruption and actively uncensors content.

          • JamesTurne18 on 16/09/2024 - 13:56
            +1

            @852 Neon Nights: Yeah, it seems like people are really out of touch these days.

            For example:

            Check out Protractor's comments below. Although no one seems to grasp why he posted those comments, if you're sharp and read between the lines, you can see that he noticed Misty Echo's anxiety and their abrupt resignation. To me, this hints at something deeper going on.

            • Gunnar on 16/09/2024 - 14:59
              +1

              @JamesTurne18: Exactly this! Sadly emotional intelligence isn’t exactly a lot of people’s strength (yet everyone will list active /reflective listening as a strength ;-)

              Based on what they’ve written The OP has a bit going on than just this. It’s really common for people of that age to go through this particularly when they see people their age go through life milestones and they are seemingly ‘standing still’ it’s really tough and hope the OP gets the right supports

        • serpserpserp on 17/09/2024 - 13:21
          +4

          I guess that is what makes me extraordinary.

          Not really. All the guns I know in the cyber security game were already writing the underlying open source apps for security out of interest any way. Some of them got into that out of necessity of keeping their jobs, others did it because they wanted to be on the cutting edge of exploits. Either way, to become technically top of your game, you'll likely get into aspects of it that are outside of "having a job".

        • DingoBilly on 17/09/2024 - 14:02
          +25

          One thing I learnt from university was how to stay on topic and make sure my responses were concise and to the point instead of incoherent rants. It seems like others did not learn this.

        • SpicyStew on 18/09/2024 - 09:21
          +8

          Seriously, who read this?

        • frewer on 18/09/2024 - 13:33

          I couldnt agree more with what you typed there. But you forgot Julian went through shitstorm for exposing war criminal activities, also both AMD and Intel has back door BUILT into their chips. Nuff said Orwell 1984 is here

        • JackedBargain on 18/09/2024 - 15:50
          -1

          stress of becoming a doctor, pharmacist, solicitor, or barrister

          Thanks for mentioning pharmacist next to doctor. Often it'll be doctor dentist nurse etc.. I feel like pharmacist gets left off a lot people's lists of professionals.

        • meowbert on 18/09/2024 - 19:13

          Upvote for schitzo post. I've met plenty of security architects who are trash and make lots of money.

        • Counter Intelligence on 18/09/2024 - 21:16

          I just noticed that your post has aged quite well in a mildly amusing and satisfying way.

          Firstly, I believe Ghost was arrested some hours after your post. Today in the morning it was the headline news. It is clear that the arrest did not make the news until today because the AFP was occupied with raids throughout the night, as shown in the media images.

          Ghost could have taken a few lessons from what you said and perhaps even left the country, but he's now behind bars. The laws in Australia, as you mentioned, are quite unclear. What we know now is that providing customer service on an encrypted platform could potentially result in jail time.

          This should serve as a reminder for those struggling to find a job in IT. Pursue your passions, but do so with caution. Consider leaving the country to follow your dreams or be prepared for serious consequences, such as jail time, if you stay in Australia.

          Oddly, I believe Ghost may have faced similar challenges in finding a job for the same reasons you mentioned, as they graduated around the same time when discrimination was common.

          Those years must have been incredibly challenging. There seems to be a pattern. Perhaps the issue of discrimination is significantly under-reported in the media.

          • quanticism on 20/09/2024 - 01:01

            @Counter Intelligence: I don't follow Aussie news much. Any news sources worth reading to understand Ghost more and if it's being accurately portrayed as a platform mainly for criminals? I haven't trusted the mainstream media with these sorts of topics for years now. I found Purov's arrest in France over Telegram to be disgusting. These governments may as well come out and say they want to ban E2EE because they want to spy on everyone's communications.

            Meanwhile, the same government and media apparatus would have us believe that sentencing McBridge to jail for ~6 years for whistleblowing on warcrimes is actual justice.

