# It really sucks being 23 and working an entry-level job



## Chris3322

I'm 23 years old, college educated, and I still have yet to make anything of myself. I got some bull**** degree due to not knowing what I wanted out of life. I still live with my parents because I work 30 hours a week if I'm lucky for close to minimum wage. This sucks. I was always such a smart kid in school and now I feel like a huge failure every damn day. My former friends from high school are all working better jobs than me and it makes me so frustrated and angry with everything. Why am I still alive, so I can live in shame? If I lived in ancient Japan, I probably would have committed seppuku by now for bringing dishonor to my family. Anyone else in a similar position?


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## monotonous

im 27 and doing entry level, one of my coworker is 27 too and doing the same, life is an unfair game, complaining is not gonna help you to win


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## Chris3322

monotonous said:


> im 27 and doing entry level, one of my coworker is 27 too and doing the same, life is an unfair game, complaining is not gonna help you to win


Do you make enough to live on your own? I basically got laughed at by some coworkers when I was pressed into telling them I still lived at home. Really made me want to start knocking some teeth in. How the **** can they afford an apartment and I can't?


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## ASB20

Chris3322 said:


> Do you make enough to live on your own? I basically got laughed at by some coworkers when I was pressed into telling them I still lived at home. Really made me want to start knocking some teeth in. *How the **** can they afford an apartment and I can't?*


Likely via some sort of assistance - either through family or public means. That's how many do it.

I definitely can hear where you're coming from. Entry-level minimum-wage jobs aren't positions designed to be used for a living wage, and yet with our tepid economic recovery and general fear from many employers to hire, these are just the jobs that have made up much of the employment rebound since the recession. It's ridiculous.

I can't say I'm actually in a similar position, although there are many people around the States who are, so I can understand where you're coming from. I wish I could give you some real advice, but it's hard in this climate. I can say one thing, though: Your co-workers are *******s for laughing at you over that fact. No shame in living at home at 23. Many people do. That's no consolation, I understand, but your co-workers should know better.


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## visualkeirockstar

Same here except i never went to college.


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## ToughUnderdog

Almost the same age and position (living at home), only difference is I majored in something specific and don't know if that's going to land me a job. I already got rejected in an interview for an internship which was my key to getting some experience. 

I don't even no what to do after I'll graduate with the student loans. It just sucks. Somehow I've realized there really is no point to life, and that it may never play out the way I'll want it. 

Maybe you just need to get some fresh and go travel somewhere while you're living at home. Also, try to forgive yourself. Nobody really knows what they're going to do after college, so take that into account.


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## anomnomnom

So is this different in US to UK or what

From what I've seen here getting a degree from university actually does nothing but award you with a ton of debt and gives you even less job opportunitys because your "older" by the time you finish, probably have less job experience than those who went into a job straight after school, yet are too overqualified on paper to get min wage stuff like fast food/cleaning etc.

I'm not sure what its like in US though. 

It could just be the current economy however but I know plenty of people who have degrees who do jobs you could do straight out of school with no real qualifications. For the record, I'm one of them, took me years to get a job that I could do equally good at the age of 17-18, earning slightly above minimum wage with no real option of promotion/raise and feel I could be sacked any day for being useless. 

Perhaps it's different if you do a useful degree, I did not and its my main regret in life (actually I wish I'd never gone to uni in the first place but it seemed the logical thing to do given my general grades through school and college) 

I live in one of the cheapest places to live in UK, work 40hrs a week, earning a little over minimum wage and theres really no hope I can move out of my parents any time soon. I'd be even more screwed if I lived anywhere else. Life is good :|


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## Dan the man

Well it took me nine months to find a job once I finished college. I was always an A/B student up through high school and I too wonder now whether college was worth it.

All I can tell you is keep going at, network yourself, keep your resume up to date, and try to look for something better. Which seems to me that's what you want.


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## ShrimpSauce

yup... degree in psychology and now interviewing for min wage. I think your coworkers might have roommates or live in REALLY cheap apartments. . . I mean a three bedroom apartment that you share with two other roommates can be pretty cheap divided up. I am sure where you live now is nicer.


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## CopadoMexicano

Ive lied to several companies that I have a four year bachelors degree and I still couldnt even get their attention. :duck


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## Steinerz

CopadoMexicano said:


> Ive lied to several companies that I have a four year bachelors degree and I still couldnt even get their attention. :duck


I don't blame you. It's a liar's game nowadays.


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## scarpia

I was making just over minimum wage when I was 30. But it felt OK - it was better than being institutionalized in a mental hospital. I worked hard and eventually got better jobs. Rome wasn't built in a day.


