I’m 31 years old and I feel like a complete and utter failure. I decided to start my own freelance business after graduating, which turns out to be a total failure. When I thought about to leave it behind and start a career, the pandemic happened. I went back to freelancing and picked up several odd jobs just here and there.
I started applying again in late 2021, hoping to get my foot in the door as a project manager as i intended before the pandemic. I had two job offers. One where I would be trained from a coach, who would help me build my skill and the other would make me get the ground running. I foolishly chose the latter. I was overwhelmed by joining that company that people started to question me. I made one mistake and I was put on PIP. Luckily I managed to find something soon, which I really enjoyed.
8 months into the new company, I got approached by a Fortune 300 company with a better pay, but on a one year contract. I knew it was a risk, but I took it any way. I really enjoyed it, but after one year they didn’t renew the contract. I ended up working in customer service job until I found a project management job a year later. I enjoyed it, but after 9 months the company decided to do restructuring and I was laid off. And this brings me here.
I swear people see my resume and think of me as a red flag and sometimes I wonder if I just chose the safer option as my first project management job, where I would have been coached. I feel so helpless that I feel I will never get hired again. I’m just venting here and hoping to get some feedback.