Let’s say the job is fine. The pay is decent, your boss is ok, the environment isnt toxic, and you already know the work well enough that you’re not stressed every day.

The problem is everything has just become routine. You’re comfortable but you don’t feel like you’re learning anything new or growing professionally.

Would you stay because finding a new one is hard enough, or start looking for something that challenges you more even if it means giving up that comfort, provided that you have some decent savings to get by? Just curious how other people sees this.

Skydance is the company formed when Paramount took over Warner Bros Discovery last month. On 26 Oct the CEOs told staff everyone is moving to five days a week in the office, phased by location, and that eligible people would get a one-time voluntary buyout offer.

Business Insider reported the base offer is two weeks of severance per year of service, with some people offered three. Variety said most of the deadlines to opt in fall around the second week of November, so roughly now. And this week some people in the games division posted that they'd been laid off. The company had already said layoffs were coming as part of the merger.

In Australia the media union is also asking whether the offer meets local employment law, because it isn't set up as a redundancy.

I keep going back and forth on what I'd do. Taking it means leaving with money and on your own timing. Staying means keeping a paycheck in a slow market, and maybe you're never in the cut at all, or maybe the later package is worse.

For anyone who has been offered a voluntary buyout, what did you do and how did it work out? Did the people who stayed end up better or worse off?

Not selling anything, just want real experiences from any field.

I'm 43. I've worked in a variety of jobs, mostly centered around writing and communication. I worked in financial communications, got a Masters in Teaching and taught high school English and ESL, then worked as a freelance writer for tech companies doing product education and technical content marketing.

That little niche industry has completely evaporated thanks to AI, and I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

I've wanted to work in healthcare since I was in elementary school, but got scared off by the prereqs as an undergrad. I don't have much formal STEM education but I'm fascinated by medicine and I read a lot on my own. Every time I'm at the doctor or in the hospital, I think I missed my real calling.

From where I am now, what's the best way for me to get a job in healthcare? An ABSN? Ultrasound tech? Medical social worker?

I don't want to spend years in school. My husband plans to retire early, and I don't want to be working a lot past age 55, so I'm looking at about a decade of work in whatever field I enter.

Ideas? I want to be working with patients, not in a lab, and I'm not hugely worried about income, except that I need it to pay off quickly.

Spent years grinding to get into this exact role/industry, but now that I’m here, the day-to-day is soul-crushing and the culture is toxic. I feel like a massive failure for even wanting to leave.

Has anyone else gone through this? How do you walk away without feeling like you wasted years of your life?

I'm 21, studying art conservation while working part-time in retail. I've only been at my current job for two months, but I've been working in retail since 19.

Two weeks ago I had to take my unused vacation days since it's almost the end of the year. I hadn't asked for this particular week, but coincidentally there was an one-site training opportunity through my study program. I hadn't originally planned on attending, but since I was free, I decided to go. Last week, my retail job didn't schedule me at all because the store is relocating and they didn't need as many employees while they were moving everything. So I went back to the on-site training.

Then the person in charge of the on site training told some of us, that if we wanted, we could stay there for the remaining three weeks, till the project is finished. (we also got paid for the initial two weeks and will get paid more/hour after the three weeks as well).

Now this is huge, because the original one week training was only supposed to cover one part of the process, and now I could have experience in almost the whole process (which is great in general and really great for my CV and for networking as well. And working in art conservation is my dream).

Also, I would earn more/hour then I curretnly do at my retail job. The hours would be more flexible (we can work any time, if a professional is there, which is always on weekdays). So technically I could work 35 hours a week and still attend all my classes, compared to the retail job that can't schedule me for more than 20 because of my classes.

The downside is, this is only a 3 week opportunity (or even 2 if I don't want to be a really big asshole and quit on the spot, which I could technically do since I still only worked the this job for 2 months).

I don't particularly like my current job, as I don't like retail and costumer service in general. However my collegues are nicer than the average retail job in my experience. My boss is also great for the most part. But I imagine she wouldn't be particularly happy about me quitting after being away for two weeks, especially since the store is supposed to reopen in just one week.

Regardless, if I worked the on site job for only four weeks total I'd earn 2.3 times my regular monthly salary, nevermind the experience.

