Doing it Wrong, and Loving it

forbiddenuk asked: Dear Jesse. I need some life advise. Im a 21 year old male stuck in a job that seriously depresses and stresses me out. Infact ill just say it i work in a Mcdonalds in the UK. My plan originally after finishing college studying construction was to get an apprenticeship. But i came out at the worst time during the UKs recession where nobody was hiring. Nobody will hire me anywhere now because of the lack of degrees and such since i couldnt get an apprenticeship. I dont know what to do

First off, know that you my friend are not alone. I have many friends, family, etc that are in the same position. Coming out of school and finding nothing. It’s not just the UK. With that said, never stop looking and striving to be better - especially as a former McDonalds employee, myself - I can sympathize, cause really ANYTHING is better than that. Not the best job in the world :P I would look online, in newspapers - I would do it daily. You never know what you’ll find. Just keep up with your job, and in your spare time - hunt for others. And if you have to lie to Ronald McDonald and tell your boss that you are sick in order to go to an interview - DO IT. 

Remember - don’t lose hope. Don’t give up cause it’s bad out there. You never know what will happen.

I’ve worked at a Mcdonalds and a taco place - I worked retail, I even worked designing crappy (and I mean crappy) websites on a team in college. All along I wanted to voice act and do different things with theater. Spoiler alert: that is very hard to do and make money at. SO - When I finally got my various degrees/masters I went job hunting and not only were there too few jobs - but many people thought I was OVER qualified. How can such a thing exist? They just meant “we don’t want to pay you what you’re worth”. Needless to say I ended up taking a job teaching in the inner city, for students who were essentially high school drop outs who were court ordered to be there (however, some were there to change their life, and i love them) - and I wasted 2 1/2 years of my life there - in a job I took because I felt like I had no other options. Needless to say, I did not end my “term of employment” very well :P And with no job I was like “hell, what do I have to lose!” - and just started going full blown voice acting and next thing you know I stumble into youtube and here I am now. 

The lesson I learned - never settle. Never assume you can’t do better. I will NEVER make the mistake of “just being content” again.  

If you want to work construction stuff, DO IT. Find a way and do it.  Or you will always regret not trying.