Jessie writes:
I feel that I am stuck. I am 26 years old, and have already had four jobs since graduating college with a degree in political science. I keep thinking that the new job is the one, but it never is. I feel like I want to go back and get a master’s degree — that might help me discover what I want to do. I feel pressure from my family to act my act together, but I just don’t know what to do. Can you help?
The Career Doctor responds:
I want to prepare some of my readers for what I am about to say, because even I don’t know where I totally stand on the subject, but here goes…
You appear to have some of the classic symptoms of what experts are now referring to as the Quarterlife Crisis, an affliction that hits folks in their twenties. The Quarterlife Crisis is marked by high anxiety about your career — and finding your “true” career, multiple job and/or career changes, fears and self-doubt about achieving career and personal goals, depression, and feeling lost or adrift.
Experts say that the crisis hits folks in their twenties, because after years of learning the system of how to succeed in school, college grads are thrown into the world of work with no real understanding of how to succeed in it. Others blame how pop culture has portrayed work, giving younger workers unrealistic expectations.
For you older readers, it’s a play on the midlife crisis, where people in their 50s start to question their career and life choices, sometimes making radical changes.
I think there are two things you need to start doing immediately.
First, stop worrying about what society and others think about who you are, where you are in your career, and what you should be doing. It’s your life; take control of it.
Second, take a weekend or part of a vacation and spend some alone time conducting some serious self-assessment. What are your passions? What are the types of activities you love accomplishing? What do you dislike? What first inspired you about political science? Where do you want to see yourself in five years? Spending this time should allow you to begin getting clarity about your next steps in terms of career and education.
For more help and advice, read my article published on Quintessential Careers: Navigating the Quarterlife Crisis to Career and Personal Success: Five Strategies for Fulfilling Your Dreams.
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