[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?
After highschool (I actually dropped out) I worked a ton of dead end jobs. Cooking mostly, but there was roofing, painting, digging holes, lots of manual labour.
Eventually I moved to Vancouver and had an opportunity to become a card dealer. It was… How do I put it so you can fully understand… The worst experience by far, ever. It was toxic abusive, exhausting, and just all around the worst.
My partner at the time got pregnant and she actually gave me an out, said I didn’t have to be there at all. I thought my options over and decided I was going to be apart of this kids life and enrolled in college for IT. It was a bit of cheating really, I was already good at it so why not. 18 years later, I’m a consultant, doing well and my daughter is starting grade 12 next year.
College is a great place to start. Unfortunately college is ridiculously expensive these days, but community college is still pretty affordable. There are so many things you don’t even know exist in the world right after highschool. The world also works a lot differently than you’ve seen so far, so a college level education is really beneficial. Go to community college, knock out some Gen Ed courses, and take some interesting classes for your electives. You’ll learn about stuff that you didn’t know existed and you may find that you’re passionate about some of those things.
There is no such thing anymore as a job for life anymore that ended in the 80s. I don’t honestly think that’s there’s a career for life anymore either, that ended in the early years of this century.
Asking someone to choose something to do for 50 years (if they’re lucky) at 16 or 18 is folly.
Build yourself a portfolio of skills which you are proficient in and enjoy doing. I would include (1) languages in that and (2) the technique of communication over and above any technical skills you possess.
I say languages because a second language awakens a different mode of thought, maybe not too much if the languages are closely related.
I’m Gen X and was probably never conventionally employable. Company Roles I’ve had seemed to seek me rather than me them. I wish I had been much more aggressive about a second language much earlier on.
It’s not the language itself. It seems to assist in fluidity of communication. I’m not sure that I can explain what I mean by that: the structure of French sentences differs wildly from English sentences sometimes, but about 30% of English words are French in origin. It seems to encourage me to thing about how I am conveying my idea in words without me being cognisance of that happening.
I agree with many of the comments about just choosing a direction and trying out a lot of things - that is absolutely what you should do at first.
However, I disagree with many on the part about just finding something that pays the bills and finances your hobbies. You’re going to do your job for 40 hours a week for almost your whole life. There is nothing you’ll spend more time doing than your job.
I’ve found a job that I love and it makes life much more enjoyable. While my job doesn’t have an exact US equivalent, the best way to describe it is that I work as a teaching assistant during the school day and as a teacher at after-school. Sure, I still hate getting up on Mondays (and the rest of the days too, honestly), dealing with difficult parents and idiot bosses and all the other annoying shit that comes with any job, but all in all I love it and I’d gladly keep working 20-30 hours a week there for free if I won the lottery tomorrow. I could make hundreds or even a thousand dollars more every month if I took say a factory job, but it’s still worth it because I genuinely have fun doing my job.
Try to find something that you really like and still pays the bills. It’s worth it.
I’ll try to find a job that gives me fulfillment/enjoyment at least enough that I’ll be content with doing for a while, but also pays okay so that I have enough for my hobbies and stuff, but I won’t hate my work. Hopefully I find a job that pays okay and I love though.
The best I can recommend is that you try out jobs now – but maybe skip anything ‘fake’ like online courses unless you think they prepare you for what’s in the next sentence. Go find people professionally doing a thing you might like, and try to work with them, somehow. Internships, volunteer work, organizing events, etc. File paperwork and make coffee, if that means you get to see the work actually being done.
Barring that, do the thing yourself if possible. Publish the results. All code goes on public repositories, all stories should be submitted to magazines or literature groups. All songs written must be sung in public. Get certified for CPR and first aid if considering medicine, and volunteer using it. Get an amateur radio license and build a radio. Look at jobs on a freelancing platform, and just do them on your own to build a portfolio (maybe actually apply for the jobs, once you have a portfolio). Not every type of job can be tried out this way, but many can.
You’re going to get rejected a lot, you can’t just show up with a resume and demand a job (people who claim this works are weird). People who create and do nothing will mock you sometimes. A lot of jobs want young people ‘out of sight and in school’ too. However, this kind of disappointment happens to all of us at some point anyway, so may as well get it over with.
If you’re lucky, you’ve got a few years between the age of say 14 and 19 where you’re not expected to support yourself financially but your brain works as well as it’s ever going to. While it’s useful to get good grades while you’re in school (although they are useless afterward), I think it’s a mistake to focus on that at the expense of actually trying to do things. A college degree is too big of an investment of time and money to go into blind.
