Problems adapting to the workforce

[silent water]

I am 20, I have been out of high school for two years. I was an excellent student in school, I took many honors classes and was on high honor roll. But I have had tremendous difficulty adapting to the workforce now that I have graduated. Originally out of high school, I was going to be an electrician, which required five years of college and several thousand hours of on the job training. I hated it immensely, and I quit after three months. Before that, in the time between graduation and when I started that, I drove forklift for 8 months. I was miserable. I have plans on the table again, to go to school for a degree in computer science. I am worried I will change my mind again. Due to the fact I was three months into school when I quit the first time, I lost thousands of dollars in tuition and supplies. I am currently unemployed and I get panic attacks over applying and interviewing for a job. Maybe I am unlucky or something, but it seems that most of my co workers are the rough type, interested in drinking games and partying and strip clubs and swearing and fighting. It scares me to death. Not that I am perfect, I am far, far from it, and have had lots of problems with sin and doubt. But I do know what is right and wrong, and I feel terribly uncomfortable with that type of crowd. And it is not just the people; I just hate doing the same thing over and over all day, and that is what a job is. A person gets trained in a specific skill and they perform that skill day after day. I just don't know what to do. I like computers, and I hope by geting a very general degree I can get a job where I do a variety of activities.

If anyone else my age is having this problem, or if anyone older has, what advice could you offer? How do you go on doing the right thing when it seems the whole world is against you?

 

[Blake]

Have you ever thought about teaching? Every day is different and will constantly change from what is actually planned and you can switch up grade level every year if your administration is flexable. Just a thought...

 

[matt84]

Yea Silent i know its hard to do the Same thing Day after Day (Im a Cashier at Wally World (wal-mart)), and i do the Same thing All Day 4 Days a week.
But if you work with customers, yes you get that occaisonal rude one, But i have Met People from ALL over, Germany, Sweden, Scottland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, All over the usa. Now im not saying become a cashier for a profession, But i do like customer Oriented jobs where you get to talk to alot of people..

And to the 2 things you dropped out of, Like my mom Says "as long as you learned something, it is not a waist, it will come in usefull sometime in your life"

 

[shania]

You sound like a very intelligent person. I think if you went to college you would be qualified to do a job that requires you to think on your own and make your own decisions and judgement calls. It is usually when you don't have special training that you have to do a job that is repititive, boring or unpleasant.
I've worked in a couple of factories before and most environments are the same -- there is a prediminant macho attitude there and the people aren't diplomatic or too sociable there. I'm not saying there's something wrong with it, but you seem to be more of an intellectual type then a brawn and muscle kind of guy.
Don't forget to pray and ask for guidance as you go through the application process and focus in on programs that interest you. Maybe you could do a test like Myers-Briggs to give you an idea of what field you'd be best suited for or talk to an electrician to see if you'd want to do that job.

 

[michiganst8fan]

Maybe you could do a test like Myers-Briggs to give you an idea of what field you'd be best suited for.

Yup..that was what I was going to say. Don't get down...Life is tough, just roll with the punches best you can, and you'll look back and be thankful. You may not know the reason for the tough times now, but you will one day...I promise. IT always pans out.

 

[stubbornkelly]

Have you considered taking lots of different kinds of classes at a local college and then transferring to a bigger school once you've more or less decided on a major course of study? College, contrary to the training school ads you see on telly, is not a career training school. It's designed to, in addition to teaching you to think in various ways about various things, offer you opportunities to explore different options. I started college as a voice major with plans to go to Europe to sing opera, and ended up a sexuality and gender studies looking to start law school soon.

I agree that you sound intelligent, and I somehow don't get the idea that some career training for a job that won't take you anywhere is going to satisfy you. You're very wrong if you think all jobs are doing the same thing day after day (I just hate doing the same thing over and over all day, and that is what a job is. A person gets trained in a specific skill and they perform that skill day after day"). Some jobs are, but there are so many more options than that. Many, many jobs involve more than simply performing tasks.

I suggest you at least talk to an employment counselor at a local college, even if you do decide not to go that route. But you need to expand your ideas of what's out there. It's the very idea that you train for one skill and just do that over and over that has poisoned the people entering our higher education system, and liberal arts college administrations that should know better are buying into it, rather than demonstrating to potential students and parents how the education they provide can be applied to even task oriented jobs.

Don't get stuck with the idea that even what you go to college to study is what you'll end up doing. There are plenty of options for all sorts of college majors, you just have to know what expanded skills you're going to learn (not just the knowledge you'll absorb) and how they can be applied to different fields. I know a theatre major who works in finance, a French major who's in med school, a religious studies major who's in law school . . . it goes on and on. You can be a history major and not be a historian, a sociology major and not be a sociologist, and yes, even an English major and not be a teacher (when I actually was an English major, it always bugged me that most people expected I was going to be a teacher, when that was the last thing I wanted to be). And it's not true that the people doing something different with their careers than their major might indicate are wasting their education. They chose something they were interested in studying, and are now applying skills they gained in those course studies to their current jobs. Once you delve below the surface, it's not that difficult to see what and how they saw the opportunities to do so.

For example, in religious studies, you learn how to analyze texts, and apply that text to questions in contemporary culture - well, in theoretical law, you basically do the same thing. Different subject, same skills. History majors don't just learn facts and figures, but they study patterns (which tend to repeat) and cultural impacts of historical events, past and present. I might find that skill valuable in the finance industry - a financial analyst looks at market patterns and how the markets influence the buying culture, and how current events and cultural trends influence the long term market. Again, different subject, same skills.

It just sounds like you're still exploring and figuring out what you want to do, which is fine, even great. You're only 20, and you shouldn't expect yourself to have it all figured out yet. Nor should you limit yourself to career options that don't take advantage of your abilities. Also, think about what you might want to be doing 10 years from now, and get training or other education that will take you there, not just something that will get you to an at-the-moment job.

As for the financial stuff - if you have government loans, those get put on hiatus if you're back in school.

Do you mind my asking