How old were you when you knew what you wanted to do?

Associate
Joined
27 Oct 2003
Posts
2,391
Still no idea at 23 - not remotely concerned though, my Dad always said he'd still not decided what to do until he passed away at 57, never had the same job for more than a year or two. That's my plan so far :)
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Aug 2008
Posts
4,232
Location
North Sea
Hi,

I'm currently at a complete crossroads in my life - 2 choices lay before me:

1. Carry on with what I've been doing for most of my working life so far, which is pub and bar management - I'm sure most people know the score with that career choice.

2. Study - I've always had an interest in engineering, so would look to pursue that.

For the record, I'm 24.

How old were you when you knew what you wanted to do in life?

Ta :)

I'm in a similar position to you, in that I've always had an interest in engineering, but never really pursued, or even considered a career in it until now. I've just sort of drifted my way into office jobs while I thought about what I wanted to do with myself, but now find myself feeling underpaid, unappreciated and completely unchallenged and frankly frustrated and baffled as to how I let myself end up here. I hate it if I'm honest, and have come to the decision that I need to pursue something I have a genuine passion about before I'm too old for a career change. You spend an awful lot of your life at work, and if your work brings you down, that's large part of your life you're going to be unhappy with. I'm 26, but still live at home "luckily", thus I have no financial commitments holding me back, allowing me to consider study or training. I'd happily serve an apprenticeship on £95 a week if someone would have me, but it would appear that that route is all but closed off to me due to my age. I have however applied for an engineering Cadetship in the Merchant Navy with a few training organisations and shipping lines, I'm hoping I'll get somewhere with it as it seems they often appreciate more mature candidates.

So to answer the Op's question, 26.......I hope. ;)
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2004
Posts
9,150
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
I'm nearlly 22 and I still don't know what I want to do! I certainly can't complain, I am in a very well paid job for my age (I get acted up regularly to a senior position in the control room) meaning my wages get a nice boost most months but I do wonder if there is more... I've been tempted for a while to try and get out on the road as a Technician or try and get into the Police but with things as they are... i'm contented to stay where I am for simple security reasons.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
679
Location
Nr. Glasgow
I always wanted to work in IT as I was interested in computers for a while... I have now managed that. Now I wish I had joined the RAF and became a heli pilot but that never happened for whatever reasons... I am late 20's and working on enterise Unix stuff and find it interesting so have no reason to change. IT is so broad, it could be from answering 1st line calls to doing low level support for a large vendor.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,508
Location
Surrey
By the time I was 18 I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And I did it. For many years I was happy and it made me a decent living, enjoyable job, lovely house, etc.

I'm now 40 and realise I was wrong. Make of that what you will :)
 
Associate
Joined
10 May 2008
Posts
285
Location
Manchester
Hi,

I'm currently at a complete crossroads in my life - 2 choices lay before me:

1. Carry on with what I've been doing for most of my working life so far, which is pub and bar management - I'm sure most people know the score with that career choice.

2. Study - I've always had an interest in engineering, so would look to pursue that.

For the record, I'm 24.

How old were you when you knew what you wanted to do in life?

Ta :)

Do both ?
 
Associate
Joined
13 May 2007
Posts
1,832
Location
Lancashire, UK
When I was younger I always wanted to be a pilot in the RAF. I found out that this wasn't going to happen when I tried to get a flying scholarship through the Air Cadets and they pointed out I had poor vision and was too short. After that I found computers far more entertaining and wanted to work with computers once I left school.

Got into an IT job about a year after finishing A levels and 6 years later I'm still doing it. I do worry that I'll get bored at some point and want to be a ski instructor or something daft, but you gotta roll with what life throws at you. I think half the fun of living is just making stuff up as you go along :)
 
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