I'm 18 years old, living in the Midwest, with years of experience in Camera operation and video editing, and in the second half of my Junior of college pursuing a degree in Digital Media. Hell, I'm due to graduate college with little to no debt if I play my cards right. Despite all that, I might have to go back into the service industry or retail just to have an income when I move out this summer. In the span of less than a year I've had 5 different employment opportunities fall through, and 4 other applications get ignored.
Local pizza place that wouldn't give me more than 4 hours a week
Local fancy restaraunt with a whole saga in my prior posts, supervisor lied to me numerous times and employers tried to gaslight me(later came back begging for help then tried to gaslight me again to make me feel bad for leaving)
local social media management firm that quietly eliminated the service I was hired for and never told me
Local warehouse liquidation store that got offended when I asked for compensation for the videos I already made for them
Tried working as a DoorDash driver, only made enough for gas and little extra without any other expenses thanks to living at home
Applied to local collision chapter to work with a mentor of mine, got ignored
Applied to be a camera op at a local stadium where my dad already works(applied twice)
Applied to be a wedding videographer, got ignored
Friend of my mom's who runs a DJ and video company specifically asked for me to apply, called me personally into an interview, told me to apply online, proceeds to ghost me
Posted to two local facebook groups looking for video clients, got 3 responses and all 3 ghosted me.
Granted some of this is my fault, like not negotiating pay before making the videos for the warehouse liquidation place. But I truly don't know where to go from here without returning to the hellscape of the service industry or the mindless humdrum of retail, and I can't go fulltime because I've got a well above-average classload to finish college in the shortest amount of time. Lord knows it won't even matter because no matter what I likely won't be able to afford a house or to ever retire on a freelance salary. I love what I do, but idk if I can even find a job in my field, let alone earn a salary I'll be able to live or raise a family on.