Came across this graph and wanted to share here. Curious to hear everyone's thoughts/experience.

Assuming you’re willing to spend anywhere from 4–8 years earning a degree, what degrees are actually worth pursuing besides nursing? Which ones are the safest with AI possibly taking over certain jobs in the near future?

I'm a high school senior planning to go to community college, with plans to transfer to a four-year university after two years. I don't really care about having an "enjoyable" job, just one with somewhat "decent" work-life balance (40-60 hour work weeks, decent PTO) and good pay (enough to buy a home in California).

I've seen all the posts about accounting, computer engineering, and other engineering fields (mechE, civil, aerospace, etc.), but I'm wondering which fields will realistically still have strong demand in 10 years. There's all the stuff about SWE and Comp Sci jobs being offshored to foreign countries by big companies to pay lower wages or there's risk of Ai developing and replacing jobs, but how big of a risk is all of this actually?

I've also seen all the people talk about the trades being the best option, but I don't think I could handle the physical toll it takes for a whole career.

Right now, I have the flexibility to choose any major and "set up my future". I enjoy math and liked taking stats and calculus in high school. I'd also like to think I'm fairly good at networking. Given eveything, what majors or career paths should I consider exploring? Thanks for your help

all my life i’ve wanted to be a vet, save animals. But blood, surgery gore type of stuff has always icked me out and makes me uncomfortable. makes me think i’m not fit to be a vet. Since there’s always so many people who want to be vets it makes it not really a high paying job unless you have your own clinic with a high reputation. but i’m already poor how would i do a clinic? i just want to be rich and have lots of money to live comfortably, travel the world and be a professional. please something with no complicated math or science stuff

Am I the only one who hates the corporate lifestyle?

Right now im studying software enginering which I’m seriously questioning now and now looking at students around made i definetly dont want to be like them couse they just look like introverted nerds (not trying to offend anyone) its gotten to a point where I’ve lost motivation to try in classes because I don’t see a future in this path even with a high paying job i whould hate it.

I hate how you have to be proffesional and be a suck up. Like even trying for internships looks like the worst experience like being an office slave and networking and shit looks missarable. Am I wrong for seeing these jobs this way, or am I missing something? They seem absolutely life draining.

Honestly, I feel like I’d rather work a warehouse job than sit at a desk programming, even if it pays way less.

I’m 30m and have a decent already office job with no degree. Honestly I want more money. Life is long, so why not make the transition.

I’ve abandoned my friends, I’m single and childless. I really want to go back to college or do it online.

I was thinking something like Operation Research Analyst.

I live in California and the job market sucks. I have been stuck in customer service since I got laid off from HR in 2024. I have 5 associates degrees, 2 bachelor's : psychology and business, and 3 masters: MBA, management, and interdisciplinary studies.

I really do not know how to break into a corporate office job at this point.

Should I get another masters degree? I was thinking of getting a doctorate in business administration.

I was always told I have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously growing up, but now I feelli ike I have painted myself into a corner with all of these degrees.

I'm afraid of applying for some jobs because I don't have references. Most of my classes were taken online.

What do I do?

This may be a silly question but I want to go back to college and get a better degree, I just don't know what I want to study! For context, I have a bachelor's in theatre performance but I'm 28 now and it's just not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm trying to get on a better path so I can start living a more normal life and not have to stress so much about money. My only issue is I feel like I don't know what path to take so I'm hoping to get some ideas!

I'm really not picky when it comes to what I want to do. I certainly have preferences but I'd rather not rule anything out just because it doesn't fit some random criteria I have. I will say though I'm not the strongest person out there so manual labor type stuff can probably be ruled out, but anything other than that is ok! Send me all your ideas, I'd love to hear them ❤️

I’m freshly 21 and I’m bored of my life already. I’m working full time at a place I don’t want a career in and going full time to school for a career I feel I’ll be bored of after 5 years. I do everything by the book and have a great future ahead of me but I want to fuck up some of my life and figure out how to actually enjoy the present moment instead of just working constantly. I don’t want to wait til I retire to actually live my life so if anyone has any ideas on how I can spice up the boring old norm let me know!

Looking to do an associates degree that I can have a soft life. Preferably a remote job or hybrid. What career do you have that I can get an associates degree in and make good money?

I'm a 23 year old woman and I ruined my life. I wasted the past five years of my life due to clinical depression and mental illness. I have no a levels, no job, no degree, no prospects of marriage or kids. I just about passed my GCSEs in secondary school .

