25 with no career prospects, feel like a waster
Discussion
I've only skim-read this thread but what I have read screams "depression" to me. Speaking from experience, "a rut" is another name we use when we are "depressed" and don't really want to admit it.
Get help with this first and the rest will follow.
Regarding the job, you've mentioned "decent money" and "no stress" several times. For most of us, such a situation doesn't exist. The 2 go hand in hand to some extent unless you are very lucky.
One of the "richest" people I know is my dad. A silk screen printer by trade until he was made redundant, he started decorating and the like but really had to sign on in the end. At the time (90s) he had to do some kind of back to work training so started an NVQ in environmental studies (something he loved, but never thought it could become a career). At the end of the course they asked him to run it, which he did as a paid employee for a couple of years. Fast forward and he's now a park keeper of sorts maintaining private woodland and land for a private medical research company with a lot of cash to spend on making their research centre a relaxing/stimulating place to work. He chooses when he works and opening admits he would do his job for free if he could afford to.
Point being, opportunity knocks at the most random of times, but you must be in the right state of mind to take advantage of it. When people say "we make out own luck" it is very true - a lucky break is only a lucky break if you take it and I fear in your current state of mind you might let that lucky break pass you by.
Good luck!
Get help with this first and the rest will follow.
Regarding the job, you've mentioned "decent money" and "no stress" several times. For most of us, such a situation doesn't exist. The 2 go hand in hand to some extent unless you are very lucky.
One of the "richest" people I know is my dad. A silk screen printer by trade until he was made redundant, he started decorating and the like but really had to sign on in the end. At the time (90s) he had to do some kind of back to work training so started an NVQ in environmental studies (something he loved, but never thought it could become a career). At the end of the course they asked him to run it, which he did as a paid employee for a couple of years. Fast forward and he's now a park keeper of sorts maintaining private woodland and land for a private medical research company with a lot of cash to spend on making their research centre a relaxing/stimulating place to work. He chooses when he works and opening admits he would do his job for free if he could afford to.
Point being, opportunity knocks at the most random of times, but you must be in the right state of mind to take advantage of it. When people say "we make out own luck" it is very true - a lucky break is only a lucky break if you take it and I fear in your current state of mind you might let that lucky break pass you by.
Good luck!
okgo said:
Is that site right?
Apparently to be in the 90th percentile for 22-29 (my group) you have to be on 35k which seems low?
I wondered the same; my salary doesn't even show on the graph for 22-29 year olds and says 'above the 90th percentile' against my age group.Apparently to be in the 90th percentile for 22-29 (my group) you have to be on 35k which seems low?
I imagine that the 22-29 group is skewed by those at the lower end of the range, some still being in Uni or junior roles. I would say a lot of my similar aged friends are on high wages, but a decent chunk earn a good wage.
Oh, and OP; I don't have a degree (just a few A-Levels) and I currently hold a senior management role in a large national construction company. Unless you're going for something that defintely needs a degree, they really aren't the be-all and end-all.
You'll get much further in life with determination, confidence and the ability to understand people than you will with a bit of paper. A degree will help open the door, but the right attitude will see you progress up the ladder.
If my recent search is anything to go by tiling has got to be a decent option. £160per day (in the depths of Devon) more like £200 a day in the SE. spent nearly 2 day's phoning something like 30 before I eventually found one.
I can't say I've ever tried but it can't be that hard! must be pretty cheap start up cost - half decent cutter and a few bits and bobs.
I can't say I've ever tried but it can't be that hard! must be pretty cheap start up cost - half decent cutter and a few bits and bobs.
You've got plenty of money saved OP, so you have lots of options.
If I had £20k at the age of 25 this is what I would do:
1). Buy bulk items from China off Alibaba or Ebay - consumable car parts like bulbs (LEDs, or even xenon kits), reverse camera kits anything that people want asap and aren't prepared to wait two weeks to come from China. Then sell them on eBay, or better yet Amazon, who offer a Dropship service with free next day delivery for Prime members. I use this all the time and will happily pay a little more on the price of the tool or item I need to have it next day.
