We have the Love/Relationship thread, so I figure it might be worth having a thread for people to get advice on their general/life issues. Plus I want some advice, but starting a lone thread just for me is probably a bit over the top :lol:.

So, to get us started.

I'm currently at a rather large crossroad in my life. I posted regarding the end of my relationship in the other thread, so I won't go over that again. Essentially at the moment, I have pretty much free choice of what I want to work towards with my future. Of course the flip side of this is that I honestly don't have a future/any goals to look forward to, so I really need to make the right choice now, to make sure the next year or two aren't just a massive waste. So here's where I need some advice.

Pretty much, as I see it, my main two options are going back to study again, or to continue to look for work. I'm leaning towards Study for a couple of reasons. I don't really have any qualifications to look for any career based work. I'm pretty much stuck looking for Retail/Admin work, which I have no problem with, but obviously it doesn't really much to look for going forward in terms of career/life in general.

Studying obviously doesn't guarantee this either. A couple of courses that I'm really interested in doing, are very specific fields, that wouldn't definitely have job outputs at the end of it. I haven't set myself in stone for anything though, and am keeping my options open. So while I understand going back to study is a risk, I think it's worth taking for the long term possibilities. But that's my view from the inside, hence this thread.

I think I've rambled on enough. Hopefully I managed to get my point across. Any suggestions/advice obviously is greatly appreciated, and everyone feel free to post up your own troubles/decisions you want help with.

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Seriously though - is there anything preventing you from studying?

If I could do it all again, I would study what I want to study, not study what would bring me job prospects. I would rather be poor and happy/interested than rich and bored out of my fucking mind 8 hours a day.

Study something you love. Like notor said, I'd rather be able to live in relative safety and do what I love rather than be rich while working a job I hate. I've changed uni course twice already and I'll probably change again so there's at least 2 years of my life wasted :lol:

What do you want to study, and do you genuinly enjoy the subject matter?

I too vote for the study option, unless there are any major reasons not to.

Any main reason why you can't get a job?

Might as well post my conundrum too.

I'm not sure whether I'd rather work part time and do uni full time, or work full time and do a 6 month music production course (for no reason other than for my own enjoyment). I don't mind work and I don't know if I want to keep going at uni - I've changed course twice already and don't feel like I'll enjoy it but I feel pressure from my family to do it. It's not like I can't defer, but if I do I'll be another 6-12 months behind.

:lol: =d>

Meh, defer and do what you love. What's the hurry to finish a degree that you're only mildly interested in?

I've done the studying what I thought would bring me good job prospects thing rather then studying something I like, and agree with notor, its a bit of a life fail doing that! I now don't use my qualifications at all and that was pretty much a wasted 5 years. Avoid that if you can!

In saying that, I think we need more information in order to offer you an objective opinion on whether to work or study, for example, what are your living arrangements? What are your income requirements? If you study full time, could you survive financially with only part time work?

Maybe studying part time while working full time is a valid option depending on your circumstances, thats what I did and while it was a fair bit of a juggle at times particularly coming into exams, I still managed to do it and people who have watched me post over time on here know that I'm hardly the most intelligent bloke your likely to come accross.

But the best "life advice" I could give you is do NOT under any circumstances commit to study unless you are 100% sure you want to do it! Don't study a course just because it seems like the right thing to do / all your mates are doing it / "lawyers make good money, i'll study law!".

Only study if your 100% into it and want to do it and most importantly have a PASSION for it!

I hear this a lot from mates and stuff, people carrying on about how their job is meaningless and no career and blah blah, and 9 times out of 10 they are so focused on this mindset of "I've got to get a career! Got to study!" that they can't see the forest through the trees in that they are already in a job that DOES offer a career or a lifestyle or whatever.

I'm not saying that is the case for everyone, but I've heard of too many stories of people giving up jobs they enjoyed doing or had a workplace and colleagues they really loved in order to take a job that is boring as batshit and they hate, just because of the "career prospects"

Money doesn't buy happiness, as the old saying goes, find a job you love and you won't work a day in your life and honestly man its the muther trucking truth!

6-12 months behind what?

It's all a simulation. :cool:

without getting all stalker on your arse funky, we need more details. what kind of qualifications do you have? what are you interested in studying, and how long will it take to do so? how old are you and what are your commitments in terms of loans, relationships, etc? have you done the whole "travel for 6 months, come back a changed person" thing yet in your life?

It sounds like you've got a great opportunity to take the chance to go overseas and work overseas for a couple of years.

Thats something you should only do if you have a real desire for it though, if you do it just for an escape, it might still be a great thing, but it also might be a very lonely time.

Depends I guess on how much of an outgoing person you are and how well you can make friends, not everyone is like that.

I did do a post last night answering some people's questions/posting more details. But it got lost in the great forum meltdown of 2013. I'll repost later tonight.

