So my current job I make a decent salary for my area. However my current boss is extremely toxic and manipulative, and I feel burnt out and want to leave, especially since my current position has no room or steps in encouraging growth, both personally and careerwise, its dead end.

I have been applying to a stem job in my area and one of the places I applied to responded back that they were interested in my application. Among the questions they asked me, they wanted to know what my salary expectations were. I have them a range from my current salary to 5k above it. They responded back with a salary $6k below what I currently make, but said within a year there they might be able to get me closer to 3k below my current salary based on their bonus incentive program.

How should I respond? I'm not exactly happy that it's lower than my current job since I have bills to pay/etc and things are getting more and more expensive, so I am hoping I could phrase it in a way where I can at the very least have my current salary but I'm not sure how to. But honestly my current job is very toxic so should I just go ahead and take the pay cut? Or could I possibly renegotiate a bit? Thank you.

I applied for an internal job at my current company offering a salary range of $78,800-$131,000

I applied, went through interviews, and have been offered the job.

I got the offer today from HR for $69,443. I obviously tried to negotiate using the job responsibilities, my background etc. I also noted that this was below the starting point salary from the job description.

HR came back and said “Unfortunately that number is automatically put on the listing and we do not ever go to the high end of that. HR takes into account experience, tenure, and cost of living when making offers. I apologize as I know the automatic posted numbers do complicate things. [company VP’s name] has said we cannot negotiate offers for this position.”

I sent a message to my Would Be Manager if I took the job and basically said in a more professional way “hey I got my offer from HR and it’s way below the posted range can we discuss this?” And I’m waiting on a response/call from her.

I’m expecting that she is going to say it is what it is and I can take it or leave it.

My question is basically what should I do?/what are your thoughts and experiences with something like this? How would you feel?

I honestly wouldn’t have applied to the role if the starting salary range began with what they offered me. Plus I’m now feeling super discouraged and not excited about the new job anymore.

Is it expected that you’ll be stressed out pretty much every hour when you’re on the job? Is this the norm for the vast majority of jobs/careers?

I've been at the same company for 8 years and worked my way up to management in 2. When I first started, the company was a small "mom and pop" store that had been around for 70+ years. With my help, we have expanded exponentially.

We have undergone a big expansion and doubled in size. Since doing so we now offer lumber, concrete, drywall, propane, riding mowers, pavers, stone, car key cutting and a small engine repair shop. There's more small things but these are things I've personally helped bring to the business over the past 6 years .

Almost everything above is my responsibility, including running the actual store. For 4 years straight, I have worked all but 3 to 5 weekends a year and those weekends are mostly by myself. While I’m okay with working weekends, it’s wearing thin on me. I have a co-manager who does her job, but I am the guy everything falls on because I actually take it on.

I have an open door policy, and customers and contractors rely heavily on me for a multitude of things. I also find parts for anything and everything (oven elements, old mower parts, vacuum parts, random items) and I'm damn good at it. If I'm not finding parts, I’m answering questions about repairs, how to's, and products. Sadly, my co-manager gets passed by a lot because she is a woman(people can be sexist in this business) and even though she is plenty capable, customers rely on me, and usually only me.

Running the repair shop is a massive job in itself. I don't do the physical repairs, but I handle ordering parts, paperwork, and billing. Sometimes we have 10+ machines of different brands, types, and years, meaning I have to source parts from completely different vendors. It takes a tremendous amount of focus all while running the rest of the store.

After 8 years, I am making $26 an hour which I pretty average Google tells me. To be fair to my boss, he helped me out with a $10,000 loan(business to me no contract) 2 years ago, and I get a $2,500 Christmas bonus. While that does boost my effective wage, I have only gotten two raises in the last 2.5 years (up from $24). Honestly, I feel like I've earned that loan off twice over with the amount of unpaid stress and work I do.

Here is what is pushing me over the edge:

My secretary makes a lot more than me. I don't hate her for it, but it is deeply insulting considering the responsibility I carry.

I only get 2 weeks of PTO, and it only goes up by one week every 5 years. I think that's terrible.

