u/butimnotleaving

Ever since university, I have been applying for jobs. Sometimes, I take breaks from it, but it always comes back to applying for jobs. I got one job, and then I was fired in a week. So, I got a worse job so that I could support myself with while applying for other jobs. I also did a few temp jobs while working here. Then, I got another job tangentially related to what I want to do, but I still applied for jobs hoping I would get the real thing. This started when I was 21. I am now 24. It has been three years of applying for entry-level jobs.

I wonder how much more I could have gotten done if I wasn't always applying for jobs. I do other stuff: I volunteer, I take short courses in my desired field, I write articles for small publications, and I even go travelling sometimes. But, mostly, it's applying for jobs.

When will this end? It is a waste of time. I think maybe ten of my applications have been read by a human.

I was rejected from EA Global London. The rejection included notes about this not being 'a negative judgement of you or of your potential impact on the world', and they suggested that I apply for an EAGx conference (which would require me to fly to either Singapore, India or Australia), but it's hard to feel that this isn't just cope from an identical newsletter they send to the very, very small number of people they reject each year. Alongside the countless grad scheme rejections and the countless rejections from basically any good job that I've applied for over three years out of university, it is hard not to feel completely hopeless about my prospects and my potential to join any community that could help me do something.

I'll admit that I'm fairly new to Effective Altruism. I've read 'Doing Good Better', I've made extensive notes on the 80,000 hours career pages (they haven't helped that much with getting a good job), and I've been through the forum for a while. I've been desperately trying to break through to the next step in life for years without any progress whatsoever.

Is it worth applying for EAGx and flying elsewhere for it? What next steps would you recommend for me in EA? What can I actually do to get involved? Even volunteer positions seem tough to get. I went to a good university, and I performed well throughout, but I didn't do STEM, and, honestly, this community seems geared towards those from STEM backgrounds. I'm not saying that's why I've been rejected. What I mean to say is that it feels like I'm an extreme outlier here.

What can I do within this space to actually build towards something useful? Something that I can put on a CV? Something that would, eventually, make me worth letting in? Regardless of being an outlier.

There are so many issues with it that I would have to write an essay to capture all of my thoughts here, but the thing that drives me most insane is that, whenever I have to upload a video to a page's schedule, no matter how short, it takes at least half an hour but still plays the audio on repeat with no way to turn it off except muting your PC.

I have no idea how Zuckerberg has allowed this to exist in this state for so long. Does he not know?

I am 24. Essentially, my plan is to try to get bylines as a culture writer and to attempt to get some sort of creative work until I reach 26. If it hasn't worked out by then, I will do a law conversion and keep the more creative stuff on the side. I have a first-class degree from KCL and some okay work experience, so I don't think it'd be impossible to get onto an okay course.

Is this a realistic plan? Firstly, and mainly, I'm wondering if 26 is too late to start and get anywhere good. But, beyond that, am I deluding myself here? I trust you to be real with me.

Do you think that it’s always the owner not the dog, or do you think that pitbulls have some genuine issues? What about XL bullies? And which breeds do you think count as pitbull breeds?

Thoughts on this seem to be really divided in this country, and it seems to be sort of a class thing.

I am not a professional archivist, but I hope that this is relevant to the subreddit.

After my grandfather's death, I inherited his diaries. These date all the way back to 1945. I had them all professionally scanned and sent to me as a PDF, and I intended to write them up. The goal was to turn all of these into something digital and searchable on a website of some kind. However, I am stuck on the 1945 one. This is because, in many places, I cannot understand his handwriting.

If anyone has any tips on what I can do here, I would appreciate it. Approaching this without any knowledge of the profession was egotistical, but I am determined to get this done no matter how long it will take.

I attempted to use Transkribus to figure things out; it understood even less than I do. I have been told that handwriting OCR is in its infancy, so I would be willing to read any books that could help me.

I have an English degree and I spent the last two years as a tutor. I am 25-years-old, which is far too old for all of this, and I am, evidently, bad at life. I graduated two years ago and this is my situation. The few assets I have are...

1. It is a full-time tutoring job and the parents are fairly well-off, so I have been able to save a decent amount of money.

2. The English degree is from UCL and I managed to get a first.

3. I have some publishing experience, as well as some experience as an editor for a university newspaper and a brief university research role I managed to get from a professor who liked me.

I have no desire to become a teacher whatsoever, but by 30 at latest I need to be on the path towards becoming a stable and successful human with money saved up. Like, if you're not at least on that path by then, it's over.

I signed up to an Open University marketing course (not a degree, but an introductory class which will give me a likely useless qualification) for some reason, but I doubt that'll do much. I have been applying for publishing, communications and PR roles, but I doubt those will make me much money.

Are there any qualifications I should pursue? Any masters degrees? I considered trying to get onto the Media and Communications one at LSE or a marketing one somewhere else, but my much more successful friends have told me that'd be a waste of time.

I am academically fine but, besides some stuff I learned from personal finance books, I lack any understanding of the real world or common sense. You guys have what I am missing, so if any of you have gone from where I am now to somewhere impressive, or if you have any general advice, please let me know.

I have an English degree and I spent the last two years as a tutor. I am 25-years-old, which is far too old for all of this, and I am, evidently, bad at life. I graduated two years ago and this is my situation. The few assets I have are...

1. It is a full-time tutoring job, so I have been able to save a decent amount of money.
2. The English degree is from UCL and I managed to get a first.
3. I have some publishing experience, as well as some experience as an editor for a university newspaper and a brief university research role I managed to get from a professor who liked me.

I have no desire to become a teacher whatsoever, but by 30 at latest I need to be on the path towards becoming a stable and successful human with money saved up. Like, if you're not at least on that path by then, it's over. I signed up to an Open University marketing course (not a degree, but an introductory class that’ll take a few hours to complete online and will give me a likely worthless qualification) for some reason, but I doubt that'll do much. I have been applying for publishing, communications and PR roles, but I doubt that these would to the eventual high income I’m hoping for. Are there any qualifications I should pursue? Any masters degrees? I considered trying to get onto the Media and Communications one at LSE or a marketing one somewhere else, but my much more successful friends have told me that'd be a waste of time.

I am academically fine but, besides some stuff I learned from personal finance books, I lack any understanding of the real world or common sense. If any of you have gone from where I am now to somewhere impressive, or if you have any general advice, please let me know.