Discovering Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with UWE Bristol, get free advice >>

I don't know what I want to do.

I'm currently in 9th grade and getting thoughts about college and a career but, I don't know what I want to do, or what I like. I know I need something that pays well (Stuff Expensive these days), Do any help or advice y'all have that could be good? ( America BTW) ( and is this the right forum?)

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Carbon Valkyrie

This forum is mostly for UK students, but I sometimes help those from other countries.

See the following link for job profiles in the US:
https://www.careeronestop.org/ExploreCareers/Learn/career-profiles.aspx

When asking about what I want to do, I would ask reflective questions about my experiences:

•

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

•

What gets you excited and what drives you up the wall?

•

What can you see yourself doing day in day out? What would bore you and make you run for the hills?

•

What can you never shut up about?

•

What do people complain about you? What do praise about you?

•

What do the people closest to you thought you would be doing or suited to doing?

•

etc..

They tend to give you an idea of roughly what sort of area to aim for. It's not foolproof because there might be fields that you have never come across or would otherwise change your mind about. These areas, you would probably need to explore to find out yourself.

One of the things about the US higher education system (despite my opinions of it) is that it allows you to do courses in a wide variety of fields that you can't do in say other countries (or rather continents), so you it's more of a generalist approach to education. That way you can sample a wide variety of subjects in your bachelor's before deciding.
A bachelor's can open a lot of doors for work in the US, so it's not exactly a death sentence if you chose the wrong field or subject. And even if you didn't majored in the appropriate subject, there's nothing stopping you from going back to do more classes at undergrad level.
Should the profession you're looking at require a specific license, often you don't need a specific degree in order to get it. I would check to see if this is the case for your specific chosen profession though.

Whilst I understand that things are expensive in the US (I could write an entire essay about this), I would focus more on what you love studying or doing for various reasons:

•

You can always earn more money, but you can only live once (unless you believe in reincarnation)

•

Most jobs would ask whether you're passionate about it before hiring, and if your resume is blank you would need a lot of drive in order to get the job

•

Whilst most people earn most of their income through their main job, there usually isn't a lot of barriers to you earning income on the side - see "side hustle culture" on Google or YouTube - unless your employer strictly forbades it

•

If you want to earn more money, that's a different question to what you should be doing as the 2 aren't always aligned or required to be aligned

•

If money is your sole motivation for the job, you would quickly burnout and be looking for something else - you can ask anyone you like and they would give you a similar answer

•

Your personality can unfortunately and unfairly be a bigger factor in whether you get accepted for a job than your qualifications, depending on the context; if you don't fit in, you don't fit in

•

What sort of life would it be if you're working long hours just to live for the weekend?

What I would strongly recommend you do from now until you graduate (be it high school or college) is to network with as many people as you can in the fields that you're interested in. That way, you can get an idea whether it's something for you. (The best thing would do an internship in the field, but this isn't always possible.)

I'm a little curious to whether you're a Southerner. If so, which state are you from?

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 2

askquestions310

Original post by Carbon Valkyrie

hey there, I was in your exact situation a few years ago (also a US student) and I'd be happy to talk it through and help if you wanna send me a message!