Hello,
I (M22 – European) have been working as Software Developer for almost 2 years now. I initially have studied to pursue a bachelor degree in computer science but quit 2 years in. I made this choice because I was offered a good paying job and wasn’t exactly enjoying the university life (covid played a significant role).
As I’ve progressed in my career, taking on more responsibilities and improving my expertise, I’ve had this sudden realization that I will actually be doing this for the rest of my life. While I don’t inherently dislike my job, as it brings me a sense of satisfaction and makes me feel “valuable”, I’ve been grappling with an overwhelming sense of unease, contemplating the prospect of committing to this path for the rest of my life.
To alleviate this feeling of extreme discomfort about my future I’ve thought about some career paths or strategies to rekindle that sense of enthusiasm I had when I first started my uni and my job:
1. **Switching to pursue a career as Investment Banker**
this is extremely optimistic and borderline delusional but I’ve always coltivated in some ways a passion for economics. Only lately I’ve been investing part of my income and enjoying the process of gaining deeper understanding in this field.I know this would require a complete 180° from my initial path but I was thinking about attending an easier online university while working so I can save up for a more prestigious master degree that I will be attending full time. From there I will find an internship and see if I like this new path. I know, I might potentially waste 5 years of my life if this isn’t the right path, but at least I tried.
2. **Moving to another country**
I’ve also been thinking about changing the “enviroment” by going to another country, which maybe would allow me to make new experience, work on new projects, meet new people and eventually reignite that passion for life in general. I’ll also have a big bump in salary, which is defenitely a welcomed change. This feels more like a “short term” patch (not very short term as I would have to work at least another year towards learning a new language or maybe on improving my CV) instead of a long term solution to the problem, since I could feel the same way after I’ve got used to my new life, but maybe I find my soulmate there who knows
3. **Continue my computer science bachelor’s degree**
The logic behind is that, since covid is over. I can finally enjoy covid free university which would maybe improve the experience. I don’t really believe on this one but maybe is the right path
4. **Keep staying in my position**
perhaps this is just a temporary feeling and it will go away, making it advisable for me to remain in my current job. It’s possible that discovering new hobbies or expanding my social circle will allow me to cope with the current situation. I could also start to work on side projects, with the hope that some of them might become sustainable and eventually provide a stable source of income in the future. No idea
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Those are the options I’ve thought about, I don’t really see myself bringing value to anything other than those areas. Maybe I have a particular passion for hospitality or aviation idk, I just know that I don’t feel good every time I wake up. I just don’t want to find my self at 30 being depressed thinking what could have been.