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How did you end up in your career?


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My career is completely different from what my degree is in, so no planning or job shifts here. I took a chance, interviewed for the position, got the job straight out of college and have been working my way up ever since. It's been six years. :)

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I have some lines of continuity and some new/unexpected turns. The latter came about by accident/ by getting new opportunities along the way and just grabbing them and allowing them to take me along. If I wasn't getting old, I'd change again - there are so many different things I'd like to work with :)

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When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher, because that's what all my friend wanted to be!

 

When I got to college I discovered I loved psychology and wanted to be a psychologist. Then I realized how much school that would be, therefore I opted to be a therapist and get a Masters. I originally wanted to work with adolescents in a mental health setting, but changed my mind after my undergrad internship. I developed a love for addictions counseling during my graduate internship, and now I work with adults with drug and alcohol addictions.

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Backwards, bent over, with a jar of Vaseline in my hand. I never wanted to do what I do, but until I get my ducks in a row, it's mental health or unemployment (which has been over 2 years now).

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laRubiaBonita

i have been at my current job for 9 years...... and i was a youngin' when i started.

it was just a matter of being there at the right time, mu sister had told me i should apply because it sounded like the job was what i was alreafy doing, but with good benefits (health, dental, 401K, etc....).

 

but i never did decide in what i wanted to be/ do when i grew up, so it is fine for now.

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I had vague career goals while an undergrad.

Once out of school,

I chased money and status in my first career.

I obtained both but was never more unhappy in my life. It was horrible. I stuck with it for 5 years.

 

I left that field after some soul-searching, took a hit in income, went for a graduate degree. I chose my second career based on who I am and what I value.

I am now very comfortable and very happy. This career is definitely more in alignment with my core values. I plan to stay with it until retirement.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yes my career is also different from the my study. But now I find the good job in the good company. So I have enjoy that I got the job finally. And now I have lots of experience in my job and find good salary in my job.

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I had very clear ideas of the work I wanted to do right until my last year of school, when I changed my mind and no longer knew what I wanted to do. I allowed myself to be bullied into registering for a degree which I hated, so I changed course to something I enjoyed, with no idea what I might do with that once I graduated.

 

I followed my heart and applied for jobs that appealed to me and have done that throughout my career. It has not led to a linear progression but it has been very interesting. Interestingly, I am now doing something similar to what I'd envisaged doing back in school, but in a completely different field.

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I Luv the Chariot OH

I never really had any specific career goals. When I finished university I spent a year in a few dead-end jobs, then got an interview randomly in a field I never imagoned myself in, but that paid well and I didn't hate. It's only been one year now, but so far so good :o)

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I dont know if my job is a career yet cause i'm still a temp. But i've worked there for 1.5 years already and they're going to possibly hire me and put me in something alittle higher than what i'm doing now.

 

This is how i got this job. It was in some ad in craiglist and i sent my resume and then they called me BUT it wasn't the company that was offering the job. It was a TEMP company. well i went "chucks" i dont want to deal with temps..cause i thought" I have to take more typing tests and MS office test etc, AGAIN" i want direct hire. BUt the temp company was really nice and the process was quick.

 

Then so i stayed working and I've stayed and they've offered to hire me in several departments.. but then they seemed to have just forgotten to hire me cause i'm just floating with no real job title.. But then last week one of the supervisors for another deparment around there asked me if i was hired yet and i said "no" then it got her started into A conversation "Why not....they have to...it's been 1.5 already..and

she said she was going to talk to the other admin people to do something about my situation.

 

So i may get employed(as a company employee and not a temp) soon

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From 16 til present day.

(arrows ----> conate which lead to)

Small diner(waitress) ----> nursing home ----> Department retail----> Private Duty nursing--->Convenience store ----> Nursing home---> Mail Sorting----> Fast food -----> Private Catering----> Hotel Night Auditor----> to Present day Career Network/Sales Admin. Received my current 8 years in by a fluke. Hotel which was High brow didnt want my kind there so the Lady in another department asked her mother who is part owner of local business if there was any job openings to get me out of the HOtel and into something else. So the moment I was in the room with the Owners they said, SHe's hired! I barely said much .What caught there eye was I was groomed in an industry and they wanted to learn some of the tactics used in customer service. To this day one of the top compliments is my ability to work with customers and still keep business as the priority to stay afloat. I love my career , just not some of the people who play manager without thinking of the customer first.....