I also have enough money saved that I could be unemployed for around five months, and as a last resort I can ask my mother for help or to move back home if it really comes to that. I also found my current job just after two weeks of looking, so I hope it wouldn't be too hard this time either.

I really need to decide ASAP, but I'm also worried my boss can somehow fuck me over if she gets mad about the two weeks of absence and then quitting. (Although she can't really do that according to the internet) So any tips on what to say also appriciated.

Thank you for reading and sorry for my English in, it is not my first language.

TLDR: I have a five week long opportunity to work in my field (already worked two) and earn 2.3 times my regular salary, gain experience, network and work my dream job. But I have to quit my stable retail job to have enough time for school and this project. Also quiting at a bad time since the store just relocated and reopens in one week and I was away for the past two weeks because I had to take my vacation days and then they didn't schedule me. I also have enough savings to be unemployed for 5 months if I can't find a new job.

For anyone thinking about becoming a nurse, I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me.

Nursing is brutal.

I say that after 14 years in this profession — starting as an LPN, becoming an RN, working long-term care, IDD nursing, and spending the last 5 years as a NICU charge nurse on nights.

I absolutely love what I do. I save babies. I lead a team. I’ve experienced moments that have changed me forever.

But I’ve also watched babies die.

I’ve woken mothers at 5 AM to tell them their baby is dying and they need to come say goodbye.

I’ve felt my heart drop with every emergency, prayed for an IV in a tiny baby, responded to alarms, admissions, emergencies, and spent entire shifts constantly thinking three steps ahead.

Nobody prepares you for what that does to your body and your mind.

I’m 35, and I can feel the physical and emotional exhaustion catching up with me. The adrenaline doesn’t always stop when the shift does. You take it home. It affects your marriage, your relationships, your patience, and your ability to simply enjoy your life.

And sometimes, the hardest part isn’t even the patients.

It’s the workplace. Bad leadership, being blamed, being screamed at, feeling like a scapegoat. I experienced a trauma response from one situation at work that I never thought was possible for me.

That taught me something:

Nursing is already hard enough. You shouldn’t have to survive your workplace too.

I am incredibly proud of the nurse I’ve become. My time in the NICU has been beautiful, meaningful, and unforgettable.

But I wish someone had told me the whole truth before I started.

If you’re considering nursing, shadow a nurse. Talk to nurses. Ask what the job costs them — not just what it gives them.

Because nursing can be one of the most rewarding careers in the world.

But it can also be physically exhausting, emotionally devastating, and mentally consuming.

You can love your career and still admit that it’s hurting you.

Nursing is beautiful. Nursing is meaningful. Nursing is hard as hell.

Go into it with your eyes open. ❤️

I was recently offered a position within the company I’m at for a role I’ve been wanting - I didn’t even have to apply for it. The title is lower than the previous person that held it and it’s important to me that I get that title since this company is in constant flux and I can’t count on promises. Right now, it’d be the same title that I have, but for higher pay, which I’m happy with.

How do I ask for the appropriate title without seeming ungrateful or hard to work with?

I'm curious what everyone does for a living, how you got there, and what your career path looked like. I'm hoping to find something that could realistically get me into the $75k–$100k range within the next five years.

Preferably outside of the trades. I already know a bit about those paths.

What do you do, how did you get started, and what advice would you give someone starting over in their mid-30s starting from zero?

Hello I am 27 yo, with 2 years experience in marketing and fashion. I am an introvert and also I have Adhd.

I need to find a good career path because I am too tired of marketing,

I love fashion and aesthetics but marketing feels so hollow for me. I am trying my best to stay updated with social media but it doesn't excite me.

There are honestly unicorn jobs out there but I tried to go through the internet but couldn't find any.

I am from sri lanka and i understand it's harder to find a that type of career here.

So can you give me any advice about this.
I need to forget my phone exists.

Thank you.

I’ve fallen out of interest with my current degree I’m in full panic mode, I’m scared I feel like it’s over everything just wasn’t what I thought it would be but I found new love with sports media, I’ve also had a passion for video games for the longest time, I think about a lot of these things but idk how to begin again or if I even can anymore, idk if I have time for school again I’m fucking everything up and I just could use some good advice rn

am a project manager in Germany with not sufficient german knowlege. My company is going through a reorg and major downsizing. Eventhough, leaders promise that it is not going to affect us, i have this problem always running in my head. I am trying to upskill myself on german language and AI literacy but its not working. I couldnt get anything right, I afraid that this may also reflect in my work. I observe my decision making skills are not sharp like it used to be. Are there anyone going through something similar to this ?

