I'm 26 years old, living in the Kansas City area, and honestly feeling pretty lost about my career progression.

I graduated in December 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a 3.6 GPA. In March 2022, I started working at Cerner (later acquired by Oracle) as a Business Systems Analyst, making $65K annually.

I stayed with Oracle for about 3.5 years, eventually moving into a Program Manager title and getting some exposure to AI product management. Unfortunately, I never received a salary increase during my time there.

In September 2025, I was laid off as part of a reduction in force.

After months of applying and interviewing, I finally landed a Systems Analyst II position at Commerce Bank in August 2026, making $68K annually.

Here's what's bothering me:

• I have nearly five years of professional experience and a Computer Science degree, yet I'm still making under $70K.
• My salary has barely increased since I graduated.
• I feel like I've fallen behind financially and professionally compared to where I expected to be at this age.
• I have experience in business systems analysis, enterprise applications, and some AI product management, but I'm struggling to figure out which career direction offers the best long-term opportunities.

I'm grateful to be employed again, especially after experiencing a layoff, but I don't want to spend another three or four years barely progressing financially.

Ideally, I'd like to move into a role paying $100K–$120K+ within the next couple of years. I'm open to systems analysis, technical product management, project management, or other technology-related roles.

My questions are:

1. With my background, which career path would you recommend pursuing?
2. Is earning $68K with my experience significantly below market, or am I being unrealistic?
3. Should I focus on building technical skills, earning certifications, or pursuing an MBA?
4. Would you recommend staying at my current company for a year or two, or actively looking for better opportunities sooner?

I'd especially appreciate advice from people who have worked in business systems analysis, product management, or corporate technology. I'm not particularly interested in pursuing software engineering, as coding isn't my strongest skill. I'd prefer a career path that combines technology, business, and project or product management.

I'm based in Missouri, if that helps provide some salary context.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

A little background about myself:
As an international student, I recently completed my second year as a CS major at a small state school in Missouri. Currently, I am interning as a SWE in Dallas, TX for the summer. I was accepted into the software engineering program at SJSU and the computer science program at Temple University as a transfer student. My main reasons for transferring are due to the lack of growth opportunities in Missouri and the inadequate CS department at my current school, which does not offer the classes I am interested in taking.
I will be brutally honest I want to earn $100k plus immediately after I graduate and I know I'm capable of making that much if I go into industry. But with my 2 years in Missouri, I've realized my talents alone won't land me a great job and that location matters a lot.
So now I've got two transfer offers both at good locations and with the same tuition fee ($22k/year) after scholarship (my current tuition is $10k). I'm not gonna lie it's hella expensive but I'm willing to take a loan for 2 years.
Here's where I get confused when making a decision between the two:

I'm a little skeptical about the SWE program at SJSU because I don't want to be primarily into SWE, I want to learn about data science as well. Their SWE curriculum doesn't let you take many electives so it would be really hard for me to take any data science courses. Whereas Temple offers an accelerated BS + MS program which I can finish in the next 2.5 - 3 years. I don't mind the extra 1/2 or 1 year because it's a master's degree. My plan is to do BS in Computer Science and MS in Computational Data Science if I go with Temple.
But then silicon valley is a really good location if I want to make important connections in the tech industry. If SV gives me a chance of landing a SWE role at let's say Google (which I might not get an opportunity in Philly), I will gladly take it with both hands even though I don't want to be a software engineer primarily. But if that doesn't happen then I will be stuck with an SWE degree.
If I end up going to Philly then I probably won't get a chance to work at a big tech firm (the biggest names are SIG or Deloitte) and earn as much but I will be doing something I'm more passionate about.
Or maybe I should just stay at my current institution? I mean I have a good job on campus (I'm an RA which pays for my room and board), I have made loads of meaningful connections, and worked on research projects with my profs. It will definitely be cheaper to stay here but I don't think it will benefit my career.

Guys help your boi make a decision before June 10th.

I'm a young adult with no idea what direction to take, and not knowing anything about any jobs is a big obstacle in making my decision. Is this even the sort of thing career counselors help with? Does anyone know of any good ones that do online video calls? If they need to be licensed in my state, I'm in Missouri.

