No Idea What to do for A Career

[T84]

I think there's more than 7 career paths, isn't there?

[Carrot]

bazking69 said:

If it helps I am 27 and in the process of doing a degree with the intention of taking a totally different direction and break.

Neither of us is old. Have a serious think about where you want to be and go for it. You'll only regret it if you let yourself get to 48 and are still having the same twinges.

31 here, doing my psychology degree with aim of changing career. Best to regret the thing you may have failed doing, than never having tried at all IMO.

[Colonial]

slipstream 1985 said:

why did you do a degree in history if you didnt have a job / career in mind that involved it?

What a short sighted and sad approach to have.

I did a BA in history.

I now work as a town planner.

I loved history, and did it because of that. Still do.

There is more to uni than simoly doing some job ready training course.

[TuxRacer]

slipstream 1985 said:

limpsfield said:

slipstream 1985 said:

why did you do a degree in history if you didnt have a job / career in mind that involved it?

Maybe he was interested in history...you don't seriously thing that it should be mandatory that people pick their degrees with a definite job in mind?

not mandatory but it would make sense!

Degrees aren't intended to be vocational. If that's all you want out of one you may as well take an HND.

[Negative Creep]

Colonial said:

slipstream 1985 said:

why did you do a degree in history if you didnt have a job / career in mind that involved it?

What a short sighted and sad approach to have.

I did a BA in history.

I now work as a town planner.

I loved history, and did it because of that. Still do.

There is more to uni than simoly doing some job ready training course.

That was the main reason I picked that course, I have a genuine interest in it. A lot of people suggested teaching but remembering how we used to act in secondary school there's no way I'd subject myself to that. Not something I've investigated seriously yet but on my travels I did meet several people who've taught English in the Far East and enjoyed it so that could be a possibility?

[Colonial]

A guy I went to high school with is teaching English in Japan.

Is absolutely loving it. Comes back home for a couple of weeks a year.

Says it is the best job he has ever had.

[v15ben]

I'm teaching English to teenagers in a public school in Korea and although it isn't all perfect, it seems I'm having a much better experience than friends teaching in high schools back home.

I have 15 hours of lessons per week, usually with 35-40 students. The main aim is helping improve their speaking, pronunciation and getting them confident in conversations. I also have various lunchtime clubs (DVD club, games club etc.) Today has been fairly typical. I have been planning my lessons for next week, preparing materials for English club and for future lessons. I have also been helping one of the science teachers with his English. I have English Club at lunch where 8 really good students come along to play games, do quizzes, watch DVDs etc. My first lesson of the day is at 1.25pm! That will be a challenge, but a good laugh. A second lesson straight after that and I'm done for the day. An hour to waste (probably on here and YouTube) and I'll be out of the door at 4.30pm to eat Korean food and play golf with a friend then home to chat to the folks on Skype!

The money isn't amazing (about £1200 a month after tax) but I have a fully paid for apartment, they paid for my flights here, I get return flights home when the contract ends so I can see the folks and an extra £1200 bonus at the end of the contract.

The lifestyle is totally different to back home. We go out for meals/socialising every night (football with colleagues, Korean classes, pool nights, hiking etc etc), go to different cities/town/attractions every single weekend and get loads of interesting cultural experiences.

It definitely isn't for everyone, but I can definitlely see myself enjoying this lifestyle for several years

[v15ben]

Colonial said:

Says it is the best job he has ever had.

I'd say the same and plenty of friends I've made say the same.
If you want any advice, don't hesitate to drop me an email

[chevy-stu]

What did you do that made you stay in New Zealand for 11 months.. ?

Surely you must have 'found' yourself a bit there, so have some idea of a particular industry you like, or role you have or would enjoy.

[Fatman2]

Colonial said:

slipstream 1985 said:

why did you do a degree in history if you didnt have a job / career in mind that involved it?

What a short sighted and sad approach to have.

I did a BA in history.

I now work as a town planner.

I loved history, and did it because of that. Still do.

There is more to uni than simoly doing some job ready training course.

I think that's a nice position to be in if you can spend 3 years studying something for personal interest only.

There are downsides to it though and is probably why the concept is odd to most including myself (although that's not a criticism of what you've done). For me I would see that as 3 years experience lost by not being able to get a 'proper' job sooner.

For me it was never a possibility as my family are extremely poor so not going to work was never a viable option. Hence my even getting a degree with the OU, which was a bit dull but has, I believe, made me a stronger candidate in the marketplace.

[Negative Creep]

chevy-stu said:

What did you do that made you stay in New Zealand for 11 months.. ?

Surely you must have 'found' yourself a bit there, so have some idea of a particular industry you like, or role you have or would enjoy.

I was hoping I would but it raised more questions than answers to be honest. I worked for a Telecoms company there which confirmed for me working in a call centre listening to corporate bs (they basically had us there as a lot of people left when told most jobs were being outsourced to the Philippines) is not what I want to do.

As an update, I have an interview tomorrow for a sales job at an audio manufacturer. If I do get it it's only until the beginning of January so won't answer anything long term but at least if I did get that I can get some money together.

[Negative Creep]

Got the sales job only until the new year but at least I'll have a bit of cash saved up so I can relocate for my next job (still haven't solved that one). After buying a half interesting car first though.............

[Rob13]

What was the sales job in? I'm still thinking about whether I need a change of direction at 29. It gets harder the older you get as you find yourself with more responsibility. Moving into a new sector also means taking one step back. I've tried in the past at applying to change paths but coppers don't seem to be much value if you're not looking within the realms of law and order.

[Negative Creep]

A high end audio company who sound German but are in fact American. Probably not a good idea to go into much detail about your current employer and I've only had 2 days training. However I must say their philosophy seems to be about selling the right thing, as opposed to the one with the biggest profit margins and getting staff enthusiastic about the product

[Fatman2]

High end audio. Oh dear you poor soul

Unwittingly I think you've got yourself in for a hard ride, being faced with ridiculously expensive cables, mains conditioning, sweet spots and other geeky parephernalia.

Only kidding. Well done and I hope you enjoy many hours of pleasurable listening. Great industry to be in

[Rob13]

Sounds good if you're an Audiophile. Nice to see that their focus is on selling the right solution rather than the largest margins. Is it commission based? Could be interesting in the present time.

I'm looking to go into a sales job, b2b rather than business to customer. Account management was my first real job and I enjoyed working day to day with suppliers/clients