If you’re in a situation where you do have to support yourself or your family before finishing school, then the necessities of life obviously take precedent. I won’t pretend I have a good solution to that difficult situation.
you pick something that you are competent at that pays the bills and keeps you alive and gives you enough free time to work on what you actually want to do
traditional boomer advice was to pick something you love, but after putting in endless hours of doing it over and over just to make enough to keep you fed and provide a place to sleep, you will grow to resent it with a passion – for your own mental health, you absolutely must maintain a separation between the job and your personal life
I agree - I loved art in high school and really wanted to be an illustrator. But I graduated in 08 (recession) and I didn’t have the confidence to try to make it as a freelancer or whatever.
I ended up choosing a really boring path in office work because I just wanted to make sure I was inside at a computer while I was working. At first it was so depressing - I had built my identity around my artwork. But I eventually found a new field that I loved and transitioned into that thanks to skills and resources from my boring office experience - I’m really happy with it all today and don’t regret anything.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve found happiness/success by disconnecting my identity from my occupation and focusing on the work environment I want instead of the content of the work.
I’m not sure if this is how you meant it, but I take competent in a bad connotation. I am competent in many skills, but some of them I would despise doing on a daily basis. I would base it on what you’re good at and what you wouldn’t mind doing daily.
You should pick something that pays the bills and gives you free time to do what you want, but it’s good for it to be something you find some enjoyment in. Not necessarily something you love. But something you can get some level of satisfaction from learning and doing.
Yea that seems about right. I wanna find a job that I’ll be content enough with doing for at least 5-10 years, but not necessarily something I love. Something that pays the bills is very important since it’s what you need to survive and I also don’t want to be stuck in a career where I’m struggling to survive or have room for my hobbies and free time.
If you can find something you love that pays okay, though, do that.
The saying that "if you're doing something you love you'll never work a single day" is true. I mean you're still working but it feels way better than doing something just for money.
When you're just working for money it feels like an imposition and like work is taking you away from life. But when you're in a job that you love, your whole day feels like part of your life, like you get to enjoy everything.
I lucked into a great job in my field, but I also figured out what I wanted to do by 15 IIRC. So I could make it happen when the luck struck.
There’s still “work stuff” like getting to meetings at a particular time I don’t love, and some tedious stuff too. There’s the HR training etc that’s annoying. But day to day I also get to ‘play’ with stuff I could never afford as a hobby.
Even if you find what you love, and get a job doing it doesn’t mean it’s a great job. Pay attention to others, do they stick around, or are they bailing ASAP? Is there a functional HR department (often not in small business and there are some stories there)? Do management seem to have a clue, or are they crap with unrealistic deadlines and budgets? Be ready to still change jobs inside whatever fields you like and get into.
Also, like somebody else said, try and figure out if you have to go to college for your field. Or if there’s an apprenticeship you need. The ‘try a bunch of different things’ isn’t bad advice, but while you can become a roofer pretty easily, you’re not trying out being a doctor…
I’m shocked people seem to agree with this so much. While there are certainly circumstances where you don’t have much choice, spending your life in a job/career that doesn’t give you meaning and fulfillment will probably depress everyone sooner or later.
Many people don’t find meaning and fulfillment through their jobs, and that’s okay. No one is saying go out and find a job you hate just to pay the bills, but the advice of finding something you love so much that you’ll feel like you’ve never worked a day in your life is inapplicable to most people. If you happen to be one of the few people in the world who love what you do, great. But the reality is that the vast majority of people do not make a career out of their passion, and that’s just fine.
To OP, find a job you don’t mind, one that gives you the right balance of money, time, and fulfillment in your life. Even if that fulfillment comes from things outside of work like hobbies, friends, family, or something else. And remember that the choices you make now are not set in stone. You can always change your mind later if you find you’re not happy.
You do you, but it would drain me too much to work a job just for the money if it doesn’t fulfill me in some way directly. I’d compare it to working a shit job your whole life with the goal to finally retire and enjoy life.
Only then, you’re too tired or have health problems, so you can’t enjoy life after all.
Are you working 80+ hours a week or something? If you have zero free time outside of work, I guess there’s no room in your life to find any kind of meaning or purpose outside your job. Then you’re left trying to find meaning in a shit job.
Trying to find a job that is “meaningful” that also pays the bills are few and far between. Most meaningful things in life don’t pay well or at all, or have very few job openings, or are extremely unstable (self employment or startups). Otherwise you’re left with your life “purpose” in a corporation, which only means “make more money”, which is pretty shallow at best.
Work-life balance is important, and I think keeping work and life separate is a huge part of that. Forcibly mixing the two only causes more stress, either from one adding to the other, or from severely limiting your job prospects overall. Making your job = life severely limits both.
I always liked the idea of going to a college that had a program with a work term so you can see if you like it and also get some experience. I would say talk to some people in areas that you are interested in and see if you find any jobs you may look doing.
What you’re good at (or can become good at with training/a degree)
What people will pay you to do
If you like something, you’re good at it, and people will pay you to do it, that’s a career. Stick with it your entire life.
If you’re good at something and people will pay you to do it but you don’t like it, that’s a job. Work it to pay the bills, but don’t be afraid to jump ship as soon as something better comes along.