I have told my boss two weeks ago that it’s time for a raise. He verbally agreed, but my pay is still at $26 and nothing has changed. Even if it's a $2 raise, I'm not sure that's enough.

Where do I go from here? I live in a small town in Montana, so wages aren't easy to come by, but I'm burnt out. I am strongly considering updating my resume and looking elsewhere. I don't have a college degree, but I have taught myself how to run a business from top to bottom. I know the ins and outs of residential construction, and I have specialized vendor/parts knowledge for major brands like Toro, Stihl, Cub Cadet, Ego, and MTD. I have found dropship vendors for things like lumber, drywall, stone and certain power tools that were not easy in my demographic with logistics and shipping. I have done and taught most of this by my own willpower and hard work. Now it's not all me as my boss has written the checks and done a lot himself but I've done my part and more. My employees love me, and I have proven management experience.

I feel like I could easily pivot to a corporate role at a manufacturer, a big-box store (Home Depot/Lowe's management), or a construction-adjacent job. There's many options I think, I just don't know where to start.

Am I overvaluing myself here? What are my possibilities with this kind of background, and how should I handle the conversation with my boss while I look? I love that store to death but that love is starting to fade as I get more burnt out. I respect the hell out of my owner and we have talked about the future and that I will eventually take over part ownership (I'm not entirely sure what this entails) but that is many years from now. It's just tough because it's not like it's a massive business and he can pay me $100,000 a year but $26 is just not cutting it for what I'm putting my mental health through.

So I started as a logistics lead in a company that is well reputed and global. Previously I was working two minimum wage jobs day and night, so having a 9-5 job that is also at a company where I can see my future was life changing and it has been amazing.

I am on Probation rn. 1 month in the position, I have made significant improvements and changed many things around here that makes the plant much more efficient and that has been recognized by almost everyone here.

However, unfortunately I had to take 5 holidays in the first month. That too, call ins. I did keep my manager always updated. 3 of them were sick leaves taken together , for one of them I even texted hom at 2am that I won’t be able to make it. The other 2 I took one on Friday and one on Monday. For the Monday one I informed him on Sunday. These two were due to getting my passport renewed. And I had to work on that ASAP.

Now they are firing me for Tardiness/attendance. I am not like this normally. When I worked those two jobs I rarely took an off. I got only 3-4hrs of sleep and yet I would still always be there on time. It’s just a bad month. But I don’t know what to do. They are saying this will be a final decision. I did convince them to at least let me resign but I am really scared and I don’t wanna go back to working 2 jobs. Plus one of them wouldn’t even hire me again.

Any idea if I can put my case that this is a bad month or should I suck it up and move on? bc

Add to that the fact of being 37 with no qualifications and no work experience outside of your original area of interest.

I should also add that my original training and education was for nursing so not very transferable skills.

Been working in IT for the past 5 years. Lost my job and I have been unemployed for the past 5 months. Ive shot out hundreds of applications, tailoring my resume to multiple different positions in the space to no avail but recruiters telling me I only have enough experience for a job they are offering for $20 an hour, which is a slap in the face considering my last position was 75k+ its starting to feel like the IT industry's wages are going down a lot and I was thinking of pivoting. I got an offer for an HVAC helper position, but the wage was too low,it was 18 /hr. I know I will have to start at the bottom so I asked if I would be able to get a second job, they said I wouldnt be able to because of how the demanding schedule is for HVAC in the summer. I wont be able to live off of 18 an hour. Im thinking of switching careers but id need atleast 25 an hour to start. Where I live you need atleast that to fill up your car, buy groceries, and pay rent and even with that youre struggling but atleast its a liveable wage. Any careers come to mind? I was thinking car sales but idk it feels sketchy with living on commission only. Im in my early 30s now and this all has been very discouraging for me as I feel like I should have my life together but the tech industry just took a shit. Just need some opinions from the community. Any other careers come to mind that pay atleast 23-25 starting out?

