how do you decide?

[Guest Guest]

i've found my self in a situation even steven fry's vast vocabulary would only be able to truly describe using the phrase "a bit shite" basically just finished up uni (history degree) and had a bit of fun for a few weeks but now its time to get up and get a job and do all that the only problem is i have no idea what. as you can probably imagine a history degree doesn't lead you into any specific area and only equipped you with the usual generic skills that don't look that impressive on a cv and don't really offer you any direction. all i know is a standard 9-5 office job with shirt tie and self hatred that comes with such repetitive work does not appeal but i cant think of anything that does as most of my hobbies do not offer any instant employment with out having to pay for training for at least the next year, my first thoughts were emergency services as this seemed a perfect area but thanks to jolly old cameron non of these are currently recruiting and wont be till February.

so basically how did you guys choose you're career and what advice can you give with regards to finding something?

[RichardH 0]

Never had a career, always wanted to join the forces or fire service but deaf in one ear, so pretty much bummed from one job to another.Having said that, I'm 50 in Nov and only had 2x 1months stints of unemployment so haven't done that bad from it. Good luck in whatever you decide mate, at least you have a good education to start you off

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

you have done well to be 21 and not worked , i was out of my bricklaying apprentiship at 19 was in a mans world and building houses at 21,

[fr499y 0]

in my eyes its all a load of shit.. i got a U in IT yet im a ICT technician.. ( no not a shite one, i know my stuff very well, but seing as the tosser at my school deleted the coursework and refused to get the backups back, my exam was worthless, even though i got 100% on the exam )go with what you fancy, and dont rely too much on degree's etc

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

I want to be hair dresser !

[lee1 1]

@Davehutch wrote:

I want to be hair dresser !

[Stue11 0]

Well i was at walsall football club from the age of 12-18 and then released deemed not good enough, so me and dad moved to south wales were i played welsh league allthough it didnt pay much...i was walking past me local garage one day seen an ad, popped in and asked and the rest is history..no pun intended oh and im an antique dealer on the side too...speciality being Wedgwood sorry this may not help but sometimes things just happen that were least expected

[bfg 0]

planned to join the army after school but asthma put the kibosh on that.. did a couple of years as an apprentice toolmaker but didn't take to the tech collage bit well so kiboshd that as well so spent many years bumming round from job to job.

It was only when my nipper came along that I persuaded my missus that we should get a computer and got interested in this internet lark..

Now work as a senior developer for a software company. Only person in the office without a degree of some sort.. apart from my boss who like me taught himself

[Chadatious 0]

i wana be a sprayer so doing a year year course at college now

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

@Davehutch wrote:

you have done well to be 21 and not worked , i was out of my bricklaying apprentiship at 19 was in a mans world and building houses at 21,

must add left school with all

[Chadatious 0]

@Davehutch wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

you have done well to be 21 and not worked , i was out of my bricklaying apprentiship at 19 was in a mans world and building houses at 21,

must add left school with all

dave i left school with not too bad grades but still unemployed. its who ya know not what ya know

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

@Chadatious wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

you have done well to be 21 and not worked , i was out of my bricklaying apprentiship at 19 was in a mans world and building houses at 21,

must add left school with all

dave i left school with not too bad grades but still unemployed. its who ya know not what ya know

I had to get a job , no one to wash my nappies ,

[pugeyed 0]

left school at 16 as coulden't stand the damn place and needed money as no one is gonna give it to you, worked as a printer for 7 years good money but crap hours (still that way now) then got made redundant and went to work as a car valeter at a dealership, stayed there for 2 years then moved to police to do the same thing, then went to work in the police workshop and now work in the admin/transport department. ill do whatever brings the money in though as long as it keeps me building bikes lol.

it helps if you like your job so what are you interested in?

[firehawk 0]

you could always become a tour guide with your history degree.

Since the age of 16, I've been a Cashier for 10 months (whilst at college), Mechanic for 5 years, Bus Driver for a year, Windscreen fitter for a whole 4 months, Bus Driver again for 6 weeks and now a Cabbie. Soon be taking my HGV test too so another thing to add to my list of pissabolities. Wanna get in to coaches when I'm old enough for the insurance at most companies. The ones at work burnt to the ground this week so doesn't look like I'll be doing them there any time soon.

If I was fit enough and clever enough then I would love to become a Police Officer

[darkember 0]

Well I do know that male escort services are in high demand. You need to be relatively good looking for that though

[Macie_UK 0]

My initial job was sorted before I left school at 16.... then got to 18 and decided (because at 18 you think that everyone giving you sound advice is old, knows nothing and it's not really what you want to hear) that I wanted a proper job like what my mates had and life went downhill from there

Then spent the next ten-ish years doing whatever job paid money (predominantly motor trade, building trade and driving) because I had a wife and kids to keep in clothes.

