How did you find out what you wanted to study, what job you wanted to do?

[Guest]

I think I already made one such thread on the old forum but I'm reproposing it nevertheless in case I did.

 

So, now that I'm a grownup I have to figure out if I want to go to university and keep studying or if I want to head straight into working. I've been suggested by @Ieono (thanks lad) to go for the latter and that looks like the more sensible choice to make, problem is that I still have no idea what I want to do with myself, or rather what course of studies to take. @WolfNightV4X1 (thank you too hun), on the other hand, suggested I basically experimented, made a working experience or two to test the waters, see what I like. While I'm not really sure about university, I'm thinking of doing both. I will certainly need the working experience, that's for sure.

So far the only thing I'm remotely good at is drawing and my proficiency with english is far superior than that of my countrymen. That may land me a job here where I can take advantage of this fairly honed skill even though the prospect of working abroad is way more exciting than staying in this pisshole

 

The reason why I made this thread is to get further direction, hear how you guys started and kinda ''reference'' off of that, you know? Maybe get an advice or two if you have any to spare. Just throw in your experiences

So, how did you find out what you wanted to study, what job you wanted to do? Did you go to uni or did you directly start working? Is university even that important, do I really need it? How old were you when you got your first job? Did uni turn out the way you expected? Better? Worse? Did you take a course of studies you liked or (for whatever reason) not? How did you find your first job? Is there, I don't know, maybe a building where they tell you what job can be assigned to you? What did you learn? If there's anything else you think I need to know, do not hesitate to tell me

[Alexxx-Returns]

I dunno really, it was always just there as a dream from a young age. I started out wanting to be a vet, but over time I realised I wanted to work with people more. I guess the environment I grew up in and the school I went to were very academic-heavy, at my school it was university or nothing. You either applied to university or they wouldn't help you with your plans after sixth form. So I guess I never considered anything else.

I also remember having a toy surgical kit as a small kid and performing operations on my stuffed animals. I gave my stuffed Ankylosaurus an appendectomy and sewed it back up again. I guess I was always gonna aim to be a surgeon.

[Rassah]

I worked lots of jobs, but only found the one I was finally interested in by accident when I was looking for things to do in desperation.

I thought I would be interested in a software development field, and kept looking for jobs there, but not finding anything just ended up taking any available job. Turned out to be finance. I realized I had a knack in it, and liked it more than IT. In IT I also realized that I get bored and distracted with Facebook and forums too much. So, what worked for me, at least, was taking random jobs and stumbling on what I like.

What I would actually recommend is work to learn, taking different short term jobs to get experience in many different things, with a long term goal of being skilled at running a business. Since you know English well, that's one area where you can easily best your peers, working and trading internationally. Then while working in different positions, you may find some specific type of work that interests you, and you'll have the skills to help run it.

[willow]

people kept trying to push me towards art or computer science but I only like doing art as a hobby or side job at best and while I appreciate programming and coding, I can't do most of the math that early computer science classes demand. so I chose to study film and radio production because it's artistic and creative but also technical enough to satisfy everyone

with German, I took it in high school for three years and enjoyed it a lot. so I decided to take a placement test when I started university and placed into intermediate and got A's in the two intermediate classes, so my professor suggested I major in it. initially I went for a minor though but I'm switching to a major 

[DrDingo]

I'd need to think hard about why I went for Computer Science. Because I don't really know. Nobody made me or told me to.

I mean, I love technology, but so do most people. 

Hmmmmm

[Onnes]

I'm from an academic family, so going to university was basically a default for me. I had no idea what I wanted to major in and I needed to declare a major for financial aid purposes, so I just chose physics because I wanted to learn more physics. I ended up sticking with it, and now almost ten years later I'm close to getting my doctorate. Hopefully I'll be able to stay in academic research, although industrial research positions aren't bad depending on the company.

[jcstinks]

I was born knowing someday I would grow up to be a useless piece of shit.

[Rukh Whitefang]

Knew from a very young age that I wanted to work on cars, or work in the automotive industry. But I also know woodworking and metal fabrication/welding too. Basically I always knew I wanted to work in the trades.

[Terminal7]

I change too much to make a formal decision. 