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## ShawnB

Chris3322 said:


> I'm 23 years old, college educated, and I still have yet to make anything of myself. I got some bull**** degree due to not knowing what I wanted out of life. I still live with my parents because I work 30 hours a week if I'm lucky for close to minimum wage. This sucks. I was always such a smart kid in school and now I feel like a huge failure every damn day. My former friends from high school are all working better jobs than me and it makes me so frustrated and angry with everything. Why am I still alive, so I can live in shame? If I lived in ancient Japan, I probably would have committed seppuku by now for bringing dishonor to my family. Anyone else in a similar position?


23 with a degree and living at home ?

Smart man, sir.

Living at home is a great way to save money for when you get out on your own. 
It's a bunch of B.S. the way things are here in 'merica. People are looked down upon for living with their parents.
In other countries, it is pretty much the norm to live in a group. *It just makes financial sense. *

I'm not talking about sponging off of them, but living with them with the idea that you will save a little to act as a financial cushion for when you leave.

You are not a failure by a long shot. You tried and succeeded at something that I only wish i had. Who cares if the degree is a B.S. degree. 
My understanding is that a lot of employers will see a degree and see that the person has the drive and determination to fulfill something. They know that they can count on you because you are reliable.

And 23 ?? That is an _awesome _age to begin life.

F what the world says and thinks. a few years from now you will be the one laughing - all the way to the bank.


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## shypoet90

Chris3322 said:


> I'm 23 years old, college educated, and I still have yet to make anything of myself. I got some bull**** degree due to not knowing what I wanted out of life. I still live with my parents because I work 30 hours a week if I'm lucky for close to minimum wage. This sucks. I was always such a smart kid in school and now I feel like a huge failure every damn day. My former friends from high school are all working better jobs than me and it makes me so frustrated and angry with everything. Why am I still alive, so I can live in shame? If I lived in ancient Japan, I probably would have committed seppuku by now for bringing dishonor to my family. Anyone else in a similar position?


OMG you described my situation EXACTLY as it went down and is going down! I'm 23 and working a minimum wage entry level job that I hate while friends from middle school are at Goldman Sachs and/or pursuing degrees at prestigious colleges. I was always a smart kid who seemingly could do anything, but life has sucked since finishing high school. I decided to pursue political science for a BA, but that decision turned out for the worst. Only computer science and business administration get you anywhere in my area. The job I work is so stressful, and my coworkers make me uncomfortable and sad. I am weighing whether I should live to 25 given my life's course. Will be 24 on Tuesday.


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## Chris3322

My situation has also prevented me from making any friends, much less a girlfriend. I just can't talk about myself because I am too embarrassed. A girlfriend only wants a stable man with goals in his life. I am anything but that. **** my life! I just wish I could meet others like me, like you all, then I could open up more about myself without having to lie or feel ashamed about my life.


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## calichick

Man, you're hitting the ball out of the park with all your threads lately. lol

hm, if it makes you feel any better, please know, that EVERYTHING you are experiencing is 100% completely normal.

Actually, sounds like you, and I, and a lot of other 20 something's out there go through this phase called the Quarter Life Crisis, which nobody prepares us for. We all hear about Mid Life Crises, but maybe only once in my teens did anyone bring up the QLC? And when you do bring it up, you are ridiculed to no end about being spoiled, rotten, having no life experience to be able to claim you are going through a crisis. The nerve, right? 

Anyways, this post about QLC symptoms really hit home for me. Jesus. I'm experiencing nearly ALL of these things. Only downside is, nowhere can I find a solution.

25 Signs You're Having a Quarter Life Crises

*1. You glare at your cat in the morning as you get ready for work and say, "God, I wish I had your life."

2. "Am I ever going to feel like myself again?" Is something you ask. Every day.

3. A Bon Iver or John Mayer song comes on and you start crying. By yourself, or around friends. Or in the middle of a coffee shop as strangers slowly usher their children away.

4. "When is life going to feel like it's supposed to?" Is something you ask. Every day.

5. You're reading this article right now because you Googled: "Quarter Life Crisis?"

6. Visualizing yourself 15 years from now doing your bosses job makes you throw up a little in your mouth.

7. You're having arguments with your mom again about cleaning your bathroom and being home at a reasonable hour.

8. Your monthly routine of expenses being greater than your income is dawning on you as a serious problem.

9. You're having arguments with your newly cemented spouse and/or roommate that sound awfully like the arguments your parents used to have, that you swore you'd never have, yet are having.

