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No Career Goals

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by KazTastic, Oct 17, 2013.

  1. KazTastic

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    Hi,

    I feel stuck. Pretty much all of my friends are either in decent career paths, or are working their way towards one.

    I, on the other hand, am working a dead end job in customer service.

    Supposedly, I was smart and gifted when I was younger, but I was only a B-C student, my parents never pushed me, and neither did any of the schools I went to. My high school, on the other hand, did push me to choose a career. However, I had no idea what I wanted to do at 14. At 20, I still have no idea... When I was a teenager, some bright spark told me to become an accountant, so I was prepared to go and study a bachelor of commerce. Then the economy went to shit... Not to mention that university economics and accounting classes were dry and boring.

    I then thought about pursuing a career in IT, my family and friends told me I was "good at computers", but after spending a year trying to get an IT degree at uni, and finding coding boring and tedious, I dropped out. Hearing all the horror stories about entire IT departments being made redundant also scared me away from the field.

    I tried starting a communications degree, but dropped out because I didn't have the attention span to write essays.

    My parents tell me to go back to uni or TAFE, but I don't know what I would potentially study.

    How am I supposed to figure out my career? How did you guys figure out your career path?

    Thank you.
     
  2. Abbra

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    Now I want you to take my advice with a grain of salt, because I'm still pretty unsure about what I want to be. However, I have rather recently gone from being lost to just being unsure, because I know that I want to be able to interact with people and entertain them.

    Maybe start with that? Just find the baselines of what you like doing. If you are an introvert, start looking in that direction. If you are an extrovert like me, maybe start getting closer to people. Maybe you even know that you want to work outside. The small things are probably going to make a big difference in the long run.
     
  3. Argentwing

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    Accountants are always in demand. If that seemed appealing enough to do, I'd say go for it because they also do well financially. It is dry, but it's work. The alternative is a creative field, but then you need a demo reel/portfolio of what you've done. If you are not THE BEST at it and get lucky with a "big break" like in show business, you'll be a starving artist.

    IT's another good field. You shouldn't really have to know how to program to do that so much as work within established programs, troubleshoot, and optimize computer function in other ways. It might also get boring fast, but computers are almost like cars-- some people are just drawn to their inner workings and feel compelled to make them purr.

    Abbra's advice about starting general and narrowing it down is a good way to go. :slight_smile:
     
  4. cdk

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    List down your strengths and likes, and see if you can form a career from them. I highly recommend getting some sort of high education (TAFE or uni) because it opens lots of doors later on.
     
  5. Sartoris

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    To be honest, I'm still in the middle of figuring it out myself, along with trying to land my first job.... :eusa_shhh

    Currently I'm just trying to determine back-to-school plans, which may or may not be separate from whatever my career ends up being (Haha,) however it seems extremely common to be either confused and/or constantly switch gears as to what one pursues. Which, in it's way, makes sense to me. It takes time for one to figure out what it is they want to do, which presumably would be something that allowed them to live as fulfilling a life as possible.

    From what you've said, and assuming you haven't begun to already, perhaps a first step would be to start looking for a new job? If only for a chance of pace and environment, so it doesn't feel so 'dead end.' I'd imagine it would be easier to take a step back, relax and try to figure out what appeals to you for a career. Whether it's something to go back to school for or elsewhere. :slight_smile:
     
  6. Mirko

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    Hi there! I'd suggest trying to focus less on a potential career field for now, and try to be open to different possibilities, and look into an education that gives you a skill set and a base of knowledge that will allow you to apply yourself to different, or related career fields. For example: A Business Degree (and depending on the specializations that it offers) will give you a broad skills set that you can apply to career opportunities in banking, finance, the insurance field, accounting, etc...

    Start with asking yourself: where are my interests? What am I passionate about? Do I care about a certain cause? If you do have something that you are passionate about, and can see yourself doing on a regular basis, explore that by talking to a career counselor, or even with employers, or people who work in the field. In fact, they are the best people that can give you tips on how you could enter the field/employment opportunities that could interest you, and what a typical employer would require in terms of educational credentials, skills and experience.

