View Full Version : Did you know what you wanted to do when you left school?
cuddlepop
10-May-08, 17:37
For some of you like me that was a long time ago but did you know what you wanted to do or did you just drift into your first job.:confused
My eldest two never really got their first choice of careers but at least their in a job or education.My youngest is staying on to do a 6th year mainly because she feels undecided.
Not much in the way of job options here so I'd guess youngest is going to end up in catering or retail.
Going away to college is not an option.
Nothing wrong with either apart from the pay.:eek:
For some of you like me that was a long time ago but did you know what you wanted to do or did you just drift into your first job.:confused
My eldest two never really got their first choice of careers but at least their in a job or education.My youngest is staying on to do a 6th year mainly because she feels undecided.
Not much in the way of job options here so I'd guess youngest is going to end up in catering or retail.
Going away to college is not an option.
Nothing wrong with either apart from the pay.:eek:
your right there is not much in the way of job options up there but if u really want to do a particular type of job then moving to a location is just the way of the world like what i had to do
cuddlepop
10-May-08, 18:41
your right there is not much in the way of job options up there but if u really want to do a particular type of job then moving to a location is just the way of the world like what i had to do
The price of property or rental is way beyond most youngsters reach so once again limiting job prospects.
I wanted to be a hospital catering manager when I left school, instead when I qualified I got married.:eek:
most young people cant afford rent but it is very common for young people that move away they live in shared flat with people there own age i did that when i was in my early 20s loved it had a great time you see adds in the paper all the time
I went straight from school aged 15 to the recruitment office of the RN, my life long ambition, only to have my dreams shattered, by the fateful words "We do not recruit anyone with spectacles". I was gutted, but the CPO in charge then steered me in the direction of the Merchant Navy, which I had not considered, where he told me the spectacles were permitted. I did join up a year later and loved every minute of my 8 years in the MN, I have been in many careers since, finally ending up as a Customs Officer for 33 years.
Bobinovich
10-May-08, 20:53
I went from school into a 4-year mechanical apprenticeship which I'd been steered towards by family and guidance teachers. However I realised in my 3rd year that it was not for me long-term.
My employer suggested I hang on and finish the 4-years which I did, and I was fortunate that they then found a position doing computing within the engineering department, which worked out great for me. I've ended up self-employed in IT and count myself very lucky to have found my ideal career fairly early in life :D.
Not a clue and i still dont know now. Still i find life has a way of surprising me
I had no idea what I wanted to do, simply because I've never been ambitious. My siblings all have career's-I have a job! But in some respect's I've probably been better for it because I've moved around the UK and never been fussy about what I worked in. With the exception of 1 job I've enjoyed them all.
I knew what I wanted to do, or thought I did. I went to college to do my NNEB but had to leave before I completed the course. I managed to find a job as a Playworker when I left college and did that part time and worked as a Nanny part time too.
There are limited choices here jobwise as I am finding out. I much prefer to work to live as family come first. Would like to have a job that I love again, but not holding my breath for it.
im still trying to figure it out.. but i always wanted to be a wife and mum, so got that one right. when i was a kid i wanted to be an archeologist. then a teacher. once the kids are older and im able to go off for courses, i think i would really like to be a mid-wife. having my boys has given me a very big appreciation for the mid wives, and what a special job they do for all of us. and i would love to be part of that. to be able to help bring new life into the world!
will have to see how things work out!
if it ever gets to where i can do all the training here , im ready to sign up!
Well I wanted to go to art college, but (growing up working class Yorkshire dales ) my family just laughed and it really was a case of "tha can get to't mill lass." I really didn't have the strength to fight it (having fought long and hard to stay at school past 15) so I went to secretarial college. Have had lots of different and quite well paying jobs, and you make the best of them and enjoy the crack. I've no regrets but in my next life I fancy being an archaeolgist, a fantastic singer/stage performer, or a zoologist or zookeeper.......... I will plan better if I get another shot at it.
I wanted to be rich and famous. I haven't managed either yet but I might get there one day. Maybe sociology wasn't the right career choice after all.....
Moi x
I wanted to be rich and famous. I haven't managed either yet but I might get there one day. Maybe sociology wasn't the right career choice after all.....
Moi x
At least you'll be famous on here.:D
Yeah, famous for my last words! :lol:
Moi x
Nah - still don't! Got nagged into my first job by my mother and only left that after eighteen and a half years! Have a wee part time job now and it is fun but not my life's ambition. Must be wonderful to work at something you truly love!