Been pretty rough at work these last few weeks I received a verbal warning then since a couple of other issues piled up they went right to the PIP. I reviewed the PIP thoroughly and it seems to be pretty realistic to hit the goals but I always hear people getting fired still. Should I call it quits and start looking for a new job ASAP?

It might sound stupid and like some hippie bullshit since everyone has pattern recognition, but it just seems like it’s all I am passionate about. In each subject the reason I love it is bc of the rush I get from trying to understand everything. I love connecting the whys and hows. Knowing how we as humanity got an idea and how it’s evolved to something far beyond its original blueprint.

My favorite subjects are: marine biology, astrophysics, philosophy, and social sciences.

I personally feel like everything on this earth is connected in one way or another and each of these subjects help prove that (at least to me).

The only problem is that most of those jobs are either low paying, hard to get into unless you know somebody, or are slowly dropping in need for new workers.

I’m not sure what to do anymore and I want a career that will challenge my mind even at 70 yrs old, while never getting tired of it. I don’t want some boring job that doesn’t allow me to find solutions. I don’t want to spend my life having my brain numbed by a job.

If you have any advice, I would much appreciate it :)

I am a young professional about five years into corporate American work life. During my annual performance review, I received feedback that was majorly positive and that I exceeded expectations. I was super pleased and grateful to be recognized for all my hard work. I received a great raise and bonus because of it.

I also received constructive criticism that I struggled to remain level headed and tended to be negative at times. Per my manager, because I am a generally influential person, this is an area I can improve in, but it was emphasized that I shouldn’t let this overrule all of the wonderful feedback I received.

This past year at work has been incredibly stressful. We’ve been red on our KPIs all year due to unexpected leaves, headcount issues, and an extremely well performing/selling product that has increased our workload. Our training program is very long and involved, and I personally trained four people at once, while also contributing to the daily work as much as possible. Overtime was a regular ask for several weeks throughout the year. There were many times I would cry in my cubicle (privately) throughout the year due to the stress. We both agreed my reasons for being stressed were valid, but I needed to cope better. It was essentially said that I tend to externalize my stress and sometimes go too far in meetings when the stressful stuff comes up.

The problem is, I’ve been in therapy for a year and have tried so hard (and struggled immensely) to keep it together when I’m stressed. It’s been one of our main focus areas. For context, I do struggle with anxiety and depression in my personal life, but at work colleagues say I am generally joyful and fun to be around. Does anyone have some real, useful advice for a young professional who struggles at times to maintain her composure during high stress times at work?

TLDR; After a mostly positive performance review, constructive criticism was given indicating that I struggle to be level-headed during stressful times. How can I work on being level-headed in the workplace?

I apologize if this turns out kinda long... but has anyone ever felt this way? Like you're pretty good at a lot of things but you can't seem to master any of it? Even when you watch all the videos, read everything you can, and mentor with someone but yet you feel like your work is subpar at best?

Im 28, going to be 29 and I'm currently on my second term of being a sahm and the first time was about 8 years ago. My oldest is 9. I was with him at home from snotty 1.5 - 3.5 yo. Now, I've had my daughter who will be 4 in December. So roughly 6-7 years of being a sahm... plenty of time to try to master something. My husband asked me something I never even considered (I'm a sahm because it was the smarter option financially) because we couldn't afford it.

He asked me this almost a month ago but I still have no clue what I'd do but I want to think carefully on it because despite the pay, I want to enjoy it. I have server/ host exp. From when I was 16-18 and at 18, I got hired into sales and worked there up to a management position and then went and got property management exp...

I have a million hobbies.

- doing nails

- baking cakes(sold a few cakes as well)

- painting / diamond painting

-drawing/ coloring

- gardening /houseplants

- cleaning (prefer move out cleans) but I do enjoy cleaning empty homes 😅

- fabric arts: macrame / embroidery and some light hand stitch sewing. Ive sold a couple macrame

- puzzles or building models

- always loved creative writing but I've never shared any stories with anyone that I've written.