So basically I'm at that point in school where I'm still able to change my major without having to take additional coursework. Currently I'm studying psych and brain science at a prestigious school in my state. I absolutely love the course of study but it leads me to question my career options at the end. I'm not sure if i want to pursue my masters. But I do want to make a worthwhile salary. I'm a single mom and don't want to invest all this time into something that wont pay out in the end. Anyone in this respective field or been in it and changed? What do you do for a living? Advice and honestly is much appreciated.

I have been through everything you can imagine. But I will be brief as I can. I do type 160 wpm so I sometimes type more than I actually should since my mind also tends to race fast while I am typing. I apologize, and appreciate your feedback. I worked at animal shelter for six years as head care supervisor for cats. I went from beginner to head supervisor in 1 year. I already knew I was autistic so I could read a book in a few hours and remember everything since I think in pictures. I went to vet tech school and earned a certification in veterinary technology, veterinary pharmacy, and cat behavior in 2 years all back to back. The normal time to complete the 3 programs is 6 years. I then started a cat rescue with a close friend that helped me so much during school. It hasn't exactly panned out. We have saved over 600 cats in the last 3 years and I have gained so much experience that I think I could out experience most people who work with cats.

The problem is the cat rescue has under 10,000 in the bank account at all times. My hometown isn't the biggest cat loving community. Not enough to pay me anything. I am there over 100 hours a week, rescues need a lot of manpower. Very poor overall, almost no opportunities in the job sector as there are only two veterinarians, less than 20,000 people here. I am on social security and feel guilty now. Despite my education, I could not focus and had so bad impulses that I claimed bankruptcy last year with $25,000 in debt. I could not shower, eat, or get out of bed I was so depressed. Come to find out I have ADHD and since being diagnosed and on meds, I feel tons better. I now represent a professional in my appearance and so on. I got me a watch, belt, jeans, new shirts, and so on with the money I did have. I got social security prior to being diagnosed and feel I could do so much now that I can focus. I got $6000 in backpay just last week. I live with my friend who does allow me to live there rent free which is really nice, but it is in the basement.

So I am wondering what to do next. Half our board is always taking vacations, no volunteers every show up. I am left hand cleaning over 40 cat cages a day, medicating, paperwork, social media handles, website design, programming certain things, and negotiating deals/ordering supplies. I pick up skills very fast which is the only reason we are open. I taught myself Adobe Dreamweaver in one day and built the entire website in two days. I have two published books that I wrote after starting my ADHD medications, and both took me around 4 months so I definitely have a ton of credibility. I don't intend to say all this to make myself feel good to show off - I just want to basically explain how under fulfilled I am because I have all this talent and I am not being paid for it. I could probably easily go to a university for medicine and earn good money with my pharmacy/vet tech degrees. But then I feel like I am abandoning the thing I started in the first place. Truth is though that I don't regret it as it made me the man I am today in the physical sense, emotional sense, and educational sense. Everything I went through shines in my voice and composure. There was a time I did not value honesty, friendship, teamwork. But I do now and that is forever. But I definitely do not like being the boss either - I feel it is too much pressure.

I still get really depressed sometimes even on medication, but I live in a basement. No windows, no lights. With no income other than social security plus my four cats. Books earn $50 a month, I am not famous. I ended up with four cats, only intended to have one. I am searching for apartments as my first step to freedom and independence but no place will rent to me with four cats and under $800 a month in income. Then maybe work up to moving away and closing down at some point in time. I sometimes wonder if shutting down the rescue is the right move. Everyone tells me to do what I love and not think about the money. But how can you not. I am being guilt tripped even by the vets because I have identified over 30 medical cases even specialists have missed, but that is the exact reason I am bored here. I want to do more, feel more, be more, experience more. I am thinking about rehoming three of my four cats - I rescued all them from euthanasia at a local shelter so I was kind of fostering them to begin with. One cat I cured them of cancer with an experimental treatment that I was the first in the entire state to try through Cornell university, so I want to keep him since that was quite the bonding since I had to give him injections over 90 days. I do sometimes have trouble caring for myself being of the ADHD/autism. I am like a mad scientists. I can do complex laboratory calculations and compounding, but cooking is hard for me.

I am just looking for opinions. I just want to be financially independent, with one cat, happy and growing both professional and personally. I have apartment offers for me but they only allow one cat at $400 rent a month and free utilities. Otherwise with four cats, cheapest I can find is over $800. I don't know what to do. I need unbiased opinions. I don't think there is a magic solution to making the nonprofit rescue earn money. The math just doesn't add up.