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Here in the United States, I have been feeling the effects of the new administration hard. First, all federal seasonal jobs were cut for the summer of 2025 (besides wildland firefighting). Then, thousands of federal employees got laid off. Luckily many have been rehired, but the effects are trickling into university and state positions. I have been applying since January and consider myself lucky if I get a rejection. There are so many jobs that I never even got an acknowledgement that I submitted my application. So many times when I both called and emailed, multiple times. I had to eventually force myself to only contact an organization once- then it was on them. My winter job just ended, and the job I got offered is struggling to get funding. Whenever I feel like a failure for not having my summer planned out, I remind myself that it is really HR managers that are failing me for never even telling me I am rejected so I can move on. I dream of getting into the field and studying streams/ wildlife/ fish populations, but am also bracing myself to get a back up job as I play the never-ending waiting game. Wishing anyone in a similar boat all the luck.

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I failed to give honest feedback to someone in my team about how some of their behaviour was undermining their ability to progress. We discussed some of the issues, but always ended up 'blaming' the other party or laughing it off. This person in my team was fun, and I counted him as a friend. However, I let him down by not being honest. Things came to a head when he wanted to take control of a project and I had to tell him that I didn't think he was suitable (at this stage, several project partners had told me they could not work with him). We fell out, he left my team, and I've never really forgiven myself. I try to be braver in giving honest feedback now, but it's still very hard.

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With 20 years plus experience of community engagement, education and voluntary sector. I have been selected for many positions but unfortunately the interview process didn't happen. I am very bad luck even I got PhD degree and very open mind with the positions relevant to my experience. I am very optimistic person but don't know what's going on with my career.

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It's so reassuring to read all of these posts! I think it's so easy to get lost in your own story, and to think that everyone is else is doing great, whilst you're the only one failing.

I moved home for a conservation job after living overseas for years. Everything started great, but I'm on minimum wage, despite my degree and years of experience in the field. My job is not fulfilling and I feel like my manager underestimates me. I never got into this field expecting to make much money, but when my family and friends are making more doing bar work/working in a warehouse, it's hard to not feel like I'm failing myself.

I'm trying to see this as an opportunity, to build my confidence and to keep advocating for myself. I heard someone say that sometimes you have to move laterally in your career, and that's how I'm trying to treat this experience. But I'm still hoping that I'll be able to progress somehow.

Conservation is a tough field, but despite this, I don't want to give it up.

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Spent a year after graduation sending out CV and applying for jobs. No response.

A few interviews, no success.

I was often told that I am "so young" and that I "have no experience", but how am I supposed to get experience if no one is willing to hire me?

Volunteering is all fine and dandy... but it doesn't pay the bills.

I wanted to be a conservation biologist since I was a child, now I can't help but feel like the chances of making it are really slim.

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My journey into wildlife research has been filled with twists and turns. There were moments of triumph, like graduating as the first-rank holder and publishing multiple papers. But behind those successes were countless setbacks. I remember making it to the final round of a PhD interview, only to be met with silence—no rejection letter, no explanation. Later, a conditional offer from a top university in Australia reignited my dreams, but losing the scholarship crushed them once again. I stood outside my gym, staring at that message, feeling the weight of all the effort that seemed wasted. In that moment, my trainer noticed my distress and offered a simple yet powerful reminder: "That's life. When you go straight, you get a U-turn sometimes, a sharp one. Then, you go straight again, and again, you get a diversion. It happens. But make sure you always stay on track—never lose sight of where you're headed.” We need to normalize talking about failure. It’s exhausting pretending everything is perfect when it’s not. Failures shape us, push us, and teach us resilience. They’re not detours from the journey—they are the journey. And just like every U-turn eventually leads back to the main road, I know I’m still headed where I need to be. It’s okay to fail. What’s not okay is letting failure stop us from moving forward. We need to normalize these stories because every setback is a step closer to where we’re meant to be.

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I struggled a lot throughout my PhD; lack of guidance, funding, proper infrastructure, etc. I love doing field work and community participation in my research while the so called scientific community requires higher impact factored papers, etc. I struggled a lot but never gave up. Fortunately found some really awesome people to support me. Then my PhD was done and COVID was there, and I was on a point to go for a post doc or stay and continue working on the same species in home country. On one hand, post doc made sense, career wise, learning, money for me. On the other, I love my species so much and had a good field network, family was here, I had stayed 12 months alone in COVID, etc. So, I kind of took the decision to stay and continue my work. But every now and then, I feel like i kind of gave up on learning more. I should have had made the effort and gone. I could have come back and continue my work, etc. But I contradicted my own opinions and stayed, and I suffered serious mental and financial stress. To the extent, that I felt like leaving the field research, take an office job and just settle down. However, I am unable to leave the field work.

