I (28f) have been at my current job for almost 5 years. I started in NYC where our office was located but was really fortunate to keep my job once moving out of state and am now fully remote. My department is me, my boss, and an assistant.

My boss is going on maternity leave and I was given the option to either relocate back to NYC for the duration of her leave (job would pay for my NYC apartment), or for the firm to hire someone that would be senior to me. I turned down the offer to relocate as it would be a big disturbance to my life and there would be no financial compensation or title change. We’ve now hired someone senior to me who will be starting only two weeks prior to my boss going on leave.

On top of my current workload, I’ve already been given additional tasks and meetings to oversee while my boss is away. I was under the impression that hiring someone new (and my senior) would mean they are taking on my boss’s workload while mine would stay relatively the same. I’ve only just found out the new hire will be taking on more menial and seemingly lower-level tasks due to the fact that she has very little time to train with my boss. In a recurring meeting that will eventually include our new hire, my boss even told people that I “know her better” and can help make decisions when she’s away.

I’m meant to have a talk with my boss tomorrow regarding department changes / responsibilities. I’m not sure how to voice my concerns on having her director-level work dumped on me while a new hire gets a senior title and higher pay without sounding whiny or bratty. I also already get special treatment being that I’m fully remote and am afraid to come off like I’m taking advantage of the situation or don’t want to work hard.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I'm disabled and don't drive. I don't think I'm an idiot. I think I'm extremely emotionally intelligent, have high interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness, and am a great reader and writer, etc., but I just have a shit memory from anxiety and epilepsy. I nearly failed most of my math and science classes in high school, and I should not be trusted with machinery. I've worked retail for four years and I'm pretty good at my job, but I don't want to be broke all the time. What options do I have? I do have a B.A. in English/Creative Writing (only thing I was good at besides art), but the writing/editing field is super competitive and they work you to death and don't pay you all that well. Sometimes, I wish I'd majored in something else. I might need to start there even though I think that job would isolate me and make me unhappy. I tried teaching and that made me unhappier than retail, so that's a hard pass. Writing/editing would definitely pay better than retail. I might just never make much money. I wouldn't be stressed about it if the cost of living wasn't out of control, but it is.

What would you suggest? Remember: I can't drive. That's an issue in America.

Hi. I just graduated this Friday with a degree in Sound Technology from ITLA in the Dominican Republic. I had the highest GPA among the Sound Technology graduates. All my classmates are celebrating, but I still haven't posted anything on my socials.

When I was about to start college, I had dreams of helping independent bands and artists in my country who might not have a lot of money, and of helping my church achieve a whole new level of sound quality. But somewhere along the way, while I was still studying, that light started to fade.

Now I'm depressed and questioning my existence after feeling like I've wasted my youth. All my friends are making good money, and I can't even find a job in my field.

AI stole my spark the moment I first heard an AI-generated merengue song in 2024. I knew us music producers had no hope.

On top of that, my institute focused almost entirely on music production. Our electronics class consisted of listening to the differences between types of saturation. I don't know how to solder a cable, let alone anything about electronics.

The same thing happened with acoustics. We were asked to draw a floor plan of our rooms and even design a studio in Autocad, but I don't have the slightest idea how to properly soundproof a room.

The live sound portion of the program, which is practically the only area offering job opportunities in my country, was also taught very poorly. I have no idea how to set up an entire sound system by myself. I barely know my way around the Behringer X32.

I sent my portfolio to a film studio here in the Dominican Republic, and they completely ignored it.

I spoke to my institute to ask whether they offered scholarships to graduates who wanted to pursue a second degree, and to my surprise, they told me they don't offer scholarships to former students. I'm screwed.

I wanted to hear some advice from someone with experience because I can't take all this mental shit anymore. I don't want to end up living on the streets.

I don't know whether pursue a bachelor's degree at a university abroad, take live sound courses here in my country or study a completely different degree unrelated to sound.

Hi everyone, I am a current student in the Greater Boston area graduating in December with a degree in Econ, i’ve been looking for internships and full time roles but haven’t had much luck. Looking for advice on what I should do next because I feel quite lost.

To tell a little about myself, I was originally a biochem major but I found an interest in the financial/econ field from a few classes I had taken and decided I wanted to switch majors. But that switch occurred in my junior year so I was already behind in the cycle. To catch up I took on small roles and unpaid internship/externships in equity research and FP&A, I also self studied a lot of concepts and am taking a python certification course on my own time (I feel like having some programming on my resume helps in this day and age). I would say I am intermediate in my excel skills but I am always studying more concepts and trying to grow my skills. I have made it to 2 final rounds (out of 300+ applications) but I was rejected both times for someone with more traditional experience.

