What if you're not a "career" person?

kingslayer

Before any regular posters say anything, no, this is not another "woe is me" thread by myself, it's just a thread regarding that word "career" and the meaning behind it.

The thought of a career is a little narrow minded. I mean yes, having a regular job is important to earn money, but on the other hand, spending every day/week/month/year in the same kind of work is, in my opinion, unsatisfying.

Having to choose just one (or if a minor/major, then two at most) course at university/college to pursue is limiting a person of other options for work or "career."

Are you a "career" inclined person, or have you been able to integrate your main interests into the job/s you have?

[Deleted User]

Being unemployed would be unsatisfying to me. The reality is that most people need to work a steady job and that most of them don't really like all that much.

Pick the right job and you'll get to do a variety of stuff all the time

The trick is to actually pick something - because if you don't you'll end up in a wishy-washy NMW job

teffers

When my son was young, around 6/7/8 I bought into the "pick a job you'll love and you'll have a happy and forfilling life" idea.

Well that was 17 years ago and I've realised that for the most part, and for the vast majority of people, that's !!!!!!!!.

For all but the 1-2% that have their 'dream job' it's about picking a job / career path that they don't hate and doing everyday won't kill their soul one piece at a time.

If you don't, you end up doing whatever comes up, and that's bad.

We need to stop filling kids heads with fantasies and help them find forfillment in doing the jobs that exist in the real world.

InsideInsurance

I'm not sure if you are saying that having a career (ie a job that has room for "progression") is mutually exclusive or not to having a job you enjoy/ in an area of interest for you?

A "career" doesn't mean you are doing the same thing every day forever, very much the opposite in most cases. The work of a call centre agent is very different to that of their Team Manager. Similarly the Call Centre Manager's job is notably different to a Team Managers. A COO's job is worlds a part from a Call Centre Manager

Doing the same thing every day for years sounds much more like a job rather than a career.

For the majority of us our university is simply "a degree" and it doesnt really matter if you do it in Maths, Geography or Gambling Studies.

kingslayer

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I'm not sure if you are saying that having a career (ie a job that has room for "progression") is mutually exclusive or not to having a job you enjoy/ in an area of interest for you?

A "career" doesn't mean you are doing the same thing every day forever, very much the opposite in most cases. The work of a call centre agent is very different to that of their Team Manager. Similarly the Call Centre Manager's job is notably different to a Team Managers. A COO's job is worlds a part from a Call Centre Manager

Doing the same thing every day for years sounds much more like a job rather than a career.

For the majority of us our university is simply "a degree" and it doesnt really matter if you do it in Maths, Geography or Gambling Studies.

What i mean is, most people study for, or work their way up towards a specific job/career. For example, if you go to university or college, you have to pick a specific course, e.g. Art & design if you want to go into art; business studies if you want to go into business/finance; science if you want to go into a scientific/medical career etc.

Most people only have a specific set of skills applicable to a certain job. If a doctor wanted to turn his/her hand to farming, they wouldn't be able to as he/she hasn't learnt the skills applicable to farming and vice versa, or if a nurse wanted to turn her/his hand to graphic design, they likely wouldn't be able to as they've studied/used specific skills only applicable to nursing, or a plumber wanted to turn his hand to being an actor and vice versa.

I just feel it's limiting to only work one specific job during your life. What if a person wanted to become an artist; an actor; a musician; a salesman; an electrician; a graphic designer; own a business; a physiotherapist; a personal trainer; a speech therapist all in one. If someone had interest in all those areas, but could only choose one (or at the most two) option to pursue and focus on 100%, it's limiting someone, don't you think?

gettingready

How old are you ?

[Deleted User]

I know a doctor that went into investment banking..

People are quite able to retrain to do stuff. I had a career in genetics research then i flipped to work in health IT

You aren't stuck if you don't want to be

InsideInsurance

kingslayer wrote: »

What i mean is, most people study for, or work their way up towards a specific job/career. For example, if you go to university or college, you have to pick a specific course, e.g. Art & design if you want to go into art; business studies if you want to go into business/finance; science if you want to go into a scientific/medical career etc.

Disagree, there are some vocational degrees out there but the majority of jobs are degree agnostic.

I did mathematics, my colleagues that I know of have did: French, Geography, Astrophysics, Philosophy, IT, PPE, Politics, Biochemistry and the final one did Archaeology

Now a about 30% of them did go on to do their ACCA but all of us have ended up in "business" despite none of us doing business and only one doing anything anyway related to business.

As to the other comment on switching careers, if we ignore vocational degrees again then it isnt that hard to switch but you start at the bottom again and so it may be financially difficult going from being a consultant earning £150k to being a farm hand earning NMW. Similarly some people may question why a consultant is applying to be a farm hand but as long as you can get past that initial confusion then you're in

fairy_lights

You go to work so you can earn money to eat and pay your bills. You stay in the same job or industry and build up a career, so that you can gradually earn more money and have a better quality of life. If you can find your dream job or have a succession of different, interesting, well paid jobs in diverse fields then you're very lucky, but that's not the norm.
Having a career might not be unsatisfying, but I'd rather be unsatisfied in my career, living in my own house, going on foreign holidays, that be unsatisfied in a bedsit on JSA.

Mattygroves2

kingslayer wrote: »

I just feel it's limiting to only work one specific job during your life. What if a person wanted to become an artist; an actor; a musician; a salesman; an electrician; a graphic designer; own a business; a physiotherapist; a personal trainer; a speech therapist all in one. If someone had interest in all those areas, but could only choose one (or at the most two) option to pursue and focus on 100%, it's limiting someone, don't you think?

It is perfectly possible to do quite a few of the things you mention at the same time - being an artist, actor and musician can all be done as hobbies and then progressed if you've got the talent. I also know someone who is an auditor by profession but has their own business as a personal trainer as well which they do at weekends and evenings. Owning your own business can also be doubled with all of those activities as can being a salesman - it's an important part of alot of jobs.

Retraining is possible if you're prepared to put the effort in and be prepared to listen and learn and accept a cut in income at least to start with. A doctor could quite easily become a farmer for example by buying some land, some animals and then employing someone with the necessary experience to learn from. I know one surgeon who has a small vineyard in France and spends time there tending the vines and making both wine and olive oil.

I'd also make the distinction between a job and a career. Career progression usually means moving up the management hierarchy or between jobs which means it will change massively over a working lifetime.

CKhalvashi

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I know a doctor that went into investment banking..

People are quite able to retrain to do stuff. I had a career in genetics research then i flipped to work in health IT

You aren't stuck if you don't want to be

I'm a sciences graduate, who has been in a creative role since my mid 20s.

It's about pursuing something that you want to do, rather than being qualified in something and only sticking to this.