Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, I'm pretty new here, i'm 24 and just discovering the possibility of being autistic (waiting for an assessment).
I wanted to ask and get some sort of advice on career change and how to do it.
The bottom line is eventually i want be a graphic designer or anything within the creative sphere but want advice on how to eventually get there (I'm ok being poor forever lol)
Backstory: so, my personal passion is being creative, so as a kid I used to draw, make stuff, make short films, stick animations etc etc and back then I was considered really good for my age (13/14) (that's what people used to say).
However, being a first-generation immigrant, creative things aree seen as useless. and during GCSE one of my subjects was art graphics and when I would try work on my coursework (as art take a looonggg time i was never allowed and told to go study something useful like math or science. eventually i got a C in art (the only C grade i got) and my dad was like "if you were good, you'd have gotten a higher grade". anyway, University comes and I studied law- this was something my dad suggested I studied and i felt like i couldn't say no so I did- then I started my master (LPC LLM) in October 2022 and during February 2023 I started to notice something big was wrong and i just fell into the biggest burnout of my life that i am just recovering from (this particular burnout was what made me research to try to truly understand what was "wrong with me all my life" as I've had several burnouts before but i didn't know they were burnout and i just used to joke they were just waves of black magic curses.
Ok now I'm in a position where I have to resit 3 LPC exams as I failed them due to my burnout and it was too late to apply for extenuating circumstances. but I've truly realised that I hate Law lol. it's not something I want but something I felt I had to do but if i keep going i will literally die. (point: I told my older brother I didn't want to do this and basically the gist was I've spent 3 years already at uni it would be a waste to circle back) now I want to see if I can go back to doing something more creative. but don't know where to start, what to look at doing, gaining experience etc etc
(point: I have a job been working as a paralegal but it pays peanuts)
(Point again: One of the reasons I felt I had too was because my dad also suggested my older brother to become and engineer and he also said yes even though that's not what he wanted to do either, but he was good at maths).
I've tried picking up creative things again and it seems like I've losttt every single skill I once had, like I can't do anything anymore that now, and even though I want to live and breathe anything creative I'm so demotivated that what I create isn't good and if I had kept on practicing I could've been good.
any advice would beeeee great.
I feel like i didn't give enough context so please let me know if you have any questions.
thank you
Hello,
If you are already experiencing burnout it is a sign that you may soon be incapable of doing your job (this is absolutely nothing to blame yourself for, and is fully expected when you weren't able to follow your true passion). I would advise spending some time trying to rebuild those skills because they won't be lost, just hidden in the back of your memory and I'm sure you can get them back
In terms of a career, I would personally recommend not going straight into a job in the creative industry as it will make you feel pressured and could make you fall out of love with it, so perhaps you could continue to work for a short while, either in this job or a temporary role, so you are able to freely improve your skills.
There are many ways to get experience in the meantime- perhaps you could contact small businesses and ask to create them a website, use social media to display your skills, create a local art club for people in your area (children or adults), work an admin/secretarial job for a creative company to make connections, or just contact people on LinkedIn and see if they have any opportunities available for you.
I am unfortunately not a remotely creative person so I apologise if this was no use, but I wish you luck!