[snowman77]

as in what career i want.

i'm a uni student on a break from uni, going back to complete my degree this september. i go to a good uni which is easily in the top 10 and probably in the top 5. i do a good course (a Bsc edit: this is not to say i dont think highly of BAs). at school i got A*s for my GCSEs and i did four A Levels in which i got three A grades and one B grade which included maths and science subjects.

this means very little when i have never known what career i want. when i was very young (10 years old and younger), i remember thinking about becoming a sports player. not in football but more in something like cricket, tennis or snooker. i was very shy (and stubborn too) when i was young and i hated being around other people. i would cry and moan loads at the parents for making me go to tennis so much that they wanted me to quit if they could see it was causing me so much distress. so i never stuck with any sport when i was young. i prefered being on my own at home playing computer games.

i used to be into planes and aircraft when i was young too but that was a shortlived phase.

i was always into wildlife/nature/geography when i was young, up until the age of about 16. i read nature books, science books, books on plants and animals, books on countries and continents. i didnt take geography beyond year 9 at school (i hated the way it was taught and didnt like any of the teachers). i didnt take biology beyond GCSE because it was very much focused on the human body and i hated the blood and gore associated with that (i could never become a doctor).


i have no idea anymore. i dont have any real interests anymore. i have considered in my head many options for careers.

eg. business: i am not driven and determined enough for this

banking, accountancy, consultancy and any other finance job: i cant imagine working in a boring stressful job like this with long hours and trying to blag my way to getting a job. i have no interest in this.

chef: when i was younger i was interested in food. but now i see preparing and eating food as a chore.

bodybuilding/fitness model: i have been lifting weights in the gym for about 18 months. i have considered this. bodybuilding you have to take so many drugs (risk your later life) to make any progress. fitness model- i dont really want to look like any of the models in the magazines or advertisements. i prefer a bulkier look.

airline pilot: i have strongly considered this but apparently the costs are huge. i have heard it costs about 100k for all the training and you dont get sponsors or the companies paying for this.

psychologist/psychiatrist/working with mental health: i have considered this before. i have a small history of mental illness and it runs in my family too. but i dont think i have the patience to work with mentally ill people.


i may have considered other careers too. i cant quite remember. sorry for the long post. i am grateful for any advice i receive.

[Spellstheend]

Personal trainer?
Nutritionist/dietician?
Teacher?

[Chapeau Rouge]

(Original post by snowman77)
as in what career i want.

i'm a uni student on a break from uni, going back to complete my degree this september. i go to a good uni which is easily in the top 10 and probably in the top 5. i do a good course (a Bsc). at school i got A*s for my GCSEs and i did four A Levels in which i got three A grades and one B grade which included maths and science subjects.

[Chapeau Rouge]

(Original post by Spellstheend)
Teacher?

OP describes themselves as shy and hating long hours, hardly the ideal job.

[snowman77]

(Original post by Spellstheend)
Personal trainer?
Nutritionist/dietician?
Teacher?

thank you for your reply.

personal trainer: i have heard that its so tough to get clients as a personal trainer and there is so much information in books and on the internet that its so tough to make any money as a personal trainer. my people skills arent great either (i am not shy like i used to be. i am more quiet and reserved but i can talk when i need to).

nutritionist/dietician: i havent looked into this. i cant think there is much scope for jobs here and if there are they must be poorly paid. like above i am sure people can get all the information they need online or in books.

teacher: i dont think i would have patience for teaching classes of annoying kids. i dont have any experience of dealing with younger people (not even in my family. i dont have much younger siblings). i dont think i would have enthusiasm for a particular subject enough.

i seem like a book of excuses. i dont know what i want.

[Beckyweck]

I'm in a similar situation. I had my whole life planned out til I got to about 16 and realised I didn't actually wanna do any of it so I just started to wing it. I thought I'd just go to uni and do something I enjoy and just see where it takes me. I do biology so it's not like something I could never get a job in. Try your career advisors at uni, they might be able to point you in the right direction. Next year I'm doing a placement year in a lab to get some experience and see if I can find something I'd want to do long term.

[Zerforax]

There's too much emphasis on trying to find the perfect job straight away. In reality, some are lucky and find their calling, others think they know what they want only to then hate it and find something else, some perhaps never find what they truly want to do.

Instead of getting bogged down with what you're going to do careerwise, go out and get as much experience as you can - whether it be worldly, travelling, interaction with people, random jobs or schemes and anything else that comes to mind.

No one else is going to be able to decide but you and you alone know what is important to you.

[snowman77]

(Original post by Chapeau Rouge)

i included that because i know on this site there is such an emphasis on BSc courses and the skills they give you. it was to give people some background on what i do so they know i am not a complete no-hoper. i havent included all details for security reasons. if people want to know my exact course and university they may message me.

(Original post by Chapeau Rouge)
OP describes themselves as shy and hating long hours, hardly the ideal job.

i am not shy anymore. i am reserved and quiet but i can talk when i need to. i would say i lack enthusiasm and drive at the moment as well because i dont have much direction with where i am going.

i dont mind long hours per se. i said i dont think i could stand long hours in a job like banking and i have no drive or passion to get a job like that so the employers will see right through that and reject me straight away. i dont wish to 'live a lie' so to speak.

[Octohedral]

Join the RAF? You could certainly join the UAS at university, to see what it's like.

Edit: Um, I fail to see the problem. He has a year left at University. He mentioned being a pilot but it costing too much, and this is a good way to get free flight training. I'm not recruiting - I am not a member of the Armed Forces, and never will be. My advice is well meant and free

[Waterstorm]

Yeah, with regards to being a personal trainer - I'm one myself, and it isn't easy to get clients so I wouldn't put it as a full time job if you got a degree. And you gotta be a bit of an extrovert, so if you're kinda quiet it probably wouldn't work.