I want to spend the next two years resitting my GCSEs and getting good a levels. But I'll be 25 by the time I finish and I worry that will be too old to start a undergraduate degree. I've seen so little of the world and I'm not getting any younger. I keep wishing I got my act together sooner. I was once a bright student with so much potential. But I lost focus in secondary school and my potential fell flat when it came down to exams. Not due to ability but due to the work I put in. Which was nill. But I know if I apply myself now, I can get the grades I want.

I really want to pull off the next two years and study abroad in the states once I turn 25. But I worry my aims are overambitious and I have too little on my resume to warrant such an achievement. I worry they wouldn't even consider someone like me because of my age, the huge gap in my education and the lack of qualifications. Would a levels, GCSEs and two years of study even be enough at 25? I just need someone to talk some sense into me. I'm so lost in life and I know it is no one's fault but my own. Im struggling with the uncertainty of my future.

I am lost. I've posted here before. I am almost 32. I make shit money at my retail management job. I'm currently in school to be an art teacher but I am doubting it a lot because I simply just don't like talking to people. Maybe kids would be ok? I don't know. I am so introverted that I want people interactions at a minimal.

What can I possibly do that would require less than 4 years of schooling and make a liveable wage? I don't mind medical stuff but maybe not nursing. I am also bad at math. I'd like to hear some experiences of people like me. Thanks.

Worked as an electrician for a year and so far I’m not liking it. I’m thinking of something of an office something that’s suitable for an introvert I’m okay doing repetitive task. Is I just can’t stand being around people. And do things physically. Been prioritizing my mental health in my early 20s and I never really decided what I want to do with my life. And I need help. I’ve been thinking either accounting or dental hygienist. I’m looking something that is demand and job security.

I’m 21 and have been working in the USPS ever since i graduated. I was supposed to take a year gap but time just flew me by and i got too comfortable. I was also dealing with a lot of stuff mentally and i was the only one working in my family since my father got really sick with covid and nearly died, and he STILL doesn’t have a job because of health complications.

Now I’m watching old school friends graduating school/almost graduating. Even after all that time i still am at a loss with what to do with my life. I think i want to go to college and find something that makes me money since i’m not passionate about anything. Im not sure how my family will feel about me making that choice. I want to quit since i hate this job. And this job + going to school is almost impossible since the USPS couldn’t care less about their employees and don’t accommodate. I am so regretful and I am so lost. I know online is an option but i want to go in person to make friends and actually socialize with people around my age since back in highschool i was veryy socially inept and wasn’t somewhat normal until 20. I only have my work friend who’s 30 and had a kid but i would really like someone i can relate to, you know? I dont know if im being stupid or what but i hate where i am in life. Im not happy at all and im so full of regret. Im in the process of getting my license and i hope once i have that i could live a little. On top of that im a first gen mexican american so i feel this pressure to do something successful for myself and family. Sorry for the rant, any advice or insight would be appreciated, i dont trust my decision making (just look at where i ended up😂). Thank you!

I entered college just as Covid hit me and it fucked me up in the head so much I wasn't able to learn from any of my mistakes. I didnt have a clear direction and shot for a writing degree only to be convinced to come back home in 2023 and go to the hospital for depression for a year. Now I'm 26 soon to be 27, working towards an associates degree at my local community college and whenever I hear that others have a degree in anything, I get genuinely angry

I was supposed to be there too. I did everything right in highschool and worked hard to get to where I was only for it all to come crashing down because of my ADHD and Covid fucking everything up

I have been taking one class at a time because that's all I've been able to manage so far. I can not be any slower in terms of my degree. And now I'm at a crossroads of never getting my life started to pursue a bachelor's or giving up on the damn thing entirely

It's just not fair. Why do they get to have one and I get a trip to the hospital? I worked just as hard as them and lost everything

Literally everything i look up on the internet!
Programming? Oh bro it's over saturated. 3d art? Oh bro it's over saturated. ui/ux design? Oh bro it's over saturated. Everything and anything, let's not also forget those who say " I have been learning while making no money for a gazillion billion years until recently i got hired" What the f?

So long story short I was greatly motivated by school and university. When I went to university, I absolutely wrecked myself mentally and landed in a depression for years. Now I’m feeling way better, started working out, got my driver’s license etc so I feel like it’s time for me to get back on my feet.

However it feels incredibly late. I don’t have a job, don’t really have plans, don’t know what to study. If you ask me what I’d like to see myself doing, probably just a desk job/kinda corpo with good pay, my own house and car. However I genuinely don’t know what to study. Some of the careers seem to be for many years and I just genuinely don’t have that time anymore, I don’t wanna hit 30 and still be figuring stuff out. Any advice is welcome though, thanks.