        • liquornoodlescabbage on 18/09/2024 - 22:27
          +8

          I guess that is what makes me extraordinary.

          lmao this whole thing reads like a "Im a navy seal" copypasta

        • this is us on 20/09/2024 - 06:36

          I was going to upvote because you seem passionate about what you do, but then you derailed and got into something possibly personal and unrelated that is unlikely to be helpful to OP. So, no vote…

          Still, appreciate the first part and comments…

      • AustriaBargain on 16/09/2024 - 13:15
        +1

        You don't need to know a lot of code to do certain jobs.

        • 852 Neon Nights on 16/09/2024 - 13:21
          -8

          Obviously you don't, but you would not be earning any more than you would at a retail job. People seriously underrate how much you get paid in retail.

          You would also not be able to call yourself a professional in any capacity.

          Why would someone return to university to learn about cybersecurity when they already have a bachelors of IT? You haven't explained that the OP.

      • knk on 18/09/2024 - 10:14
        +3

        IT guy here.

        If you want to be technical, ie know what you are doing and not just be very high level hands off managerial level IT who knows nothing of the underlying infrastructure etc - Then no the cybersecurity degree won't get you that level of knowledge. It may be a lucrative career still, but I'll let someone else weigh in here.

        I have a terrible useless bachelor in IT from over a decade ago, it's not even relevant anymore. You could do this cybersecurity course and if you put me and yourself in a room you wouldn't even be able to keep up and talk about this stuff with myself.

        That's not meant to be negative at all towards you,it's just that if you don't build a low level appreciation of how everything works how can you really advise in this field?

        It's the equivalent of mechanically training a surgeon to do just surgeries, but not teaching them the underlying anatomy, physiology and everything in between. Wouldn't go well. Ridiculous comparison I know but you get the idea lol.

        I've worked with so many "cybersecurity professionals" who don't understand shit and just tick boxes. I have Trend Micro's "application whitelisting" which isn't really app whitelisting and is absolutely shocking compared to any real solution approved by the defense department for a client. It should have realistically been non-compliant, I already had quotes from threatlocker expecting to have to add that in but they just ticked the box.

        If they spent 20 seconds googling how it actually worked, they'd realize it's not what they're actually chasing. I even detailed how it worked (ie, not anywhere near as good as threatlocker, can't even really call it whitelisting) and they still approved it.

  • sumyungguy on 15/09/2024 - 20:44
    +2

    Have you done an inventory of your stengths and motivators? Consultants like this can help: https://birkman.com.au/report-option/

    • Misty Echo on 15/09/2024 - 20:49

      Thanks will have a look!

      • RTX9090Ti on 17/09/2024 - 19:20
        +4

        Watch Breaking Bad, gives you idea.

  • Protractor on 15/09/2024 - 21:04
    +12

    Join the military. What could possibly go wrong?

    • OzzyBoy1 on 17/09/2024 - 14:21
      +2

      A lot can go wrong tbh when shit hits the fan. On the contratory it's pretty safe job with stability and lot of perks

      • smartProverble on 19/09/2024 - 14:05

        Are you sure?

        My parents tell me that it's a waste of time.

  • holdenmg on 15/09/2024 - 21:07
    +22

    Nice your friends have houses and that. They probably have mortgages too.

    Renting used to be OK and offered flexibility to those working towards career stability or changing location.
    Now renting is just sad with no end to increases and embedding the renter in a Rent trap that pushes home ownership away to a never-never land.

    If you have worked in Retail, don't forget you have developed people skills.

    I'd look at opportunities using your IT degree and people skills.
    Maybe helping people understand how AI may help their business or lives or Cyber Security will be huge.

    • AustriaBargain on 16/09/2024 - 13:16

      Investing your money and renting used to be viable, probably not anymore with rents going up and up and up. May be better off stepping into the bubble while you still can.

