[SERIOUS] How do you do figure out what job you want after high school?
This might not be the best community for this, but I don’t know what job I want after high school. I’m afraid of pursuing a job that I’ll end up hating. How do I figure out what job I want when I grow up?
My advice is just pick a broad direction and try to optimize for not limiting your options.
When I was 18 I liked math and science so I went to school for engineering. Did I want to be an engineer? I had no idea at the time. But I figured the first couple years were mostly math and science courses anyway so if something else caught my attention (computer science, chemistry, etc) I could narrow my focus when the time came.
If you don’t plan to go to college, that’s cool too. My advice in that case would still be not to limit yourself. Pick something in your broad interest area that challenges you and has a clear path of advancement (certifications, etc). If you don’t like it after a few years find something else. Just make sure with whatever you pick the growth path is pretty clear and at least somewhat in your control.
There’s a lot of advice here to work for money and that it’s a fool’s errand to “follow your dreams”. This is the same advice I got twenty years ago when I was 18. I followed it. That path led to money but I’m not sure it precisely led to a life of fulfillment or contentment. I often wish I’d spent more of my early twenties taking more risks and chasing more dreams. You’re only young once, and age accumulates life baggage (e.g., bills , mortgage , life partner, maybe kids) that discourages risk taking. Don’t forget to take a risk every now and then, you might end up surprising yourself.
I agree whole heartedly with this. The worst thing you can do is drift into your first job and give up. It does not matter where you start, or what direction you end up going. What matters is that your searching around trying to find your place and not just coasting hoping an amazing life will jump up and find you.
Honestly? You don’t. I was gonna try to be a sysadmin but I’m a product support engineer now. The point being shit doesn’t always work out the way you plan. Find something you are interested in, or think about what you truly enjoy doing. For me, it is quite simply the act of helping someone get something done, and fixing various software problems. No matter what job I have, if I can do one or both of those things and make a living I think I’ll be happy with it. Hope this helps.
Before you get married and have kids, just do a bunch of shit. Fail a lot, figure out what you like and what you don’t.
I had like 30 jobs between 17 and 23. I was a roofer for a couple days at one point (I do project management now, as a comparison).
Just try stuff and take advantage of the fact that you’re young and you can say “I’m figuring things out”. It’s a lot harder to make that fly when you’re 30.
I never did. Not everyone has to have a "meaningful career". I realised I don't really care what my job is, as long as it pays enough to fund my mountain of hobbies.
Work is important, but is probably the least important thing around you. Your friends, your family. Now those are hard to find more of if you run out.
Truthfully, it’s a huge thing to ask an eighteen-year-old to plan for the rest of their life over the next couple of years. For some people, they might need to take a year or two off before even thinking about going to school again; others, they might go to a trade school instead, or just not even bother with college all together.
I think the “best general advice” I would give is to just try out community college for a bit and take classes, join clubs, and/or participate in activities that interest you - don’t even worry about gen ed stuff until you’re sure you want to continue into a 4-year college for a bachelor’s or higher degree. Start working jobs that either genuinely interest you or offer a decent wage & benefits so you can at least have some sort of “work experience” to fall back on, and just explore stuff that interests you or sounds interesting. And if you’re in the camp of “I don’t have any interests”, then do random shit and see what sticks or not.
In general, I think the worst thing to do after high school is nothing and stay stuck in the same position in life. As long as you’re doing something that you want to do, that’s gonna be a step in the right direction.
Thanks for the the advice for always be doing something. I will probably not go to a 4 year collage unless I’m really sure that I want a collage degree because I don’t want to be stuck in debt and have wasted my time. I’ll keep all of this in mind.
Honestly this is one of the major failures of how schooling works currently. Because everything is so generalized, people fresh out of HS have very little value to any real job. They also have very little understanding of how real jobs work.
Most people just end up taking a job because they know someone that helps them. They end up in whatever industry that is and go from there. It don’t have a lot to do about what you “want” to do with your life and more about the necessity of having money to survive.