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It was what I always wanted to do. I did not have the opportunity to study as far as I would have liked, but I did not give up. I took positions that were available to me and I saved up and studied part time until I could get better positions, until I had a position that I felt myself in.

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How did you end up where you are now? Was it all pre planned or did you have many career changes in till you found what you enjoy?

 

Took me until my late twenties to figure out what I would enjoy doing for the rest of my working life. I changed jobs about 6 times (plus 1 big career shift) and I financed my own BA degree in a field that I don't have any interest in working in (at the time I had alot of interest, but by the time I completed my degree, that career no longer appealed to me).

 

What I do now was very strategically targeted and involved alot of personal motivation, a year+ of self financed research and development, networking, trade shows on my own dollar, and working as an unpaid intern for over a year (all the while, working a second full time job at night, so I could afford to live and eat in ****ty little apartment).

 

It's been over a decade and a half since my intern level/struggle days, and all the time, effort, long hours, and personal management of my career trajectory (which involved moving around the country a couple times to rise in my industry) has absolutely paid off.

 

I definitely recommend targeting a career that you love - because you will naturally give more effort towards that career, and with a little luck, it will pay off either emotionally, financially or even both. :)

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Haven't had a career, just a series of jobs since I was 17. Food service, retail, customer service, data entry, manufacturing, trucking, law firms - lots of gigs, lots of bad pay, lots of BS that you couldn't pay me to tolerate again.

 

I actually quit a recession-proof job in order to finish my degree in a field where I will most likely be perpetually looking for work. But at least it's work that I enjoy, instead of having a job where the only things to look forward to are smoke breaks and quitting time. (And since I quit smoking a year ago... well...)

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I wound up in my career by getting a degree in the field I work in (engineering), and doing summer internships with the company I work for. Before college, I had wanted to go military since I was very young, but that didn't work out due to my poor eyesight (without my contacts, I'm a blind a$$ mutha*****a).

 

The school and program I chose to enroll in was more or less a last minute decision. I guess I got lucky that the university and my choice of major turned out to be a great fit for me. There are a lot of routes I could have enjoyed I think, but at the time that those decisions were being made, I feel like I made the most out of the situation based on what I knew at the time.

 

With clarity obtained in hindsight, I feel like I did ok. I know I don't want to live in the place I live forever, or work for the same company forever, but I generally like the work I do, and having a paycheck large enough to support the things I like to do is a blessing.

 

I personally feel that telling high school kids that "they can do whatever they want as long as they go to college" is bunk. There are plenty of college degrees out there that were fairly worthless before the recession. After the recession, the list of non-marketable degrees grew. In addition to the crummy job market, the cost of obtaining a degree is also increasing a lot at most schools. Doing what one wants to be doing is important, undoubtedly, but it's very hard to live a low stress, fun life if you're constantly worried about making the rent or driving a jalopy that could explode at any time, all the while under the yoke of oppressive college loans.

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I met a guy at a bar that had a ex girlfriend who worked at a magazine. So I told him about my experience and that I needed work, after we went home and slept together I got her number and presto! Really though it was a stroke of luck he even knew her because now I work for a flippin cool magazine!

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Started off working in finance. It interested me but I soon learnt that a life of working indoors was not for me. Was also a +4 handicap at the time and my girl encouraged me to try make a living playing golf. So we quit the rat race, packed our bags, married and spent the next year or so on the road, trying to make my way on tour. When she died I quit golf, drank and drifted. Eventually signed up to the corps and went to try and make a difference. When I returned home I had no options other than labouring jobs, so I worked my way up from there. Learnt a trade, set up my own business and have barely looked back.

 

None of it was planned, certainly wasn't my dream as a young man, but I ended up in the right place. My own boss, on site with the lads and the sun on my back, barely feels like work most of the time.

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When I got to college I discovered I loved and wanted to be a psychologist to psychology. Then I realized how much school that might be, so I chose a doctor and maybe get a Masters. I originally set up in the mental health of teenagers wanted to work with, but after my student internship changed my mind. During my graduate internship developed a love for addictions counseling, drug and alcohol addiction and now I work with adults with.

 

__________________________________

appointment setting

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