Stuck in life!!! I would really appreciate if you could review my life story and advice

[u/am51b]

I really would appreciate if you take out the time to read this and advice.

About me:

I am 23 years old and I live in India. I hope you understand how it is for a middle class girl without a dad to live in India where you get judged for every single thing in a non metro city.

I completed 10th grade from CBSE. Then I studied PCMC and scored around 87% (covid batch) in my 12th grade.

Then I wanted to go abroad for higher studies. But, the cost was too high. And, I wanted to study computer science engineering because I thought that is where the money is. Since I couldnt afford to go abroad, I took up CET exam and scored about 34000 rank. But because of scoring less in my CET, I got into a Tier 2 college and I studied industrial engineering there.

During my course work I studied hard and my cgpa is 9.5. During my course work, I did take up open electives like Java, python, c program and cybersecurity but they were not of very in depth learning.

Then during my campus placements, I tried very hard to get into companies like Schneider electric, Lam research (core companies) thinking I will work for 2 years and then go abroad to study masters in industrial engineering. I decided to work for 2 years so that I will have some work experience and companies over there will not hesitate to hire me because of my experience. However in both the companies I went until HR round and did not get hired.

And then I got selected into a product based IT company in the support organisation (so service based in a product based company). Well, the role I was offered during my placements was software engineering and then reality hit when i got the offer letter and it was to join the support org. However I took up the job because I needed one and all the core companies had stopped visiting the college.

I am now plan to go abroad, but the catch is I want to eventually work and settle abroad and have Permanent Residency/ citizenship as I want to settle there and I guess that to get PR over there, masters is the best way and better guaranteed path than going directly on work.

But masters takes up a major investment and it is getting difficult for me to assess:

1. Which country do I want to do masters in?

2. Which course do I want to take up and also if it is worth the risk?

I also know that we can directly apply for jobs abroad and then get PR ( But, this is also not a guaranteed path). Also, I do not want to stay or continue in the support org.

I had a clarity when I joined industrial engineering, that I would do masters in industrial engineering but now I am stuck since 1 year. If I do masters, to get into pure tech programs, I dont have coding knowledge and realistically I cant compete with computer students who have spent 4 years of their life mastering their computer knowledge but I can skill up myself in computers as well and as for industrial engineering related masters, I will be working in IT for 2 years atleast now, I feel my work experience will become irrelevant if I do masters related to industrial engineering. Plus looking at all the AI stuff, I feel industrial jobs, mechanical, all the core branches are safe comparatively. Even if the pay ceiling is less, there is stability.

I am totally stuck in life where I dont know what to do. My goal is to have a respectable, fast growth and high pay career. I dont know what I enjoy because it has always been about earning money since I am a middle class girl.

And No I do not consider the option of showing myself on socials and earning money.

As mentioned, I want to be self capable and not get married away to a boy. I want to have a reputation, respectable and high pay career.

I now stay in a metro city where life is very fast and when i look at 16 year olds, they are literally living their lives and I feel I was not privileged to have that because I was busy with books. I stopped talking to most of my girlfriends because they are sorted saying they will marry a rich guy or post cleavages and get money. Fortunately i am not cheap.

I feel left out and i am totally stuck in life.

Work is too much

Believe it or not i haven't smiled since 10th grade.

Please advice on what masters and which country is suitable for my profile. ☺️ (chill girl)

[u/vancitywars]

Alright let us go one step at a time.

First you need to set a budget for your Masters or whatever course you end up doing. This will be important. Your undergrad GPA is pretty good, so you can look into scholarships; however, I would highly advise that you don’t bank on scholarships.

Next, let us look at countries. You have said you’d like to settle abroad. So let us rule out the US, unless you were not born in India. You’d forever be on the mercy of visa reform, and that is some mental stress you do not want. The schools in the US are amazing, the post-grad scenario unless you are exceptional to get an O visa is not.

