I worked in the food industry for a while before returning back to school to get a degree in tech thinking it would be my path to a better life. While at first I thought where my career was taking me provided exactly that, I’m absolutely miserable working a corporate job in tech. I’ve seen several layoffs, AI is taking over, and the perpetual culture of playing several roles is killing me. I’m tired of being overworked, stressed, and given more and more responsibility for such trivial matters as selling more of X thing. This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life and I would way rather put in this type of effort for something worthwhile even if it means making less money.
The problem is I am so overwhelmed that it is hard to think of a way to change this. I keep saying I want to bring my experience to a non-profit or charitable cause, but I am unsure on how I can bring my tech/project management background to such a cause or how to sell myself in that way. I’m also debating going to get my masters to be more aligned with this change in career, but it’s a similar case of not knowing the best route. For anyone out there who has made this type of career change regardless if it was in tech, I would appreciate any wisdom shared.
What I see lately is that all kind of people are stressed. Lots of youngsters are hooked on their smart phones, some newspapers reported about research that showed that some of them spend 10 hours a day on the phone. Other newspaper articles claim the youngsters are so much on their phone because they are stressed and worried. The climate crisis and other world news surely does have its impact on older people as well, whether it is in corporate or non-profit environments. But this work culture can also be related to culture. Not too long ago lots of people in France were demonstrating against government plans for changes about pensions for the elderly. Then I learned from friends that in France leisure time is super important. And I think that is cool, because I’ve always found leisure time important myself. Sure, there was school and work, but hobbies and doing things for fun are a sort of necessary compensation for some of the suffering of work and study. One friend of mine told me this year he was going to work less hours, and I congratulated him! :) I hope you will find your way to more enjoyment in your work and spare time!