At what age did you have a clear idea on what you wanted to do career wise?

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I'm nearly 24 and still don't have a clue. I've never had a single career idea in my life and i'm not sure how anyone else manages to think of one. I don't want to be the sort of person who has a different job every few months.

Entrepreneurship maybe? I'm around the same age as you though I do have a poxy underpaid job.. problem with me I quit everything as I get bored and have a change of heart.. I think I just dont like working for people so I'm venturing out on my own and have a business idea which I'm currently sorting out paperwork for..whether I actually do it is anyones guess, only obstacle in my way is money really as from research my idea is feasible.

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Reply 101

charl0tte90

Few career ideas in the past few weeks but no money to fund these ideas...

Reply 102

CookieInOrange

Was choosing between medicine and psychology between the ages of about 8 to 14, then I settled on Clinical Neuropsychology. Kinda needed to choose though, to prepare and stuff. And I love so many subjects that I'd just want to go into research in all of them if I didn't decide.

Reply 103

AsandaLFC

I figured out at 17 but I didnt believe in myself that I could do med now that im 19 I feel I can do it and I will attempt it so il be dealing with med for the rest of my twenties :hmpf:

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Reply 104

username1060389

At about 15/16, I decided I wanted to be a nurse although I had always wanted to help people. After volunteering at a special needs school, I decided to specialise in paediatric nursing and at 19, I am now in my second year of my degree :smile:

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God, most of you are young! I'm 34 and it's only really taking me till the last few years to realize what is an ideal fit for me. I've always had a love for design, art, IT since I was about 11. I was a temp worker between 17 and 21 working for loads of different companies on short term contracts. It gave me an idea as to the skills I was good at although they were never related to design (i work within corporate office environments). At 21 I worked for Central Government for 10 year's, typical office job working with numbers and budgets, but at 30 I realized I didnt want to do that for the rest of my life so quit and went to University.

In 2010, at 30 year's of age I went to uni and studied Business at a great institution. I absolutely loved it, particularly writing essays, researching and learning about Strategy. During my 3rd year I loved the idea of being a Management Consultant but it soon came into fruition after I graduated that my age was a significant barrier. So I took a job in Estate Agency (Commercial property), with a view to becoming a Surveyor. I loved my job. However 10 months later I was made redundant and i questioned whether I wanted to be a Surveyor even after being made redundant. During the 5 months I was unemployed I racked my brain in considering what I wanted to do. I thought about my passions (design, IT, art, writing) and considered learning Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. Again, difficult into to break into in early 30's. Time was running out so took a job as a Recruitment Consultant 4 weeks ago. Never ever been in a sales-oriented role before. I like meeting new people and giving them advice, but because the sector I work in is Construction, we dont really interview candidates or assess their CV's - we just need references and a construction registration card. So again, I questioned my career path as I want to assess CV and help people improve their employability etc.

The point of me explaining the above is that i'm continually on a path to finding what job/career is a best fit for me, 'also' taking into account what stage I am at my career. Being the age I am, I am limited to entering certain industries (IT, web design, illustration, digital media, marketing). I have most likely left it too late now to really pursue what I want because i would need a degree, plus, again, my age (sad fact but true for an industry dominated by the 20's generation).

People nowadays change careers upto 4 times, so those who are lucky to have identified as early as 10, or even 18, what their passion is and pursue it are incredibly lucky and rare.

To add, people are also constantly changing. I wasn't the same person as I was at 15, or 25, so my preferences and expectations change continually over the years, and that includes the type of people I want to work with which is a huge factor these days to enjoy a successful career....

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 107

Olderandwiser23

24 although I knew at 18 just didn't have the balls to do it. With age came
Confidence.

Reply 108

Viridiana

I'm 18 and haven't yet :frown:

I've never had a clear idea about it.

Reply 111

Drewski

13.

But while I did begin down the line to get there, I veered off and am now doing something entirely different.