Then rinse and repeat testing new items and getting greater discounts on more stock. You won't have to be part of the business and can spend time developing it, and run it from anywhere.
2). Start a vehicle dismantlers / scrap yard. Rent suitable land for this with some of your £20k, and advertise on gumtree that you buy scrap cars for £100-150. List each car you buy in Ebay & Guntree for breaking and then strip parts off as required initially in your spare time. Some cars you get could be fixed up and sold on. If you have more spare time strip parts completely off the car so they are ready to dispatch. You'll probably make 4-5x the cost of each car. More of it has valuable parts.
It'll be rewarding and you like mechanical work. It becomes and expandable business very easily.
3). Travel for 3-6 months around SE Asia. This would let you see how the poorer people on the world survive - their ingenuity is incredible sometimes. It'll give you ideas for what to do with your life, and will be fun at the same time. You can run option 1 whilst doing this if you set it up correctly.
I could give you a lot more ideas but you need the motivation to make it happen. Don't give up!
My career path if you're interested:
I'm 29, and I now run a small & successful advertising company which I'm about to expand from Scotland to the rest of the UK. At 21 I left Uni, without completing the 4th year of my degree in mechanical engineering. I got a job at a BMW garage paying £15k as their website administrator, making sure all the cars were online and that they were photographed. It taught me more about dealing with people than Uni ever did. I made sure I completed every task I was given as efficiently as possible, and always asked for more work. 6 months later I was given a £9k raise. 3 months later I left to start a mobile billboard business (transit van with a scrolling 6metre x 3metre billboard on that back that I'd designed). A £7k personal loan plus £3k savings made it possible. It was tough and we struggled to start with. My first customer invested in the business after the success of their campaigns, and two years later purchased it entirely. I ran it for them for 2 years developing the business into something much larger. The non-compete agreement ended and I left to focus solely on the most profitable products. Bringing me to the business I've got now.
If I'd had £20k saved it would be a breeze. Just do anything that you can to use that money to make you more and you'll have a business. Buy cars at auction and resell them. A car a week at £500 profit and before long you're earning an extra £2k a month. And feeling like you have a purpose.
Tell us what you buy
If I had £20k at the age of 25 this is what I would do:
1). Buy bulk items from China off Alibaba or Ebay - consumable car parts like bulbs (LEDs, or even xenon kits), reverse camera kits anything that people want asap and aren't prepared to wait two weeks to come from China. Then sell them on eBay, or better yet Amazon, who offer a Dropship service with free next day delivery for Prime members. I use this all the time and will happily pay a little more on the price of the tool or item I need to have it next day.
Then rinse and repeat testing new items and getting greater discounts on more stock. You won't have to be part of the business and can spend time developing it, and run it from anywhere.
2). Start a vehicle dismantlers / scrap yard. Rent suitable land for this with some of your £20k, and advertise on gumtree that you buy scrap cars for £100-150. List each car you buy in Ebay & Guntree for breaking and then strip parts off as required initially in your spare time. Some cars you get could be fixed up and sold on. If you have more spare time strip parts completely off the car so they are ready to dispatch. You'll probably make 4-5x the cost of each car. More of it has valuable parts.
It'll be rewarding and you like mechanical work. It becomes and expandable business very easily.
3). Travel for 3-6 months around SE Asia. This would let you see how the poorer people on the world survive - their ingenuity is incredible sometimes. It'll give you ideas for what to do with your life, and will be fun at the same time. You can run option 1 whilst doing this if you set it up correctly.
I could give you a lot more ideas but you need the motivation to make it happen. Don't give up!
My career path if you're interested:
I'm 29, and I now run a small & successful advertising company which I'm about to expand from Scotland to the rest of the UK. At 21 I left Uni, without completing the 4th year of my degree in mechanical engineering. I got a job at a BMW garage paying £15k as their website administrator, making sure all the cars were online and that they were photographed. It taught me more about dealing with people than Uni ever did. I made sure I completed every task I was given as efficiently as possible, and always asked for more work. 6 months later I was given a £9k raise. 3 months later I left to start a mobile billboard business (transit van with a scrolling 6metre x 3metre billboard on that back that I'd designed). A £7k personal loan plus £3k savings made it possible. It was tough and we struggled to start with. My first customer invested in the business after the success of their campaigns, and two years later purchased it entirely. I ran it for them for 2 years developing the business into something much larger. The non-compete agreement ended and I left to focus solely on the most profitable products. Bringing me to the business I've got now.