    • Ibz on 17/09/2024 - 15:24
      +1

      Sales engineers. If you can talk, you can make way more than any engineer here in Australia

      • BinaryPirate on 20/09/2024 - 06:14
        +1

        Yup. Getting into sales of high-end anything, particularly IT projects, is crazy lucrative. The best part is you don't really need to know any of the technical stuff. That's what assistants & technical staff are for.

    • Charmoffensive on 20/09/2024 - 10:58

      I don't know about that. He tried to use a large language model to do career research. I'm not sure he knows a great deal about AI.

  • oscargamer on 15/09/2024 - 21:10
    +86

    As someone that is now happy, can I suggest that you stop comparing yourself to anyone and just pursue what you want to pursue.

    Material things are not what you should be aiming for….. just saying

    • Nalar on 16/09/2024 - 14:54
      +39

      Comparison is the thief of joy.

      • oscargamer on 16/09/2024 - 16:59
        +1

        Quite profound

        • Nalar on 16/09/2024 - 19:57
          +2

          Your message is the one OP needs to follow, I just have the cool saying I got from Jimmy Carr.

    • keeperofthegood on 17/09/2024 - 10:08
      +1

      I see your point, but there's also a degree of comparison that is helpful and motivating. It sounds like OP sees where their peers are and the longer-term trajectory they're on, and wants to make an adjustment to change their own trajectory.

      It's also blatant that the current rental market is unsustainable, a healthy life is unaffordable these days, and OP wants to find a way to work towards more financial security. I admire that!

      • supersabroso on 19/09/2024 - 14:36

        Exactly, there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to have a better life and wanting to improve your future. It's actually really good, as long as you appreciate what you have instead of what you don't have, you will be happy.

        The problem is that a lot of people don't appreciate what they have and get jealous, feeling that they've been hard done by, that's when they get depressed and upset with life.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 15/09/2024 - 21:14
    +32

    There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m not even sure a paid version of Winzip could do it.

    degree in IT

    How long ago? Have you spent any time and resources keeping up to date with these skills/ knowledge?

    do you think it’s worth returning to university and starting over with cybersecurity?

    Imo no… unless you would say you are very good student, and prepared to hustle hard on networking with industry contacts. Just rocking up to class and passing the course isn’t going to get you a job when entry level stuff can be outsourced overseas easy or taken by AI.

    retail

    Are you any good at sales? As someone who did many years in retail I can for sure say it’s a dead end unless you are super motivated, and got the skill and persona to climb the ladder. If you happen to have people skills and can talk the talk and walk the walk you could be good at recruitment or REA - at least commissions can help boost income.

    promising industry
    lose time

    As someone who has a few side gig business as well, it’s tough out there atm. I found some niches that relate to my knowledge that I picked up through my day job, only makes a bit of ‘fun’ money though. Definitely nothing life changing and tbh I just don’t have enough gas to power through and take it to next level

    • electric boogaloo on 16/09/2024 - 12:07
      +28

      Every thread there is someone peddling a paid version of WinZip.

      The big compression industry has no limits

      • captaincabinets on 17/09/2024 - 10:40
        +2

        I'm home sick and the above 2 comments made my day.

        Y'all seen this?

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX_pF03vCSU

      • serpserpserp on 17/09/2024 - 13:26

        The big compression industry has no limits

        I've been saying this on my "take down big compression" podcast for over a decade now. The big news outlets just won't listen to me.

      • mynth on 19/09/2024 - 07:52

        Bad news, it appears that they do.

      • BinaryPirate on 20/09/2024 - 06:17

        Big Compression has no ethics either. They've kept middle-out compression suppressed for decades just to keep us hooked on their product.

    • knk on 18/09/2024 - 10:15
      +1

      There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m not even sure a paid version of Winzip could do it.