Graduating in Decemeber also feels like a brutal time with how weird it is in the cycle ,along with how rough the job market is, I recently have not been hearing back from anyone. I have thought about going straight for a masters degree, but I want to earn money and real experience so I can afford school and have my application stand out.

Right now, I am really debating cold emailing small firms to ask for winter internships (even unpaid) but I still feel like i’m late to this because I have been mainly focused on full time roles. I need to strengthen my resume somehow, though I worry that my background isn’t what they are looking for. 

What should someone in my shoes do to just get my foot in the door?

Thank you.

For context, I'm a highschool student. My motivation for everything has been imagining others, especially people from my country, happy and healthy. Recently, I've been feeling that having this as a motivation is quite naïve. Of course, no one can heal the entire world and everyone in it. I just want to help as much as I can. I'm worried that basing my career off of this might cause me to become jaded or cynical in some way. Perhaps my fears are unfounded, but it scares me to think that one day, I might stop believing in the goodness of the world and in helping others.

My desired career is based in STEM, which I've always had trouble with, though to be frank I've really enjoyed it. Yet, if it becomes "too much" and certain ideals of mine change, will I just be stuck in a job I resent? Being miserable would probably make everything worse, which would really affect my ability to even help others.

I don't want to get too personal, but it took a long time for me to realize why I even got up in the morning. Having a reason to do what I do would prove the greatest benefit to myself.

If anyone could share their experience with getting an MIS degree and how easy/hard it was to get a job out of college, taht would be great help. If you could also share what college, that would help as well

I just sent another burnout email and workload that I have to manage thousands of students in ONE person to my line manager. Thats ridiculous honestly..

I finally sent out the email after several sleepless night drafting, editing and crying. Unfortunately, the university is focusing on "student centric" approach which caused us pain, sleepless night, immense workload. But I also just found out that some other school workloads are more manageable.

Im currently a 17f in trade school for welding. I enjoy welding but I know out in the field it wont be as easy as it is now. Ive always enjoyed being creative which is what brought me to welding because I hated school and I found welding to be the most creative trade. Im currently looking into switching to digital marketing but I dont know too much about it.

My goal in life is to eventually own a business or have a career where im not limited to how much money I can make. I always hated the thought of being paid a certain amount hourly or working my way up someone elses business. I want to work hard for something and have my pay depend on how hard I work but im not sure what other careers would meet my goals.

I want to protect myself. My role is to communicate IT Changes to the business effectively. I also play an enablement and change role, and have been essential in deploying AI across our global company. But - I feel it. The insecurity. Upper management only gives af about margins. With AI coming for communications as we know it, I need to start prepping for a career shift. Any advice? I’m interested in adoption and enablement, product management, UI or UX to give a couple of examples as to where I think I could head. I have a BA in anth and soci.

Just started as a staff 1 in a more business consulting area 2 weeks ago on my project. My team is all tech consulting, and it’s not in the sector I want at all. The team feels disorganized, and the seniors don’t communicate well at all; it sometimes feels like they don’t know what’s happening, even though everyone has been on the project and is an experienced hire. I’ve been struggling a lot and constantly feel confused and not supported. The project hasn’t been extended yet but likely will later, would it be insane to roll off at the date it’s currently ending, in December even if it gets extended? I’ve just been so stressed and wake up feeling nervous. I’ve been ranting to everyone and cry frequently. It’s not the environment, culture, or work I wanted. My counselor mentioned they would start trying to find potential projects in areas I’m more interested in but I’m unsure on the timeline of that. I would appreciate some perspective on how I should go about it.

This is my first time posting here so I hope I'm following the rules. For context, I am a third year mechanical engineering student in Canada. As the title says, I accepted an internship position at a medium sized medical device company in early October which I am very grateful for. However, I've just received an internship offer at Deloitte, which comes with a higher salary. Along with this I know that Deloitte is also a much larger/ well known company than the medical device company. I definitely feel an obligation to fulfill the position I agreed to, but I'm also wondering if having a bigger name on my resume would help land better internships/ jobs in the future. Realistically, I would probably enjoy the work I would do at the medical device company more than that at Deloitte. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Does internship "prestige" really matter that much? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

This is my first Reddit post, so please excuse if this is lengthy or mistakenly posted to a community ill-fitted to my questions.

