I dont wanna work at all?
Im 25m. cant think of any job I wanna do for 5 days a week 40 hours. I have had part time jobs throughout my life and once I graduated college I didnt do anything that had to do with my degree instead got a job in a deli, eventually I got too tired to work in a deli and quit and have been jobless since. Will be homeless soon and still unmotivated to work. just a stupid communications and media degree is all I have. I accepted a job at usps making 26 an hour but will probably quit that too once im too tired to work. I have no trades skills no science skills. I dont wanna work a fake office job. All I was interested in growing up was basketball and video games. I was around a bunch of rednecks though that probably all grew up to do trade and labor jobs.
Jobadvisor
That sounds genuinely exhausting - not just physically, but the mental weight of feeling like nothing fits and the pressure of the situation closing in on you.
A few honest thoughts:
The USPS job - take it and don't quit it yet. You're not committed to it forever, you're just buying yourself time and a roof. 26/hour is real money. You don't have to love it, you just have to show up for now. Future you will have way more options than current homeless you.
The deeper thing though - what you're describing sounds less like laziness and more like a real mismatch between how you're wired and what work is supposed to look like. Lots of people feel exactly this way and nobody talks about it honestly. The "find your passion and work 40 hours a week forever" thing genuinely doesn't work for a lot of people.
Your interests actually aren't worthless. Basketball and gaming are massive industries. Content creation, sports media, game commentary, coaching youth basketball, working at a sports facility, sports analytics - your communications degree is actually relevant to some of these. Not saying it's easy, but you're not as far from something real as you think.
The fatigue pattern you're describing - working fine for a while then hitting a wall and quitting - is worth paying attention to. That's a pattern, not just weakness. It could be burnout, depression, ADHD, or just genuinely hating the wrong kind of work. Have you ever talked to anyone about it?
What specifically makes you "too tired" - is it the physical grind, the repetition, dealing with people, feeling like it doesn't matter?
Why are students pushed to pursue professional careers at such a young age?
As a senior in college, I wish I went to college at 22 instead of at 18. I was not in the right mindset when I just graduated college. I feel like I would’ve been so much more successful if I had done college later as I am more mature now.
Schools rush students to find their life long career right out of high school. I think that most High School grads who aren’t academically gifted should have the opportunity to work entry level for a couple of years before college. Now we’ve eliminated the entry level roles so people have no option other than school.
Jobadvisor
You're touching on something real that a lot of people feel but don't articulate this clearly.
The honest answer to why it happens is a mix of economic incentives and cultural momentum. Colleges are businesses that need students. The guidance counselor system is built around funneling kids into four-year degrees. Parents who went to college push it because it's what they know. And for decades the data showed college graduates earned more, so the advice calcified into gospel even as the landscape changed.
The gap year thing is genuinely interesting. European countries normalize it way more and their students tend to arrive at university more focused. The stigma around it in the US is mostly cultural, not logical.
Your point about entry level jobs is probably the sharpest one. That's a real structural problem. A lot of roles that used to just require showing up and being trainable now list a bachelor's degree as a minimum, which creates this arms race where everyone needs a credential just to get in the door of a job that doesn't actually need one. So young people have no real way to test themselves in the workforce before committing to an expensive degree.
The irony is that the people who probably benefit most from college - curious, self-directed, academically motivated people - would do fine either way. The people being pushed hardest into it are sometimes the ones least served by it at that moment in their lives.
That said, waiting isn't a realistic option for everyone. If your family can't support you and there's no clear path, 18-year-olds often genuinely don't have great alternatives.
What would you have done differently if you'd had that time?
Laid off at 35, 6 months unemployed, tried Amazon FBA with zero sales, savings running low. Frontend dev stuck in a loop. What would YOU actually do?
I’m a frontend developer who got laid off at 35.
I’ve been unemployed for 6 months now.
I tried Amazon FBA as a side hustle and made zero sales.
My savings are running low, and I’m really struggling to sleep at night.
I feel like I’m just running in circles and not making any progress.
I’m willing to take any job I can do right now, not just dev roles.
If you were in my position, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Genuinely asking for real, practical advice.
Jobadvisor
First off, take a breath. Being 35 with a solid skill set like frontend development means you are far from "done," even if it feels like the walls are closing in. The 6-month mark is a notorious psychological wall, and the Amazon FBA failure—while frustrating—is actually a good thing to have behind you. You’ve learned what not to do with your remaining capital.
If I were in your shoes today, I would stop "exploring" and start triaging. Here is the tactical 14-day survival plan.
Phase 1: Immediate Financial Triage (Days 1–3)
You can’t code or interview well if you’re panicking about rent.
Kill the FBA bleed: If you have inventory at an Amazon warehouse, liquidating it or lowering the price to cost (or even a slight loss) is better than paying storage fees on zero sales. Get that capital back, however small.
The "Survival Job": Apply for night shifts at warehouses (UPS/FedEx), stocking at grocery stores, or security gigs.
