bit fed up now, no jobs/careers that interest me. how do you choose a career?

fitnessguy1

hi. i am at my wit's end now. i am really struggling to decide on a job/career to pursue and everywhere online seems to have no help at all. i went to the careers job site and the advice was bad, then i went to a careers service place to my local town and they were unhelpful. we did narrow down a few careers, but once i did more independent research on them i found them to be of no real interest to me.

i really hate all this career deciding. i am useless at it and i am so indecisive about everything. i cannot commit 100% to a career and when i think i have one in a mind i change it and think of something else. i will be 30 in a couple years and i still am far from securing a stable job or financial income.

does anyone else get fed up with this b.s of careers?! i dunno how many of you are indecisive people naturally but i am pretty bad for it and i don't mind admitting it it just does my head in though and i wish i would commit or have any clue about what i want to do. i know people fall into jobs frequently without thinking but i can't even fall into a job that pays well or i enjoy

help??!! :mad:

GwylimT

I'm almost forty and I'm yet to decide on a forever career!

Volunteering is a good way of exploring different options as it gives you a realistic view of the role.

I started as an electrical engineer, then I became a mechanic, then I became a vehicle mechanics teacher and at the moment I'm a physics teacher.

After the May half term I will be working for an examboard where I basically show schools how to deliver the courses, I will mainly be working from home for four days a week, I will have to do a maximum of one school visit a week within a certain radius, this is within the four days as well. I only found out I had got the position on Thursday

Try different things, if you don't like it it doesn't matter, just stick it out until you find something else.

Hazzinho

People tend to fall into careers,most uni students end up doing a job that is nothing to do with their degree. I skipped uni and went straight into work and it worked out well over the years. I had no idea what to do and had no plan at all.

Think of something you think you could do well, half the problem is hating what you do, if you're good at something and put the extra effort in you'll go far.

The other thing is be patient, nothing happens over night, it took me about 15 years to get where I wanted, mainly because I was having fun in my 20's which held up my progress which is fine with me.

pickledonionspaceraider

I agree with Hazzinho, about folk 'falling into' careers. That is what happened to me. I had no plan.

I do wish I had thought things through more now, rather than a career plan being secondary to fun.

I would say just do whatever feels right and pays the bills. You do not have to make any life changing decisions now. I am late 30s and a career change may be on the cards at some point, but honestly - I feel no clearer than you OP - I just want to pay the bills

davenport151

I am 46, and still not sure!
I don't think (for some people) there is one career for them. Just jobs that suit you at the time.
I did many jobs when leaving school as I never wanted to stay very long in one place. Ended up in catering and when my son was young and I was thinking of going back to work wanted to retrain for a different job. Hence I now work in the admin office of a care home. Which I love. Sometimes you just fall into the right position.
This suits me as it's set days in a week part time.
My forever career would probably involve animal/conservation work in some way, possibly getting into this via volunteering which I need to look into.

Are you working now? is there anywhere in the company you could go that you may like? What are your commitments?

What do you really enjoy? What are you good at?

pinpin

I'M the same, OP.
I'm never had a clue what to do with my life from a work point of view.
I've kind of hated every job i've ever had.
I'm not particularly clever, and I'm really not sure what, if anything, I'm good at.

I've pretty much just always been working minimum wage warehouse jobs.

I'm about the same age as you.

DCFC79

Ive not found a career either, I look on the job sites for jobs that I believe I can do and apply.

If I had thought about it years ago I could have taken a different career path.

[Deleted User]

+1 for the fed up. Have you considered re-education?


I think the jobs of start tomorrow are all to blame! no wonder so many people get depressed jumping into something where there has been little to no thought or end up with a hammered CV, of course these choices become hard to explain when you meet the company you really want to work for, only to be treated like a credit card score application to only see the job keep being re-advertised, so go easy on yourself and take your time OP, lets hope prospects improve x

pathtofreedom

What sort of things do you like? In any career you can have many different industries and doing the same job but in different fields one might make it more interesting to you than other. Eg even doctors or laywers etc have lots of different specialties depending on the area.

So do you like cars, or health, or media (telly, movies, plays, radio...) finance... if you pick an industry you can then look at jobs in that area from just admin up to expert in that field.

Any job will have good days, boring days, stressful days, but if you can pick something you're interested in as the main area it will make the bad days easier to cope with.

fitnessguy1

thanks for the replies. i am just feeling a bit depressed about it all to be honest and being so close to 30 isn't making me feel any better lol.

what do you guys do if you don't know what you want? do you just go from job to job to find the right one?

i am so confused. i don't know if i want to switch from job to job. it's more or less a bit of pressure by society that by 30 you should have established a career, family etc.

System

I never had a career in mind. I knew what career paths not to follow -
- nursing/medical - fear of blood and being sick
- teaching - hated my school days, unruly school kids
- mechanics/engineering - being dyslexic doesn't help with the fiddly things
. IT - too technical

At the moment I am 'stuck' in my job as due to my eye condition, I find it very difficult to drive at night - can do 3 miles max. 3 miles is too short of a distance. Plus if I go get another job, I will be worse off as I will have to pay for travel - either petrol or bus fare - I walk to work.