Thank you!

I found the Occupational Outlook Handbook extremely helpful.



Yeah, I know a kid that I went to school with who has had at least 5 management jobs and has either quit or got fired from all of them. He really isn't cut out for management but he just doesn't want to acknowledge it. Some people are just stubborn I guess.

You are most welcome.

I often hear people bemoaning the horrid state of the world (their world) and they only want others to commiserate with them.

There are actually more effective answers already on the shelf and ready to be used than there are problems in this world.

The trick is to select what is needed from off the shelf and put it to good use.

standing ovation

Thank you, sir.

I see that you have been helping yourself to the shelf as well!

Very good point. Knowing when to cut your losses is an important part of getting somewhere. Luckily with career choices it is often not a total loss, as this person seems to be thinking.

Personally I started out with an idea that my career would be in the humanities, but after two years at university it became clear to me that I was not suited for that. Meanwhile I'd found out that computers were a lot more interesting than I'd originally thought.

But even thought I had to change what I was studying I still had learned something about working in small groups, writing papers etc. even today when I'm writing for fun and non-profit I can still apply some of what I learned back then.

Same thing for the years I spent trying my hand at management. In the end I decided that the technical part of the job was my strength, but it gave me a lot of insight in how companies work, and I can communicate with management in their own language.

So to reply to the original poster, I have at present chosen a career path in computers because I'm fascinated with the creation of programs, making them well structured, easy to maintain and hopefully bug free. This has been my path for a number of years, but who knows what opportunities may present themselves five years from now.

Definitely, I feel the same way.
I've found that I learn some very important skills and gain some usable knowledge in damn near every college class I take. Even if that class doesn't apply to my major in any noticeable way.

I am currently working as a Telemarketer (Yes I know, I am the scum of the Earth, I hear it every day ). And to answer your question:

Yes I have chosen a career. I have decided I want to become a Game designer. I understand that it sounds like something every other Game freak would say but I have given this a lot of thought.

3 Years worth in fact.
It's been that long since I graduated from High school (My Major was Drama of all things...). I spent that time working at stray jobs and studying Japanese in the University.
I decided last year that I knew what I wanted to do and located a University that offers me precisely what I need.

I have spent this year saving up money in addition to brushing up on my math skills, which I need to qualify for the education in the first place.

Looking back, it's great that I have taken enough time to really prepare myself before moving away from my hometown to another part of the country in order to study there for the next 3 years.

Now I am ready for anything.

Hail Satan!

In short, no. I have too many interests in too many things, at this point being 22 I still have not decided yet on a career nor am I in a rush to. I've often thought of getting into youth counseling but I am not sure about it yet. I am currently working at a local community Fitness Center / Gym and making a bit of spending money that way.

Not so much a job at this point but an industry.

I spent a few years working at the helpdesk for an internet service provider, and truthfully I enjoyed the technical aspect of the job, (making things work is an addictive rush, especially dificult tasks.) However I loathed how the employer continually handicapping our ability to solve issues or the customers that just wanted to fight. (exercise in futility)

Now becuase of this I got very tightly involved with a "techie community" and have caught the bug for IT work.

To scratch that itch and make use of my knack for the type of work, I Recently got my ass out of that terrible job and back in college for a nice hardware/networking/OS/ect course.

The cirts I can walk out of there with will open many different possibilites for employment in the future (so long as i keep upgrading) Granted I have never had to bust my ass this ~HARD~ to learn so much, but the challenge is wonderfully fulfilling.

I have had a plethora of different full-time jobs and haven't yet found one that I could consider doing for more than 3 years.

I have a part time career on stage, and that is thoroughly enjoyable, but currently there is not enough work to do that full time.

I hate working. Where's my winning lottery ticket?

The right career comes by knowing yourself first... Ultimatly to please yourself and fill your money bag should be the goal... Create your own career if you must, just don't be a parasite.

Cheers

I am not sure what I want to do yet, I still have to apply for college. The thing that I would really like to do is get my bachelor of arts in Religious studies, the only problem is because of my religious preferences I cannot see myself getting a job I would enjoy. So I think I'm going to get my Bachelor of Business administration and I think that I will try to open up a bookstore. If that does not work plan b is to become a police officer, There really are too many choices.

I wanted to be that at one point too Not computer games though, but role-playing games. I even tried to make a plan for what would take me there, but in the end computers were a quicker path.

Best of luck with it. Not an easy path, but I'm sure it will be very rewarding if you can make a living from i.

My Career!

From a very early age, the only thing I wanted to do in life, was be a homemaker. I wanted to be married to a man that could make enough money that would allow me to follow my dream of being a homemaker. When I married, I did marry for love, not for money.

In time, I learned to budget our income so I could pursue my dream career of being a homemaker. It was not easy. But, it was what I wanted, as well as my husband. We decided that I should work full time for about 4 years, and bank every paycheck I brought home.

We lived entirely off of his paycheck. I budgeted our money to the penny. We did not use charges. If we didn't have the money, we didn't use a charge, and we didn't buy it. If we needed something desperately, we saved and paid with cash.

After 4 years of banking my paycheck, it was time to purchase our first home. We had a sizable down payment due to my income. The house was purchased, I became pregnant, and I pursued my career for 20 years. I was a homemaker and I raised two, beautiful daughters.

I made my career happen for me. I wanted to stay home and raise my children. I wanted to make sure my hard working husband had a hot meal on the table when he arrived home. I wanted to take my children to school and be involved with their activities.

I made it happen with the magic=common sense of budgeting wisely.

We lived off one paycheck for 25 years.

If you want anything badly enough, you do have the smarts to make it happen.

Now my children are grown and gone, and I work now for pleasure and to purchase toys that I can enjoy. Things I didn't want or need when I was younger, but things I can enjoy now. Nicer cars, flat screen TV's, vacations.

I'm old enough to have the time to enjoy such things. If those things were purchased when my children were younger, I would not have had the time to enjoy them. Also, I would have had to use the charges.

My career was being a homemaker. I was very happy. Those were the happiest years of my life.

It was my choice. A choice that suited me and my family very well.

That's kind of my take on it too, although lately my wanderings have been within the same area. When I graduated from college I was unsettled to discover that my major was an area that I had no interest in working in. Not because I didn't like the work, I loathed the bureaucracy involved. My father told me to go out and find something that I enjoyed doing and not to worry about a career. Then he said that if I find myself doing the same thing 20 years later, decide to call it a career.

Does that sound like the classic "everything will work out" line? Maybe. I had a hard time stomaching that at the time, I wanted a plan of action. After reading "The Combination Lock Principle" it made sense. I have unexpectedly fallen into damn near everything that I love (Have I mentioned that I wound up in jewelry because I was building tins for a custom chopper?).

Will I necessarily be doing the same thing in 20 years? No clue. Judging by my track record I can confidently say that it will require a specialized skill that I will have managed to learn somewhere along the way, I will find it intellectually stimulating, and it will be fun.