Confusions after three years at work.
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It might get a bit long; I want to write more than just about my confusion regarding the exam. Another September is upon us—a back-to-school season. To this day, I still remember how I felt when I started college in September 2008. However, it’s been three years since I graduated now. Since I majored in chemistry at a petroleum-related university, upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2012, I, like many others, signed a contract with a private chemical plant. My initial role involved laboratory testing work; it wasn’t particularly demanding, and the salary was decent as well. However, I feel that it might be because when I just graduated, the gap between my ideals and reality was simply too great. I’ve always been a person with a fairly regular lifestyle; for over 20 years, I’ve eaten and rested at set times. I quit after working in a shift-based job for less than a year. Because I didn’t want to continue living a life of shift work, I decided not to apply for jobs in chemical plants when looking for work. Moreover, as someone who is considered \"abnormal\" in the eyes of others, I felt that I wasn’t suited for the closed working environment of such factories. When looking for a job, I ended up at a design institute by chance. Unfortunately, that good situation didn’t last long as the institute was restructured, and as a newcomer, I lost my job. Finding work after that wasn’t very easy: I helped relatives in my family with various tasks in the food service industry, working from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. The pay was good, but it was limited. After working there for a while, I realized it wasn’t a sustainable solution, so I started looking for another job again. I also tried changing careers and worked as a salesperson for a while, with a schedule that required working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Although the working hours were shorter than those in the food service industry, the stress was much greater. In the end, I returned to the design industry. However, the current design approach is very different from that at my previous design firm: although that firm was private, its managers had professional backgrounds and strong expertise; they knew exactly how much work there was to be done, so you wouldn’t get overwhelmed by it. Moreover, experts would handle any difficult problems, allowing one to learn a great deal from that experience. In today’s design firms, the qualifications are held by individual owners; to be honest, I just call them bosses, rather than using titles like “director” or something similar, as they don’t understand anything about the work. The company currently has only two or three people, and they take on projects that are quite unusual, without even discussing prices. As for the lack of proper procedures, I think that’s something everyone is familiar with. But there are many cases where projects are taken on despite clear violations of regulations, and any problems that arise are then our responsibility. Actually, I wanted to change jobs last year. So this year, I looked into the industry here and found that most design institutes are in a similar situation. This week has been extremely busy for me. Today, as soon as I got to the office, I felt an inexplicable sense of fatigue; I’m really exhausted. But I don’t know what to do either. Sometimes I think that I really don’t want to go on with this anymore – there’s no future or hope, but I also don’t know what else to do.
Only by integrating into it can one achieve success and make a difference.
It’s better to leave early and start over, to find something you really want to do. Continuing like this isn’t a solution, because you’ve already grown tired of the company’s culture
I still want to continue working in this industry; I don’t want to stay at this company, but it seems like it’s the same everywhere else. So I’m confused about what to do next.
My experience is somewhat similar to that of the original poster. In a design institute, it’s better to find one that’s more reputable; ideally, one where you can work on several large-scale, representative projects covering the entire plant. Only then can you truly learn a great deal. You won’t be able to work on proper projects at those small design firms with just a few people. Don’t waste your future there; even if you get the same salary elsewhere, it’s better to go somewhere else.
Come on, OP! I graduated with a small degree 12 years ago as well; I originally planned to resign in June and had even submitted my resignation letter, but for some reasons I didn’t leave. Now my life and work situation is far from what it used to be, and I’m confused
In fact, many people are in this situation; they have wanted to change jobs for a long time. When interacting with colleagues, they also pay attention to observing other companies. From what I’ve seen of the companies I’m in contact with right now, they’re all more or less the same – some claim to be large companies, but in reality it’s just a nominal title; there’s no real substantial design work done there. Gas stations, on the other hand, can be considered more properly designed establishments.
Being tired is just because you don’t like doing it
To change jobs, one needs the right skills for doing so; if one switches jobs just because they are unhappy, they will still be unhappy after doing so. Those who claim that there are no experts in large-scale design are either completely uninformed about this industry and its related knowledge, or they have certain personality flaws. Who is responsible for building those massive chemical plants, and how are various sophisticated factories constructed? Whether a gas station is well-designed depends on the person who designs it, not on the project itself; from a technical perspective, gas stations are quite simple. If you really want to work in this field and do it successfully, then you need to improve your technical skills first. You should understand what the actual design industry is like, identify what skills you lack, and fill those gaps. Once you have the necessary skills, you’ll be ready to succeed in this field
I agree; I also want to change careers. I studied chemical engineering, but I don’t like the working environment in that field. As the person upstairs said, to change jobs one needs to have the necessary skills, so until I gain those skills, I’d better focus on studying hard*
Mentally exhausted; I must enrich myself! Looking ahead, if you want to move forward, you need a solid financial foundation, right? ! ! ! ! !