But then again,  I'm not even in college yet lol

[Pignog]

In high school I loved art but I was convinced, along with everyone else, that you couldn't get a job doing it. After high school I worked a couple years in retail/fast food. Originally I wanted to be a police officer (I was a very different person then). I took a law and security course which introduced me to sociology, and the teachers in the program encouraged me to go to university to continue my studies. I moved north to experience a different part of Canada, and put myself through my BA by working as a security guard for four years. From those experiences I realised I didn't have the personality to do law enforcement/really disliked the work, and the professors in the sociology program encouraged me to go further with sociology. I genuinely loved the subject so I completed an MA there. Right now I make/process pizza dough.

So I dunno what to tell you man. Not many people know exactly what they want to do. You'll change a lot as a person in the next decade. Just try different things out until you figure it out and try not to get into debt. Working a bit after high school until you figure things out isn't a bad way to go.

[MalletFace]

Right now I'm only getting two small degrees and attempting to line up a path to a BS in Physics and Astronomy. Maybe I'll be able to get a PhD afterwards. I'm one of those people that saw somebody speaking on television and in school and knew I just had to learn more. I'm hoping for a career in instruction, but I'll go for pretty much anything as long as I always get to learn more.

In the U.S.A, most universities and colleges have career counseling/development and work-based learning programs, so you might want to figure out if there are equivalents in universities and colleges around you. Some in the U.S.A. even have a temporary major designed to help you figure out what you want to do.

If you want to move to a major English-speaking country to work, you will either need to have a good job lined up, have a good education, have money, or encounter some luck in the process. The U.S.A., the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are difficult to get into permanently without those things. If you really want to, my recommendation would be to attempt to study in one of these countries and use the university there to help you get a job within that country. I have no idea about countries like India, Burma, Singapore, or the English Caribbean states, but I would doubt those are your ideal.

If you want to use your English and work in your own country while traveling to those states, you'll need to get pretty far along in a career. You'll either need to use university to propel yourself into a job or work your way up and around. Jobs like that get eaten up real quick by really qualified people because they think their English is what makes them valuable. I've seen friends do the same thing with other languages and find out quickly that they need to be really skilled, educated, and experienced for their speaking to mean anything.

That's me attempting to be helpful, but there are always special cases and amazing situations. You are also asking a bunch of people from around the world, so be careful in how you interpret and use their advice.

[Rassah]

2 hours ago, jcstinks said:

I was born knowing someday I would grow up to be a useless piece of shit.

Me too! But I failed even at that

[Wrecker]

I dropped out of school and jumped into a trade. Dropping out wasn't my first choice, but there were reasons.

On the plus side, it's lots of money and crazy-ass work... some crazy fucking people too. Being far away from home and out in the bitter cold 12-14hrs a day sucks, though.

[Vallium]

I second Rassah's idea of working in some foreign trade if you find something that does that, seems like it'd be neat to handle international cultures and as a rare skill it'd make you hireable.

Cant say what though, but at an early stage in life its best to try both if possible and see what will stick. College wont be the same as high school and you may find youd like it more. So perhaps start on a two year degree of some sort, something useful that will play on your strengths and if possible work in the meantime. Keeping in mind that at the bottom wages are low and work not the most thrilling until you go up, but you gotta start somewhere.

Both may be a challenge however, which is why choosing one path is okay too. 

Like I said with work, you may not find it easy, so you have to show them you have skill, which is why I suggested volunteering last time. Having a free open schedule may also help as well. Having a definitive goal helps too, know what you want and what a job wants to hear. Find a way for your desires to align with any job.

 

I cant make suggestions on an exact course/degree/job for you unfortunately,so as suggested you may just have to keep searching and find what sticks. Keep in mind everything will have positives as well as negatives. If its more negative and you find you failed, dont get discouraged. Lots of people change in the course of their life.

I wish you well in your pursuits, Amii. 

[jcstinks]

1 hour ago, Rassah said:

Me too! But I failed even at that

What is this, some kind of bragging?

