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

Retrogamer

After having a lot of horrible jobs i thought would be good i decided that my life begins outside of work now and work is only to earn money so i can live my life.

I'd recommend the job that will stress you out the least and pays the best, regardless of if you enjoy it or not. It's working for me

pinpin

Retrogamer wrote: »

After having a lot of horrible jobs i thought would be good i decided that my life begins outside of work now and work is only to earn money so i can live my life.

I'd recommend the job that will stress you out the least and pays the best, regardless of if you enjoy it or not. It's working for me

that's not a bad way of looking at things, I guess.

A few years back all of my friends who went to university and were in good jobs, started getting promotions etc, and started to earn mega-bucks, and I was loading lorries for minimum wage, and I got really depressed.

They all had career ideas etc all the way back in school, and I never had a clue.

I often wish that I would have just chosen a course a few years back. Any course.
Literally, close my eyes, pick a page at random on the college prospectus, and dive in!
At least then, i'd have a chance of being qualified in something and a shot at earning decent money.

Other people advised me that I needs to look within myself, work out what I like doing, what am i good at, what are my interests etc etc, and then decide on a course.
This advice didn't help me, unfortunately.
I can only see this advice being useful if, for example, ones 'hobby' was maths - and then they could start an accountacy course.
But my hobbies are playing football, sleeping, partying with friends etc etc.
(and i'm too old and not good enough to play football for a living )

At the moment, i'm just forgetting about money.
It's not something that i'm ever gonna have, and I guess I have to accept that. Most of my friends earn about 10X what I earn in my typical jobs, and I won't be able to compete in this lifetime.

So, I'm trying to just think of jobs that I wouldn't hate!
I like animals. Maybe a job working with animals in some capacity.
I also like children. Young ones - 6-10 years old, maybe? They just make me laugh and they seem to like me in general.
I have no qualifications in either, so i'd have to find an entry level type position, if there is such a thing.

lb364

pinpin wrote: »

But my hobbies are playing football, sleeping, partying with friends etc etc.
(and i'm too old and not good enough to play football for a living )

How about coaching kids? Then you can play football, work with kids and maybe even train a future professional...

Or work in a bar/pub/club and work your way up to a manager/area manager job?

Can't help you with the sleeping one I'm afraid...bed tester?!

Good luck finding something you love

FBaby

Doing the job you enjoy is not always about the actual things you do, it can be much more about the environment you do it in. Do you like indoors, or outdoors better? Are you more into doing physical or cerebral activities? Do you like to be mentally challenged or prefer a gentler pace. Do you work best under pressure or do you lose it when you do? Do you like working with people or on your own.

Make a long list of what would make you ideal work environment and then go from there. It might then be a case of chosing a company/organisation that meets your needs rather than the actual job.

kaflinkle

This is a very interesting thread.

I am 46 or 47 this year (I can't be bothered to work it out) and am working in IT for an Investment Bank. I am so miserable and unhappy, this is not the job I want. Trouble is I never knew what I wanted to do.

I would love to see a survey into how many people really like their jobs, I bet the percentage is quite low.

theoretica

Choosing a career seems a bit odd to me nowadays - at the moment I could be said to be on a career path, but if I decide to run away and join the circus next year then my current employment will become just a job I had for a while.

If you don't know what you want to do, how about looking at how you want to do it? Do you want to work by yourself, in a small team or a big one? On a computer or with your hands? With the general public, selected customers or just colleagues? Security or freedom? Do you prioritise pay or conditions?

DCFC79

theoretica wrote: »

If you don't know what you want to do, how about looking at how you want to do it? Do you want to work by yourself, in a small team or a big one? On a computer or with your hands? With the general public, selected customers or just colleagues? Security or freedom? Do you prioritise pay or conditions?

Some good points, Id also like to add that happiness in job can be more important than what you get paid.

asajj

Not everyone has a career - some only have a "job". They are not necessarily the same thing. Perfectly fine to have only a job as long as you are happy.

Moonpixie

I'm a bit the same. I've worked in education for years and really want to get out of it, but trying doing that!! I lack experience in other job roles and what I'm finding is employer's overlooking transferable skills. It appears the only jobs open to me are what I already do and I really don't want to do that anymore.

I'm a work to live person, I'm not after a big career, but it does make like a bit miserable if you are continuously unhappy in your job.

Broadwood

By the age of 21 I'd achieved 5 'O'levels, dropped out of sixth form college after only one term, left the RAF within 6 months after passing through basic and driver training (having got car licence), done a few months labouring in a pottery factory, then a year as a trainee lab technician in same pottery factory, followed by 18 months as a petrol station cashier before being promoted to station supervisor for 6 months. Phew!

Then I went on a six-month government training course doing industrial electronics. Basically soldering and wiring but to a fairly good standard. But I couldn't get a suitable local job after the course so fell into a temporary job delivering parcels for a courier firm. Fast forwarding 26 years I then took voluntary redundancy from that "temporary" driving job and got HGV2 then HGV1 training paid for as part of the package. Ten years later I'm still in the parcels game but trunking them instead of running around delivering them to customers.

Only 8 years left til retirement and I still have no idea what I would choose as a career but I enjoy the job and it more than pays the bills even on a Zero Hours contract!