      We're gonna need to buy winrar.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 18/09/2024 - 10:16
        +4

        where my 7zip gang at

        • knk on 18/09/2024 - 10:16
          +1

          choco install 7zip -y

          • CodeExplode on 19/09/2024 - 00:20
            +1

            @knk: Put it through a variational autoencoder like a modern tech person, and only lose some percent of the words.

  • SBOB on 15/09/2024 - 21:15
    +11

    decided to quit my dead-end job in retail and pursue a brighter career path

    Seems like it would be wiser to find and secure the new career path before quitting the current dead end career path .

    • serpserpserp on 17/09/2024 - 13:28

      There is no rage quit satisfaction in that. Like Rhianna said, best to "stand there and watch it (your career) burn"

  • JIMB0 on 15/09/2024 - 21:54
    +5

    Doing a trade was the best advice I ever got. It's served me well over the years.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 16/09/2024 - 08:55
      +20

      Based off how op presents in the write up I’m not so sure they would survive the apprenticeship… it’s still rough as hell out there especially as a mature age apprenticeship seeker unless you can bite your tongue and cop it all day everyday, don’t mind heights, dirty work, questionable safety practices on some sites, physically strenuous work, being blamed for all the stuff ups, heat, cold, racism, bullying, toxic work sites etc - and that’s if they got the funds to do the first level at tafe to whatever trade before being able to start an apprenticeship (if they can find one)

      Otherwise I agree - trade is a good choice.

      • serpserpserp on 17/09/2024 - 13:29
        +2

        and that’s if they got the funds to do the first level at tafe

        That stuff is very cheap these days with all the incentives

      • BinaryPirate on 20/09/2024 - 06:21

        If I had my time again and I was planning to do an apprenticeship the defence force is where I'd do it. Far less of all those things you raise & you get paid far better than any other apprentices.

        As a mature-age student, could still work but also possibly not.

  • Protractor on 15/09/2024 - 22:37
    +1

    …and "jobs" aint your problem. Seeking life advice on a forum is. Put down the gadgets, go bush walking, and learn to breath again.
    Talk to your GP. Understand yourself.

    • Barbados Slim on 16/09/2024 - 07:15
      +22

      Please don't take up a GP appointment to ask for career advice

      • Protractor on 16/09/2024 - 08:59
        +15

        Okee,
        but,
        If all you read in the OP is asking for career advice, see your GP.

      • skidexa on 16/09/2024 - 19:20
        +2

        the person you replied to said "jobs" wasn't the problem…implying it could be a mental health issue which the GP can definitely help with.

    • R-Man on 16/09/2024 - 08:39
      +2

      another interesting angle from you!

      • serpserpserp on 17/09/2024 - 13:30
        +3

        Bit obtuse if you ask me.

        • MITM on 17/09/2024 - 14:26
          +1

          went off on a tangent and then did a 180 only to end up with the right angle.

    • JamesTurne18 on 16/09/2024 - 13:54

      Ha, I get it mate. lol.

    • Crow K on 16/09/2024 - 14:14
      +5

      you should not be seeking life advice on a forum, God knows who these strangers are and how good or not their advice will be.

      Also

      Here's my advice, stranger

      • Protractor on 16/09/2024 - 20:49
        -3

        High praise from such a sweet source. Thanks for not only noticing, but also for your desire to disseminate it for the greater good.

        • Crow K on 16/09/2024 - 23:12
          +3

          sarcastic ad hominem with a "good on you for posting on here (something I also did but let's not focus on that now)" chaser

          Thanks for the reminder it's bin night

          • Protractor on 17/09/2024 - 15:50
            -2

            @Crow K: Goodnight Grouch.
            ( Honoured again. No-one know/ writes / lives ad homs better than you )

    • Deridas on 16/09/2024 - 20:28
      +4

      Oh Protractor, what a comment, best I've seen all year on Ozbargain.

      +9 and -9 resulting in net zero so far, isn't there an ozbargain award of the month for comments like these?

