Owz600 Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 I am 19 and will be 20 years old this saturday. Me and my ex of 3 years broke up the end of last month, she outgrew me and knew exactly what she wanted from life and that was to be cabin crew, she has now landed that job and starts on the 22nd of Feb. I have been lost on a career choice since I was 16, never had an idea what I wanted to do.. thought it was computers for years in till I went to my University and realised this is not the career for me, I want a career where I feel challenged, pay is good, you can progress and most of all I am happy. Because I have been so lost I have procrastinated and get very anxious, I cannot make a decision due to the anxiety and will I be happy? Is it the right choice? Anyway this year since breaking up with my ex I really want to focus on my career and make a move, I can no longer work in a poor paid customer service job which I am not happy with, I get depressed about it. I see all my friends go off to University while I stayed at home to work. I don't want to sound arrogant but I am bright, If I put my mind to something I will achieve the top. I have been trying to list careers I am interested in, currently it looks like (in no particular order) 1. Firefighter 2. Marketing 3. Manager 4. Musician 5. Entrepreneur But lately I have started thinking of cabin crew... are my feelings getting mixed up? am I thinking this as my ex did it and somehow I can relate to her by doing it? I do think it's a great job, it's adventurous and different, you travel the world and stay overnight sometimes days in lovely places. The pay is not great but being happy for me outweighs pay, I haven't been happy for the past year or two. I have been told by others that I am great with people as I communicate well and listen. I really want to make a move with my career, I can't wait around going nowhere no more. For some reason I have the mentality that I have to be 100% sure on a career in order to pursue it, I think it deep down comes to wanting to catch up with my friends progress and be successful, I want to impress others because in my mind I always think others see me as this failure who left sixth form with poor grades and had no idea what to do with his life. Any advice?
Duckduckgoose Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Interesting that at 20ish she knows exactly what she wants from life... at that age I thought I did too. Life happened and now I have to rethink things. Second "career" being started now at 27 years old. But the issue here is you and what you want. Can you dabble a little in each of them? Maybe talk to people in all those fields, perhaps get to experience their jobs? Firefighter is stressful... I know that much, and heard it doesn't pay very well. But its also very rewarding. Is it possible for you to take a few classes or a career placement test at your local community college or employment office?
edgeofdarkness Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Im a lot older than u i still dont kno what I wanna do with my life, dont sweat it, so much oppertunity for you to advance yr education and find your nich in life. theres no hurry believe me.
january2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) It's rare these days that people find one career and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Many people have what are called "portfolio careers" where they do something for say 10-15 years then move onto something else. And, in my experience, a lot of people also find that they somehow 'fall' into a career, say for example, when an opportunity comes up, it looks interesting so they just go for it and then somehow spend the next 20 years in that career. None of this is right or wrong. You need to make the best decision that you can, based on the information that you have and bearing in mind your end-goal of where you want to be in 5, 10, 15, 20+ years' time. As a starting point, how far have you got in investigating whether these careers are right for you? You also have to think about whether or not you're the kind of person who wants to just make money and can keep your head down and get on with a job because it gets you to where you want to be. E.g., scrubbing floors at dive bar because you know that a certain musician drinks there and you need to get your demo tape to him. Or whether or not you're the kind of person, who needs to feel completely happy with what their doing no matter what it is. Or having great work colleagues are important to you. Or the job environment is important to you. And so on. Some of the jobs in your list may or may not match. Have you matched them to your criteria in your OP? Do you know what the entry requirements are for each job? Do you meet or do you have the potential to meet each entry requirement? (will depend on industry and company though) Do you match the personality and skillset requirements? Off-the-top of my head, some useful (in my opinion) general personality and skillset requirements (again these may vary slightly, particularly the marketing and managerial jobs): 1. Firefighter - physically fit and able to stay calm in dangerous situations, doesn't mind being on-call and waiting around inbetween call-outs 2. Marketing - creative and able to think outside the box, doesn't mind constantly having to justify job role and decisions 3. Manager - organised and have gravitas, doesn't mind having to deal with conflict between team and upper manangement 4. Musician - talented and able to put up