My last 'career' started out of pure desperation for a job, deciding to apply for at least 20 jobs that day in the local paper (those were the days!) and the first place that interviewed me wasn't too put off by my very long hair (those were the days, MK2!) and I started the next day on a part time basis, doing a job I didn't want to do, in an industry that I had no interest in. A combination of luck (both types) company buy-outs and a little bit of competence on my part ended up with an interesting and fairly autonomous national role in a reasonably sized multi-national company and despite the odd attempt to change industry completely I always seemed to get dragged back.

It really depends what you want out of a job, for example my best mate has *always* been driven by purely earning money and had rarely done less than a 70 hour week in the last 25 years, often either entailing a hefty commute on top or staying away from home 5 days a week, whereas another mate has always wanted to just earn enough to pay the bills, won't commute more than 10 miles or do more than a 35 hour week - the upshot is that they are both very happy with their 'lot', but would keel over of they had to swap jobs.

If doing something that you like and find interesting doesn't pay the money or offer the career progression that you want, it's at least worth a try before you are financially or circumstantially obliged to do something else.

Moral of the story 1: Sometimes get what you want and you then don't want it, and sometimes you fall into something by accident that pushes your buttons.

A bit like women and bikes then

[BanditMike 0]

Left school, went to college and had a piss about for a few years and ended up out of work. Got a YTS placement in the Accounts department of a company and after 12 years ended up as an Assistant Accountant (that's the 9-5 office job with shirt tie and self hatred that comes with such repetitive work ). Another seven years saw me as Contracts Manager then redundant.

Now at Uni doing a degree in Quantity Surveying with kids younger than my oldest son, some younger than my youngest son!?!

In the end, it will be what you can find, and what you can put up with. I've had a few bits of luck, but mostly it's hard graft that gets you there. With a history degree have you considered teaching? Possibly start your own business?

[nickerbelly 0]

@Davehutch wrote:

I want to be hair dresser !

Yeah - alright Zohan

As to the question of employment Airlock, tell me something about your hobbies and interests - I know that everybodys life experiences are different, but you sound like a hands-on outdoors type, much like myself. I left college having pretty much squandered my education if I'm honest, got an A level and 6 O levels, but could have done much better!!, anyhew I eventually found my way into the army and it turned out to be the best time of my life, I was in the REME so I got a trade out of it but it gave me so much more as well.
Anyway - the long and the short of it are I would recommend trying to find a job that is related to but not actually your hobbies, because in my experience you will enjoy it more, do better in it, actually look forward to working rather than see it as a chore, and you will feel so much more fulfilled as a result - and, you will still enjoy your hobbies instead of them becoming tedious and boring

[Guest Guest]

hobby wise im pretty into my climbing, surfing,walking, biking and snow boarding. would love to do something based around surfing but its hard to find. looks like i might be moving back to new zealand for a year or so to get my head together working low pay jobs but having loads of fun in the hope when i come back i might have a clue. i like the idea of a hobby focused job and outdoor instructor work has looked like a good idea but its a very competitive world and would require any where up to 5 years of training before i could start my own business.

[day101 0]

@Davehutch wrote:

@Chadatious wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

you have done well to be 21 and not worked , i was out of my bricklaying apprentiship at 19 was in a mans world and building houses at 21,

must add left school with all

dave i left school with not too bad grades but still unemployed. its who ya know not what ya know

I had to get a job , no one to wash my nappies ,

Nappies? thought they wernt invented when you were around dave. poor dave hes had a hard life. this was 50 years ago!

[Stue11 0]

@day101 wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

@Chadatious wrote:

@Davehutch wrote:

must add left school with all

dave i left school with not too bad grades but still unemployed. its who ya know not what ya know

I had to get a job , no one to wash my nappies ,

Nappies? thought they wernt invented when you were around dave. poor dave hes had a hard life. this was 50 years ago!