So, sometimes sitting alone and looking at the world, I feel like, did I make a wrong decision? Why didn't I take the risk? Have I failed myself.

This keeps haunting me and I know that it is nothing too big and I have achieved some great things for my own species and myself by staying back. But still.....

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A couple of months ago, I had an interview, an interview I felt good about; I had studied the organisation extensively, I met all their criteria and had specific experience in the areas that they were looking for. I had practiced and practiced again, creating answers for every possible question I thought they could ask me. As I sat alone in the conference room, waiting for my Zoom to connect, I felt confident. Pulling on my brightest face and showing my personality and passion, I made my way through the interview without a hitch, already picturing myself with the two lovely and obviously driven ladies that I would be working alongside. And yet, I didn't get the job. They phoned me with personalised feedback, they had so desperately wanted me to do better, but on a point-scoring system, my answers had been brief and whilst my impressive experience played in my favour, asking me follow-up questions didn't count towards my score and I fell behind all other candidates.

I was devastated that I had let myself down. I had never had this sort of feedback from interviews before (and trust me, I've done plenty). I phoned my family in tears and admitted my failure, a failure to myself. I tried really hard to be positive - 'I can't always be my best version', but it stung. I am trying to learn to be kind to myself, because I can't always be perfect, I won't always sell myself and my achievements and I won't always be my best version. Unfortunately, that day was one of those days, but one day in the future will be different and the outcome will go in my favour

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After suffering from burnout, I've been unable to get myself back to a good baseline. This has been going on for two years now. I am good for a short stint, and then I am incapable of doing anything for up to a month. I know I should have gotten mental health help a long time ago, but it's not been easy to find it in the new place I'm living. I can feel my work slipping to a point of no recovery. The worst part is that my colleagues really care about me, but I am letting them down because I don't know how they can help me. I've learned to seek help quicker, but other than that I just don't know what the heck I'm doing anymore. I know there is light at the end of the tunnel (there always is if you're patient), but oof it is hard getting there!

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I never imagined I would physically be able to work at my home-state. But here I am and just when I am ready to fulfill a dream of working with the indigenous community from my mother's side, I am understanding that socially I may never be accepted as a part of the community ever. This is because my mother married a non-tribal but even though they separated (eons ago) and we decided to stick with our mum, my brother and I shall literally be culturally orphaned. I cannot lie that this thought never crossed my mind, having worked on conservation with tribal communities outside I have a sense of the strong values they hold. But this is family, where I grew up engaged with them, that molded my behavior, food habits, faith and most importantly the seed of conservation was sown here. It is bittersweet to still hold on to this dream of sustaining the very ideology I learnt from my grandparents and village here, but I realize if I am working towards safeguarding indigenous knowledge and practices, it will only be hypocritical to then expect them to change a part of that very system just for me. As I navigate through these emotions, I keep myself motivated just enough to be distant when the family speaks on the topics that make me feel like an outsider in my own home. I also understand that in reality even my family may not be able to physically outcast me because unfortunately in such communities these rules apply for wealth and material possession, which I am happy to let go. I just fear if after my mother I will be welcomed with as much warmth and invitation as it is now. Here's hoping I can keep my identity and belongingness to my indigenous side with dignity.

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Can't seem to set a timetable for PhD + job +million other things no matter what

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Can't seem to set a timetable for PhD + job +million other things no matter what

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Balancing all aspects of life has become a vicious circle: PhD, a full-time job, moving to a new city with my husband, taking care of a house, managing finances, my health (PCOS + migraines), family drama.
It's so much at times to handle, and to manage my stress levels. There are times when I stop and tell myself that I need not do everything 100% and the amount of things I'm trying to do is actually physically impossible for a normal human to handle.
I've begun to wonder if I've made a mistake in continuing for my PhD after it collapsed during the pandemic. Perhaps I should have just quit, because this has started to become like a toxic relationship: I feel inadequate & stupid all the time, and have to constantly pull myself out of the abyss and try and get work done.
PhD is just SO hard. I wish I wasn't doing it :(
I came here on the LC website to find some hope and feel a little less anxious. Reading all these other posts has helped; I can breathe again and not go into a panic attack.

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Pandemic Anxiety ( To go or Not to go out)

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Lost a chance for a Cross Culture Program

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Lost a chance for a Cross Culture Program

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I still feel uncomfortable going out, especially in places where there are groups, as people still are not convinced about wearing masks in public gatherings. They go with the government notification. This fear is keeping me away from public engagement,  recently in a cross culture program I requested to take an online option. Maybe they were looking for people who can go there. So I couldn't make it. For me, the safety of my family is my priority so I will have to stay at home for a while more, till it is clear how this crisis is playing out.  Many might have forgotten what they went through a year ago, wishing I too had the same selective amnesia.  Maybe each refusal like these which I have faced during my journey as a nature enthusiast have turned out to be an opening for another opportunity. I hope this one too will turn up in that way.  Anyway thanks to nature around me, I manage to counter the disappointment of not traveling outside right now.