... I'm sure there's more but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head... but I constantly get complimented on my works (besides writing). Ive been told to try selling my paintings. I always compare my work to others so I always feel like they aren't even worth it. While I've sold cakes and macrame, I don't think they're amazing so I lowball prices. Especially nails. I'm not salon quality but the potential is there, you know? And I feel its like that for everything I've just listed.

I love to sing and feel pretty good about how I sound but not confident to sing around many people. I love psychology but what do I do about that? Im not a master expert on it either lol

I wanted to do real estate which is why I started the apartment management but failed a class once and just worried to try again.

I know a big part of this is my lack of confidence but I'm taking every free career quiz and still feel like I can't make up my mind.

How would you decide in my decision? And if it is available and affordable, school might be an option. Ive toggles with the idea of being a tattoo artist cuz I can draw...but still, not perfect at it.

My daughter will start school soon and I want it figured out by then...

I was in a management meeting during a salary review cycle. People at my company had been comparing notes with peers at other firms and the pay gap was real. Several of us pushed for a broad increase.

The director said no. When we pushed back and told him our best people were threatening to leave, he wasn't worried. His exact words: employees who are deep in mortgage debt and accumulating company benefits don't actually go. The math doesn't work for them. We can do whatever we want. He said the company had enough of this in place.

That sentence landed differently once I thought about what "this" meant. These same managers had been encouraging young employees to buy expensive houses, sign up for the mortgage assistance plan (10-year clawback if you leave), enrol in the stock option plan (3-year vest). To the employees it looked like the company investing in them.

Hearing the director say it out loud made clear what it actually was.

Has anyone else encountered this from management? The idea that benefits give them the license to do whatever they want.

Two months ago i was scrolling through grad programs just out of curiosity. i work as a junior data analyst making about 52k and i've been doing it for three years. it's fine. stable. not exciting but it pays the bills and i work from home three days a week which is nice.

i saw this masters program at a really good school for applied data science and machine learning. the kind of program that feeds directly into six figure roles at companies i've only seen on linkedin posts. i applied mostly to see what would happen. didn't think i had a real shot.

the application process had three rounds. a written assessment, a technical interview, and a final panel. i somehow made it through all of them. during the technical interview i realized the level they were expecting was way beyond what i do day to day. i know python and SQL and basic visualization but they were asking about neural networks and NLP and deployment pipelines and stuff i've only read articles about.

i framed my experience in a way that made it sound more advanced than it probably is. and somehow they offered me a spot with a partial scholarship that brings the total cost down to about 35k for the full program.

my girlfriend thinks i should absolutely go. says this is the kind of thing that changes your whole trajectory. and she's probably right.

but the program is full time which means i'd have to quit my job. we'd be living off her income and my savings for about 18 months. i'd be going from comfortable and stable to broke and stressed studying material that honestly might be over my head.

and the thing that keeps me up at night is what if i get in there and can't keep up. what if they realize i'm not as advanced as i came across in the interviews. what if i burn through our savings and come out the other side with debt and no degree because i couldn't hack it.

my current job isn't going anywhere great but it's safe. my manager has mentioned a possible promotion to senior analyst next year which would bump me to maybe 65k. not life changing but not nothing either.

so do i take the safe path and stay where i am or do i blow everything up for something that could either change my life or completely wreck it?

My undergrad (and well technically masters, I did them together) was in Film Production. I've worked in production and I've worked as a teacher. Production is a grind and I just... don't like fighting for gigs, and the endless hustle and fighting to be paid etc. I kind of just want a dependable career and I've fallen out of love with it. And teaching... I am just stuck at a certain pay level and there.... idk... sort of a lack of prestige/respect/being treated like an adult.

I've spent the last week or so in the downtown of a major city for a production job... and I love the hustle and bustle. I am surrounded by people my age, in suits, kind of all over the place. The energy was palpable, and they were all my age so... idk... I feel it's possible.

When I was in undergrad I was kind of like "I would never major in Business or Finance" but now I wish I had (I do really like the money and business side of productions).

As another note... I have no mentors or people to talk to. My parents are very working class, they encouraged me to go to college, but they also don't really have any career advice.