10. You've moved six times in the last four years.

B. You've had six jobs in the last four years.

C. You've had six boyfriends in the last four years.

D. You've had six girlfriends in the last four years.

E. You've had no boyfriends/girlfriends in the last six years and you're scared your boyfriending or girlfriending is broken.

11. You'd pay top dollar for a moment of clarity.

12. That young mom with the crazy hair and stains on her shirt and bags under her eyes that kind of smells like rotten milk who you rolled your eyes at throughout college. Yeah, well you roll your stroller into a coffee shop after waking up six times with your baby and see a college girl look you up and down with that same disgust. And it takes everything within you not to walk over to that snooty college princess and punch her in the face.

13. Your part-time, temporary job at Starbucks has lasted three and ½ years.

14. You binge on buying brand names to try and cover up that you're broke.

15. You find yourself repelled and compelled by church at the same time. You ask God for help one day and then you're yelling at him the next. Your faith is a roller coaster and you're pretty sure your seat belt is about to come undone.

16. You see so clearly the two roads in front of you. A life of comfort and a life of risk. And you're not sure you have the right car or directions to go down either one.

17. You surf the internet so much at work every day that you literally hit a point where you don't know what else to search for.

18. You laughed, and cried, when you read 21 Secrets for your 20's.

19. Making a budget is completely debilitating.

Even thinking about doing your taxes. Debilitating.

Buying groceries. Debilitating.

Doing dishes. Cooking dinner. Looking for a job. Calling your mom back. Calling your best friend back. Picking up the phone at all. DEBILI-FRICKING-TATING.

So you watch four seasons in a row of _________, while Facebook stalking exes and enemies.

20. The phrase you dread hearing the most at work is, "Congratulations, you're getting a promotion."

21. You feel like every time you're a bridesmaid/groomsman, an angel loses it's wings.

22. You dream about going back and punching your Smug-College-Self who was so sure had all the answers.

23. You seek out a mentor for answers one week and you avoid them like the 8th grader with bad BO, the next.

24. You have no idea where to go for answers.

Yet&#8230;
*
*25. You're 99.7% sure a road-trip would fix everything* = My absolute favorite.

4 road trips later, I'm in no more clarity than I set out with. :lol


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## FMA102

Well, at least you got the degree!  I won't have my B.S. until I'm about 25-26. When I'm 23, I'll barely be transferring to a university from community college... 

But I work full-time and have an apartment, so maybe a bit of a trade off there.


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## jc90

23 and currently working retail. I actually enjoy my job though. I am going to school too. I've just came to the conclusion of **** what everybody thinks. If someone judges you about being behind in life, just say, "Who made you my time keeper?"


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## EnigmaticKid

Work out your resume... What professional qualification do you have?


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## Blue Dino

By your post, you mean you're working in a dead end job totally unrelated to your degree and what you want to do with your career? 

Because I always thought entry level jobs are positions where you starting out with something you actually want to do, or least something you promotion potential.. 

But yeah, I'm with you, i have college degree, yet I work in a dead end job that will definitely long last too long into the future. Yet so far, all of the other better jobs I have applied to, none of them want me. It just makes me want to overdose on something at times... *sighs*.


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## londonguy202

At you have a job. I have been unemployed in the UK for 2 years after getting my IT degrees and moved to the US with my parents for a job but it fell though and now stuck still unemployed. Just wondering do any work on Sundays. My parents say everyone works on Sunday but i don't believe it.


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## jimmysheva

it is hard to see friends your age have better jobs than you. i'm 33 and only a supervisor level while people i went to high school with have become managers and some have become section heads. I finished college at age 23, did interns and management trainee for 3 years and then I spent 6 years in one company without getting promoted before getting the supervisor position on my current company.


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## twistedlogic89

I'm in that situation. I graduated a year ago and the best I've done is a get a job stocking shelves. And I got FIRED from that! Isn't that the most pathetic thing you've ever heard? 
I have a useful degree. It's just not the degree for me. I rushed in to college so I could be like everyone else and got the degree for the person I wished I was, not who I actually am. So now, I'm stuck. With this debt over my head. Living at home while all of my peers live on their own and have amazing jobs and great lives. I'm still clinging to the hope that one day things will be better but most days it just seems so damn bleak. I hate feeling left behind in the dust.


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## OverLife

Im 23 and just got my first 'real' job at a supermarket. I actually really enjoy working there and Im not ashamed im 23 (everyone thinks i look 17-18 though lol) A job is a job. Though i understand your fustration but 23 is still young and you got plenty of time to get your career going.


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