I’m 22 and living with my parents while working part-time as a program supervisor/graphic designer. I’m also in school for my BA in project management. I already have an AA in graphic communications but was told my degree was non-transferable to most BA programs. At the time, I told myself I wouldn’t go back to school unless an opportunity fell in my lap. A year later, I was messaged about a brand-new program at my college that has allowed me to pick up almost exactly where I left off – minus the need for an extra semester or two. My first semester has gone without much trouble thus far, but I’m finally slowing down to realize I may not be built for the career ahead.
Project management initially sounded like a great gateway into the creative fields I long for, but the more I look at my future courses and present opportunities within the career, the less I feel I’d be suited for it. I was drawn to the versatility of industries within the career without considering what my role would ultimately be in each one. My impression of the job so far seems to entail managing deadlines, assessing blockers, budgeting…from my understanding, corporate childcare. Whatever needs to be done to make sure a project happens, PMs make sure everyone is where they need to be. In theory, this sounded great for me. Though I’m not always a de facto leader, I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in leading teams; however, I think I enjoy it most when I truly understand every piece of the puzzle. My similar experiences have typically been for pop-up events, galleries, and art-related projects – things I understand being a subordinate in. The idea of landing in any other industry is intimidating, and even being a PM within my dream industry sounds like managing work I wish I was doing instead.
Unfortunately, college has not been something led by my dreams. My AA was achieved off a nearly free ride from scholarships, but the major it offered wasn’t my dream – I just happened to fall in love with graphic design along the way. If I don’t pursue this BA, I don’t know of another program of interest I could slot into nor afford. I believe I have a strong portfolio to work with alongside my AA, but the security of a BA is keeping me on the fence. Class registration is opening soon, so I’d greatly appreciate any advice, insight, or thoughts on where I can go from here.

(If interested in knowing my experience/areas of interest, here’s a list that may help:
Graphic Design/Communications, Film & Animation, Editing & VFX, Hospitality, Event Staffing, Social Media Management)

Background (quick): Finance degree, graduated early. BDR at a big tech company for a year, then ran my own service business for 2.5 years (peaked at $16K/mo, averaged ~$10K). Shut it down to move closer to family, took a remote marketing job that imploded after 7 months, then spent 4–5 months job hunting with a few final rounds but no offers.

A buddy owns a cash-offer/distressed-seller real estate company. I was embedded in the communication channel and the other agents before were crushing. They ended up leaving and he offered to pay for my license, and I'd co-own (50%) a separate realty LLC that handles all his listing deals, splitting commission 50/50. His pitch was 10 appointments a month and ~$7.5M in listing volume a year, roughly $135K to me pre-tax. I told him upfront I couldn't survive on commission only and asked for a base or draw. Got licensed end of August, moved down following week.

September: rates went up, zero appointments, company is burning cash and company cards are maxed out.

The "2 weeks" staying at his place is now 2 months

I've self-funded the realty LLC startup (~$2K)
He can't pay for my training anymore, so I'm paying a top local broker monthly myself. That broker is feeding me showings and leads since he knows my situation

I had 2 listings. He pulled one to turn into a rental, so I'm down to 1, with no traction yet
2 other deals in the works: one pays me $600. The other was supposed to pay $2,500, but he took an offer that cut my share to $1,000

~$480 in annual MLS dues hit in November
Have yet to secure another listing yet. October has been busy with appointments but no listing conversions yet.

Where i am at:
~$2K left in checking/savings by end of month after current bills
~$70K net worth, mostly invested (haven't touched it, wont touch it)

Best case, ~$1,600 coming in from current deals, with $480 of that going straight to MLS dues, plus the monthly training cost

Working full days, so no time for a side job
Can't afford to move out. One car repair and I'm wiped out

I don't think anyone acted in bad faith. It just went sideways fast and I'm stuck in the middle. But decisions keep getting made that cut into my income, and I have no say in them.

The question:
If I stay, the pipeline could pay off, it's my only real path to income right now, I'm building a network, and the city isnt my favorite but its better than hometown. But there's a long lag between work and pay, the company can't afford a base, I can't move out, my cash keeps draining, and there's no room for a side job. If I go home, I can focus on landing a local job, live stress-free with food and housing covered, and hustle for side money. But I'd be back to square one, could lose momentum on my listings, risk getting complacent, and my income potential drops to zero. There's also a third option: the broker training me offered to bring me onto his team, but that would mean cutting ties with my buddy's company and potentially my only housing option in the city.