Nah - still don't! Got nagged into my first job by my mother and only left that after eighteen and a half years! Good grief, what on earth did she make you do?
Moi x
Emmmm basically get off my bum and get a job! Have to say it was not all bad - some bits I really enjoyed! It was not the be all and end all though!
Very few jobs are the be all and end all, unfortunately.
I feel a career change coming on. Do you think I could be First Minister within 10 years? I feel I have more chance of being the first female First Minister than a certain party leader we all know and 'love' .....
Moi x
Lord Flasheart
11-May-08, 08:43
I was lucky enought to do what I wanted to do after leaving school. I have noticed thought that a lot of former classmates who seemed to have no idea what they wanted to do are now the most succesful of us. Im a firm believer that everyone finds their vocation in time.
A former work colleague who always wanted to be a Pilot has just been hired by a cropdusting company in the states and spends his time buzzing around at low level having the time of his life.
I am at the point in my career where I have been given more responsibility and it would be silly of me to jump ship now, although I do harbour an ambition to be a professional aviation or wildlife photographer.
Or a Zebra tamer.
cazmanian_minx
11-May-08, 09:19
Didn't have a Scooby. I went to university, read music and came out with a good degree, so had vague ideas of going into music administration and working somewhere like the Barbican or the Royal Albert Hall, but ended up as a graduate trainee for KPMG in Cambridge!
After a year I found myself really hating it, resigned after passing my conversion exams, went to work for HMV as a Christmas temp, worked as a classical music buyer in various stores for three years, spent three years working on their IT helpdesk at head office and then became their card fraud prevention person for their website for a couple of years.
Eventually I got sick of commuting and now I'm happily self-employed doing a number of things - my main income is from selling beads and jewellery-making findings on eBay and my own website, but I also answer questions for AQA (Any Question Answered), do freelance audio transcription for a couple of universities and write short stories for women's magazines.
I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up :lol: but I'm only 32, so still plenty of time to find out!
porshiepoo
11-May-08, 10:07
I pretty much did what I wanted to.
I had intended to pursue Art but worked with Hunters and Eventers instead. Loved it! Did my back in though so had to leave and then when I recovered I went to work at a Racing Stables for a while. Loved that too but hated being away from home.
One of my daughters has always wanted to work with Big Cats since she was 3 or 4 and she's still determined to pursue that career, even though she knows she's going to have to go to a foreign country.
The other daughter has started doubting what she wants to do, up till now it had been working in the Marine Mammal area but now she's talking of flitting to Spain once she's left school.
I think there's too much pressure put on our kids now to have a career sorted in their mind by the time they leave school, that's why I encouraged my two to stay on at school till they're 18.
I've also encouraged them to see the world for a few years, I think it broadens the mind and gives them experiences that will help them later in life.
I always wanted to be a ballet dancer but ended up in a bank! And I wasn't even allowed to take my work home with me.......:~(
I always wanted to be a ballet dancer but ended up in a bank! And I wasn't even allowed to take my work home with me.......:~(
Torvaig, I wish I had a Bank Manager that looked as good as you [lol]
Torvaig, I wish I had a Bank Manager that looked as good as you [lol]
Awww.....shucks....you'll make me big-headed....but thank you kind sir! :)
Or a Zebra tamer.
So one day you hope to earn your stripes.:D
At the moment I like my job but I don't like the company I work for so fancy a change. I secretly would like to try acting but couldn't afford to give up work due to financial commitments. I love reading and would like to write, I feel there's a few books in me but it's getting it down on paper. Most of all I love music and like singing when no-one is about, I have various tastes, but unfortunately the Lord blessed me with a voice that would make your ears bleed. I'll just carry on dreaming, after all they don't cost anything.
Although I've never been ambitious, I have been for others. I pushed and helped my ex-wife go further in her career and now my son, aged 12, has said for 3 years now he'd like to be a vet so I'd like to see him realise his dreams and potential.
I secretly would like to try actingTrain in sociology then, most of the job involves acting, of a sort! :lol:
Moi x
Lord Flasheart
11-May-08, 13:48
Train in sociology then, most of the job involves acting, of a sort! :lol:
Moi x
Sociology .. Isnt that the art of knowing how to solve everyone else's problems but not your own ??