[FenrirDarkWolf]

For me it's a bit of a mixed bag of 3 different things, Analytics, Music, and Political Science

I'm business analytics student. but sorta by accident, but I like it. I was originally an accounting student but I found accounting to be, while practical, very very boring and taxing to me. I discovered my uni's BUSA programme from a guest speaker that came to one of my classes, and I just started researching the field and I really liked what I read about it. I love to analyse things (even if I do somewhat of an ehhh job at it) and business analytics is about analysing data from companies and use it to make the company bigger and more competitive and that appeals to me.

For Music, it stems from what I did in high school, which was music. I  was originally a music performance student, but I bombed my audition. However, I still did colorguard that year, and I love it so much. I love performing like that. I've always been a natural dancer and performer. But when I actually tried to do music things, I found it was super taxing and stressful and I couldn't do it. I still play and perform, I still do guard, but I can't be a music student because it's too much for me.

For PoliSci, it's relativity new-found for me. For a long time, I've had an interest in politics, in the workings of it and on the people in it, even if my thinking a bit skewed to the left, I'm willing to listen and see where others come from. It's never something I really thought about it as some sort of education, just more of a hobby. But it's something I'd love to study more about.

(Special mentions go out to History, English and, for some reason, Meteorology)

[Joshi]

It developed over time. I always knew I wanted to do something with gaming, I just want sure what exactly. Then I just downloaded blender one day, started with it and it was exactly what I wanted to do. The internship in January just showed the same

[Dr. Doggo]

I've always been interested in making computer games ever since I was a kid, but I've long been convinced by others that it's one of those jobs that statistically nobody can ever do, such as being an astronaut or hollywood star so I've not really found anything else I genuinely want to do that I can feel passionate about. Right now I have a tedious blue-collar job and I haven't been in any form of education for several years but I'm learning programming as a hobby and I'm starting to create useless apps and bad games in Unity3D so I'm feeling pretty cheery about that.

Maybe I can get an actual programming education sooner or later, and see where that goes. Or just see if I make bank through Steam Greenlight sometime.

Edited February 29, 2016 by Sir Gibby

[LazerMaster5]

I was looking for classes to do for the spring semester, and my mom pointed out the introductory weld class. I also started hearing how successful welders can be. Now to get my certifications.

[PastryOfApathy]

I...haven't.

My original plan was to get a degree in computer science but brain-fuckery, destiny, and a slew of really bad life decisions had different plans. At least I think, I don't actually know what those plans are.

I want to try coding stuffs again but my community college is effectively incompetent and most of the comp sci teachers have literally unintelligible accents since my college resides in a diverse community (a ghetto shithole with a "campus" full of drunken homeless people). So now I'm a drop-out with zero ambition or motivation.

[Astus]

Really I found out from my dad's college friend about genetic engineering at the age of about 7, and ever since I heard what they did I was always amazed by it and what they did. I wanted to go into research and help make the human race stronger and better; however I later realized the ethics behind all of that stuff and sort of slowly realized that it was not something I would like to personally take part in.

 

Though through my want to get knowledge in that field I took more science classes in high school where I found my interest in ecology, zoology, and behavior science. Right now I am keeping my doors open by going for an undergraduate degree in biology and then I'm planning on specializing when I go to graduate school.

[Conker]

I went into college thinkin' I'd be a vet or a pharmacist. Started with a biology major, took all the classes I needed to for my freshman years, and FUCKING HATED IT

Well, "hate" is strong, but I didn't like it nor was I all that good at it. I pulled through an okay GPA, but barely.

One of my general electives was a 100 level English course, and that I quite loved. My professor at the time suggested I take more English courses as I continued on through college, and another semester later, I was majoring in it.

Problem was, I didn't know what i wanted to do with that degree. It's a liberal arts one and well...not the best one to have. Better than some I guess? I dunno. I wanted to write about video games and maybe work on a magazine, but the prospects for that are slim and by now, that whole "career" option has changed so much that I'm SOL. Or at least, SOL until I learn how to edit video, be an online personality, and in general, turn into Greg Miller or something

Started writing fiction and novels a few years ago because I've always wanted to do that. Love it. Want to keep doing that.

Main goal right now is to make and sell video games with my brother, but that idea mostly came from him. It's what he's always wanted to do since he was young and we were playing Sonic on the Sega Genesis. We're on our way with it, and it's a lot of fun, so I guess what i want to do is make shit. I like making stuff.