How would you think about the opportunity cost here?

I'm 25, I've bounced around a lot, and I'm worried I'll still be bouncing at 30. I don't want to give up on building something, but I'm tired of being broke on active income.

And here is a final point: if you were to ask, what job would you do if you could? Answer: no clue

Second point: even if i knew the answer above, lets say i go home, what job will i get there? I didn’t have much success in the first place, what would change?

I was thinking about getting into construction since i have enjoyed certain aspects of real estate but i don’t come from that background. No problem with that but as we know, job market is tight.

My biggest fear is getting desperate, taking anything, taking a big backward step with my career, pigeon holding/getting stuck, finding myself in not such a good position

TL;DR: 25M, two months into a commission-only realty partnership with a friend. Projected $135K, made $0 so far. One listing got pulled for a rental, another deal's payout was cut from $2,500 to $1,000, and ~$1,600 total is in the pipeline against monthly training costs and $480 in MLS dues. Down to ~$2K cash by month-end (~$70K invested). Stay or cut losses?

A few of my friends that do well work for construction companies of sorts. Companies that bid for city contracts, usually have anywhere from 15-50 employees, and are very hard working. They have worked their way up to logistical positions and usually oversee most if not all of their crew.

A lot of these friends knew someone, got hired, worked hard, and was put into supervisory positions. I'm just wondering where to look for these kinds of jobs. Does anyone work for these sized companies or of the like and are able to provide some insight on where to look for for any openings?

Really wanting to dive into the field at first, build up some strong knowledge and eventually be promoted to a position similar as my friends. They do work that is quite important for companies, make decent money, occasionally work from home, and get their hands on every step from original contract request to job completion and invoicing.

Also if anyone has any suggestions on other routes that could lead to similar results I would definitely be interested. I feel like companies that do work for cities and or governments could be a much needed change from having worked with the public for all my life.

Gente já sou formada em psicologia, mas como não tem oportunidade de trabalho na área na cidade onde moro, penso em fazer técnico de enfermagem, mas ao mesmo tempo, penso muito em estudar para concursos, nível médio mesmo, o que vocês acham que valeria mais a pena? Investir no técnico de enfermagem já que é mais garantia de ter um emprego daqui 2 anos? Ou então focar em estudar para concursos?

Hey everyone,

I’m 29F and currently working as an Operations Manager in the hospitality industry in Toronto, earning around $60K a year.

I want to take the next step in my career and increase my salary to $80K–$100K, but I’m unsure which direction would give me the best opportunities for growth.

I have experience in operations, team management, customer service, scheduling, inventory, sales, and handling day-to-day business operations. I'm willing to completely change careers if the long-term prospects are worth it.

I’ve considered moving into banking by completing the IFC certification and eventually end up in wealth management, but I’m not sure if that’s the right move or whether it would realistically help me reach my salary goals.

I’m also willing to invest time and money in certifications or additional education, provided they offer a genuine return on investment.

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have made a similar transition or have experience hiring in these fields.

A few questions:

- Which industries or career paths would you recommend for someone with my background who wants to earn $80K–$100K?

- Would it be better to build on my existing operations management experience or switch careers?

- Is entering banking through the IFC certification a worthwhile option? What does the salary progression typically look like?

- Are there any specific certifications, skills, or qualifications that could help me make this transition?

- If you were in my position, what steps would you take over the next 6–12 months?

I’m not expecting to jump straight to $100K overnight. I’m looking for a realistic career path with good earning potential and room to grow over the long term.

Thanks in advance for any advice or personal experiences you can share!

I adore my job, it's the best job in the world but its also my hobby - it makes me overly passionate about it, and I end up fiercely competitive.

I got hired with severe imposters syndrome but worked my way up, at the same time a colleague was hired and we both moved up the ranks together. My company is small so we are constantly compared. We have helped each other progress, but he is one of those guys that's just better than me at everything. I feel like I've reached my peak but he's just getting started. We had a great relationship but he is super ambitions - has personal meetings with some of the directors and has stopped speaking to me as much - pushing himself to chat with the directors and others that further his career.

We are both paid the same, I get good performance reviews, I'm given positive feedback, but my colleague has went way over and above all of that. When my colleague shows off his work he gets gasps in the room as he's done stuff no one has even though of. He gets constant praise, and in meetings with my manager we sometimes talk about how good my colleague is and that he's the standard everyone should hope to be in their career - even my manager says he should be more like him.

