Xenomorph

I'm a college student and I'm fast approaching the time when I need to pick my 'yeah, really, I mean it this time' undergraduate major. This means that I need to at least narrow down my eventual career to a few related jobs. I suspect I'm not the only one here that's at the same place at this time of year, so I'll pose general questions rather than asking you to look at it from just my perspective. TFProject is an immediate connection to a large pool of working adults, and while the programs at the guidance office are fine and dandy, I'd like to hear from some of you.

Do you like what you do for 40+ hours a week? Do you hate it? Did you find unexpected benefits from pursuing a certain line of education? Would you have rather studied something else? Is your corner of the job market flooded with people trying to get in, or are there more positions than there are people certified to fill them?

What would you do now if you were pulled back to this pivotal time in your life?

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The facehugger is short-lived outside the egg which normally protects it. Armed with a long grasping tail, a spray of highly-concentrated acid and the single-minded desire to impregnate a single selected prey using its extending probe, it will fearlessly pursue and attack a single selected target until it has succeeded in attachment or it or its target is dead

f6twister

You need to face reality that you may enter a field which you may not like later on. Not many people pick a career and stick with it for their entire life. I would start with what interests you and try to find a career there. Do like numbers? Try accounting. Do you like computer guts? Try programming. Do you like human guts? Try doctor, nursing, etc.

Overall, don't be afraid to try something, just because you are concerned that you won't like it later. You can always change jobs.

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A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin

gh0ti

I didn’t take college seriously – at all. I graduated High School with a 4.3 (weighted) GPA, had really good test scores, blah blah blah.. Then I went to college and discovered “Partying”. I always wanted to go to med school, but really you got to have good grades and be dedicated to do that. Well, I smoked to much pot and slacked off and ended up with a 2.9. My hobby was always computers, I was a semi-good coder, I could take them a part and put them together, so I ended up just deciding to go with the slack ass MIS degree (it was slack for me anyways).

I got a job as a software developer about half way through school and I’ve been here ever since. I can’t say I’m miserable or anything, I just can’t say I can see my self sitting in front of a monitor day in and day out every day for the rest of my life. I guess because I got a degree from a business school I can probably do something else, but I just don’t know what I want to do right now so I’m going to stay put.

Ask yourself “what do you like to do?” and “what do I see myself doing in 5 years”? You might also go down to your schools career center and take one of the tests they have that can give you suggestions.

maleficent

The average person has at least three careers in the course of their life. What you start out doing, is not what you end up doing, what your major is, will have very little bearing on what you end up doing as well.

While there are parts of my job I detest, on any given day, I love what I do, because it's so varied, and I'm not micromanaged. I go to too many different customer sites, and see the mindless drones working in IT, that are absolutely miserable, that would not be for me, but some folks see a job as a paycheck, and not as something to give them any kind of fulfillment. In a lot of cases, it's not the "job description" that they hate, but who they are doing it for.

If I could have another career, I'd love to teach math or history, maybe someday I will motivate my butt to get the master's degree that I need to teach, but right now, I'm happy doing what I am doing.

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flamingdog

A job is a job at the end of the day, whether it's a 'career' or not. You go to it first thing in the morning, you come home at the end of the day. Even if it's the job you've always dreamed of, there's going to be parts of it you hate, probably just as many parts you hate as parts you love. And there will always be days when you think 'why the hell am I doing this?'

I'd agree with the other posters, fix on something you enjoy and work towards a career that's at least somehow related. I always enjoyed writing... journalism seemed an obvious route to take. Turns out, it's not exactly what I hoped it would be, so I'm rethinking. Do I regret my time as a hack? Nope. I'm not ruling out coming back to it in a freelance capacity either.

Any job has the capacity to teach you about yourself.

thrsn0730

Well, I'm not sure it's exactly the advice you want, but here goes: Don't be afraid to change careers/jobs. Some folks don't like to move. Some folks want to stay at the same place forever. Don't do it. Don't be afraid to change. Take a different job. Apply for something that might pay you more. Unless you're unbelievably happy, don't neccesarily settle for the status-quo.

Master_Shake

Unfortunately I enjoy sleeping and masturbating. Everything else is just filler. As hard as I looked I was unable to find someone to pay me for these activities. Yes, I considered sperm donation, but it doesn't pay enough to live on and I don't live near a large enough city.

Work is hell. Whatever you do will only help the rich, white people who run this country.

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You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

rockzilla

Almost everyone changes careers at some point in life. Right now I cook for a living and I love it. Before that I was in HR, which I didn't like so much. Take the time to think about what you want out of your job. Do you want to travel? Do you want to work with people or machines? Do you want to work with your hands or your mind? Something creative or something analytical? Is it more important to make money or to enjoy what you do?
Don't be afraid if you get into the workforce with your brand new diploma and find that you don't like what you do, there's always time to retrain, and there are always new opportunities out there.

bigd999

In my opinion, or at least for me this is the case, Its not so much what you do as it is who you work for. My job isnt exactly my dream job, but I like going to work. I work for my godfather and my dad as a framing superintendant for a multifamily framing company. They basicaly let me be my own boss so long as I get the job done, and having that kind of freedom makes all the difference in the world.

velcr0

Personally I hated school, I only went to college because I knew it was the best thing to do. I have a degree in architecture, but I don't use it at all. I've been in the resteraunt business for nearly 15 years (im 31). So you never know what curveball life is going to throw you. My advice is to follow your heart. If you dont like what you do, you will never succeed at it.

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"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."
- Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Konichiwaneko

State of mind leads to the most successful career choice and work path in my opionion.

I love my job because I know it's a job. I know i'm expected to work up to 50~60 hours a week and I don't regret it.

I think the worst thing one can do is to expect that doing the minimum is doing enough. What I mean is don't try to find a job because it's only 40 hours a week, or because you don't have to move, or you don't have to train. I find success follows the person that keeps and open mind, headstrong but ready to accept change.

Ultimately the suggestion I can give you is to not define a career as being with one company. Mind you tenure is respected and appreciated, but to me, my career is "Field Trainer and Engineer". Roughly defined the last few jobs I've had has been consistent travel and socialization with people via training or working on their equipment. What stays consistent is that I have a end product that I support and train people on. The product can be different (eg. Computers, Engravers, Sound and Theater, etc..) but the concept is the same.

That's my career, and I love it.

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Guthumba

I think few people are lucky enough to have a job that they truly like and find satisfying. More often than not I think the key is to find a job that you don't hate. If you can get yourself into a position where you have a competent income and work with people that you like, the actual motions of job that you're performing becomes less vital (given, of course, that it doesn't require you to compromise yourself, your beliefs, or your ethics...).

Too many people think that they have to jump into a career which will totally fullfill them while loading their pockets with wads of cash and...unfortunately...that very rarely happens.

The irony of the whole thing is the fact that those who do manage to put themselves in such a career usually find something else, something the rest of us think is quite silly or unimportant, to bitch about....