I think this is more of a venting/rant post.
25F. I’ve had the worst luck with jobs and I’m so ready to be done with working. I recently quit my very toxic job that made my mental health terrible, made my hair fall out in droves from stress, etc. I quit because I couldn’t do it anymore. When I quit, I had a very promising set of job interviews (4 interviews with one company) lined up. Hiring manager and interviewers made it seem like I secured the job. I made it to the final round but was not chosen.
I went through the job hunt again the past month and a half. Applying to hundreds of jobs, mostly remote and some in-person (I live in a small city – 25k population and not near any major city – so most decent opportunities are remote. I also cannot relocate/move.) I’ve done it all, from using ATS and AI to make sure key words are in my resume, to altering my resume to be job specific, getting my resume looked over, catching jobs within the first 24 hours to 3 days of posting, practicing interview skills (it’s not like I’m a bad interviewer; my last job rated me 5/5 across the board in every interview category), got two certifications, cold-called and cold-emailed multiple companies. It’s only gotten me a few interviews and nothing more. If you don’t have the exact skill set they need, you don’t get selected.
I’ve tried freelancing, self-employment, applying to do contract work and many other side gigs to no avail.
Now I’m interviewing for a job in my desired field, in the city I live in, but for $20-24 an hour (I have a bachelor’s in health care admin and a few years of experience).
I need the income even if it’s a little. But I have to admit that unemployed life is so nice. I dread going back, even if it’s a remote opportunity. To be under someone’s lens 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week is insane to me. I never want to go back, but I have to.
I know that being out of a job for only a month and a half is not bad at all — I’ve been unemployed for much longer when trying to find a position after graduating. And I know that I’m privileged to have quit my job and rely on my savings for now. I appreciate those things.
But I really am tired of spending most of my days in one toxic job that I hate right after the other, every single day for what will likely be the rest of my life. To barely keep my head above water because I’m underpaid. I want a family a few years down the line, and it’s looking like that cannot happen with the trajectory of my career. I feel like I’ll always be underpaid, overworked, and left without the time or money for a family.
The fact that there’s no escaping it makes me even more depressed. I’ve tried so many avenues to make money because I have to be consistently making money for us and a potential family to work as my fiancé is a teacher.
Any input, advice?