My colleague has the mind of a leader and could quite easily run the company himself successfully. I know I need to be good at my job to be where I am, but I'm quickly seeing me reach the top of the ladder and there are talks about my colleague being promoted to more of a leadership position.

I'm really struggling with being 'second'. Knowing I am falling down, I feel like the harder I try and the more I'm like him the worse I am doing. I don't really know where to turn and It's obvious I'm running out of rail whilst he is going to go further. I really don't want to stagnate, but he has a lot of love from the top directors now where they genuinely respect him - I'm just an employee.

I know I wont be him, but I don't want to fall down/stagnate then be fired and thrown into the awful job market right now. I'm struggling to cope with it - any advice would be appreciate.

I’m based in NY. I have a fashion design degree, 7 years of experience, but after years of a gap, I can’t get back into the field, and I am seriously considering looking for options that I am good at and what I like.

If anyone knows of a platform or career explorer test something like that that helped you, I would like to take it. I appreciate it!

I’ve been a people manager for about 3 years now right out of college. I work for a big name retailer and oversee 100+ people (7 direct leads).

I think I would be considered a higher performer within my team, and my reports seem to enjoy working for me. Based on my recent personality assessment where my peers, bosses, and reports all took a survey on me, it appears that I’m doing a solid job.

I am constantly stressed out.

I feel like providing the level support my teams deserve can be mentally exhausting. I know how hard my team works and I feel like the easiest way to lead effectively is to lead with a servant mentality and put people first.

This way of leadership feels right to me and genuinely makes me happy, but after three years I find myself constantly worrying and stressing out. Sometimes it feels as though my peers who have been doing the job for much longer don’t seem to care as much as I do (at least it APPEARS that way, I’m sure they do care).

Does this get easier over time? I enjoy the company I work at for the most part, and can’t really see myself NOT in leadership, but I have no idea if this is sustainable for the long term future.

Any thoughts/advise is appreciated. TIA!

I am a cash room manager, and part of a large corporation. This corporation has very black and white rules, and requires essentially no flexibility. A year ago I started under a new boss, and in hindsight I have been set up to fail by this boss.

I was told I could run the department how I see feet and they would back me up, however I am realizing this has never been the case. Some examples:

• Leaving cash in a register overnight is at minimum a write up and removal from cash handling, but most cases is termination. This was happening frequently, and my boss sent out a company wide email stating if it happened a write up would be issued by me. When I followed through with a manager who did it a few days later (and was the main culprit), they threw a tantrum to my boss and I was told not to.
• Over/shorts over a certain amount or frequency result in write ups or termination after a certain amount. Every time I tried, I was told "well if we do that we wont have any cashiers" or "we can't terminate without warning" (they signed an agreement that they understood in these circumstances they would be) and in turn have not been able to do anything to reduce loss when re-training doesn't work.
• No one is allowed in the safe room except cash people, but there are frequent guests in there hanging out and having casual conversations. When I have asked my boss for reinforcement to reduce this, I was told no.
• We need to increase our safe amount. During my check in with corporate, they suggested it. My boss said no. I have broken down the numbers and the reasons why on paper, but am not allowed because they "don't want to".
• I have an incredibly difficult and hostile employee. I have asked my boss for support in this, but was told to figure it out alone. I believe this employee has become hostile because of my boss. They will tell me to do something, I will do so, and then this employee will be upset. They will go to my boss, throw a tantrum, and then my boss gives them what they want which makes me look like I have no authority and that I am being unfairly controlling when it comes to policy/rules my boss initiated.
  
• I cannot recall a time I was not overruled and forced to go against policy to placate others at my bosses directive. I cannot recall a time my boss backed me up on something, even after we had a conversation prior establishing we were on the same page.

The most recent issue is that we need to give cash room access to one additional person. He suggested a few people, and I told him no for one specific person a few weeks ago. Not only is this employee unreliable, they frequently mishandle cash and publicly undermine me. I was told that the decision is final and it will be that employee. I have actual data on how this is the worst option, and does not accomplish what my boss thinks it will, but it is a popularity contest. This employee has already begun making adjustments in my department, despite them being against company policy. Not only are these changes against policy, they add unnecessary complexity across the board.

I have two options. Go above my boss to complain to corporate/get them to intervene (the things he is asking me to do are against policy and they would), or take it quietly while I job hunt. I plan to leave regardless, however I worry if I go above him it will make things even more uncomfortable in the meantime.