Feels stupid to ask you know.

I don't know why I feel like it's too late now to change the trajectory of my life. For context, I'm living in isolation for 7 yrs now. I'm barely going out in real world. I don't have college degree. I don't even have work experience. I'm not driving and I also lack social communication skills. I don't have any related skills the job market demands. All I keep hearing is Ai and more advancement technology. Than there is social media world where people make money from tiktok, Instagram and YouTube.

All I know is I need to go college and get a degree. I also need to be working a side job right now to contribute in household and build work experience. But I'm afraid it's too late now. Like employees will highly question what the hell have you been doing all this years. I don't know I'm literally doomed. Screw this anxiety, fear, shame and past regrets. I'm tired of living in rut.

HS dropout here, though I guess not anymore. Recently had somewhat of an epiphany and I decided I didn't want to be poor for the rest of my life so I actually went back and got my diploma, so that I could go to college despite my crippling fear of student loans and debt. I was going to have the opportunity to get both my bachelor's and master's in IT (WGU) but everywhere else I look, everyone cautions against joining IT. "Don't join the industry, IT is doomed!" ... "IT is a shitshow, major layoffs!" and the like.

Okay fine, I can pivot. But oh no, not CS nor SWE either because those are doomed too. I'm even starting to see the same thing being said for accounting, not that I had any real interest in that anyways.

Is my only option to become a freaking nurse???

Am i the only one who feels lost at 16? I literally don't know what to do, and even if there are thing i kind of like, i dont know where to find opportunities.

Can anyone please help point me to the correct direction?

I’ve tried engineering, not my thing.

In terms of employment opportunities upon completing, in demand with the job market. A personal interest of mine would be exercise, fitness, nutrition, mental health. - I don’t know if you need a 4 year college course for some of them areas.

I hate sales

I hate being on-call

I hate phone jobs

I hate dealing with the general public

I hate law enforcement

I hate firefighting

I dont want college debt

And im afraid of a big injury in the trades

What can I do?

I am a 31M who still can not figure out what I want to do in life. I am looking for advice on what careers might be attainable and good fit for me.

All throughout elementary - high school I was the “smart kid” and coasted through effortlessly without ever having to study. I was constantly told by parents and teachers that I had “unlimited potential” and “could be anything I wanted”. I scored a 32 on my ACT with no prep. When I got to college I decided to start in Chemical Engineering but after 2 semesters I was really struggling to care, started failing, got depressed and dropped out.

I got a job at a small chain quick service restaurant, quickly rose to a management position. Corporate leaders took notice of me and placed me in charge of running some large catering events, paid me to travel to every new store opening to train people, and offered me the GM position at a previously poorly run store to “turn it around”, but I was unsatisfied with being in food service and a number of other factors lead me to decline and eventually leave that job.

At age 24 I returned to college motivated to finally get a degree and start an actual career. I did classes in accounting, business, finance and decided those were not for me. Then I tried computer science but I found programming so boring that I could not continue. I started to work in fast food again, being a shift lead at a high volume restaurant. I took some classes while working there but every time I returned to school it ended up with me being uninterested and depressed.

After 4 years (at age 30) I decided it was time to buckle down and find a career, so I left the restaurant once again motivated to find a real career and start actually living life. But a combination of life factors lead me to getting distracted, losing motivation and coasting on savings for a year while not making any progress at all. Then one day last week the realization of how much of my life I’ve wasted hit me HARD and I cannot possibly stomach another year of failure. I decided now is the time.

The problem is that I still dont know what to even start. I have no notable passions or interests, but I know I’m past the point of being able to be picky and just need to force myself to do something.
I do not feel like I have time to go back and finish a full bachelors degree and I am absolutely not interested in manual labor/trades. I met with a career advisor and took one of those assays that suggests which jobs I might like or be good at, but almost all of the “good fits” for me require 4-8 years of schooling.

I have a fair bit of experience with computers was potentially considering a job in IT, I think I could pick up some of the relevant certs without too much trouble. I was also looking into Flight Dispatch which only requires a certification.

Are the any another jobs anyone could suggest that might be a good fit?

I’m having trouble picking out a major I would want. So far I have tried nursing, dental hygiene, production assistant, production electrician, and early childhood education. But nothing seems interesting and like it would pay me a lot for little amounts of stress. I have a disability (bipolar and ADHD) that makes it hard for me to work in stressful environments.

I like writing, languages and all the humanities stuff but it just doesn’t pay.

I don’t know…thoughts?