      • May4th on 16/09/2024 - 20:59
        +1

        this is actually impressive, there needs to be an ozb medal for posts like these

      • pegaxs on 20/09/2024 - 09:19

        There isn’t an award, but it will be memorialised in next months “sites stats” post where one of the metrics is “most controversial” comments section where it may get a mention of it having a net vote of close to zero but still had a lot of voting action that basically cancels itself out.

    • nobro25 on 18/09/2024 - 20:07
      -1

      Go touch some grass. Watch the sun set or sunrise in the wilderness.

  • yellowfever on 15/09/2024 - 23:07
    +2

    Do you feel you have gave it 100% in what lead you to your current position
    If yes, then that's all you got (I doubt it)
    If no, then you need to give it 100% in your journey. It's not good enough to say it's challenging to find a job. You need to keep at it and give it 100%.
    I don't believe in challenging times and it's all too hard. There is always people that succeed though difficult times and that's typically the ones that gave it 100% and more.

  • p1 ama on 15/09/2024 - 23:46
    +25

    I’ve been feeling quite anxious these days. Some of my friends have already bought their second or third house, with their children playing in the spacious living rooms. Meanwhile, I’m still renting and browsing OzBargain for cheaper deals to save a few cents every day. I’m already over 30, and I feel like I’m falling behind my peers.

    You've probably heard this, but stop comparing yourself to others.

    Sure, there are those better than you. There are also those in much worse positions than you. You are well fed, you have stable shelter over your head, you have access to technology, you have a job.

    You are already in a better position than probably 80-90% of the world's population. Before you make any decisions, take stock of where you are at and make an objective, fact-based assessment of where you are.

    That’s why I’ve decided to quit my dead-end job in retail and pursue a brighter career path, or maybe even start my own business. Hopefully, this will help accelerate my life progress. So, my question is: What are the promising industries in 2024 and beyond, where a rookie could work or start a new business? Being over 30, I can’t afford to make the wrong decision and lose more time. I’ve asked GPT, but I’d also like to hear some human advice. I’ve worked in retail for ages and hold a degree in IT (BA). However, I’ve only had some project experience and haven’t yet worked in a full-time role in the field. It’s been quite challenging to find an IT job this year, should I continue pursuing it?

    Again, this is probably going to be stale advice. However, don't listen to the "fake gurus" who sell you on an easy path to wealth.

    The reality is that for the vast majority of people, the best and easiest way to make money is to get a job.

    You say you're in a "dead-end retail job", but why is it dead-end? Are there actually objectively no opportunities, or are you not willing to look out for them and go after them? If you want to go after new opportunities, why not start with the one you have right now?

    I have a close friend I went to high school with who took a gap year after finishing high school to figure out what he wanted to do, and ended up working basically full time at Macca's. I recall being shocked when he told me he decided that going to uni wasn't for him, and he'd continue working at Macca's to figure out what he wanted to do next. He ended up continuing to work there for the next few years, gradually becoming the store manager, then an area manager (looking after a group of stores), to moving to the head office to lead their employee training program, then became a category manager, pursued an MBA, and came back working in business development for Macca's (looking at new store opportunities).

    FWIW, I think this is all a side discussion though. It sounds like you are trying to find meaning in your life. Chasing after others and more career progression appeals to you because it gives you the short-term dopamine hit, but I think you ought to spend the time to find out what really matters to you in your life. What makes you truly happy, what do you feel is a worthy cause for you to put your time towards, who are the people you want to spend your time with…etc.?

    If you've not had much to do over a number of years aside from doomscrolling on social media, it takes work, and it's difficult at the start, but you will get there.

    • thanatos350 on 17/09/2024 - 20:00
      +1

      I agree. I don't think retail is the dead end job that people think it is. If you have a decent head on your shoulders and a good work ethic, they tend to promote (even when you don't really want the gig). The stress level is probably pretty high, but remuneration can be higher than expected.

