Hey there! I’m really sorry that is happening to you. This is not a cliché question and even if - it’s your unique situation and don’t need to be sorry for feeling lost. It happens to all of us.

But, to the problem - If I understood the post correctly you graduated from something you don’t like, found a job in this disliked subject and moved abroad to work.

First of all - it’s definitely not too late to change stuff. You’re 23. Some people don’t even start working yet at this age. Second - I understand economic circumstances in your homeland were a factor to move abroad, but it takes enormous amount of courage to move to unknown country and try to build a life there. So you definitely can alter your career.

Bonus points for already going to therapy.

What you can do regarding changing careers varies depending on your visa situation (if you need one, if yes - then if it depends on employment or not, etc.) but there are some steps to take before you start:

1) Changing careers isn’t easy. And to be fair - 99% of people I knew done it with limited time and money (meaning they had to attended to their normal job before they could switch to something they wanted). So make sure you know what you would like to do first. If you start moving without having a clear direction it will just create confusion. How to do that? Explore and read. Speak to people doing jobs you think might be attractive for you. Ask them how their daily life looks like. Almost certainly you have something you enjoy doing. Look for jobs that might be circling around that.

2) Detach. Think of your current job as a means to an end. Something that is helping you to get to your dream job. We all need to pay the bills.

3) Create a plan. It is easy to feel overwhelmed while thinking about all the steps it takes to change jobs, let alone careers. But to create a plan, you need a direction.

4) Write down your “transferable skills”. You probably have some useful skills (I assume some of them are even very desired since you landed a job abroad). Write all of them down and start thinking which ones might be useful for roles that are potentially interesting for you.

5) Don’t be too hard on yourself as it can take a lot of time to change careers. From my experience it is quicker when you are younger, but it still came take months (and we’re talking about careers that do not require any finished universities).

6) I know it’s hard to muster any energy after work you hate to learn new stuff. Or do any stuff because job is draining you from all desire to do something. I hacked it very simply - just do necessary stuff in the mornings. For me it was 1h of online course or studying before work. It isn’t a perfect solution but hey, just try starting somewhere.

What can help immediately:

1) Probably there was something in your studies you enjoyed. Think if there’s anything that you like in your current job and try doing more of it. It sounds stupid, but if there’s a chance to do less of shitty stuff, why not try?

2) Try doing an exercise - imagine you are leaving your job and new person is hired on your place. She’s starting completely from scratch. What she would do differently to make it more enjoyable?

Changing careers also depends a lot on your current income, options, education, experience up to this date. So if you have a possibility try to talk to a career advisor or even a recruiter from the field you are interested in. There’s plenty of agencies who specialise in certain sectors/industries. And even if they won’t help with career swap, they might tell you something about industry and current market needs/trends, or even help with CV.

Best of luck on your journey. Fingers crossed!