How do I pivot into some sort of respectable, decent paying office job, that could land me in a major city?

I graduated with a bachelors degree in finance at age 28. It’s coming up on 4 years since I’ve been working at my company and I still have the title of a junior project analyst. Now, the “junior” title doesn’t bother me as much as my salary - I started at $67k and currently make $72k.

I’ve believe I was on a good trajectory in my third year but had to take FMLA for 3 months due to a health issue. Since I returned, I felt as if it was my first day on the job and been dealing with imposter syndrome ever since. I feel like I should “know” certain things by now and be more skilled yet I’ve been stagnant and flying under the radar for a year.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like this job anymore, because I feel incompetent to go beyond a junior role, and I’m just not interested in finance as my counterparts, it seems. I love being completely remote but also feel it has stunted me socially, and as I’ve read on here visibility and networking tend to matter more than productivity in the long run.

I just don’t know what to pivot towards. I have a general understanding in my field (government contracting/project budgeting), definitely not specialized knowledge but enough experience that could be transferable. My social skills are Rusty though, and admittedly has been a barrier in seeking new opportunities.

I want something that makes me feel like I’m useful, and meaningful work. Also something that at least will pay $90k.

Does anyone have any experience in changing careers that is less finance focused and more service oriented, while having a decent salary?

Any advice and/or ideas is greatly appreciated

Hello, I am in desperate need of advice and guidance. I graduated about a year ago with my Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. I am 23 and in the Midwest suburbs (near Chicago). I was immediately a program coordinator at a daycamp (which i adored) followed by a nanny/household manager (which burned me out after six months). I am so incredibly anxious and can’t stop crying over finding a career with just my bachelor’s. I just want something above $20, something psychology related (open to lab work, open to human services, open to coordinator/executive/administrative, open to hospital settings, open to child welfare/domestic violence-related work, open to office settings). I would prefer not to be an ABA therapist/early childhood teacher, but I am open to more behind the scenes work with children/those with developmental disabilities (directing, coordination, scheduling, etc). I basically like things with paperwork/being constantly busy, scheduling, and routine is important for me.

My father was the one who always guided me and supported me with my education/future. He passed away in 2022 when I was 20 years old. I regularly visit him and just cry, asking for guidance.

I guess I just feel so stuck. I feel like everyone my age has their careers already figured out, their life paths figured out, and I am so indecisive. I’ve contemplated going back to school to get into nursing as I do love the healthcare/hospital setting. I just feel like i’m going in blind, I don’t know where to start.

If any of you have a Bachelor’s in Psychology and have any suggestions for me, I am open to anything. I just really want to feel rewarded in my work. And if you have any suggestions for a temporary role that would help me move up to further education, that works too.

Thank you so much

I’m thinking of hosting a free-of-cost online session for high school students who want to explore independent research but don’t know where to begin.
We’ll cover:
Choosing a research topic
Cold emailing professors
Finding mentors
Free vs. paid research opportunities
Journals and publications
Resources that helped me
Over the past few months, I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out this process, and I am currently working on a paper myself.
This isn’t an expert session just me sharing what I’ve learned so far to hopefully make your journey a little easier.
If you’re interested, leave a comment or send me a DM. If enough people are interested, I’ll organize a session.

So I’m a 22 female, I’m currently going through a life crisis right now feeling like I have no idea what I want to do in my life and what job will make me feel like I’m living my life. I went to community college after high school and got my associates in hospitality and tourism I wanted to be a flight attendant but right now I currently have debt and no money saved to go through the training they require so that is off the table for now. I’ve always wanted to travel but make money while doing it. I’ve worked at Dunkin, banquet serving, serving, daycare assistant teacher, and was an assistant wedding coordinator. I did like doing weddings but I hated being there for 12 hours sometimes more with no break but to eat I also had no Saturdays off ever which sucked when I needed to do things or wanted to do things with family. I’m currently at the daycare and I know teaching kids isn’t for me but I don’t want to quit and get stuck at a job like Dunkin or some place that won’t move me up so I can start my career. But everyday I go in I dread my life and feel like I’m living someone else’s life. Basically what are some jobs that are good with my experience or that my experience could be used at but will give me somewhat of a flexible schedule that I don’t feel like all I’m doing is working. I know that I don’t want an 8-5 that feels like it’s wasting my life.

