I need some advice regarding my career and potential studying.

>>17749374
20 is too young to be stuck in a dead-end job. If you want to study you should be eligible for the dole, if you combine that with 5-15 hrs of work/week you should be fine financially. If that isn't enough income you need to reassess where you're living, move to a cheaper suburb or a shared house with 3-4 occupants instead of 2. Tbh if you are spending more than $300/week on rent, food and bills you need to take a look at where the money is going. Dole is $250/week straight up, plus students get mad lump-sum payments, with part time work and maybe some full time in semester breaks you should be doing fine.

I think keep applying for jobs you have at least some chance of getting, retail management experience is generally going to be looked at more favourably than fast food, plus it's a better workplace. Have a think about a career that suits you and find out what courses you need to get there then give it a go. At 20 it's hard to be certain about where you want to go but you have to try things, otherwise you'll never really know.

>>17749374
OP whereabouts in Australia?

I'm 24 and have an office job, but i'm probably being paid less than someone that works at macca's, and doing more.. let's say stressful work. In that the risk of fucking up isn't an unhappy customer, but thousands of dollars of lost sales/revenue.

you seem like a nice, reasonably intelligent guy.

>>17749421
this person seems to have good advice, although their $300/week thing seems a little optimistic to me? But I live in the CBD of melbourne, so maybe it's me. I pay about $250/week on rent alone.

>>17749374
You're only working 32-40hrs a week and you're complaining? Lol try working 60+ hrs before you start complaining.

>>17749421
I did have one store that I applied to for a managerial position tell me that they didn't want me because my experience was fast food. I really appreciate that advice, I didn't really know what kind of options I had open to me and I guess it didn't occur to me that I could go on the dole while studying. What you pointed out sounds like really a sound plan and I think it's something that I could manage. Some of my local TAFEs seem to be doing information sessions for some of their courses this month and next, so I think I will go to a couple and see if I can find something. Living on a tight budget with a part time job and studying something I want has to be a lot better for me, even if my current job is paying well, right?

>>17749487
Adelaide, a lot of cheap housing around here so I'll be able to do well on that regard.

That sounds really unpleasant. I do admit that my pay here is quite good, and part of me feels like I'm just being entitled and should just accept that I have a stable job with decent pay. But even still I don't feel like it's worth it when I don't get to see friends or go out much, and I hardly get to do things with my girlfriend. How do you cope with the stress?

>>17749573
>how do you cope with the stress?
shit, i don't know really. i have really bad anxiety and depression. i'd still rather be dead than be doing this shit. but at this point i don't have anything to lose so i'm just kind of going with it. i'm still terrified every day i am going to lose my job. i'm not australian, so i don't have government assistance if i lose my job. i have family (not in aus) but i don't like them, and i don't want their assistance, nor would they offer me assistance if i needed it anyway.

weekends are a huge relief for me though. I guess you don't have that. i have 2 guaranteed days every week i don't have to worry about work shit.

just from what you said about needing to be available 24/7 makes me think i'd probably be worse off in your position, maybe? most of the stress for me from this job though is that the tasks i get (which, by the way, are directly from her own workload. i've been told my position is really an executive assistant position. and they get paid at least twice as much as i do.) are almost always things that take more than 1 day to solve, and sometimes they take weeks, and up to months. so those things are always at the back of my mind, even when i can't progress further with them.

i talk 2 much soz. i have no friends

>>17749608
I would absolutely love to be able to have weekends off. I rarely get two days off straight as it is. I know what it's like with depression though, and the stress from work just seems to exaggerate it.

I have a similar situation with my family too, they live interstate and we don't really have anything to do with one another. My girlfriend is all I have and that's why I fret so much about giving up this job. If we weren't able to make our way financially, we'd be out on the streets.

Don't be sorry, it's been great.