still unsure about career path

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Tell me if you relate to this: for years and years you have different obsessions and interests but you still aren't sure what career path you should take and what your dream job is. For that matter what your calling is really! I am so frustrated! Im 30 years old and still feel lost on what my ideal calling is where i should focus my energy on in regards building a talent on something I enjoy. I feel like I'm going in circles. I am sick of this!! ! It's like my path is a constant mystery and I really need some one that knows me to help me out but it's I don't even know my self In regards to my calling to this world. Does anyone else feel this way- totally lost unlike most people who know what they are interested in, go to school, and get that job and be happy?

very, very few people have a "calling" in life.

It's OK if you don't know what to do with your career - most people just take the jobs they can get and make a career out of it. If you are very confused, I suppose you could read some self-help books or otherwise start thinking about how to live your life. But frankly, I would just say that time will tell what your life will be like - like I said, no one expects you to know exactly what to do. Just go with the flow

your trouble may be looking for the IDEAL, try looking for a GOOD, not perfect fit. the average person these days will have five careers during their work life. 90% of college freshmen change their majors. you're overestimating other people's certainty.

I think the media is the one to blame more then anything. They almost make people feel like if they don't have a technical/ hard science degree, they are going to fail at life. I think people need to be more realistic about their career goals and not try to shoot for the moon. I think sometimes people may actually hurt themselves more trying to peruse their dream job instead of working a good steady job they could get right now where there could be advancement in the future.

Lets say there is a very hard to obtain job you are trying to ultimately get but that means shelling out a ton of money for an education and having to actually work a less demanding, lower paying job to accommodate school. While in school, you are actually making less. When you graduate, you come out in serious debt and you find out the job requires 5 years experience so then you have to do unpaid internships and work temp positions before you can finally get that job you want. That could be 4 years of your life wasted.

The key is getting into a good company that has advancement opportunities, even if it means doing a job that's not related to your field. I was an English degree graduate who wanted to be a technical writer but little did I know I needed many years experience to do the job and realized not only did I not have the skills for the position but it would require even more college for me. Instead I got into a good company doing a job I was able to do right out of the gate without a degree. Now I am a sales rep for a major soda company and am doing very well. Did I envision myself selling soda? No but the pay is great and there is advancement so I am make good money now instead of later. If I chased my dream of being a technical writer, that would have meant shelling out an extra 20-30 grand and having to do internships/work part-time with no benefits before I would even have a chance of being hired while competing with 100 other people for the position. No thanks.

What's the source? In Russia (and also Ukraine and CIS in general) it's now like 2 careers per life and mostly because when in 1991 Soviet union collapsed, all unprofitable federal enterprises were closed, so lots of low-skilled "engineers" and blue collar workers lost their jobs. And if we consider youths, those, who are 30 and less - most of them have one straight career path. Of course, 30 is not the end of life but if we consider average men's life in Russia as 60-65 so it means half of their lives is dedicated to one career, despite crises like in 2008-2010.

From my perspective it's just hard to change career path if you have family, kids, mortgage, old parents. I'm now trying to change IT Manager career to political analyst one - and see no way other than receiving new BA + MA in university, then internship for free and only then maybe I'll get some temp job. Other ways just didn't work - you have to compete with college graduates who already has relevant degree and who is ready to do internship on their parents' expences.

But that's true. Have you ever tried to find job in the US without tech skills if you are not a citizen/permanent resident? Virtually impossible. At the same time I know plenty of IT persons and high skilled technicians from all around the world who do work legally in the US.

I have found all my jobs without a need for any technical skills or technical degree. I can't speak for people on visas but the fact of the matter is not everyone HAS to have technical skills. How about interpersonal, communication or leadership skills? For people who peruse the technical fields, good for them but I get frustrated because the media makes people feel like they are worthless if they don't have technical skills. I don't and I'm doing fine. People should get a job that tailors to their strengths, not what the media tells them they should do.