with lots of travelling to gigs, doesn't mind rejections and criticisms 5. Entrepreneur - can sell and able to spot money-making opportunities, doesn't mind long hours, evening and weekend work if it means making money What are the starting points for those careers and how easy would it be for you to get your foot on the first rung? Can you get some (volunteer/work shadowing) experience and/or talk to people already in those roles to see if you like what you see/hear? What are the progression routes for those careers and can you realistically advance within the timefram that you want? Regarding research for jobs, the internet would be a great place to start and there are many university and college careers websites that will even give you a brief overview of each job online and you don't even have to be one of their students to access it. Google should be your first point of call. Anyway, you don't have to answer these questions here. They're just something for you to think about and a starting point for your research. Edited January 27, 2011 by january2011
Author Owz600 Posted January 27, 2011 Author Posted January 27, 2011 It's rare these days that people find one career and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Many people have what are called "portfolio careers" where they do something for say 10-15 years then move onto something else. And, in my experience, a lot of people also find that they somehow 'fall' into a career, say for example, when an opportunity comes up, it looks interesting so they just go for it and then somehow spend the next 20 years in that career. None of this is right or wrong. You need to make the best decision that you can, based on the information that you have and bearing in mind your end-goal of where you want to be in 5, 10, 15, 20+ years' time. As a starting point, how far have you got in investigating whether these careers are right for you? You also have to think about whether or not you're the kind of person who wants to just make money and can keep your head down and get on with a job because it gets you to where you want to be. E.g., scrubbing floors at dive bar because you know that a certain musician drinks there and you need to get your demo tape to him. Or whether or not you're the kind of person, who needs to feel completely happy with what their doing no matter what it is. Or having great work colleagues are important to you. Or the job environment is important to you. And so on. Some of the jobs in your list may or may not match. Have you matched them to your criteria in your OP? Do you know what the entry requirements are for each job? Do you meet or do you have the potential to meet each entry requirement? (will depend on industry and company though) Do you match the personality and skillset requirements? Off-the-top of my head, some useful (in my opinion) general personality and skillset requirements (again these may vary slightly, particularly the marketing and managerial jobs): 1. Firefighter - physically fit and able to stay calm in dangerous situations, doesn't mind being on-call and waiting around inbetween call-outs 2. Marketing - creative and able to think outside the box, doesn't mind constantly having to justify job role and decisions 3. Manager - organised and have gravitas, doesn't mind having to deal with conflict between team and upper manangement 4. Musician - talented and able to put up with lots of travelling to gigs, doesn't mind rejections and criticisms 5. Entrepreneur - can sell and able to spot money-making opportunities, doesn't mind long hours, evening and weekend work if it means making money What are the starting points for those careers and how easy would it be for you to get your foot on the first rung? Can you get some (volunteer/work shadowing) experience and/or talk to people already in those roles to see if you like what you see/hear? What are the progression routes for those careers and can you realistically advance within the timefram that you want? Regarding research for jobs, the internet would be a great place to start and there are many university and college careers websites that will even give you a brief overview of each job online and you don't even have to be one of their students to access it. Google should be your first point of call. Anyway, you don't have to answer these questions here. They're just something for you to think about and a starting point for your research. That was the best post I have ever received on these forums, Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to do so These are my steps which I have taken so far: Firefighter: Researched it well, found out that there are no full time firefighters available and there is a waiting list, I then phoned headquarters recruitment regarding retained firefighters and they sent me an application form, I have filled it in and sent it off. I am waiting to hear back off them. Marketing: Havent researched so well but when I was in college one of my modules was 'Market Research' this was very interesting me and the tutor would have great talks about how great these brands were at marketing. Apple is great at marketing, especially with there Ipod, you can spot somebody with an Ipod from a far due to the easily recognisable white headphones. Such a simple idea but such a great one. With my research so far I have found most companies as for degree's in either Business or Marketing, I would be able to attend University in September to study marketing through a HND Course then in the final year top it up