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I had just begun a new service year with an environmental education center and desperately wanted to create fun, digital content for our social media. After a week of pleading and pitching ideas, I was granted access to our Instagram to post a 'bird reel' involving zooming in on the local feeder birds and identifying them along with a distinguishing fact. Since I was very new at differentiating birds from one another, I named a Chickadee while featuring a...White-Breasted Nuthatch and, after being outed by a few not so kind commenters, I temporarily lost my social media privileges. I now triple check identification videos but have regained confidence :'D

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I have applied for tons of jobs, and not only have I not gotten them, but I have only been interviewed by ONE since graduating. Every time my mom asks me if I got the job, and I inevitably say no, she asks if I even got an interview. I know this industry is difficult, but man it has killed my confidence. I haven't learned from this yet, but I'm hoping I will have an "ah-hah!" moment soon.

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I’m currently on a 2/3 week trip for work (missing my 25th birthday). I went through a Tim Horton’s (a fast food place in the USA and Canada) and found out the wage is less than a dollar below what I make. I got offered a summer retail job that was double what I am being paid now but had to turn it down because it’s the only season by me where there are wildlife jobs available. I’ve had to kill so much wildlife for this job but I know this agency will look good on a resume #fml thanks for listening y’all. I don’t know what I professionally learned, but it has made me realize how strong the people working in this field have to be

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Fieldwork, non-profit interns, environmental education: all jobs require a lot of time with very little monetary payment. Throughout my career, I have worked jobs that pay small stipends, abused my willingness to help, and pressured me to work beyond the call of duty. After five years of seasonal work, I can honestly say I have failed. Though I have succeeded in many things, I have failed to enforce boundaries. I worked through losing relationships, strained friendships, and my own personal health deterioration. I was naive enough to allow my employers to abuse me with the understanding, I will gain valuable experience. When I would question, request discussions, and set boundaries, I was met with hostility. "Why are you being difficult?" "I told you this job would be hard." "I did this for years, why do we need to change?"

I was worried about misrepresenting my generation, or women as a whole. I could work just as hard as any man. So I started to work long hours, missed family functions, forgot about calls with friends, and skipped meals or my needed walks in the woods. I began to gain recognition and employers labeled me as "tireless".

As my most recent season started to build off the usual abuse of boundaries, I complied. But once I noticed my paycheck was a few days late, I began to question all the boundaries. If I do not get paid for this job, it was a volunteer experience. That will not buy my groceries, pay for my insurance, or help me get housing. There was a switch. I began to let my employer know that delays in answering were due to my taking my off days. I delegated more responsibilities. I set up a meeting to discuss my frustrations with the payment delay. I started making dinners instead of stressing about planning our season.

Boundaries are important in all aspects of life. My work continually takes over, but I plan to push to keep boundaries on time for myself and time for my loved ones. Get hobbies, communicate with loved ones, and take care of yourself.

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My first ever paid job was my dream job a the time. I was in charge of the Conservation Wing of a well established tourism company. I was given the freedom to design all programs we would be implementing, and a (seemingly) supportive boss. Over time, my boss provided me little to no guidance on how to go about with my work (despite knowing that I was 23 years old, in my first ever job), and forced me to take interns I had no idea how to manage. I failed my interns terribly- I didn't know how to sufficiently train them or delegate work to them. I would only delegate tasks that I found too "boring" - leaving them feeling bored, frustrated and unsatisfied with their internship. I realized that I was doing to my interns, what my boss was doing to me. And I had no idea how to undo this. Over time, my boss let me go, claiming that the company had "no resources" to cover my salary anymore, but without further input on how i could have done better.

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Failure in understanding how difficult it is to make contacts.

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Failure in understanding how difficult it is to make contacts.

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When I completed my graduation I wanted to pursue my career in wildlife. I didn’t had any single contact nor any information about how this field is going to be about. My passion for butterflies led me to grab this opportunity towards conservation. Eventually everything was alright at the start, but later I got to know that you can reach no where in this field without contacts. Even if you are passionate enough.

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Since graduation my career has been a string of seasonal and volunteer positions, most lasting about three months. I even went to graduate school for a semester and had to drop out. I've tried on a million different hats and nothing fits.

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I'm an engineer, who's been (sort of) trying to get out of engineering and into environmentalism for three years... But I haven't even tried yet! The only jobs I feel comfortable considering are ones I already know I'm good at and can guarantee I'll be useful. I'm also a woman who is scared to leave the engineering discipline and let down my gender - how irrational is that!? I feel a responsibility to stay and be a role model to future women in engineering. Oh how I crave a mentor to help me navigate my own uncertainties right now. A little time and a dash of courage and I will start asking for help.