If you like something and are good at it but no one will pay you to do it, that’s a hobby. You’ll need to supplement that with a job to get by.
If you like something and people will pay you for it but you’re not good at it, fake it ‘till you make it, my friend.
Don’t be so hung up on getting a job you hate. The secret they don’t tell you is that pretty well everyone hates their job. Get out and pursue things that seem interesting to you, and don’t be afraid that you won’t be good enough, that was my big downfall when I was younger. Since then I’ve held many wildly different jobs.
I started pursuing IT since I love computers, but ended up hating being an on-call computer janitor. I did fire surpression, then IT sales (hated that too), then randomly got a job on the railroad. After bouncing around the railroad I have now ended up as Jack of all trades master of none handyman that does maintenance for a nonprofit, and I love it.
I was more surprised than anyone to find out that I preferred working with my hands, and working outdoors. I had always dreamed of a cushy job with a nice office where I could wear fancy shoes. But now I’m a nerd for workboots who absolutely does not thrive in an office environment.
But essentially I’m saying try not to sweat it. It may take you a long time to settle into something you like. Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone because you just might like it.
If you decide to go to college, you have a couple years of general ed classes to get out of the way. Pick a wide variety of things you are interested in. If one clicks maybe it’s the career for you.
This. College is useful for trying out difference career paths and subjects. But hopefully you end up enjoying something that will pay off all the debt you just accrued.
Better yet: you’ll likely be FORCED to take a LOT of GE courses, especially in your first couple of years. Typically it’s like “you need to take x number of courses from these categories.” Categories include: arts, stem, history, humanities, etc… you’ll have a lot of choices.
In other words, the area where Mission, Passion, Profession, and Vocation overlap.
There is a book that was quite popular about it by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia. Might be worth looking into it.
But beyond that…it’s hard, bro! It’s not the romantic thing you want to hear at your age, but I think the amount of people who really achieve this ideal, and manage to build a life around a profession that gives you positivity in all dimensions, are rare. Most of us are content with something that does not have a negative impact on us and pays the bills. And the truth is, it almost surely changes over the course of your life.
Try out a lot of things. You will find things that you enjoy and that you are good at. Then continue in that direction.
And what’s worse ? It will most likely change overtime…
If you don’t know how to get started, try something you’re curious about, that will offer possibilities to learn and see how it goes, don’t worry about it and keep in mind that it might be that interest that leads you to other jobs later as long as you’re willing to learn and not stuck in a dead end job.
For real. Also 29 and have been taking night classes. After 2 years of school Ive changed my mind again. I just have no idea what I actually want to do.
I grew up always being told I was really smart and would go places. So I’ve built my life goals around trying to do something “grand”. I’ve only recently realized that I don’t HAVE to do anything. It’s OK to just exist and enjoy life. I’m still struggling to fully accept that, but I think I will eventually.
The most interesting people I know
Didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t
This is certainly not an easy task! Hell, I am 46 years old and still figuring out life. 🤣 In all seriousness though, you will probably change careers 2-3x in your life or more. Maybe just figure out something that you could see yourself doing for the next 5-10 years and have a go at it? That would be my recommendation. Choose a career that will at least pay you enough so that you can live with a bit of comfort.
Yeah that’s probably the mindset I’m gonna have. A lot of people throughout the internet have been saying that you usually end up switching career paths a few times so I’ll probably try to look for something I can see myself doing for the next 5-10 years. Still gotta find that thing though!
It’s quite a challenge. Start with something that you think might interest you, look it up on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website. See what kind of education it requires and what the typical career progression is. Normally I don’t trust government websites but this is considered reliable and politically neutral.
When you start a career, you begin at what they call entry level. Then as you gain experience, you get promoted or you seek other opportunities in the same field that pay more money. Career progression is basically how you are advancing in the field.
Are you in Quebec? The CEGEP system there is specifically a great and cheap way to try out multiple career paths. It’s like a mix of trade school and the freshman year of every university faculty.
It’s still a system that sort of pushes you into university without any experience of what doing a real job is like, but it’s at least a good way to explore the academic side of a wide variety of subjects.
Nobody gets out of high school and gets the job they want when they grow up. ;)
Your first job is going to suck. It’s going to be hard work. The pay and hours are not going to be great. You won’t be respected as an employee or often as a human being.
What it’s going to teach you are organizational skills. Show up on time. Do the best job you can do. Admit your mistakes and learn from them.
Carry what you learn there to the next job and the next job. Do better each time. Learn new skills. Find jobs that interest you.
If you can, go to college for a STEM degree, network with other people and employers, and when you get out of college, you can do what you want.
If college isn’t for you, find a trade you’re good at and enroll in trade school. Plumbers, electrictians, HVAC techs, mechanics are never out of work.
Avoid: Retail work. Restaurant work. It will break you. Fine for when you’re in school, not if you’re out of school.
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