I wanted to be a beautician when I left school but at the time there was no college course so went into hairdressing instead which i hated!! I left home for the big city in search of a job & luckily this lead me to my dream job so I was very lucky.
my son is now staying on at school for his 6th year mainly because hes unsure of what he wants to do, he has changed his mind completely from what he originally planned on doing & is now finding it difficult as he now needs passes in subjects that he never took in his choices.
cuddlepop
11-May-08, 18:58
I wanted to be a beautician when I left school but at the time there was no college course so went into hairdressing instead which i hated!! I left home for the big city in search of a job & luckily this lead me to my dream job so I was very lucky.
my son is now staying on at school for his 6th year mainly because hes unsure of what he wants to do, he has changed his mind completely from what he originally planned on doing & is now finding it difficult as he now needs passes in subjects that he never took in his choices.
When I was at school I initially wanted to do a nursery nursing course but was told i was over qualified and do something else.My daughter is doing her HNC in early education and child care the long way round because she didnt have eneogh highers.
I agree with everyone in that too much pressure is put on our kids from 14 onwards to decided what they want to do.
I'll be 45 this year and only now have a better idea where my strenghts and weakness are so can make an informed choice.:eek:
I was lucky, I knew what I wanted to do at the age of 15 and am lucky that I have been doing it ever since.
Mind you this was all against the " better judgement " of my guidance teacher and deputy rector at WHS - who thought I was setting myself up for a fall. Thank goodness I was strong minded enough to ignore their "guidance" or "wisdom". (after school I went to uni and did an undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the subject they thought was "too difficult").
Or one of my colleagues who was asked by the careers teacher at WHS why they used glasses ("'cause their leg hurt???")...........
I didn't have a clue when I left school and I still don't. Why people are expected to know then I don't know.:(
no i didnt know wat i wanted to do bt wasnt much interested in high school so neva went much
Sociology .. Isnt that the art of knowing how to solve everyone else's problems but not your own ??That's what I was saying, you have to be good at drama to get on in sociology. ;)
It's like morphing between a humped arachnopod and the upper class friend of a melanistic calculating machine. :cool:
It's like morphing between a humped arachnopod and the upper class friend of a melanistic calculating machine. :cool:
Eh? :confused
Because I had no idea what I wanted to do, I drifted into a chartered accountancy apprenticeship in the days before the need to get a degree.........because my school arranged the interview and I was offered it...........but before I qualified, I drifted into marriage.
One of these days, I'll stop drifting.
cuddlepop
01-Jun-08, 18:41
Because I had no idea what I wanted to do, I drifted into a chartered accountancy apprenticeship in the days before the need to get a degree.........because my school arranged the interview and I was offered it...........but before I qualified, I drifted into marriage.
One of these days, I'll stop drifting.
Oh i love that expression "drifted into marriage" it happened to me too but I least I qualified first.
Still havent used the piece of paper and because 20plus years have pased is pretty uselss.:(
magtomich
01-Jun-08, 22:33
As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a nurse,and thankfully I was able to fulfill that ambition. Apart from a short break to have my family I spent over forty years nursing. I suppose I was very fortunate at the time to have " a job for live"as was the case way back then. I often think now about the friends I made and the people I hopefully helped along the way. Would not have wanted to have been in any other line of work.
Eh? :confusedI'm rofl. I had to work it out myself because I'd forgotten what I meant.
Has the upper class friend of a melanistic calculating machine deciphered it?
Moi x
my 8 year old wants to be a palaeontologist, and has dont since he was about 5. At first i thought it was just a phase, but im not so sure now.
My 20 month old is just happy eating sand... i hope that changes! :lol:
I'm rofl. I had to work it out myself because I'd forgotten what I meant.
Has the the upper class friend of a melanistic calculating machine deciphered it?
Moi x
I think I got it now
Is it Lord Flasheart?
It's like morphing between a humped arachnopod and the upper class friend of a melanistic calculating machine. :cool:
Damn, forgot about the first bit. Oooh this is too much fur ma poor heid, need tae go lie doon fur a wee while.
You're getting there jox. ;)
I left school with the ambition of one day having more money than sense. I went up to the job centre and signed on. One week later they sent me a Giro for £16 and my ambition was realised. The following day I decided that I had to convince the world that religion was the barrier that prevented the world from getting along better. Sadly, Carlsberg don't do Giros that big.
Unfortunately I knew what I was going to be doing when I left school before I even began it.
cuddlepop
05-Jun-08, 08:38
Unfortunately I knew what I was going to be doing when I left school before I even began it.
That sounds like you were going into the family business Ju and that usually feels like a penance If its not what you want.
My X husband and son all followed into the "family " business and hate it.
My son when qualified is going to sea and stuff the lot of them.Quote un quote.:eek:
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