Currently working at a screen printing place doing light computer stuff for about eleven bucks an hour, so yeah.

[Onnes]

5 hours ago, PastryOfApathy said:

I want to try coding stuffs again but my community college is effectively incompetent and most of the comp sci teachers have literally unintelligible accents since my college resides in a diverse community (a ghetto shithole with a "campus" full of drunken homeless people). So now I'm a drop-out with zero ambition or motivation.

If what you're interested in is just the practical aspects, which you sort of imply with 'coding', then honestly most colleges aren't great for that anyway. It's also something where there's a lot of free resources available for self-study, and where employment is often less degree-focused than other skilled fields. 

Of course, there's always the barrier of motivation and self-discipline, which is inevitably high.

[FenrirDarkWolf]

8 hours ago, Sir Gibby said:

I've always been interested in making computer games ever since I was a kid, but I've long been convinced by others that it's one of those jobs that statistically nobody can ever do, such as being an astronaut or hollywood star so I've not really found anything else I genuinely want to do that I can feel passionate about. Right now I have a tedious blue-collar job and I haven't been in any form of education for several years but I'm learning programming as a hobby and I'm starting to create useless apps and bad games in Unity3D so I'm feeling pretty cheery about that.

Maybe I can get an actual programming education sooner or later, and see where that goes. Or just see if I make bank through Steam Greenlight sometime.

I believe in you /;w;/

I would totes play Gibbygames

[Vallium]

31 minutes ago, Saxon said:

I thought you were already at University?

 

 

Edit: Also, I was recently asked to write about the topics in this thread for my university's website. I was going to post the link, but it contains my real name...so probs not comfortable doing that. 

Maybe its too much work to edit but you could always blackbar your name?

[Newt]

I threw a dart at a board of jobs and got high school teacher.

shit luck, m8

[Vallium]

9 hours ago, LazerMaster5 said:

I was looking for classes to do for the spring semester, and my mom pointed out the introductory weld class. I also started hearing how successful welders can be. Now to get my certifications.

From I hear welding is super practical and with being hands-on probably not too boring of a career

 

I mean dang if I really reached the end of my rope and my other stuff didnt work out I'd just be like "f*ck it" and jump into that.

[Pignog]

9 hours ago, Sir Gibby said:

I've always been interested in making computer games ever since I was a kid, but I've long been convinced by others that it's one of those jobs that statistically nobody can ever do, such as being an astronaut or hollywood star so I've not really found anything else I genuinely want to do that I can feel passionate about. Right now I have a tedious blue-collar job and I haven't been in any form of education for several years but I'm learning programming as a hobby and I'm starting to create useless apps and bad games in Unity3D so I'm feeling pretty cheery about that.

Maybe I can get an actual programming education sooner or later, and see where that goes. Or just see if I make bank through Steam Greenlight sometime.

you've got a good mentor and it looks like you've already learned a lot from what you've talked about on discord. Rooting for you gibs.

9 hours ago, PastryOfApathy said:

I...haven't.

My original plan was to get a degree in computer science but brain-fuckery, destiny, and a slew of really bad life decisions had different plans. At least I think, I don't actually know what those plans are.

I want to try coding stuffs again but my community college is effectively incompetent and most of the comp sci teachers have literally unintelligible accents since my college resides in a diverse community (a ghetto shithole with a "campus" full of drunken homeless people). So now I'm a drop-out with zero ambition or motivation.

It's never too late, I believe in u pasty.

[Vallium]

3 minutes ago, Newt said:

I threw a dart at a board of jobs and got high school teacher.

shit luck, m8

Its not luck if you suck at aiming, pleb

[Newt]

4 minutes ago, Saxon said:

What do you teach? 

I'm still in college, but I'm concentrating on English.

[Astus]

49 minutes ago, Saxon said:

I thought you were already at University?

Yeah, I'm currently studying for my undergrad in biology in my sophomore year 

[Dr. Doggo]

53 minutes ago, FenrirDarkWolf said:

I believe in you /;w;/

I would totes play Gibbygames

thanks!

if i ever figure out how to put bad games on the web via HTML5 or Unity Web Player or something I'd link them here.

10 minutes ago, Pignog said:

you've got a good mentor and it looks like you've already learned a lot from what you've talked about on discord. Rooting for you gibs.

