A Career

[Inferius]

So, i'm at the age where I starting to seriously contemplate my future career.

And i'm wondering, What made you pick your job?
I grew up thinking your purpose was to do something meaningful,
something that interests you deeply,
but now I'm becoming confused...
Do you think you made the right choice?

What kind of advice can you older folk offer a youngling starting to swim into the deep end?

[CityBoyGoneCountry]

The fantasy is that everyone should do what they love. The reality is that's not always possible. If no one did the jobs that no one likes, then our civilization would crumble. Someone has to pick up the garbage, clean the toilets, and serve the food. That's just the way it is, and there's no getting around it.

Now, let's say you actually do have the skills and the character necessary for doing a job you love. How many of those jobs are available? If there are 10 openings, and 50 people apply, that means 40 of those people have to go find some other job. There are 300 million people living in the U.S. and they can't all be doctors, lawyers, or rock stars.

I'm a welder. It doesn't interest me, and I sure as hell don't love it. But it pays good, and there are tons of welding jobs out there.

My advice is to strive for something you will love, but at the same time, prepare yourself for something that you might get stuck with instead.

[Whos Carl]

Why did I choose my job?

BecauseI like being covered in shit all day in the rain usually. Being ridiculed for being too big I get stuck in small places. I like eating fish and chips and sitting in vans outside of cake shops. I can lie like no other. I have no concept of time keeping. I like being paid too much for jobs and driving a big van makes me feel important. Obviously I had to be a plumber.

I think I made the right decision still find it interesting. Of course there are days when its shit. It is very hard to enjoy mixing concrete in the rain you know.

My advice choose something your interested in. Everyone will say that but its true.

CityBoyGoneCountry I no what u mean about how many of those jobs are available. My mate has gone into game design. Out of 100 people that graduate that course 1 yes 1 of them get a job straight away!

[LIP]

Im a Marine Diesel Engineer, specialising in Boat building, boat fitting and all mechanical aspects.

I wanted to do this job since i was a kid, and eventually luck came into my life and now im doing it and getting payed good money.

I am very interested in my job, and love doing it, so its a hobby as well as a job.

My advice; starting to swim in the deep end? Hold on to the sides!

[Skrappie]

If youre willing to sell your soul in college and like traveling, go to business school, and learn a language. When you know a lanugage (Say chinese) You become a competetor in another country.

IF all goes to shit do what a lot of my buds do.

Teach english in the 3rd world.

[daima]

So, i'm at the age where I starting to seriously contemplate my future career.

And i'm wondering, What made you pick your job?
I grew up thinking your purpose was to do something meaningful,
something that interests you deeply,
but now I'm becoming confused...
Do you think you made the right choice?

What kind of advice can you older folk offer a youngling starting to swim into the deep end?

Music. Why? watching others punch a time clock, their hair grow gray at an early age, and they didnt seem to be having any fun.
depending on myself for my living made me feel..., good.
How far i went was always up to me.

dai*ma:stoned:

[justinsane]

"No, you're working at Initech because that question is bullshit to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean shit up if they had a million dollars."

[sensistar]

video game development is huge ........give it a try ...my boys say its easy work and exciting

[Skink]

Try to incorporate something you like to do,beside smoking pot,,,of course...

[Da Boy Genious]

There's good money in welding, my father was in a pipefitters union, but he fucked that up like he fucks everything up. You have to think about it like this too, you can do something you love and make shit pay, or you can do something you hate that pays well and than do something you love with the money it pays.

[Nochowderforyou]

One of buddies back home welds. He just got his jouneyman (4yrs) in about 2 yrs, and now he's making $32/hr.

Me, I do nothing as of now, but I'm trying to find my place in this world. Music is what I was to persue and I have met a few guys here that I'm now jamming with once or twice a week. We hope to be playing gigs around the Vancouver area by the new year, so if you're in that area, watch out for us because we're coming boy!

[EmoRebellion]

Im in IT. Ive been around it all my life, and it just seemed right to keep going. I studied my ass off, and got several certifications (A+, Network+, Security+, and MCSE). I took a job at kaiser for a year and a half as an IT consultant, and use that as a stepping stone to boost my career. I got experiance on my resume, and learned alot.

Then I dumped those assholes for a smart career move. The moral of the story? Get what you can, from who you can.

[JunkYard]

Cab driver ---> it's fun, the pay sucks, I love driving, but it certainly isn't what I had in mind when I was contemplating a carreer choice. I fell into it, as w/o highschool diploma, or college credits, or degree, my choices were very limited.

The good news is that I enjoy my job. I just hate the pay, and the prices of gasoline! Kinda makes life difficult, still I am happy nowdays, so all is good...

:smokin:

[RichieRich]

Hey Inferius: Thought I would chime in here. I personally don't do anything assocaited with my degree but I have a job that I really love and I am very good at it. I tried a bunch of different jobs until I got to where I am however. I took a few jobs that were "building blocks". I mean jobs where the experience would transfer over pretty much no matter what I did. For Instance I sold retail at Nordstroms and eventually went into the management. Exp on resume: cust service, communication, sales, management, all from a 2 year gig.

The best advice I could give you is don't look for a job for fulfillment or meaning in your life. A job is where you get paid and you make money. I think US people like us tend to look for meaning and find our worth or values in our jobs. Find out who you are, what are your ethics, what do you believe, etc, and go be that person no matter what you choose to do. The best people I have ever worked with have all seemed to have this in common, whether they are stoners, skaters, yuppies, you name it.... All the best dude!!

[birdgirl73]

I sorta just "happened" into the career I had as a long time before returning to school this past fall: speechwriting/marketing-advertising communications for a high-tech company. It wasn't based on any deep love or interest in that field as much as it was a fit for the skills I'd picked up in college and grad school. And it happened to work with my desire to only work part time and to take care of my primary job, which, as I see it, is being a wife and mother. During all those years in that career, I dreamed about moving in the direction of my real interest, which is medicine. But I knew that'd be demanding and also wanted to make sure my son was grown and off to college before I took on a major life change like going back to school.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have probably done the same thing since I made the choice to have a family. But I still think people need to try as hard as they can to do work that they love, especially men, who define themselves by their careers more strongly than women do, I think. If you love what you do and it interests you, you'll do better than if that's not the case. Life's too short to go through it in an unfulfilling career, even one that pays a lot of money.