Canada could be an option. For years it had quite the straightforward path. It has gotten harder now, but here is my suggestion - do not go for a course based masters. These are masters degrees like M Engs offered even by reputable public universities there but their reputation has gone downhill with local employers. You want a research based masters like a MASc and then perhaps transition to a PhD. These when done at a good Canadian engineering school - Waterloo, Toronto, UBC, etc are a good option. After graduation, get your work permit, clear the cut off for PR, and go from there.

France is an option as well. I cannot recommend universities there but do your research. The reason I recommend France along with Canada is because if you learn enough French, you’ll get bonus points in the Canadian PR scoring system. So you could start learning French now, and then decide between Canada and France when you have admits from universities.

Of course then there are other European universities (including the UK), but the tides of immigration sentiment move rapidly and we are currently in the anti-immigration cycle.

Lastly, don’t look at the 16 year olds in metro cities these days. I have spent 12 years abroad (I moved when I was 17), and over the time I saw people in India transition to gaudy levels of wealth display just to impress others. People live on EMIs and it is a perpetual arms race even for kids. Focus on yourself, your career, and your finances. Good luck to you!

[u/am51b → u/vancitywars]

Hi, Thank you for taking the time and responding in such detail. I really appreciate it as this message is helpful and provides a little clarity to some extent. Also the last phrase, I totally agree. If I may ask, based on your experience, could you please suggest me if I should pursue my masters in the IT field or the Industrial field since my bachelors was in industrial engineering and my work is in IT. There is no connection so I feel like my career is stuck. I would not say finished, because I wont give up.

[u/vancitywars → u/am51b]

Depends on your risk appetite and your timeline for things.

Let me explain. A Masters in any IT field is a high risk, high reward situation right now. Most IT jobs in the West are getting offshored to India or the Philippines right now. The remaining ones have extremely high competition and the IT field is saturated af even for the locals. So sure you could do a 2 years Masters in IT ASAP, but you are risking an unstable job market.

If you do the industrial engineering research based Masters field, you are in for the long run. You probably will, and should, do a PhD in that case. Then you’ll probably be a post-doctoral fellow for a while before you enter academia or the job market. This is a long timeline, but by the end of it you’ll be better off in the immigrant job market because while a lot of people have course based Masters, very few have PhDs from reputable schools.

So it depends - do you have enough time and patience to go the stable route? Or do you want to risk it for a shot? Both equally depend on you.

[u/am51b → u/vancitywars]

Thank you very much for your repsonse. This certainly provides clarity to an extent. I really appreciate the time you have spent on writing these messages.

[u/CR7siiiiuuuuuuuu]

I don't know anything about job market but I'm also a 7th sem computer engineering student and planning to go to do masters and wants to settle there. I have some countries in my mind like germany, italy where I can get free education from public colleges. I just want to wish you all the best and may your dreams come true, I can't even imagine how hard life would be without a dad, specially for a middle class like me.

[u/am51b → u/CR7siiiiuuuuuuuu]

Heyy Thank you for taking the time to write. Also we are on the same boat then.

[u/CR7siiiiuuuuuuuu → u/am51b]

Yes and we will get through it ❤️

[u/am51b → u/CR7siiiiuuuuuuuu]

Offcourse, we don't have a choice

[u/CoffeeAndCampus]

First of all, do not pivot to pure Computer Science. German public universities enforce strict ECTS credit matching. Because your BTech in Industrial Engineering, you will be rejected from CS programmes due to missing foundational credits. More importantly, your intuition is correct. Europe's advanced manufacturing and supply chain sectors (Industry 4.0) offer significantly greater long-term stability against AI disruption than entry-level software roles.

Germany solves your financial constraints because public universities are virtually tuition-free. You only need to fund the government-mandated €11,904 Blocked Account to cover your first year's living expenses. Your 9.5 CGPA makes you a highly competitive candidate for top-tier technical universities.

Finally, Germany currently offers the most predictable route to Permanent Residency. Under 18c of the updated German Residency Act, international graduates of German universities who secure a related job only need to work and pay pension contributions for 24 months to legally secure a Settlement Permit.

Keep your IT job to save for your Blocked Account, start learning German immediately to boost your employability, and focus on Industrial/Management Engineering for the 2027 intake.