FFT's servers are popsicles.

Ok.

To provide some details...

I am currently living with my Grandmother, and don't have to pay rent. We share bills, of course, but other than that, I have to cover all of my own stuff/food/travel etc. Which isn't that much, I live fairly comfortably off Centrelink payments. This is another reason I'm leaning towards study, in that I probably won't have the opportunity like this again.

In terms of what I want to study, that is the next big hurdle. I'm being indecisve because there's a lot of things that interest me. I need to sit down and properly make some decisions regarding this, although I am limited in that I'm fairly sure I've missed cuttoff for starting now, and will have to wait till Mid-Year intake.

In terms of why I'm struggling to find work, it's mostly because I haven't worked in a long time. I decided to focus on my uni work during my course, so I have very little recent work experience. That said, I'm currently doing volunteer work at a Salvo's Op Shop, so that's going a long way to fixing that. I'm pretty sure I will find some sort of work soon, things have been picking up, but obviously not a set thing.

In terms of qualifications, I just have my audio course. I think if I do go back to study, I want it to be something around this. I've been looking at Games Design/Programming, or possibly Film Design, because I love doing Sound Effects. That industry is a definitely tough to crack into though, which is why I've been hesitant to decide on what I want to do.

The Travelling overseas thing I hadn't thought of. I don't know if I could do it. No money saved up, It'd be a big risk...Yolo?

Yolo!

I would YOLO it. do your rsa/rcg, get 6 months experience in a pub over here, save for the start of the next spl/epl season and head your arse over to Scotland/England with a pub job over there. live in said pub, go to games, etc

This is not recommended in Glasgow though. You will be stabbed. :lol:

You only YOLO once, Funky.

Having said that though, if you actually do find a course that you really WANT to do I agree in saying your current conditions make it the idea time to take that path, but I wouldn't let that fact get in the way of doing what you want to do, you're wasting your time studying if your heart isn't in it.

Unless your fav EPL team is one of the big clubs, as tickets are 90 pounds + IF you can even get a ticket

Perhaps you could use...a life coach?

:lol:
There are enough idiots out there who use carpe diem after seeing Dead Poets, although YOLO has knocked it back into obscurity.

I assume you still know/have friends at your old club? Did they take training very seriously at your old club, or was it more of a casual practice sort of thing?

Wouldn't you be better off talking with your old coach about it than a bunch of guys on a forum?

IF you're under 25 and have no life responsibilities, (kids, cars, credit debt, mortgage et al) it shouldn't even be a hard question. Study, study what you want and party like you ain't wearing pants! Careers are over rated and only assist you in supporting a wife family and getting deeper into debt with every thing that comes with being a grown up.

If I had no responsibilities I'd go back to study and become a physio, but since I can't afford to pay the mortgage and open Universities, I get to stay in my shitty job and hope that one day I can actually go back to being cool!

Also I get to go to Football matches but that's just to stop my head from exploding.

Live, learn, travel. Only grow up when you get tired of of it all and then learn the fear of being a grown up with a mortgage and having to provide for a family.

It's also not as bad as it may sound.

Oh and it's Cricket. Go and train with your old mates and they'll be okay with it. it's cricket after all, you're aloud to be podgie.

I think you'll be fine showing up to training. I know at my club old players show up fairly often and it's all good.
Note, they might not have training tonight anyway because of the T20 comp, my training for tonight got cancelled because of this

I'm at Hawthorn, I remember you saying another time that you used to play at Bulleen right? Are you still playing in the ECA?

Oh cool, changing clubs a few years ago was the best decision I've made in cricket. Seeing as you're looking at Fitzroy I'd definitely recommend training Tuesdays as well for the rest of the season

I'm sure as long as you didn't leave badly they'll welcome you back :)

I was at Trinity-Willison before. At that club you basically had to be a member of this shitcunt family, or be the best friend of one of them, to get a fair go. Plus they didn't have teams that play on turf

TL;DR but skimmed, gaming and movie industry you can get into - I have a mate who did it. How ever you will need to be in it for the long haul, it took him about 5-6 years before he succeeded. He started as a lighting artist (well first credit is that) and now is a lead texture and look dev.

It was his dream job and he persisted with it.

I think I've been bitten by a spider, not a serious one just a lot of redness and swelling, anyone know an effective remedy/how long I can expect symptoms to persist?

If it's tender and swollen, go to your chemist and get them to take a look at it. Buy a tube of Ego Soov Bite as well, helps with pretty much any bug bites or stings.

Also, burn down your house. He has now tasted your blood, and will not stop hunting you until he has finished his work.

Cheers, will invest in some Soov Bite. I think it happened in my car though, should probably burn both to be on the safe side yeah?

Just to be sure.