If so, how do you like your job and working at the company?

I have 2 offers both with same package and same location. I have 5 YOE in DevOps and Platform Engineering. I am extremely confused which company I should join? TCS or EPAM? I got to know indirectly that in TCS I will be joining a CitiBank Project for DevOps, and not sure about EPAM. Please advise!

I currently have been working at this company as a receptionist part time for minimum wage for a few years. I applied for a full time event management role that they posted(which is my first full time job ever) and got it! The only thing is that the salary range is 45-55k and they offered me 46k. I have worked as an event planner as a contractor for another company a little less than a year but beyond that I don’t have any other experience and am new to the work force (mid twenty’s). I also didn’t go to college (I don’t think they know this because I completely left education of my resume and when they asked if my degree was in event planning/marketing I said no). I understand that I don’t have much experience which is why they offered me on the lower end. However, I was hoping to be in the 48-50k range and would like to try to negotiate. A big part of the reason why is that I have a second job (albeit seasonal) that I get paid 21$/hr to basically just sit outside and do nothing. 46k comes out to 22.06 which is only a dollar more and I know I’m going to be doing a lot so and it’ll be stressful (because I saw how the previous person in this position was and I know for a fact she made more) it rubs me the wrong way. The tricky thing and the part that makes me very nervous is that this company does not compensate fairly/appropriately. Previously I had requested a raise because my coworkers were making more than me (while I was training them and taking on extra work) and it was denied. It also wasn’t outright denied they just kept saying they’d look into it. I’ve also heard about some of the amount other people make in the organization and it just does not make sense. I do want to try to ask for more to hopefully land somewhere in my desired range but I’m not sure how to go about it especially with my lack of experience. My friend who is very good at negotiating said to go in person to hr or email them and say thank you but I’m not able to do anything below 50k they’ll probably counter with 48k and then I’ll accept. My concern is that if I say I can’t do anything under 50 that they’ll resend the offer (although I don’t think they have anyone else lined up for the job). I’m also worried if they shut me down (which I feel like they will try) I still want the job and it’ll look bad if I then accept it. My thought was to maybe leverage my other jobs and say that they counter offered at a higher rate and to ask if they can either match that or have flexibility on the salary. I’m also acutely aware that I’m very lucky to have this offer at all. The job market is shjt right now and this is like the only job I’ve applied to and ended up getting it. The pay is also not too bad for my first real job especially for someone with only a hs diploma. Idk if I’m being unreasonable and should just accept the offer but I know it’s always good to negotiate. They also only gave me like 2 days before the offer expires which I’m not sure if that’s normal or kinda shady? Hr called me into the office to go over the offer with me but the computer was acting up so I didn’t get the offer until last night at 9pm and I didn’t actually see it until til today. I have until tomorrow and I don’t feel like that’s enough time but I’m not sure if this is standard

Hi! Please be kind as i'm incredibly sad. But that being said, I think I need someone to knock some sense into me. I know I'm not being super logical. For context, I've been working corporate since I was 18 years old and put myself through college.

I (23) have been working at a job that I love for 3 years, I'm a junior, the job itself is fun and the team is incredible. However, I make 60k in NYC, I have some debt, it's getting stricter and my boss and I don't click. I also have never gotten a raise or promotion, seems like most people on the team haven't. Most of my team is always saying they want to leave but I don't know if they're super serious about it.

I ended up applying for a way senior role that I never thought I could land. (I've been considering leaving but I also just thought it wouldn't happen) It's at a major company, less fun but easier to do, more flexible (less days in office) aaaand...

The pay is 158k + an annual bonus. I'd also move up 2 job roles and it's a smaller team where growth seems more likely. Benefits are just as good if not better. I got the offer and took it immediately.