I fully agree - not everyone has to have tech degree. But most of jobs are either requiring it or they are like McDonald's or Starbucks. I don't have the exact number but can assume than 60-70% of jobs fit into those two categories.
And I'm concerned about that as guy who has poor tech skills despite current occupation

Agh, I'm in the same situation.
A few years ago I went to uni and it was a disaster. I finished the campus-based portion of the degree okay, but the second part was on-the-job modules, and lo and behold, I discover I actually hated the job. Add a student loan to that and yes - disaster. Not sure if it will help you but I have been trying to set up volunteer or work-experience based approaches to save repeating the pattern, but unfortunately have run into red tape - they tell me at least two of the jobs I'm interested in don't allow work experience or volunteering because of insurance. My second idea was to do community college based classes in a field I'm interested in, get a feel for what the end job might be like, to save money going back to uni and again discovering I don't like the job at the end.
Not sure what its like where you are but trainee or apprenticeship jobs might also help - you don't need five years previous experience and it is part of your position to be taught how to do the job, on the job. May be possible to suds out your dream job without paying a fortune for it.
I figured I'd get into a job I'm just ok with, then have the funds available to study something that is more of a career calling - which can take 6 - 7 years for technical jobs.
Don't get me started on my human social infrastructure and education rant. I too feel lost and frustrated with not being able to find my dream job.

My sister in law has said her calling is to sit on the couch and eat potato chips.

I think the goal is to do something you don't mind all that much and to get paid enough to pay your bills with some left over. Right? I mean it doesn't have to be a big thing.

Landing a job in the U.S. when you aren't a citizen or permanent resident or a tech person isn't that hard -- the company just has to want to hire you enough to deal with the paperwork (when I graduated, the paperwork was about $60-100k for the company, between 2/3 and 1 year's salary).

I'm Canadian (dual citizen now but only Canadian then) and not a tech person. Worked two summers in the U.S. as an undergrad (2 companies said they'd arrange my visa and did). Was hired by a different US company after grad school (who said they'd get me a visa and sponsor my green card and did). Read: Sooper-dooper immigration lawyers were hired to file papers saying no American could be found for my position.

My take is that:
1. there's usually no need to go into debt to get an education, since scholarships/fellowships/work-study grants abound
2. Nobody should take an unpaid internship, ever, as paid internships abound
3. Most people don't have a calling or know what they wanna be when they grow up. Assume the process of figuring it out can take 5-10 years and don't beat yourself up about that
4. How much you need to enjoy your job varies from person to person and that's normal too (I'm a person who needs to do work that interests me but I've plenty of friends with "meh" jobs and are fine with it, since it allows them more time for family or hobbies or whatnot. That's fine too!).

Well, I've sent CV to two hundred US companies last year - few rejects, many just ignored it. And this is while I work in one of the leading European retailers as IT Manager, and have excellent work experience, perferct English and good references.
If you can point a company that will hire me in the US and sponsor H-1B visa - we'll hang out in Atlantic City's casinos on my expence

Did you send in your CV online or did you do any follow up? Did any firms approach you? Did you apply in a timely manner and send handwritten thank you notes? That kind of things seems to make a difference.

I was approached by the consulting firm that hired me out of grad school - I was on a team that won their pretty silly 'business case' contest my senior/the previous year, some panelist (randomly) looked me up when he gave a presentation to a different department at my school. Me lacking, umm, many of the technical skills they usually for wasn't an issue.

This.

Consider someone who doesn't have the financial resources to wait around for that perfect fit...they just do something.

My advice is to just jump in anywhere you can and decide as life goes on...while you are making money to support yourself.

On that note...I constantly ask my children what they want to do when they grow up. Then, I find opportunities for them to speak to people in those professions. (And my kids are still very young!) I know that it will take lots and lots and lots of time to get that perfect or near perfect thing sorted out. I'd rather get them started young. You won't know if you will like the reality of any career choice until you are neck deep in it.

So, just jump in somewhere.

What do you love to do?
Instead of go looking for your 'calling', make your calling what you love to do...
List out some of them, then see (have to think outside the box) which can be a job for you...
not the typical job but even a entrepreneur type of work....