If I'd had £20k saved it would be a breeze. Just do anything that you can to use that money to make you more and you'll have a business. Buy cars at auction and resell them. A car a week at £500 profit and before long you're earning an extra £2k a month. And feeling like you have a purpose.
Tell us what you buy
Will_S said:
You've got plenty of money saved OP, so you have lots of options.
If I had £20k at the age of 25 this is what I would do:
1). Buy bulk items from China off Alibaba or Ebay - consumable car parts like bulbs (LEDs, or even xenon kits), reverse camera kits anything that people want asap and aren't prepared to wait two weeks to come from China. Then sell them on eBay, or better yet Amazon, who offer a Dropship service with free next day delivery for Prime members. I use this all the time and will happily pay a little more on the price of the tool or item I need to have it next day.
Then rinse and repeat testing new items and getting greater discounts on more stock. You won't have to be part of the business and can spend time developing it, and run it from anywhere.
2). Start a vehicle dismantlers / scrap yard. Rent suitable land for this with some of your £20k, and advertise on gumtree that you buy scrap cars for £100-150. List each car you buy in Ebay & Guntree for breaking and then strip parts off as required initially in your spare time. Some cars you get could be fixed up and sold on. If you have more spare time strip parts completely off the car so they are ready to dispatch. You'll probably make 4-5x the cost of each car. More of it has valuable parts.
It'll be rewarding and you like mechanical work. It becomes and expandable business very easily.
3). Travel for 3-6 months around SE Asia. This would let you see how the poorer people on the world survive - their ingenuity is incredible sometimes. It'll give you ideas for what to do with your life, and will be fun at the same time. You can run option 1 whilst doing this if you set it up correctly.
I could give you a lot more ideas but you need the motivation to make it happen. Don't give up!
My career path if you're interested:
I'm 29, and I now run a small & successful advertising company which I'm about to expand from Scotland to the rest of the UK. At 21 I left Uni, without completing the 4th year of my degree in mechanical engineering. I got a job at a BMW garage paying £15k as their website administrator, making sure all the cars were online and that they were photographed. It taught me more about dealing with people than Uni ever did. I made sure I completed every task I was given as efficiently as possible, and always asked for more work. 6 months later I was given a £9k raise. 3 months later I left to start a mobile billboard business (transit van with a scrolling 6metre x 3metre billboard on that back that I'd designed). A £7k personal loan plus £3k savings made it possible. It was tough and we struggled to start with. My first customer invested in the business after the success of their campaigns, and two years later purchased it entirely. I ran it for them for 2 years developing the business into something much larger. The non-compete agreement ended and I left to focus solely on the most profitable products. Bringing me to the business I've got now.
If I'd had £20k saved it would be a breeze. Just do anything that you can to use that money to make you more and you'll have a business. Buy cars at auction and resell them. A car a week at £500 profit and before long you're earning an extra £2k a month. And feeling like you have a purpose.
Tell us what you buy
Ive thought about option 1. I do currently sell stock from the family business on Ebay as a side income. If I had £20k at the age of 25 this is what I would do:
1). Buy bulk items from China off Alibaba or Ebay - consumable car parts like bulbs (LEDs, or even xenon kits), reverse camera kits anything that people want asap and aren't prepared to wait two weeks to come from China. Then sell them on eBay, or better yet Amazon, who offer a Dropship service with free next day delivery for Prime members. I use this all the time and will happily pay a little more on the price of the tool or item I need to have it next day.
Then rinse and repeat testing new items and getting greater discounts on more stock. You won't have to be part of the business and can spend time developing it, and run it from anywhere.