    Write down what interests you, and what your passions are. Once you have determined a set of interests, take it to the next step. Ask yourself: which skills have I used in fulfilling these interests? How do I go about in doing things? Write them out, and than rank them from "I use this skill most often" to "I don't use that skill very often" and from "I really like using that particular skill" or "I really like doing this" to "I don't like using that skill" or " I don't use that skill very often."

    Then, do a general key word search (with the skills you like using most often, and interests) on job search sites/job banks, as well as some local career sites. Doing that will give you information on the kinds of jobs you could be looking at. Read through the available job descriptions, and take note of the requirements (such as education, skills).

    Having that information, will give you a good sense of where to start. It is quite possible that there is an option available to you that you might not have thought about, yet.

    In addition, you could also take an aptitude, personally test, such as the Myers Briggs Test, that will give you a good sense of where you interests are as well.

    With all of that information, you could try approaching a few employers and ask them if they would allow you to do some job shadowing. That could be helpful to find out as to what does somebody do in a certain position. What is their job like on a daily basis?

    Also, once you have figured out what your interests are, and what you could see yourself doing, try to find a volunteer position that comes close (if it is not directly in line with your interests) and volunteer. It's amazing what volunteering can actually do. Not only can it help in opening doors with potential employers, but it gives you the chance to see for yourself as to what's like applying your skill set and knowledge to an actual position. That will give you a good indication as to whether you would like doing that on a daily basis. :slight_smile:
     
  7. Case

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    I'm facing a very similar experience. After graduating with a criminal degree I didn't know where I wanted to go career wise. I didn't have the energy or smarts to even think about law school. So, I decided to just do something completely different and crazy. The one thing that I learned from someone that had a big impact on me when I was in highschool was to find something to do in life that I will enjoy. She also pushed me to go to college when I never even thought that I could in with the grades I had. So, I started to think about things that I enjoy in every day life. I ended up applying to an organization that takes at-risk youth on wilderness expeditions and now, a year later, I am a certified wilderness instructor/guide. I don't know if I want to continue with this path or not, but I am enjoying life. I don't get paid much, but the experience is what I'm getting paid in.

    So my advice is to not look for a life career, but maybe finding something that you do enjoy. It may be the simplest of things. I knew I like the outdoors, but I never thought I could make a career out of it.

    I think you need to first figure out what you are passionate about and then start researching ways to make that into a career. You may jump from job to job, but you are always going to grow from each new experience. I had an old friend that said, Life's not about the ending, but the journey to the end. I think if you find something you really like then you can make a living out of it. Also, college is a big helper, but not always necessary. The one thing you don't want to do is, go to college without a plan and take something you aren't that interested in. I made that mistake, and I have a college loan that haunts me every month now.

    I hope this helps a little. Take it a step at a time. Create some lists of things you like, then start creating short goals, and long goals. It is important to have goals because without them it's hard to point yourself in any direction.
     
  8. KazTastic

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    After looking at it, I'm good at quite a few things, but I've hit a roadblock with my depression and anxiety. I'm going to start visiting a psychologist to help me get back onto the path. I'm applying for new positions in a larger city (still within the same company, but performing a much different role). I want to go back to school, but I'm probably getting too hung up on worrying about being employable, rather than what I'd enjoy doing for work, but since depression has been screwing around with my head for so long, I've been finding it hard to figure out what I actually like.

    I'm also relieved that I'm not alone.

    Thank you guys!
     
  9. MrAllMonday

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    At this stage I would get a part time job/volunteering position and study a course which of most interest you. Just find something you really want to study. If you have the ability I would choose traditional academic subjects because these will keep your options open such as mathematics or English.
     
  10. LadyLuck

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    Best way to find out what you want to do... trial and error. Keep going. You will find a job that you like and are good at. And if not... hey. Life isn't all about work anyway. Have fun!! Enjoy yourself and be happy!! Thats the most important thing!
     
  11. Mirko

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    It is great that you are seeing a psychologist to try to overcome the depression and your anxiety. Working on overcoming the barriers will help in being more concentrated on your career goals, and figuring out what you like doing, and where your interests are.