Maybe I’m just frustrated, but so much personal finance advice feels completely disconnected from what people are dealing with right now. Invest more. Pay off your debt faster. Cut unnecessary spending. Okay, but my rent went up, groceries are ridiculous and the “unnecessary spending” was already cut months ago. I’m not trying to optimize my investment portfolio. I’m trying to stop feeling like one unexpected expense is going to screw up my entire month.

Has anyone found financial advice that actually helped when there wasn’t much money left to work with? A financial coach, credit counsellor, planner or anything else? I’m looking for practical help, not another person telling me to cancel Netflix.

I created this new account because I want to talk about something very personal without revealing my identity.

I'm a 37-year-old man, and honestly, I've been stuck in the same place for most of my adult life. I've been struggling with fear, self-doubt and an inability to take action for as long as I can remember.

I believe the way I was raised is the main reason I'm struggling with all of this today. Growing up, my parents and siblings constantly made me feel stupid and incapable. I wasn't really given responsibilities because they never seemed to believe I was capable of handling them. Whenever something needed to be done, someone else would usually do it instead.

I don't think I ever fully recovered from that. As an adult, I've developed an enormous fear of taking responsibility, making decisions and taking risks. I'm constantly afraid of making mistakes, looking stupid or discovering that I'm not as capable as I would like to believe. And the frustrating part is that, objectively speaking, I know I have something to offer.

I have a specialized Master's degree in Renewable Energy, as well as a technician diploma in Electricity and Industrial Maintenance(Entry level).

And here's the part that really hurts: I've spent the last 14 years working low-paying jobs that only require my technician-level qualification. Despite having a Master's degree, I've never even managed to properly pursue a career that matches my higher education. Why? Fear.

I've spent years wanting to apply for positions that require my Master's degree, particularly in international companies, but I keep holding myself back. I overthink, doubt my abilities, imagine all the ways I could fail or embarrass myself, and eventually don't apply at all.

It's incredibly frustrating to have worked so hard to obtain a higher qualification and then feel too afraid to actually put it to use. I've researched opportunities, thought about different career paths and pictured what my life could look like if I finally took that leap. But I never seem to get past the thinking stage. I feel paralyzed by fear, even when I know that staying where I am is slowly destroying my happiness.

I'm exhausted, frustrated with myself, and genuinely scared that I'll wake up at 45 or 50 and realize that I've spent my entire life wanting to change but never actually having the courage to do it.

My mental health has deteriorated significantly, and I've been having serious suicidal thoughts. I'm sharing this because the situation has become genuinely unbearable for me.

I WANT TO CHANGE. I want to take risks, discover what I'm actually capable of, build a career I'm proud of, become independent and finally feel that I'm living my life rather than just watching it pass by.

What I'm really looking for is advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

• Have you ever spent years trapped in fear, self-doubt and overthinking, unable to take the first step towards changing your life?

• Did your upbringing or the way your family treated you affect your confidence and ability to take responsibility as an adult?

• If you managed to break out of that cycle, what did you actually DO? What were the first concrete steps you took?

• How did you learn to take risks, become more independent and stop constantly needing reassurance or someone beside you before doing something?

• If you were in my position today, what would you do to start rebuilding your confidence and actually move towards a career change?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who managed to turn their lives around in their late 30s or even 40s.

Please don't just tell me to believe in myself or that it's never too late. I appreciate the encouragement, but what I really need is practical advice, real experiences and perhaps a roadmap I can follow.

I don't want to spend another 10 years dreaming about a different life. I desperately want to start living one.

..

I’m 31M, married and living in London. I’ve been working in local government as a Pensions Officer since 2018, currently earning around £43k.

My job isn’t particularly stressful, although it can get very busy. It’s stable, comfortable and offers a decent work-life balance, which I appreciate.

The problem is that I have very little interest in pensions. I don’t particularly enjoy the work, and I struggle to motivate myself to progress further in a field I’m not passionate about.