2). Start a vehicle dismantlers / scrap yard. Rent suitable land for this with some of your £20k, and advertise on gumtree that you buy scrap cars for £100-150. List each car you buy in Ebay & Guntree for breaking and then strip parts off as required initially in your spare time. Some cars you get could be fixed up and sold on. If you have more spare time strip parts completely off the car so they are ready to dispatch. You'll probably make 4-5x the cost of each car. More of it has valuable parts.
It'll be rewarding and you like mechanical work. It becomes and expandable business very easily.
3). Travel for 3-6 months around SE Asia. This would let you see how the poorer people on the world survive - their ingenuity is incredible sometimes. It'll give you ideas for what to do with your life, and will be fun at the same time. You can run option 1 whilst doing this if you set it up correctly.
I could give you a lot more ideas but you need the motivation to make it happen. Don't give up!
My career path if you're interested:
I'm 29, and I now run a small & successful advertising company which I'm about to expand from Scotland to the rest of the UK. At 21 I left Uni, without completing the 4th year of my degree in mechanical engineering. I got a job at a BMW garage paying £15k as their website administrator, making sure all the cars were online and that they were photographed. It taught me more about dealing with people than Uni ever did. I made sure I completed every task I was given as efficiently as possible, and always asked for more work. 6 months later I was given a £9k raise. 3 months later I left to start a mobile billboard business (transit van with a scrolling 6metre x 3metre billboard on that back that I'd designed). A £7k personal loan plus £3k savings made it possible. It was tough and we struggled to start with. My first customer invested in the business after the success of their campaigns, and two years later purchased it entirely. I ran it for them for 2 years developing the business into something much larger. The non-compete agreement ended and I left to focus solely on the most profitable products. Bringing me to the business I've got now.
If I'd had £20k saved it would be a breeze. Just do anything that you can to use that money to make you more and you'll have a business. Buy cars at auction and resell them. A car a week at £500 profit and before long you're earning an extra £2k a month. And feeling like you have a purpose.
Tell us what you buy
Problem with your idea is that it doesnt get me out in the world contributing and making something of myself, instead im just indoors getting money which to be honest i dont desperately need.
Same with option 2 i cant see it becoming a career, and also quite a lonely job. I have considered something similar again as a hobby, buying motorbikes, fixing them and selling them. But again it isnt a long term thing and i wont be getting a mortgage from it.
Travelling ive ruled out since GF was so unhappy with the idea.
1) Don't let someone else dictate what you do. If your gf won't let you go travelling then how about you use a bit of the money to go on a few decent length (3-4 week) trips spaced out so you're not away for an extended period to the same destinations? She could accompany you at least in part. If she's still not up for that then perhaps she's dragging you down a bit.
2) I have an idea but I need to ask how stress free do you want your job to be? Are you able to handle a bit of pressure? Are you a quick learner? How do you cope with criticism/piss taking? Would you be prepared to earn minimum wage for a year if it meant a guaranteed £45k-£60k after 3 years?
2) I have an idea but I need to ask how stress free do you want your job to be? Are you able to handle a bit of pressure? Are you a quick learner? How do you cope with criticism/piss taking? Would you be prepared to earn minimum wage for a year if it meant a guaranteed £45k-£60k after 3 years?
djc206 said:
1) Don't let someone else dictate what you do. If your gf won't let you go travelling then how about you use a bit of the money to go on a few decent length (3-4 week) trips spaced out so you're not away for an extended period to the same destinations? She could accompany you at least in part. If she's still not up for that then perhaps she's dragging you down a bit.
2) I have an idea but I need to ask how stress free do you want your job to be? Are you able to handle a bit of pressure? Are you a quick learner? How do you cope with criticism/piss taking? Would you be prepared to earn minimum wage for a year if it meant a guaranteed £45k-£60k after 3 years?
I have a feeling its some kind of sales job, door to door?2) I have an idea but I need to ask how stress free do you want your job to be? Are you able to handle a bit of pressure? Are you a quick learner? How do you cope with criticism/piss taking? Would you be prepared to earn minimum wage for a year if it meant a guaranteed £45k-£60k after 3 years?