    I would encourage you though to find a balance between your interests and being employable. One thing to try would be to gauge what motivates you to apply to the position that would allow you to have a different set of responsibilities.

    Good luck with the application. :slight_smile:
     
  12. Case

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    :icon_bigg It's always an important step to know you are not alone. Just keep your head up and continue to try new things and make changes to see what you like. The move to a different company may be just what you need, if not then keep searching. I struggle with anxiety and some post-stress from an old event that happened a year ago for me so I can see how those types of emotions can effect how you feel about your job. I almost gave up on my job if I didn't have someone to talk to about what I had experienced. Hopefully, you will feel more grounded once you can start expressing yourself. Good luck to you. I'm sure it will all work out in the end. Just keep your spirits up with a glass half full attitude :slight_smile:
     
  13. Destabilise

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    I was fortunate to know what I wanted to do from a very young age and I knew exactly how to get there, and I know that for some people, finding a career path is almost impossible, so why not look at things that will always be needed? A friend of mine is working with me in health care because they will always need health care workers, whether is be NSA/HCA/HCSW's, nurses, medics, paramedics, ECA's, etc.
    Another good service to go into, I'd imagine would be hospitality or catering, may not be the best paid but there will always be work. Travel and tourism, I suppose, wouldn't be such a bad one.

    Keep your head up, take what I said on board, remember, if you find something you'd rather do you can always retrain, a lot of people do that. Good luck :slight_smile:
     
  14. KazTastic

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    I've decided to look at IT from a different angle, and am now considering going down the vocational path, by getting an IT diploma from TAFE (the Australian equivalent of community college), and working my way to become a system administrator.
     
  15. squally89

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    It's lucky how your school made you choose a career at a age of 14. Here in Canada Ontario you don't really do "choose a career", you finish high school at 18 and go to University or college.

    This is how I look at career - it's a lot like dating. You have to go on dates with multiple people (rarely is the first ever "the guy/girl", right?), gain experience and learn about yourself and others. For me going to University was a big part of "career dating" because I got to take a variety of courses, some I did phenomenal and some I did quite poor and I also had work placement as part of my program which is always a plus (force to learn how to write resume and interview skills).

    Some times the job you do you might LOVE it right away or hate it. Sometimes you may grow to love the thing you do, but there are many factors at play here (people you work with, corporate culture, interesting work, high/low task level etc) You may be working at the best possible company in the field you love but working with a horrible boss or colleagues can drive anyone to hate the career they actually love.

    Perhaps a simpler way to figure out what you want to do career-wise aka what you want to do in life is to ask yourself this:
    - If you were to win a lottery tomorrow and for the rest of your life money is not an issue, what would you be doing? Answer this question honestly and never limit yourself in the possibilities of your incredible life.
     
  16. greatwhale

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    I didn't go to university until I was 25 years old, I have a bit of an independent streak and if I find uni a waste of time (because I wasn't sure about what I wanted to do, like most people) I decided to become a draftsman (technical drawings, such as pipelines, structures, parts). I did this in the days before computer-assisted design, with pencil and parallel rulers.

    I really enjoyed the work, actually, and it allowed me to travel throughout Europe and Israel when I had accumulated enough cash. I took the time to discover who I was and to meet many interesting people.

    Definitely address any issues you may have with depression, that unfortunate problem makes any task turn into walking in molasses, but if you are unsure, there is no immediate rush at 20, take your time and go to uni when you have very specific learning goals and an objective (i.e. what you want to do with that degree) that is as clear as possible.

    Finally, take the time to do what 99.9% of prospective students don't do: find yourself a mentor or mentors. If you see an industry that interests you, ask someone there if you can have an "informational interview", explain to the receptionist that you are doing career research and you would like to speak to someone who can give you an idea about what the industry is like. Most people would be more than willing to share this with you, heck, you could even end up talking to the CEO if you're lucky (dress appropriately!).
     
    #16 greatwhale, Jan 1, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2014