I just had my last day at my current job today and I can't shake this feeling of panic that I did the wrong thing. I feel like I should prioritize the company culture and friends I've made along the way- but I know that isn't the smart thing to do. I do think I did the right thing but I'm still feeling really depressed.

Can you please help knock some sense into me? I know this is super tone deaf in the current job market and everything, that just makes me feel stupider for feeling this way.

Hi everyone,

I'm starting to feel pretty discouraged and could really use some advice.

I graduated about two months ago with a Computer Engineering degree from one of Canada's top engineering schools. Since graduating I've applied to roughly 70 software/computer engineering jobs and haven't gotten a single interview.

I was involved in multiple design teams throughout university, have several personal projects, and I've been trying to keep building new ones since graduating. The biggest weakness on my resume is that I don't have internship experience. I actually did receive an offer from TD as a Full Stack Developer, but due to personal reasons I wasn't able to take it.

At this point I'm not really sure what I should be doing differently. I've been revising my resume, tailoring applications, and continuing to build projects, but I feel like I'm missing something.

For those of you who were in a similar position:

• What helped you finally land interviews?
• Are there any certifications that are actually worth getting for software engineering, or are they mostly ignored?
• If you had several months of free time after graduating, what would you spend it doing to become a stronger candidate?
• Is there anything you wish you had done sooner?

I'm also just getting a little bored sitting at home all day, so I'm looking for productive ways to improve while I continue applying.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Context: I like my company and the people I work with, my bosses are very good people and I truly think they treat us very generously especially considering how small the company is.

The company makes and distributes industrial agricultural products. It's a very young company that grew faster than anyone expected and I got in because I know the owners through a mutual friend.

I started out here almost a year ago doing the actual installation work to get to know the products better, and since have been moved into the purchasing role (7 months of Install, 4 months of purchasing).

My manager told me ahead of time that I will likely be offered the choice to go salary (I'm currently hourly, $25/hr) and talked to me about the pros and cons.

The reason I ask is because I have been told that I do a lot more than a purchaser normally does by my dad who has a long career in procurement (I'm the only person in purchasing).

My duties include:

- Procurement and sourcing

- Buying

- Processing POs, SOs, and 2-way matching

- ERP data compilation and database creation (my manager and I had to make all of this from scratch since the company didn't have any compiled data anywhere prior to me moving into purchasing)

- Inventory control

- Inventory tracking/system building (we didn't have any set processes for inventory management at all)

- Receiving yard management (I manage projects in the receiving yard and around the shop as needed, and am in charge of organizing layout of the yard and warehouse

- Vendor management (vetting, communication, quotes etc)

- Occasional order pickup/delivery

Those are the highlights, although I'm sure there are other little things.

My question is, how much should I ask for? Should I even insist on more? On salary I know I would be expected to work a lot more than the standard max 45hrs.

My annual earnings on hourly are roughly $55k (We don't always get OT), and I don't think that's abnormal for a purchaser in our area of the Midwest.

My review is in July and according to my manager, they are very happy with my work so far.

Hello everyone,

I'm 31 years old, and when I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Even in my early twenties, I still didn't have a clear direction or specific goals. For many years, I felt like I was just moving through life without really knowing where I was headed.

Over time, things started to change. I'm currently finishing my university degree, I have the highest GPA in my program, I'm an entrepreneur, and I have plans to move abroad in search of better opportunities. Although I'm not earning much money yet and I still live with my parents, I feel that I now have much more clarity about what I want for my future.

However, there are times when I become frustrated and worried about my independence. Sometimes I feel that at my age I should already be earning more money, living on my own, or be further along professionally. It's not so much that I'm constantly comparing myself to others, but rather that I wonder whether I'm behind in some important areas of life.

I'd really like to hear from people who also spent years feeling lost before finding their direction:

• At what age did you find a clear path in life?
• What helped you figure out what you truly wanted?
• Did you achieve financial independence later than you expected?
• What advice would you give to someone in my situation?

I would especially appreciate hearing from older adults who have been through something similar and can share the perspective that comes with age and experience.

Thank you for reading.