If you end up hating your job just keep looking and find a different company or position. Job satisfaction is so many factors, e.g. how well you get along with your coworkers, how much recognition you get from the higher ups for what you do and so on. The career path you choose now might not affect the outcome that much.
This is not a valid question. You should be looking for a direction, not specifcs. Career is a combination if what you want to do, what you are willing to do, and what the job market needs right now. If you focus on a dream job you can get stuck with no job as the market doesn't need that.
What if I offered you a job but you had to move go the most remote Africa? Some would jump at it, others would hate it. Would you work a job where you are on the phone all day? Would you work a job in software testing? Would you be happy as a tour guide? Different people have different answers. You are allowed to change your mind later.
There is also what you are willing to go through for money. Doctors make a lot of money, but often have to work long hours and can be on call in the middle of the night, not to mention med school is hard. The world needs more engineers, but again it needs a lot of school .
So pick a direction that sounds good. Then refine it based on both what you like and what opportunities open up.
Try something and probably change your mind later. Not having payed a fortune for an education before your change of heart would be extremely helpful though.
Try to pick something that gives you freedom instead of limiting yourself. A craft might be good, or an internship before studying if possible.
Honestly, I couldnt figure it out myself. I just took whatever job I could get at the time. I ended up sticking with it and working my way up. I still wish I could have done something more with my career, but having worked with a lot of young people over the years, Ill say this. Work whatever job you can take. Even if you hate it, just try it out. Figure out what you enjoy, and what you dont. Its ok to jump around. But most importantly, give it your best.
I see to many young people (and older people) who come in, hate the job and just put zero effort into it. Yeah, you may be quitting in a few months, or a few years, whatever. But every job is an opportunity to learn new skills. Those skills will usually transfer over to whatever job you do eventually settle into, though most of the time it wont be so obvious. Be it work ethic, speed, ability to follow directions, knowledge about a topic, how to be a salesman, etc. To me, that seems like the best way to get what you can from any job, even if you dont enjoy the work.
You don’t. You’re highly likely going to go through some big psychological changes as you age that will probably cause perspective shifts about just who you are and what you want. And that’s biological. You’re going to experience other things that aren’t biological products that cause perspective shifts. You at 18 and you at 35 should be two fairly different people.
Hopefully you can find something that you continue to enjoy throughout life. If not it’s really not a big deal. Do what you have to, take opportunities given to you as they arise and you’ll probably end up somewhere you never expected. Work is work is work. Even if you love the field you can still hate work. It’s easier to make a change in career than to pigeonhole yourself into something that presents no way to diversify.
While Mike Rowe is kind of a piece of shit, he did say one right thing: “Stop looking for the “right” career, and start looking for a job. Any job. Forget about what you like. Focus on what’s available. Get yourself hired. Show up early. Stay late. Volunteer for the scut work. Become indispensable. You can always quit later, and be no worse off than you are today. But don’t waste another year looking for a career that doesn’t exist.”
There is no perfect job. There are jobs you make perfect for you. If the job you are in prevents that, you move on. Never wait too long for a promotion, as you can promote yourself by having the strength and will to find that promotion at a different company.
I heard somewhere that people on average will make 3 career changes during their lifetime. Which is not a hard fast rule of course but the point is to expect that your goals may change over time as you yourself will also likely change over time.
So in the meantime, I suggest pursuing stable work that gives you a comfortable standard living and maximizing the use of your free time to pursue enrichment in your life and not worrying too hard about trying to get satisfaction from your work.
Exactly! Who wants to do the same thing forever until they die? I'm not old but I'm getting there, and I've switched quite a few times. I started out in engineering, switched to PM, then banking, real estate, helped my wife with international trading, and in a couple years I'll probably drop that and buy a campground or something and run that until retirement. Don't overthink it, focus on yourself, your family, and your friends, and just do what seems fun at the time
Try stuff out! I ended up in a career very different than my major because I volunteered at an organization and ended up really enjoying what I did there.
I think community college is actually great for this because changing your major/exploring new coursework or opportunities is much cheaper than doing so at a regular college/University.
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