to a degree. Manager: My section leader and colleagues have told me that I would make a great manager, my section leader would really like me to progress as one. I have shadowed him lately and found out what he does day to day. He has taught me various stock controlling systems, claiming for faulty goods and we are going to dig further, he says a lot of his work involves legal work, rota's and stock. I have a good relationship with my managers and receive good feedback off them, I am trying to make myself stand out by doing extra work and when section leader jobs become available around summer time I may apply. In my current company it takes on average 1 year to go from section leader to department manager. Musician: Last year I studied a music performance course. It was great every friday we would play songs on stage in front of a crowd. I got such a buzz off it, I love being on stage playing music. Nothing compares to that buzz, it's such a rush for me. I am currently studying my grade 8 in guitar and have an exam soon, this will give me extra University points to try and get into a University studying popular music. The problem is, I don't believe you need a degree in music to make it into the music business, the most important thing in music is your contacts. If you know nobody in music it's very unlikely you will ever make it. I also have started a band with friends to write our own songs. Entrepreneur - My dad runs his own taxi company, I have seen first hand what is involved. For the past 5 years he starts at 7am and doesn't usually get home int till 10pm. It's not uncommon for him to work over 120+ hours a week. His work involves a lot of hassle and uncertainty as he usually doesn't get paid on time by his contracts. I would love to build my own company and I would work hard at it but the main issue is in what? I believe for a company to be successful it needs something unique to offer it's clients and currently I haven't found what I am looking for. I may be able to study a Business Enterprise in September if the University accepted me, I don't quite make the grades but around september time they are usually looking for people to fill in empty spaces, this would give me the tools needed to start my own business, it can also help out with the possibility of being a manager. Time frame wise: Firefighter: Application process can take from 6 - 12 months and there's no guarantee that you be accepted and that's just for retained, but thats still a good experience. Firefighter vacancies comes up very rare and they are making cuts in that sector plus I have heard there is a waiting list to be become a Whole time Firefighter. So cant really put a time cap on it. But I would like to be a Whole time fighter within 2-3 years. Marketing: Would require to study a 3 year degree and possibly study a post graduate course which would take an extra year. So thats 3 - 4 years before you even hit the job market. It could take up to 3 - 5 years before your employed. Manager: At my current company progression route it would take a year as a section leader then you would become a department manager. From there you can progress up the ranks or leave for another retail manager role in another company. Or I could study a Business Management degree at University for 3 years. But what would impress employers more? Experience in the field or the in depth knowledge and theory's gained from University? Musician: How long is a piece of string? To be a professional recognised band it could take from 6 months - Never. Entrepreneur: 3 years in University to study Business Enterprise or just start a business from scratch and getting information from my father, books and the net. I believe on average it takes a few years before your company makes a profit. I have also applied for a airport staff position which will require checking in passengers, my reason for this is that I believe it would be interesting to work in an airport plus I have an interest in roles there such as Police, Air Traffic controller and cabin crew. Cabin crew due to the fact there is plenty of travelling and always active. I would really like to be following a career within the next 6 months. I can't procrastinate any longer otherwise I am going to be old and unhappy.
january2011 Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 It sounds like you've made excellent progress so far and have really thought this through. I don't have any additional advice to give, because the choices are yours to make and I can't help you with that. If you have some time to spare though, you might like to watch this video of a speech given by Steve Jobs (Apple, Pixar): The take-home lessons, I took from it were: You can only connect the dots when looking backward and not forward. Trust your heart when it leads you off the beaten path. Find what you love. Do what you believe is great work. Keep looking and don't settle. You will know when you find it.Every morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself, "if today were the last day of my life, would I still do what I'm about to do?" Everything falls away in the face of death, leaving what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.Your time is limited. So don't waste it living someone else's life. Have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.Stay hungry. Stay foolish. You might pick up other messages. I hope that you truly find a career that inspires you, that you love and where you do good work.
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