[Planar]

French Foreign Legion

[alex_hk90]

Don't worry so much about it. Apply for any job/internship that even vaguely sounds interesting and see what you get back. You're unlikely to really know what you'll like unless you actually try it.

[snowman77]

(Original post by Beckyweck)
I'm in a similar situation. I had my whole life planned out til I got to about 16 and realised I didn't actually wanna do any of it so I just started to wing it. I thought I'd just go to uni and do something I enjoy and just see where it takes me. I do biology so it's not like something I could never get a job in. Try your career advisors at uni, they might be able to point you in the right direction. Next year I'm doing a placement year in a lab to get some experience and see if I can find something I'd want to do long term.

thank you for your reply. i am glad someone else is in a similar scenario to me. i didnt have my whole life planned out as such. more that i have changed interests as the years have gone by and lost interest in things i used to love a lot. i am so surprised i dont find wildlife, nature and geography interesting anymore. i used to love reading books about it and internet articles.

i too thought about working in a lab (i took a strong interest in chemistry in years 9-11) but now i hate the thought of ever doing such a thing. i dont think i could cope with that.

(Original post by Zerforax)
There's too much emphasis on trying to find the perfect job straight away. In reality, some are lucky and find their calling, others think they know what they want only to then hate it and find something else, some perhaps never find what they truly want to do.

Instead of getting bogged down with what you're going to do careerwise, go out and get as much experience as you can - whether it be worldly, travelling, interaction with people, random jobs or schemes and anything else that comes to mind.

No one else is going to be able to decide but you and you alone know what is important to you.

people might not find the right job to begin with but i would certainly think that most people find the right career to begin with. someone might go into finance but the banking job might not suit them so they go into accountancy.

[Jellybean91]

Blimeyy you're thinking way too much into this!!! and to be quite frank, in a job market like this, you're being extremely picky!! You say you dont want to work long hours? I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you might have to because we all have to do things we don't want to do to earn a living. For now, I'd say just focus on finishing your degree and then maybe try and find something related to that for a job! You dont have to go straight into your perfect job, you have time to figure it out.

Also I highly resent this comment:

(Original post by snowman77)
i do a good course (a Bsc).

whether you meant it or not, it sounds like you're saying your degree is better than mine or worth more because you do a science. When looking for advice, try not to piss people off like that or become condescending

[Beckyweck]

(Original post by snowman77)
i too thought about working in a lab (i took a strong interest in chemistry in years 9-11) but now i hate the thought of ever doing such a thing. i dont think i could cope with that.

What do you do at uni? You must enjoy that if you're doing it now so there must be some career path you can take with it. Your career peeps would be best to talk to or do a bit of googling about what you could do with it. If I get to the end and still don't know I think I'll probably do some post grad work in a topic that really interests me.

[theultimateplu]

This reminded me of this.

[RetroRocker]

I'm in such a similar situation, accept I'm 19 going on 20! No idea what I want to do after my degree, and I only have a year to decide really. Its been really bumming me out, but oh well. I have a long list of stuff I don't want to do, but no realistic idea what to do - I kind of want to do something arty, maybe go to drama school after my degree, or try a creative writing course, but feel I should have more realistic goals!

I wanted to teach at Hogwarts when I read the first Harry Potter book, maybe I should try that?

You probably just need to try out lots of different things, and see what you enjoy... I'm sure you'll find something to do that you'll love, you're young, you've got your whole life ahead of you!

[Chapeau Rouge]

(Original post by snowman77)
i included that because i know on this site there is such an emphasis on BSc courses and the skills they give you. it was to give people some background on what i do so they know i am not a complete no-hoper. i havent included all details for security reasons. if people want to know my exact course and university they may message me.

Most of the people saying that talk complete bull**** and seem to think that perfect grades and a BSc entitles them to a good job in anything. Unearth it a bit more and you'll see the amount of people complaining that they can only get lab jobs which pay hardly anything and you'll see what complete crap these people are spilling.

(Original post by snowman77)
i am not shy anymore. i am reserved and quiet but i can talk when i need to. i would say i lack enthusiasm and drive at the moment as well because i dont have much direction with where i am going.

i dont mind long hours per se. i said i dont think i could stand long hours in a job like banking and i have no drive or passion to get a job like that so the employers will see right through that and reject me straight away. i dont wish to 'live a lie' so to speak.

You describe yourself as talking when you need to, implying that it is something you really don't enjoy doing thus teacher is completely inappropriate, how can you get kids to listen to you when you are reluctant to talk!

[snowman77]

(Original post by Octohedral)
Join the RAF? You could certainly join the UAS at university, to see what it's like.

if i were to become a pilot i wouldnt want to be a fighter pilot. i would much prefer being a passenger pilot or freight pilot. this is why i have been very reluctant to join the RAF. the UAS sounds good (does this stand for university air service?). i might give that a go. i dont have any experience with flying. all i know is i have perfect eyesight!

(Original post by Waterstorm)
Yeah, with regards to being a personal trainer - I'm one myself, and it isn't easy to get clients so I wouldn't put it as a full time job if you got a degree. And you gotta be a bit of an extrovert, so if you're kinda quiet it probably wouldn't work.

personal trainer is out of the question i think. i am quiet and dont have an enthusiasm to teach others fitness.

[TB.93]

There's always relying on the welfare state. You don't seem motivated to do anything - I doubt anyone would want to employ someone with an attitude like yours. No job is perfect - you just have to get over it!