If I could go back and tell 18yo me(now over 30) what to do so my life went more smoothly... it would be to stop thinking about 4 year degrees. Unless you have a plan that requires it I would not head in that direction. I know people with multiple degrees who are severely lacking employment. Their debt equivalent to a new car or smaller houses. it's also a lot of talking to go to classes like that. you CAN do it I am not saying you can't!!! Trade programs usually have an "externship" at real companies who have the option to hire you after and if you get the right employer this is a great way to get comfortable and make an impression based on skills more than your first impression speaking. I got fucked over by jobs and schools. unemployed and sorry for myself. still sorry for myself but employed and had a not horrible interview today for a no-phone no-public job. My best advice for jobs is to build up a teflon like coating to the reactions people have. especially people who do not pay your salary or your bills. Even if you fake a lot of it, you have to learn to learn to learn to let it roll off. It took me a solid 25 years of life to get close to this feeling and I had a LOT OF AWFUL JOBS let me tell you. my career was "Quitting expert" If you live your life shutting out unhelpful and ignorant attitudes other project onto you... you'll see you are more than your stutter and you need to continue telling yourself that. The main thing that helped for me was taking up JUST AS MUCH space as the fluent. I'm not a problem this is how I am and no one should be able to stop me from talking. Me to my brain 10000000004564564756 times: Am I the problem here? My brain for the 10000000004564564757th time: uhh no, stupid... the person bullying me is just clinically stupid. I started the career process in 2022. it took a year of the worst phone and public job i have ever had. ever ever. am still there. it has grayed my hair. but today I only say-d it and sprayed it like 3x in this interview, forced myself to make natural eye contact and tried not to avert my eyes too much. The incentive that made me have such a confident interview is that I will have some fucking peace in my mind if I get ANY non public job in my new field. And now with experience I can ask for what I am worth. I make more than $20/hr right now and rising. if I can do it you can do it! I never thought I could do it... the lack of confidence held me back and I don't want you to think you have to hold yourself back from your greatness. idk where you are located... in the interest of not assuming everyone is american I will find other links that may help others. if your gov has laws preventing discrimination based on disability you might have luck consulting with gov-funded employment agencies to get trainin g. if you are poor that usually helps honestly. they send people to Trade skill, construction, engineering and allllll sorts of jobs. They paid for a program that would have cost a less poor person around $2k min. while they will fund college classes toward a degree plan they prefer to hire for trades. THIS IS A LIST OF INTERNATIONAL JOB CENTERS I MADE BUT I ONLY PERSONALLY KNOW THE US SITE [](https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/AmericanJobCenters/american-job-centers.aspx) US [](https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/findajob/employment-centres) CANADA [](https://www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus) UK [](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-institutions-and-bodies/european-centre-development-vocational-training-cedefop_en) EU They can't like GET you the job you still have to interview but you will feel like you have support. their counselors are kind of like the kind in school that ask you what you wanna be when you grow up and then send you to 100k/yr college without a clear plan.... a lot of fluent people there have problems as big as or more severe than my stutter and the place helps everyone get some kind of job. They help people who dropped out of high school and help people who are in the process of re-entering from prison. people with disabilities actually have a good chance out there. it sucks that we have to put 80x the effort into the job search than fluent people but it's because a job interview isn't just talking it's a first impression. I am not the best representation of myself until at least the second time I meet and speak to a new person. If you truly have such a severe stutter that you cannot work and you have a doctor who agrees you might be able to get disability, here in the US people under 40 usually have a hard time getting it without a lawyer though it is often worth it to get the lawyer. good luck !