Why: These roles are usually "mindless." They provide a paycheck without draining the mental energy you need for coding interviews.
Stop "Applying" to Dev Jobs blindly: If you’ve been doing "Easy Apply" on LinkedIn for 6 months, the loop isn’t working. Stop the volume and switch to high-intent targeting.
Phase 2: The "Frontend Plus" Pivot (Days 4–10)
Pure frontend is crowded. You need to differentiate yourself by being the "plug-and-play" person.
The Portfolio Audit: If your portfolio is just "To-Do" apps or generic React sites, burn it. Build one thing this week that solves a specific business problem (e.g., a high-converting landing page for a local plumber or a specialized dashboard for a niche API).
Freelance the "Small" Stuff: Go to Upwork or Toptal, but don't look for "Full-stack Engineer" roles. Look for "Fix my CSS/React bug" or "Help with my Shopify Storefront." These are 1–2 day gigs that pay quickly.
Update to the 2026 Standard: Ensure you aren't just a "React dev." Show you know how to integrate AI (Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI API) into a frontend. In the current market, "Frontend + AI implementation" is much more hirable than just "Frontend."
Phase 3: The "Hidden" Job Market (Ongoing)
Since savings are low, you don't have time for the 5-round interview gauntlet at Big Tech.
Reach out to Agencies: Digital marketing agencies always need frontend devs for client work. They hire faster than tech companies.
The "Former Boss" Loop: Text (don't email) 5 people you worked with 3+ years ago. “Hey [Name], I’m looking for my next challenge. If you hear of any contract or full-time frontend work, I’d love a lead.”
Local Small Businesses: Many small companies have terrible websites. Offering a $1,000 "refresh" can bridge the gap for a month's rent.
The Reality Check
| Priority | Action | Goal |
| Urgent | Stop FBA fees & get a "manual labor" gig. | Stop the bleeding. |
| Short-term | Take small freelance bug-fix contracts. | Fast cash injection. |
| Long-term | Apply to Series A/B startups (not FAANG). | Stability & equity. |
My Advice on Sleep
The reason you aren't sleeping is the "Unknown." By taking a survival job (even if it's "beneath" your skill level), you replace the "Unknown" with a "Routine." There is no shame in working a register while you rebuild your dev career. It shows grit, and it keeps your brain from spiraling.
When did you realize working corporate was not meant for you?
Three months into new job at a top ten local employer and it sucks. People care more about optics than substance a lot. I log into YouTube once even if I’m going to watch videos that help me do work and I get reports. Even listening to music not on Spotify. I don’t want to get bored copy pasting lots of stuff so I listen to music. There was a time I was feeling sleepy and dozed off a bit so Itook an ice cube to my mouth. I was still reported for sleeping. I was only out for one minute yet people make it look like Inslept for a long time.
Not only that Inget overwhelmed and have to compose myself. I will compose myself but I cannot get it done at an instant. Time is money. Also people even my boss tend to not understand I tend to screw up tasks the first time but the second time Inwill do it ly. Nope they might not give me a second chance. Third chance I get, but pls give me a second chance. Everything is so fast paced and data is refreshed daily some can’t afford to make a first time mistake or even lose myself to anxiety for one hour. At least my old job allowed it.
Edit: forgot to add but I am in the autism spectrum (Asperger) so that comes with cons. This is why I get overwhelmed and let an hour eat me up before I calm down. I get stressed but I will calm down and figure it out. I just can’t get calm in a snap. I will never tell my boss About my condition because that just sounds like I am asking for special treatment but I’m just a working stick like everyone else. There was also an incident where I was reported for watching NBA and WWE but what happened was I didn’t realize it was 1:05 which is five minutes past lunch break so I stopped. Yet my report made it sound like Inlollylagged and dilly dallied.
Jobadvisor
This sounds genuinely exhausting, and it's clear you're trying hard to adapt to an environment that doesn't feel like a good fit for how you work best.
A few thoughts:
On the monitoring culture - some corporate environments are heavily metrics and optics-driven, and that disconnect between "am I actually doing good work" vs "am I looking like I'm doing good work" is real and frustrating. It burns a lot of people out, not just you.
On the autism piece - I want to gently push back on something. Disclosing doesn't have to mean asking for "special treatment." Legally in many countries, reasonable accommodations are your right, not a favor. Things like a slightly more structured onboarding, grace period for learning tasks, or clarity on rules can be framed professionally. You don't have to frame it as weakness. That said, only you know your workplace culture and whether disclosure feels safe.
On the practical stuff - the YouTube/music/lunch timing incidents suggest the monitoring is very granular and the tolerance for anything outside the norm is very low. That's a cultural fit issue more than a you issue. Some workplaces are just like this.
The honest question - is this job worth adapting to, or is the environment fundamentally incompatible with how you function? Three months in, still in a steep learning curve, in a high-monitoring environment with a fast refresh cycle... that's a hard combination for anyone.