What do I do?

When I go into my local office once a week, I’ll have to be on Teams calls all day long given that every person from my team lives in a different state than I do.

It just so happens that everyone else from my team also happens to get to stay 100% fully remote since they all don’t live anywhere near an office.

Therefore, I’ll be the only one from my entire team who has to go into an office (while everyone else stays 100% fully remote on my team).

Anyone else have something similar happen and what did you do?

I graduated this year and joined a Chinese search engine company as a NLP engineer. However, most of what we do feels like little more than prompt/skill engineering of LLMs, and I’m worried it won’t help me grow professionally or develop valuable technical skills.

What’s even more frustrating is that I was reassigned to a different team after joining the company. The team I’m currently working with isn’t the one that originally interviewed me, so the job has turned out to be quite different from what I expected.

To make matters worse, my manager puts us under enormous pressure, and everyone on the team regularly works more than 12 hours a day. The work environment is exhausting.

The biggest problem is that I don’t enjoy either the work itself or the team culture. I feel like I’m wasting my time instead of building a solid foundation for my career.

I’m torn between quitting and sticking it out, especially since this is my first job after graduation.

Should I quit and look for something better, or stay a little longer to gain more experience?

I have been working in the workers compensation scheme for the last 5.5 years. I started as a case manager (for 8 mnths) and worked my way up to senior case manager (1.5 yrs) and now an Injury management advisor (3.5 years)

I have a background in bachelors of psychology, masters in social work specialising in med and psychiatry and diplomas in personal injury and disability management.

I don’t know where to go from here, I feel a bit stuck. I am a quick study and looking to pivot to a different industry or stay in the same only if there’s growth. My goal is to work in a high paying industry, more than happy to study part time.

I would love to hear some thoughts on how I can progress

I'm 29 and have spent the last 6 years working in casino surveillance. A lot of my job involves investigating suspicious activity, reviewing footage, writing incident reports and documenting stuff for compliance.

I'm trying to move into fraud investigation or corporate compliance, but I'm getting nowhere with applications.

My official title is surveillance operator, which I think makes recruiters assume I'm just watching security cameras all day.

Has anyone successfully moved from casino surveillance into a corporate role? I'm starting to wonder if my experience is actually transferable or if I'm gonna have to start from scratch.

Hello all, I’m in the US in the healthcare industry. Please be kind, I’m not too active here on reddit but thought I’d try getting some much needed advice. So I’ve received a job offer. The issue is they want me to start in one month but I have a 90 day notice period with my current job. When I told them about it they said they wouldn’t be able to wait that long. I understand it but at the same time my contract clearly states that my company could pursue legal action against me if I leave before the notice period. I even had this confirmed with a lawyer who pretty much said that it would leave me open to legal and financial repercussions i.e. their lost revenue, attorneys fees. It could go either way on whether or not they’d actually pursue it but they definitely could if they wanted to. If I were to leave early it would put them in a bind. I cover many facilities and see hundreds of patients and am the only one in my remote rural area. Also their hiring process is slow. I know that’s not my fault, just saying that they would definitely be up a creek and why they have long notice periods.

I think my only options are to either decline the offer or ask my employer for earlier release. (Unless anyone sees another option?) If they say no, that I have to fulfill the 90 days then I am put in a very awkward position with them knowing I’m looking elsewhere, and then I’ve also lost this offer. So that’s the worst case but also likeliest scenario imo and I’m extremely nervous about doing this. I don’t hate my job and they’ve been good to me so far. I’m grateful I have a job so I just don’t want to mess up a decent thing I’ve got going if this doesn’t work out. It’s just been a hard job on me for physical health reasons is why i want to leave.

Since speaking to the lawyer I haven’t felt comfortable with the idea of just putting in my notice to them of one month since it seems like the contract is pretty binding. I’ve also had discussions with the other company and they don’t have any flexibility on their end. It just is what it is. Is it wise at this point to be up front and ask my manager about an early release due to a new opportunity, but state that I haven’t made a decision? Something along the lines of, “I am considering this new opportunity but have not made a final decision. I wanted to ask whether an exception can be made to end the notice period early…” or is it best to leave this offer on the table and hope for another one? That’s my other dilemma. What if this continues to pose a problem with employers, should I just go ahead and ask now if they will do this so I don’t continue to wonder? Sorry it’s so long, my head is spinning and I’m trying to think of this strategically. Let me know if I left out any info.