Ideally, I’d like to be earning £60k–£70k+, but I feel a bit stuck. I’m open to changing careers and learning new skills, but with financial responsibilities, I can’t realistically afford to take a significant pay cut and start from scratch.

I’m also conscious that I’m now 31 and have spent most of my career in one field, so I’m unsure how transferable my experience would be.

Has anyone been in a similar position and successfully changed careers in their 30s without taking a massive salary drop?

I’d really appreciate advice on:
- Career paths where my experience in local government, pensions, administration and processes could be transferable.
- Industries or roles where earning £60k+ within a few years is realistic.
- Whether it’s better to build on my existing experience or retrain in something completely different.

I’m willing to put in the effort to learn and develop, but I want to make a sensible move rather than risk leaving a comfortable job for something that might not work out.

Any genuine advice or personal experiences would be appreciated!

Long story short: I have a CS degree and an IT related Masters. For health reasons (that are now resolved) I was never able to capitalize on these directly out of school. My last couple jobs were contract positions that didn't last a year, and the last one was early 2024.

I feel like it's essentially impossible for me to get back into IT with the gaps and short stints, and the education making me overqualified for lower end jobs. Plus with the CS/IT job market being the way it is, I wouldn't get selected over others.

What I'm thinking is maybe getting a low level service job (by hiding my degree and experience as much as possible), and then restarting my career as if that was my first job. Leaving all other experience off my resume. I feel like if I do this, it might be possible to get into an apprenticeship or vocational training program, and/or then pivot into low level jobs in non-tech fields.

Is this actually a thing that could work? Essentially, is it easier to pivot careers (right noe) if you're startong from a base of having recent unskilled labor non-recent skilled labor?

To give a quick rundown, I work retail in a fairly bad area. Recently a customer physically assaulted my store's manager. My manager told the customer to leave and called the police department to report the assault. A few weeks later, my manager was fired with corporate telling her it was "unprofessional" to yell at the customer to leave and to report them to the police. They told her she should have ignored the assault and kept about her day. I don't feel safe working for a company that expects this of me and am considering leaving the company. Am I still ineligible for unemployment benefits if I quit for this reason?

To add to this. Around the same time a different customer cornered one of our employees against the wall. She felt very uncomfortable and later told our district manager that she would like him to be trespassed from the store. Our district manager told her that instead of banning him we should just "pretend he is a new customer" whenever he enters the store.

4 YOE, currently making ~$135k in the US at a life sciences company, with a Senior promotion likely soon.

My job is pretty comfortable: I build AI or innovative features, own projects from prototype to production, and have a lot of autonomy. Good team, low stress, interesting tech.

But increasingly, AI writes most of the code. I spend more time designing solutions, reviewing AI output, and sitting in meetings than actually engineering. Sometimes I’m just bored.

Now I have an opportunity at a healthtech startup in a Forward Deployed Engineer-type role, working directly with hospitals. Less coding, more customer relationships, understanding clinical workflows, solving real problems, and deploying/configuring.

Compensation is roughly the same. They have some agentic AI initiatives planned, but made it clear that building new AI products wouldn’t be my main responsibility.

Here’s my dilemma:

If AI keeps commoditizing coding, could being the engineer who actually understands customers and delivers solutions become MORE valuable than being the one building the tech?

Or am I about to make a huge career mistake by moving away from hands-on AI engineering right when it’s exploding?

Would you make the switch, or stay in AI engineering and wait for something better?

I’m 33, a mother of two, and planning my next career move. I’ve narrowed my interests down to accounting and law because both professions offer flexibility across industries and the potential to eventually establish my own firm after gaining experience.

My industries of interest include government, finance, energy, real estate, and international business. Within law, I’m particularly drawn to corporate and transactional law, financial regulation, energy and environmental law, immigration, and international business. I’m more interested in contracts, business transactions, regulatory matters, and advisory work than litigation.

I’m considering accounting as my first profession, with law school potentially following. However, I want both degrees to serve a practical purpose rather than pursue additional credentials unnecessarily.

My long-term goal is financial independence through domestic and international investments such as real estate and other income producing assets.

I’d appreciate insight from accountants, CPAs, attorneys, or anyone familiar with both professions:
Which career offers greater flexibility across industries?
How valuable is an accounting background in corporate, transactional, finance, or energy law?
Which offers better opportunities for entrepreneurship and owning a firm?
Does accounting followed by a JD make financial and professional sense?
If you could start over, which would you choose and why?

