Oof.
Just master’s out and tapdance away from that nonsense.
Join us in the work force with options like: (a) high salary but 50+ hr weeks and you’ll either thrive or want to kill yourself in 2 years, or (b) pennies and prestigious temp jobs because they literally can’t make permanent positions because their budget is not under their control, or © run your own business like everyone else in a saturated market for a niche job! Make sure you are prepared for liability and the possibility of getting sued.
It’s fun…out here…in not-academia.
I wanted to go into forensic psychology. But then I took a class on Tuesday nights taught by someone whose day-job was forensic psychology and found out how often you’re likely to get sued just by doing your job (assisting the courts means the losing side will often be pissed at and litigious with you).
I graduated with my BS in Psychology and promptly accepted an IT job - I have a natural talent with tech and had work experience from my student job as a helpdesk tech for the college. Now I work nights from home doing core network maintenance for an ISP.
Still trying to figure out if the student loan debt I’m currently buried under was really worth taking on just to get my foot in the door of barely-lucrative employment.
EDIT: If your career interest can be entered into with trade school or studying for and testing for a few certs, college is a waste of money! Don’t do it!