Yeah, he's been really helpful! I'm just trying to self-teach through online resources for the time being, I don't want to be a bother. I admit I'm a bit lost save for the obvious part of learning language (and engine) features which is going reasonably well. I want to get into algorithms and program design but I need some dummies books or something.

[yell0wf0x]

When I was a wee little lad, I wanted to be a doctor.  I wanted to be a medical examiner.  Focusing on Forensic medicine. So when I went to college, I was finally going to make sure my dream comes true and was prepared to enroll in a B.S.Biology course for my pre-med. So now I'm living the dream! I got my bachelors degree in Electronics engineering and am registered as one and working as one.  Yay me!

[Snagged]

When I realized difficult theoretical studies focused University wasn't my thing, I applied for an interesting career path in vocabulary school: Electronics

[Xaende]

I'm still trying to narrow it down. So many interests, so little time. One thread across my various interests, however, is computers. That's how I got into IT.

[Kinare]

I sorta just figured out one day after a lot of thinking about what interested me that I wanted to be a vet tech. I love animals, even though dogs kinda make me nervous because I'm not experienced with them. I'm only in my current career because when the vet tech thing failed due to finances and other stuff, I needed to try to find something else and this was a decent 2nd option that is able to support me just enough that I can have a life (though it took me 9 years of adulting to do it).

Sit down and think about the things you enjoy doing and/or are good at. Figure out how those things might incorporate into jobs. You could even Google to search some of those key words to find jobs you might not have thought of before. Don't just toss out a job or pick it at first glance either, get to know what it actually entails, because that can make a lot of difference. In my example, originally I wanted to be a veterinarian, but then I learned they don't actually spend any time with the animals outside of procedures like the techs do. I also thought about being in the psychology field because I love helping people figure themselves out and I enjoy digging into their minds, but there is an excessive amount of schooling involved and I had to be honest with myself about my abilities to keep myself going through all of that, I don't think I would have been able to keep myself focused because the work to get there didn't interest me at all. Vet tech training, however, was fun for the little bit I got to do it.

[Ieono]

Oh boo I love you so much! 

So, how did you find out what you wanted to study, what job you wanted to do?

-Well, I grew up with the desire to either be some sort of adventuring archaeologist, or a mad engineer. Lots of tv, movies, comic books, manga, and video games, probably. 

Did you go to uni or did you directly start working?

-I went to uni. I went to uni for a long time....but I was able to fast-track both of my degrees. 

Is university even that important, do I really need it?

-You don't NEED it, but it is important. It is important because it is the surest way for you to make lots of money if you finish your degree in a profitable field (STEM baby!) I would not recommend going to uni for anything other than a STEM degree, though. Otherwise, your degree really doesn't pay for itself int he long run, and you end up wasting a lot of money and time that could have been spent on other things. 

How old were you when you got your first job?

-13. Some friends and I started a computer repair service. 

Did uni turn out the way you expected? Better? Worse?

-Uni turned out great. I learned a shit-ton, met some interesting people, and proved to myself that I can overcome incredible academic challenges. I think that academia is my element, and I'd love to return there again after I've worked a few more years for graduate school.

Did you take a course of studies you liked or (for whatever reason) not?

-I wasn't very flexible with my coursework, but my required courses were ultimately all things I was interested in. I just wanted to get through what was required as fast as possible. 

How did you find your first job?

-Oh, some friends and I wanted to be able to buy more video games, so we decided to do something that made us get our own money, which was fixing computers. We made a killing because most people don't know how much work it takes to fix their porn-virus-ridden computers, hahaha!

Is there, I don't know, maybe a building where they tell you what job can be assigned to you?

-Uhh yeah, lots of campuses have career-aptitude testing. 

What did you learn?

-The main thing I learned is that you really have to focus on what is most important to you, and remove all distractions. If you can remove all distractions around you, you can accomplish any goal you set for yourself. But to be honest, that's probably why I didn't leave my colleges with any long-term friends, haha. 

If there's anything else you think I need to know, do not hesitate to tell me

You are super cute. :3

Oh, and yeah, don't go to uni for anything but STEM degrees, or you'll have a tough time when you get out of college most of the time!