Hey, I want to start off by saying I'm trying not to get too rant-y with this, and am genuinely looking for advice and opinions on what to do. Essentially, I'm fed up with the industry I work in and want to be my own boss and work for myself.
Some background on me: I have a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from a decent school, but tons of student debt that I have to start paying off soon. Right now, I work for 20$/hour and benefits, but its not really doing work that relates to my degree. Because of this, it seems that no one in the industry wants to hire me when they see that I have a graduate degree but no relevant experience, so I can't get any relevant experience (the classic conundrum we find ourselves in). I've had internships at big DoD contactors but would rather bash my head into a wall than go work for them again, so that's not really an option.
In my brain that leaves me the following job opportunities that relate to my degree and interests.
1) Work for a small startup – There's not a ton of jobs here, and all of the jobs that I see posted require a decent amount of highly specialized experience, which I don't have and can't get.
2) Academia – I work in a research lab now but like I said earlier, the wage I get paid is barely survivable, and there's not a lot of career growth opportunities unless I get a PhD. Now, that is something that interests me as I love what I study and think it can benefit the world as a whole, but I don't really know how to go about applying to PhD programs with not a lot of specialized experience in the field.
3) The final option and the one I want the most advice on, become a freelance engineer/analyst and work for myself. I don't even really know if this is possible because I've never heard of anyone doing it pretty soon out of school, but it seems like it would solve a lot of the issues I'm coming across in that I am creating my own opportunity to gain experience, and I could choose the problems I want to solve and work on. But, I have no idea how I would go about starting that (making a business plan, healthcare which is very important bc I have a chronic illness, marketing myself, gaining clients etc..)
I'm quickly losing hope that I'll be able to have a fulfilling career and also be able to pay my bills, so any advice and help is appreciated.