  • morse on 16/09/2024 - 03:31
    +4

    A few ideas
    - Teaching. Do a grad dip or masters but keep working in retail (or somewhere) whilst you’re doing it.
    - health. You’ll need to come in entry level into an admin/project/IT support type role.
    - real estate/property management
    - IT sales

    It’s a bit hard to tell your circumstances but on face value it seems like you’re comparing yourself as a single person without kids to people with double incomes and kids.

    You could reach out to your friends for advice. If people know you want change they usually are very happy to help but probably won’t offer advice unless you ask. Also whoever you work under at work. Let them know you’re looking for career progression and if there’s anything your current employer can suggest. You could also start attending local business networking events to get ideas and connections (just watch out for scammers).

    • HamBoi69 on 16/09/2024 - 08:02
      +2
      • Teaching.
      • health.

      Yep. Both are great suggestions. I'm unsure where OP lives, but in VIC, they'll actually pay for your degree for both of those and your placements for nursing. IMO, if anyone needs a job, they should go for these as they literally are making it free.

      • Protractor on 16/09/2024 - 09:03
        +3

        You're right. Great careers for the right ppl. There's now really wide open doors. But both professions need more of the RIGHT people, not just numbers. That includes 'empathy'. Especially the front line health area.
        Neither profession should be seen as a last resort or 'this will do'.

        • Pricebeat on 19/09/2024 - 14:21

          There's now really wide open doors.

          There's a job freeze for nurses in public sector and I believe for ambos as well. A friend of mine who has 7 years experience in nursing, took a break and now finding it hard to get back into nursing in public sector. Also both of these jobs are quite stressful and you have to have good mental and physical strength to not burnout and end up worse than you started.

          • Protractor on 19/09/2024 - 15:45

            @Pricebeat: Even better. I'd rather it was harder to get in, if only to weed out tyre kickers & opportunists. It's a calling, not a career. If your friend is the right fit, they'll get back in.

            • Pricebeat on 19/09/2024 - 15:49

              @Protractor: Well the government is offering tafe course for free and then shuts the doors on everyone. Waste of tax payers money, that could have gone to increase pay rates for the existing nurses. Also the system is designed in a way that people who do have the calling, can’t last much longer, due to the shortages, abuse, politics, physical injuries etc. etc.

              Also this isn’t about the tyre kickers but the exsisting nurses who are now suffering due to shortages and no new staff. They will probably be leaving soon as well. Ambos are having the same issues. The other day a patient died after waiting four hours for an ambulance due to shortages of staffing.

              • Protractor on 19/09/2024 - 16:34

                @Pricebeat: "can’t last much longer, due to the shortages"

                So we need more nurses and you think making that happen is waste of money? Smells partisan to me.

                What's your solution then? Conscription?

                NEWSFLASH.There's too many humans on the planet and that drives all our problems. When you pay/reward ppl to breed it ends badly. Always.

                Best of luck to your friend. I'm well aware of somebody dying while waiting for an ambulance. Maybe Albo should wave his wand…

                • Pricebeat on 19/09/2024 - 16:40

                  @Protractor:

                  So we need more nurses and you think making that happen is waste of money? Smells partisan to me.

                  It wouldn't be a waste of money if they hired them. But at the moment they are not hiring them. So yes! it is a waste of money. Also how do the numbers work out if experienced nurses left due to the burn out and they got new ones finally in after the job freeze?

                  NEWSFLASH.There's too many humans on the planet and that drives all our problems. When you pay/reward ppl to breed it ends badly. Always.

                  Not a newsflash. I am well aware of it. Again if the current workforce isn't funded, new one's not gonna last longer either.

              • Nucleus Acumbens on 09/11/2024 - 01:10

                @Pricebeat: My mate was an ambo. Got so much ramp time while on shift they had time to do their law degree study.

                Point is, might not be an ambo thing. If ambo's have nowhere to take their patients after they pick them up, almost pointless having them, eh?