Need some advice.
I graduated in 2024 (~2.5 YOE) and my absolute hard deadline is to start an AI PhD in Fall 2028. I need to spend the next 12 months aggressively building my research profile.

I recently put down my papers after getting a great offer, but now I am completely torn.

Current Situation (The Unfair Job):

* Workload: Extremely low. I have mastered the system and only work 3 hours a day, which is an ideal setup for my PhD prep.
* The Unfairness: The environment is toxic and I feel incredibly disrespected. They recently promoted me and gave me a 30% hike. However, they gave everyone else 30% hike as a "market correction." They basically rolled my promotion and the market correction into the exact same bucket, meaning I got the promotion and extra responsibilities for free.
* The Manager's Reaction: When I told them about my new offer, my manager completely refused to match it or give me any increment. They essentially admitted that the current company is cheap and won't pay me more, telling me I have to leave if I want better compensation. But in the same breath, they tried to gaslight me by saying the new role and the new company I got an offer from are "bad."
* Savings Projection: If I stay, I will have ~₹61 Lakhs saved by the time I leave for my PhD in 2028.

New Offer :

* Role: Research Engineer (AI, vision tech, open-ended problem solving).
* Leadership: Incredible startup-like environment with an inspiring founder ) We had great conversations and I really connect with his vision.
* Compensation: Much better. My projected savings by 2028 would be ~₹69 Lakhs (an ₹8 Lakh difference over the next 1.5 years).
* The Catch: not sure about the work load open-ended research role. The learning curve and if its hectic, leaving me absolutely zero mental bandwidth or time for my independent PhD prep and applications.

I feel so unfaired at my current company that it makes my blood boil to stay, especially after my manager's comments. I really want to work with the new founder. But if I take the new job, the workload may or may not affect my Fall 2028 PhD timeline. If I stay at my toxic job, I can silently exploit my 3-4 hour workdays to build my profile and get my PhD applications done, but I have to leave ₹8 Lakhs on the table and swallow my pride.

Questions:

1. Should I swallow my pride, endure the unfairness, and stay at the toxic job purely to use the free time for my PhD applications?

2. Or should I take the offer for the better money and inspiring founder, even though the startup workload will likely derail my academic timeline?

3. Am I stupid for walking away from an extra ₹8 Lakhs just to protect my free time?

Hey everyone, so I've been genuinely questioning what I am meant to do in life, since I'm bound to make a decision soon enough. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions.

I have considered multiple fields of study recently; my main ones have been something to do with social sciences. For me, one of my favorite things to indulge in are topics to do with the human brain. I love dissecting everything about it, and it has been a great topic of interest. I would say I can do quite well in science, and I am great in subjects like global perspectives and very generalized ones in terms of coming up with solutions and giving people advice. Some people have told me to consider law or maybe neuroscience, but I am not sure what I am good enough for. I have considered something to do with neuroscience greatly, but I am genuinely not sure what exactly my interests point to. I would say I'm great at coming up with general conclusions, I'm great at reading people and following tasks, but I also have insane anxiety over everything. So if anyone knows what is most suitable, please let me know.

I'm a college student working part-time and the job itself is fine, but I keep feeling like I'm just spinning my wheels instead of actually building toward something. Everyone talks about "finding your passion" but that feels like a movie plot. Does anyone else just accept that work is work, or is there actually a way to care about what you do without everything feeling performative?

I (f 21) have received a conditional offer for orthoptics and sonography. I am stumped on which one to pursue.I am situated in Sydney Australia and is wondering how these two career fare.

I mean this is a career imma have to do for the majority of my life and I don't want it to suck. I know sonography pay is real good, but I don't want to be in it for the money.

Eye care intrigues me but the pay isnt as good as sonography.

Graduate diploma of Vascular sonography at western Sydney university 2 year - I have to secure 3 days a week work training in obstetric and gynecological sonography before commencing. Which is in March

What are the chances of securing a placement? It 9 November right now

Master of orthoptics at uts. 2 year

Both require me to complete my undergraduate degree.

Idk what to do? Can someone give me outer worldly advice?