EazyDuz said:
To top it off ive discussed it with my gf (who is moving away due to her grad job soon) and all she has done is told me that the social side of uni wears off, the workload is huge and very stressful (knew all this already, never said id be going for the social side other than a boost in confidence and self esteem).
I had also mentioned to her that i might travel which she took great offence to, as previously i was upset that she was moving a way herself, yet now i have the audacity to say i might go travelling for a few months in the hope that it makes me decide what i want in life.
Maybe its time to just accept that i'll never 'make it'. Dunno, a bit drunk currently after celebrating her 2.1 degree and career via a meal out with her family (the whole night just rubbed in my face how she is something and i have no quals to my name and no career, she's 22 and starting on 30 something grand)
Dump her before she dumps you. I'd go along with a lot of what's been said above, join the forces, preferably not the army, you'll be exposed to danger and that's not what you need.I had also mentioned to her that i might travel which she took great offence to, as previously i was upset that she was moving a way herself, yet now i have the audacity to say i might go travelling for a few months in the hope that it makes me decide what i want in life.
Maybe its time to just accept that i'll never 'make it'. Dunno, a bit drunk currently after celebrating her 2.1 degree and career via a meal out with her family (the whole night just rubbed in my face how she is something and i have no quals to my name and no career, she's 22 and starting on 30 something grand)
Go travelling. You have saved up a significant amount of cash, so go and see a little of the world, push yourself out of your comfort zone and take some time for you. Doesn't matter where, and you don't even need a plan...just go somewhere and get away from your current physical surroundings.
You also need (and my suggestion of travelling will hopefully be of some help) to start to deal with your obvious depression, as even if you have the 'right' career for you, it may well remain under the surface and still cause you issues. A good private therapist isn't expensive and will help you so much...
You also need (and my suggestion of travelling will hopefully be of some help) to start to deal with your obvious depression, as even if you have the 'right' career for you, it may well remain under the surface and still cause you issues. A good private therapist isn't expensive and will help you so much...
Edited by GCH on Tuesday 19th July 04:16
GCH said:
Go travelling. You have saved up a significant amount of cash, so go and see a little of the world, push yourself out of your comfort zone and take some time for you. Doesn't matter where, and you don't even need a plan...just go somewhere and get away from your current physical surroundings.
You also need (and my suggestion of travelling will hopefully be of some help) to start to deal with your obvious depression, as even if you have the 'right' career for you, it may well remain under the surface and still cause you issues. A good private therapist isn't expensive and will help you so much...
He can't because gf says 'no' You also need (and my suggestion of travelling will hopefully be of some help) to start to deal with your obvious depression, as even if you have the 'right' career for you, it may well remain under the surface and still cause you issues. A good private therapist isn't expensive and will help you so much...
Edited by GCH on Tuesday 19th July 04:16
okgo said:
johnwilliams77 said:
Do you ever post anything else on PH other than indications that you have a good salary?
If you wanna borrow a tenner just ask, geez.I was actually genuinely asking, my salary would barely pay the house cleaners of some on here, that much I know.
EazyDuz said:
Try to avoid stress where possible, learn new things pretty quickly, and who realistically likes criticism/piss taking?
Then I'll keep my idea to myself. I will say that stress is normally the failure to cope with pressure and you only learn how good you are at it by exposing yourself to it. It's enormously satisfying when you deal with a high pressure situation successfully but more importantly under pressure when things go a bit awry how you deal with it, you can breakdown or you can learn, drag yourself back up and crack on.
I can't tell from your posts whether you're someone that would be unsuitable for my idea or whether you're just a bloke who's a bit lost and actually if he found the right path for him would reawaken and jump into something if it lit that fire in his belly. An ex of mine got depressed and it sucked the life out of her but she's now the person she was before and more, very busy, very motivated and it's great to see, I hope you go the way she did.
You don't have to like criticism but coping with it well especially when it's done in a humorous fashion is incredibly useful. We don't have time for touchy feely training at work, it can be brutal and humour softens the blow.
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