He told me he had a beard years ago he used to plaster walls with horse hair

[day101 0]

The anti ageing cream worked for him

[Stue11 0]

@day101 wrote:

The anti ageing cream worked for him

Loreal because hes worth it

[Chadatious 0]

were you two changing cart wheels before tyres then

[day101 0]

@Stue11 wrote:

@day101 wrote:

The anti ageing cream worked for him

Loreal because hes worth it

[XS1100 0]

My interview went like this true story I was in the air cadets 1947SQ..I wanted to be a starfighter pilot
O;OFFICER
ME: A Starfighter Pilot, Sir.
O: And why particularly the Starfighter?
ME: Because Sir, I am in love with this aircraft. This magnificent engine of steal and gleam.
O: That's very poetic. Please continue.
ME: This aerocynamic Delilah. Its uptilted wings and sidewinder rockets.
Its clear curving cockpit cover, the whirling of dials and needles.
The illustrious uniform of the Federal Airforce. The click of the heels in , the flare of the jacket, the wide, long-skirted hang of it, and oh, the low shiny peak of the cap.
O: I think that's enough.
ME: But Sir, the danger, and the glory of death.
A young and dashing life gone up in flames. Blonde maidens weeping.
To die for one's country.
To set forth in a silver lance too joust with the forces of darkness.
O: They don't always crash, you know.
ME: It would be an honour to crash in such a plane.
O: To be mangled and scorched?
ME: To be hideously mutilated beyond the recognition of one's own mother.
O: Is that makeup you're wearing?
ME: Makeup, Sir?
O: Makeup. Makeup. You know it's what the ladies wear.
ME: Not all ladies wear makeup, sir.
O: Well what's that black stuff around your eyes. Is that mascara?
ME: All right. I can see it`s no good lying to you, sir. I confess.
It is mascara. But...only a little bit.
O: What on Earth for?
ME: It's my mother, sir.
O: Your mother?
ME: You see my mother was the first woman to fly the Atlantic in a (pause) Gaseo Glider.
O: A Gaseo Glider?
ME: A machine of my father's invention. You see he was too much of a professional aeronautical inventor to actually fly it himself, so my mother took it, and tried to fly it singlehanded across the Atlantic.
O: And what happened?
ME: She...she crashed. Spun down into the sea and was never seen again. They found only her false eyelashes, floating.
And so, you see, ever since I have worn mascara in her sacred memory.
O: I see.
ME: Well sir. Do I get a plane?
O: In view of the confessions you have just made, which must have taken a great deal of courage, I consider you an ideal type for the job.
There's a plane for you waiting on the runway. The sergeant will give you an instruction manual on the way out.
Oh, and by the way, eh, GAZ
ME: Sir?
O: Don`t let the CO catch you wearing makeup on duty. At least not in uniform, understand?
ME: But Sir...
O: Alright then. But very subtly applied, is that clear?
ME: I understand, Sir.
O: Right on, GAZ
ME: Righty Oh, Sir.
Then the Ice cream van arrived weird init

[dick65 0]

nice one gaz, cant beat the genius of bob calvert

[lee1 1]

left school aged 15 hated every day,left with nothing absolute drop out

did yts scheme on a building site labourering £26.50 a week if I remember right

left that worked in a steel works for a while left that then worked in a bottleing factory

then my mate got me a job at the garage where he worked,did that for a while sacked that off boss was a

Then worked in a factory makeing garden furniture worked my way up to assistant production manager
Then the company started useing agency workers,mainly all of them ilegal immigrants,made the job very hard,they cant speak english

so thought sod this,need to do something with my life,went back into mechanics went to college this was around 13 years ago,gained my nvq level 3,then did my ata
worked for landrover,bmw,tvr,and currently working for ford/kia/mazda dealership at the moment

not bad I reckon to say I left school with nothing

only ever been unemployed twice in 23 years and not for very long

[Guest Guest]

well i'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic anyway just hope i can fall into something like a few of you have, sounds like my kinda process.

[lee1 1]

@airlock wrote:

well i'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic anyway just hope i can fall into something like a few of you have, sounds like my kinda process.

lifes a journey mate,just follow the right road

[Guest Guest]

@lee wrote:

@airlock wrote:

well i'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic anyway just hope i can fall into something like a few of you have, sounds like my kinda process.

lifes a journey mate,just follow the right road

a satnav would come in handy

[lee1 1]

@airlock wrote:

@lee wrote:

@airlock wrote:

well i'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic anyway just hope i can fall into something like a few of you have, sounds like my kinda process.

lifes a journey mate,just follow the right road

a satnav would come in handy

[nickerbelly 0]

@airlock wrote:

@lee wrote:

@airlock wrote:

well i'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic anyway just hope i can fall into something like a few of you have, sounds like my kinda process.

lifes a journey mate,just follow the right road

a satnav would come in handy

life rarely goes according to the plan you create, something unexpected always happens - sometimes good, sometimes not so good - the thing is to accept whatever does happen, as it inevitably will! and grow from it