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Failure: I rushed things in my fieldwork that made my data unusable.

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Failure: I rushed things in my fieldwork that made my data unusable.

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In my haste to appear like I knew what I was doing to others in my team, I rushed through checks on some equipment we were using for measurements, which made the data much lower quality (unusable? the question remains open). This was a learning point to ALWAYS check things about the intricacies of how equipment works, is set up, and is recording data.

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I have been volunteering for a very well known NGO for 7 years now. When I started I was really hoping and dreaming that someday I could work with them. This thought itself was the failure, as slowly but surely I came to realize that would never happen.

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Failure Feeling: For many years I’ve often felt like a failure, through chasing perfection, whether it was due to not quite getting that academic top grade, or not getting the job after 9 interviews. When my long term relationship broke up as I was just about to go into labour with my first child, I felt like a huge failure. The trauma halted my career and shattered my confidence. Since then, I have learnt much from Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and believe in Simon Sinek’s infinite game principles in life. Now when I look back, I see what I thought was my biggest failure as my biggest gift. It’s being kind to oneself and knowing we are already enough, Once I began to believe this, amazing things started to happen. I’m still failing at things, but I’ve become braver. I’m still learning, but am I not trying to chase perfection. Showing up, even when it’s awkward and uncomfortable can yield the greatest moments of joy. It’s a million times a more rewarding to stand up  & take the stage, rather than not doing it because of being scared of failure. Showing kindness and love to others are the greatest things in life, rather than chasing success, riches and fame. Highly recommend to watch Brene’s Call to Courage. Stay safe and kind everyone. #Growth #Courage #Failure

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Failure: In identifying opportunities and working on it. 

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Failure: In identifying opportunities and working on it. 

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Trying hard to focus, especially in this new scenario, can't exactly understand whether the offers are right opportunity. I know people saw you must grab anything that comes in front of you. For me still it is taking time to figure out how. How many more misses I will have to go through to get a hit on my objective, This is a new path, working mostly on intuition.

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Fail feeling; I had the opportunity to act in a senior role managing a team for almost a year but didn’t achieve what I had hoped and had set out to do. I am disappointed in myself but also feel like I let those who gave me the opportunity down.
Learning curve; I am good at my job but leadership doesn’t come naturally to me. I know even more than ever that I have a lot of areas to improve on and was also able to see some issues within the team from a different perspective.

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I have always felt like my manager does not support me and questions my every decision and suggestion. It reached a point where I was afraid to even speak up during meetings. I fell into depression. I could not confront him or just go on with the way I am because I was afraid of losing my job. In between this, I had family issues to deal with but I tried my best to stay focused on the work assigned to me. I also told him of the family issues and he said he understood and I believed that. I managed to complete all my tasks within the given time frame and was proud of it. Until the day I was called upon by the Director and was told I'm not doing my job and that my manager is overworked because of me. I was told I'm not pulling my weight and was given six months to improve my performance, which I had no idea how. This traumatized me even further. I still am because I am still under the same manager but I don't share anything with him as much as possible because I don't trust him anymore. I just feel betrayed.
I learned that you can share about your struggles as much as you want with other people and they may say they understand. The truth is they don't and won't. It's not because they are bad people; it's just that they have their own struggles that you might not understand. Having said that, am I ready to forgive him for the betrayal I feel? I really don't know. I don't know how to let go of this. Am I ready to confront him about this? No. He is dealing with his own issues right now and I would be the lowest of the lowest if I bring this up now.

P/S: Sorry for the long post. I have been holding on to this for a year and a half now and I don't know how to overcome this.

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Learning to shut up and listen more
As a young man I used to over analyse situations. On a course I was on, I reduced a lady to tears by not applying any empathy or understanding. I can't change what I did, but having now trained as a counsellor and healer (following on from waking up half blind when I was 29), I can now draw on my memory of that event and hopefully be constructive, rather than destructive.

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Failure: I got upset that I missed a great photo of a wishbone spider when the camera just wouldn't focus.

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Failure: I got upset that I missed a great photo of a wishbone spider when the camera just wouldn't focus.

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Growth opportunity: Remember, the photo doesn't matter. What matters is that the spider was there and I had the privilege to see it. Now and then, be present and put down the camera.

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I jeopardised a group debate assignment because I couldn't bring myself to argue for something I believed firmly against

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I jeopardised a group debate assignment because I couldn't bring myself to argue for something I believed firmly against

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Growth opportunity: I now consider how my actions impact people and try to prioritise empathy and community values in team activities rather than controlling the outcome of many people's work as a result of my personal views.

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I have failed myself by not believing in myself, professionally. I have doubted whether I have the expertise and ability to put myself out there as an "expert." By keeping myself down, I haven't been able to move forward. Working to change that by asking for help and being more vulnerable with my work and strugges.