I'd also organise flights. It's no guarantee, but it's your best option.

Wait. Swelling you say?

It's too late.

We only have one solution now.

Make sure the car is in the house. Burn the lot to the ground. And then to be sure, piss on the ashes. It's going to take a lot of urine, but I have faith you can finish the job.

Alright, here's a head scratcher for you all. I've recently, for the third time impreganated my wife (like a Boss) and we're coming up for our 13 week ultra sound.

Now for those of you in the know you are aware but for those that are not, this is the time they ask you if you wish to know the sex of the child.
Now for our first two we didn't find out but my wife is swinging to the idea of finding out.

Should we find out now or should we stick to waiting until the birth to find out?

Depends how exciting/special it was for you to find out when the child was born.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Depends what it means for you. I guess it gives you six months odd to think about the baby's name...

It's our third, so we already have the names, it's just a matter of finding out what we're having and then filling out the form.

I personally think that it's better to wait so you have the suprise, but as it's our third my wife doesn't think it really matters and knowing will allow us to plan what we need, or convince me to get the cut (which is never happening).

like a boss!

firstly, i demand you name him/her griff.

if it was me i'd imagine the "excitement", "magic", etc would be a bit worn off now, by the third. knowing if it's a boy/girl would be so much better organisation-wise, you'd be able to plan much better. i also like the idea of a mid-pregnancy milestone, in finding out. having a baby is surprise/exitement enough as it is - rewarding yourself along the way is a good little treat & motivator to get through it all imo.

realistically, because you guys are torn, there's only one logical & fair way to settle this:

Can confirm Soov to be a fine elixir and would recommend to anyone in a similar predicament.

Ok internet strangers, help me out.

I called several firms today to ask about grad opportunities. The general response was that they are not taking on any grads atm and will not be in the foresee-able future.

So now, I'm considering getting another job until the industry turns itself around. Any suggestions for something I could do?

Fact is, a lot of industries have baby boomers trying to protect their last few paychecks.

The only job getting a degree gets you these days is as a bartender.

move to hamilton island for a year doing bartending

that's what my mate did when he finished his degree & couldn't get a job

My wife did this as well, But housekeeping! what year did your mate go?

I got a job straight out of uni. From experience with the contempt undergraduates speak with when i've gone into uni to talk to them or to take samples in for their projects, they seem to over-estimate their value.

I remember thinking as an under-grad that because of my GPA i'd be flying into the likes of AURECON or AECOM and be riding high within a few years.

I've said it before in another thread but kids coming through need to show their face to companies they go after. It's a lot harder to say no to a face than it is to delete an email or hang up a phone.

hes actually still there. still no job for his degree & he doesn't want to face the real world as both his grandparents are doctors & have huge expectations of him. his problem was he did nuclear medicine radiography at newy Uni, which initially had great job prospects, but from what I'm led to believe about a year before he graduated there was an advancement in the field & that whole line of radiography is relatively redundant now. he reckons there was only 5/50 kids in his grad year that actually got jobs & they had to move to Adelaide to get said jobs.

When I was doing my degree we were constantly being told by guys working in the industry that they wouldn't hire us because we couldn't do as good a job as them and they weren't willing to take us on as interns or whatever. It was purely these assholes protecting their last paychecks and it's the same in a lot of industries. I've got a dozen kids working the function events for my bar who have degrees but can't get jobs in their industries. Granted, one of them showed up to work in food service with bright blue fingernails and is fucking doomed regardless. But most of them are good, talented kids who can't get jobs because Baby Boomers are assholes.

I was told in my mid-year performance review last year that if things weren't so bad in the industry, they wouldn't hesitate to put me on full time. They said (the first part jokingly) that I finished uni at the wrong time and that if I'd finished the year before I'd have a job no problems at all.

In my experience of face-to-face contact with companies, in the end it boils down to "here's our business card, apply online", where I go back to being just a number.

It's so hard to find work locally, so I've been applying for positions far and wide. Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Mackay. I can't exactly turn up in person to all those places I applied for.

Pretty much agree with some of what afro is saying. People just need to get a fair go/catch a break. I applied for a job recently and got a rejection email. Ok, nothing new. A job where experience was desired but not essential. A job in which I have experience in what they wanted the successful applicant to be doing. So I requested feedback as to why I didn't get it, so maybe I could fix some issues possibly relating to my cover letter/resume. I was told I was next in line, but the kicker was the guy who got the gig knew someone within. Not cos they were necessarily better than me. At least I know my documents look ok I guess. *shrugs*

Don't know how long the industry is going to be in a hole for, so if it's still in a bad way mid-year I might jump into a teaching degree (which is the other degree I was considering) and try and land a part time job to keep me going but knowing my luck, the UK's demand for Aussie teachers would dry up by the time I'd finish. :lol: