I’m sure this is probably one of many rants on this subreddit, but I feel the need to get it off my chest.
I am currently 24 years old, working a job that does not pay enough for me to live on my own, but is quite demanding.
I have gone through all of grade school, 4 years of college for a Bachelor’s degree in Business, and spent a year and a half after graduation looking for my first career job, working manual labor jobs in the in between and only landing a job with my degree after roughly 400 applications.
I never had interest in my degree, but I gave up passion for comfort and decided to choose it so that I would not have to worry about being broke. I went to community college, and then to a 4 year university close to home so I wouldn’t be buried in debt.
After working hard at this job, being tasked with answering to several departments, dealing with people external to the company who are so incompetent that they cannot turn over necessary information we asked them for over a month ago, take on projects well above my pay grade, and work many hours of unpaid overtime, sometimes until past midnight for over a year, I got reviewed.
In my review, I got glowing remarks, but was told that nobody will be getting a pay raise this year because the company is not doing well enough.
My issue with this is that we got over $25 million in capital raises a couple months prior, and we are a small company, which means they absolutely had enough money to give everyone a raise. The month before I was reviewed, I asked about a raise, to which they said it would be discussed in December. They proceeded to make me work from 9 am up until past 1 am for several nights on end, knowing damn well that they had no plans to give me a raise.
I’ve been looking for new jobs since early November, have applied to roughly 100 places since, and am getting slow answers and only rejections.
To add insult to injury, they have dropped several projects on me in the new year, turn over of information is slow from the external company we work with, and now I’m working over 12 hours a night dealing with tight deadlines at the mercy of others to provide me with information.
So my question is this, if I did everything “right”, then what the fuck happens if you don’t?
I went to college, got my degree with minimal debt, and sacrificed passion for money, and came out with neither.
What’s the point of working most of your time at a job you hate and have no passion for that can’t even afford you your own place?
I just wish I could do something I’m passionate about and make enough to comfortably live.
I feel like my life is wasting away and I have zero control of it.
This situation has sucked the passion and fun out of my life and I just want an answer.