Reply 112

ScouseEmma28

Original post by MrMango

Good for you considering setting up your own business! Agree that lack of funding limits your ability to set it up. People have always said to me after doing my degree 'ohh why dont you run your own business?' and i'm like 'in what? - im not exactly an Accountant, IT Web Designer or Physio'. It would have to be in an advisory role, business consultancy or drawing/writing, but that is a hard feat because the market is saturated with roles/people with the same skills.

What type of business would you like to establish? Do you know that there is a Government body that helps start up companies? There are also locally-based, private initiatives that help people wanting to start up a business.

Reply 113

Sylvette

If I could have any job I wanted, I would've been like a superpower researcher or scientist XD It's been my dream since young and I've always been really interested in superpowers and the like XD Too bad they don't exist in this dimension, or I would've been applying to all universities related to it like 2 years early :smile:

I still don't know what I really want for sure, but going with what I think would be fun and interesting to learn. That's why I'm doing psychology, because I have this habit of observing people's behaviours and seeing how they react to different things :smile:

I've really only decided on doing it 2 years ago; before I wanted to be an illustrator or freelance artist :smile:

Reply 114

506rl

About 16 I was sure I wanted to be some kind of Psychologist, although even to this day (around 2 years later) I don't really know what kind of psychology. Before that I thought that psychology may be an interesting option. So basically even now I'm not 100% clear but pretty close.

Reply 115

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

Tomorrow I may be starting an exciting career in shift factory work.

OOO, it's like looking back in time.

You got the job past self. Although it will not be exciting I'm afraid.

Original post by sr90

I also don't want to be the sort of person that spends 40+ years doing the exact same thing.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 116

AsandaLFC

Opm experience plays a huge role in making ot clear to u what u want to be e.g at the age of 17 I slept in the hospt for 10 days and that made in interested

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Reply 117

Rabbit2

I was about 10. TV was just coming in [black & white of course], and we bought an early RCA set used from a dealer. There were a few problems with it, and a relative of a neighbour came over to look at it. He had a set of schematics for it with him, and left them open on the table. I had already been all over the set, and tried out all the controls on the front, as well as those on the rear - so i knew what they all did. I was surprised to see that they were all plainly marked on the schematics, and so were the tubes (no transistors then of course). The relative was a fairly young guy (altho he seemed ancient to me - must have been 20 or so). He took the time to point out a few things to me on the schematics, and answer a couple of questions. A few minutes later, me 'rents came in, and immediately noticing me looking at the schematics, immediately launched into their usual deprecating attack: "OH!!! Isn't that CUTE!! He thinks he can read!!!!" and on, and on. Of course i could read at that age - like at the 19 yr old level according to my tests - but they meant read the schematics. In point of fact, i could read nearly everything on them. I wouldn't have been able to troubleshoot to nearly the extent i can now, but i knew a lot more about what the drawings represented than they did. Right then, i decided that electronics looked like a NEAT field to get into. My interest hasn't waned over the intervening years either!

Years later, i was sitting in a restaurant with "me rents", and a stranger at an adjacent booth struck up a conversation with me. During the course of which, he asked me a technical question about radio signal propagation. I gave him a 'simplified' but correct explanation - realizing that he was not a fellow engineer by the way he had worded his question. In the middle of my explanation to the fellow, me rents cut into the conversation, and told the stranger that i was their son, and really didn't know what i was talking about (in some depth). I bit my tongue, but finally figured that i had taken enough of this (i was 42 at the time). In a break in their diatribe, i told the stranger that i held an masters degree in electrical engineering, specializing in signal propagation (which was 100% true), and that 'me rents' held NO degrees in ANYTHING, so he could choose who to believe. They were furious, and i heard about that for years.

Cheers.

Reply 118

Istanbul2019

Original post by MrMango

wouldnt bother tbh.. best bet is to go on the national careers service website.

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What is that?

Reply 119

Istanbul2019

Original post by Istanbul2005

I'm 29 and I still haven't got a clue what I really want to do. I hope I work it out soon.

I signed up just to reply to you. I wonder how life is for you now. Right now I am 29 and in the same situation as yours. I still don't know what to do. I am also from İstanbul so it was surprising to see your name here :smile:

(edited 5 years ago)