                Short term might be better to improve access to hospitals so they can actually accept and treat the people being brought to them.

                Might also be a shortage of actual vehicles. Don't need staff if you don't have the vehicles.

                Kind of curious why person waited 4 hours for ambo. Reckon I'd have called a taxi or something after an hour or so if I was crook enough to need an ambo.

    • CommuterPolluter on 16/09/2024 - 21:04
      +2

      Better off staying in retail than blindly jumping into teaching.

      • morse on 17/09/2024 - 03:38
        +2

        The suggestion was to think about it, do a post grad qual whilst still working in retail if that’s something of interest to them. I don’t know that I’d call that ‘blindly jumping into’. A teaching qual has many different paths post study one of which is teaching in a school, others are organisational learning, adult learning, change management, medical education, childcare management, etc. OP was asking for suggestions for change.

        • dmac on 17/09/2024 - 11:20
          +2

          Go for the Cert 4 Training and Assessment rather than a uni course if unsure, as this will give more options for less $.

          • morse on 17/09/2024 - 17:40

            @dmac: True another good option.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 16/09/2024 - 09:51
    +5

    Pack it up, book a flight to south-east Asia and become another youtuber. Give it 12 months and see how things go - worst case, you gain 12 months of memories.

    • xaykogeki on 17/09/2024 - 07:48

      I've actually considered this months ago since I know my way around haha. There's definitely a good amount of money.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 16/09/2024 - 10:51
    +16

    Grass is always greener mate.

    Your friends with their "2nd or third house and families playing in the living room" are probably up to their eyeballs in debt and worrying about a 0.05% increase in their mortgage where they'll have to sell and are not sure how they'll pay their kids schooling.

    People only present the best to the world, not the reality.

    Don't let the jealously of what others have drive you, because it won't take you very far. Do it for you.

    So, my question is: What are the promising industries in 2024 and beyond, where a rookie could work or start a new business?

    I can almost guarantee you that this will end poorly. Most small businesses fail, especially those started out of jealousy of what their friends have and in an industry you know nothing about.

    I’ve asked GPT

    Lol

    Being over 30, I can’t afford to make the wrong decision and lose more time.

    Then don't start a business

    • nobro25 on 18/09/2024 - 20:11

      Not a chance. It's negatively geared and they can use their tax claims to pay it. Or if they're positively geared then even better their Tennants are paying for it. Either way it's the government or someone else paying for it.

  • terlalu on 16/09/2024 - 11:02
    +10

    Hi, I'm one of your friends with a 2nd or third house and a family playing in the living room.
    It's not amazing, I tell you.
    I'm also stuck in a dead end job (don't think i have any more advancement opportunities here), and I definitely can't afford to start over.
    Also I'm closer to 40 than 30.

    You should open a bubble tea store. You can proably run it yourself. Or a frozen yoghurt shop where people serve themselves and put it on the scales. All you have to do is to ring up the price.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 16/09/2024 - 11:26
      +7

      bubble tea store

      Maybe 10 years too late on that one…

    • smartazz104 on 16/09/2024 - 11:54
      +4

      You should open a bubble tea store

      Sounds like OP is already a citizen…

      • JamesTurne18 on 16/09/2024 - 14:02

        Bubble tea. That's GOLD!

    • markathome on 17/09/2024 - 20:28

      Quick question though: why do you need so many houses?

      No shade. But that's the weirdest part of this whole post and comment thread and nobody is explaining it; everyone just sort of accepts that people need two or three houses for some reason.

      • magic8ballgag on 19/09/2024 - 11:00
        +1

        Nobody needs multiple properties, but most have them to build wealth/financial portfolio.

    • FireRunner on 18/09/2024 - 16:29
      +3

      Or a frozen yoghurt shop where people serve themselves and put it on the scales

      I reckon you’re better off opening up a shop that sells cursed items and frozen yogurt.
      The frogurt should also be cursed

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