How do you know what Career Path to take?

[Fazar]

I know no one can really tell me what to do but myself, but you do see people around who have a somewhat clear, or solid plan, direction, and dedication to one career path.  I would say art as an example.

I've always had trouble focusing on one thing.  I tend to jump around a lot on many different things instead of focusing down, but this also hurts me long term with any real direction or interest.  I dabbled in college with two 8 week summer courses to get my feet wet to see what I would like, namely Illustration and Design, and Animation.  Both I never felt quite the same passion or interest to warrant spending thousands of dollars, and years of my life pursueing.

Currently working in the games industry as a manager for a small publisher, but also not quite feeling it here.  Only 25, but I feel like I've wasted a lot of time and life after high school I could have been sorting my life out for a direction in something that is profitable and I have a passion for.

Is it this difficult for others?  Or do you happen to know what you want for sure?  How did you discover your passion maybe?

[Renwaldo]

If you're asking me personally, I really haven't the slightest fucking idea! :I

I have things I like to do of course, but nothing I can make a career out of.

I am not academic, I have difficulty with deadlines and working under pressure. I find myself more likely to worry myself into a withdrawal from the exercise rather than utilize my skills towards a solution.
My old high-school transcript is pitiful up until my final year.

I can think of nothing I want to work towards right now. With the cheapest degree being at least $10 000 the risk is just way too great.


But what about you? I guess you're not satisfied with your current job in gaming are you? D:

edit: In comparison I feel like I can sympathize with your position. Except I'm younger, and it should seem like I should be able to stop myself from making the same mistake. Except I really have no idea what to do with myself right now. I don't know where I should go from here! :/

[J.R.Bear]

Very Very few people in their 20's know what they want out of life, and the ones who say they do often don't and end up making mid life career changes. The best thing to do is talk to people who are in fields you are interested in and find out what the work is like. Remember that its perfectly ok to feel a little lost in life it happens to everyone.

[Tony Greyfox]

Choosing a career path is often about finding what works for you through trial and error.
I spent four years training towards going into forest resource management, only to find that 1) I hated it, 2) I couldn't manage the memory and botanical ID work needed, and 3) my eyesight was screwed up enough to make it impossible for me to do a lot of the surveying work I'd have had to do. Two years of community college and two years at UBC, ending in me getting a permanent invitation to the world - about $20,000 or so all told at that time.
After that, I had some time working at gas stations and other retail places to consider what I wanted to do, and realized that I was good at writing and should try something with that. Did some part-time journalism courses, figured I liked it, went into a two-year journalism diploma program, made the dean's list all four semesters and graduated with a near-perfect GPA, and I've been working almost constantly in the field for 17 years. It was just a matter of finding the right thing for me.
Don't be afraid to try different things, even if it's part-time courses, and see what connects. At some point it's important to *have* a long-term career so that you can settle in with it, but your 20s can often be a good time to do that experimentation until you find what sticks.

[Carl Foxmarten]

Many times I hear that people found what they wanted to do by those little, seemingly-inconsequential side interests that they didn't think would contribute to their career choices, but ended up being exactly what they wanted to do with their life.

The thing I'd like to do with my life is eventually come back to my university as a teacher, which requires a Masters degree, and I'll need some industry experience before they want to let me do that.
It may turn out that something I do along the way would fit me much better than being a university teacher, but I can't say just yet as I haven't found my calling.

Go out and do stuff.
Maybe work for a temp agency, doing various types of jobs.

How well do you like using a computer?
How are your writing skills?
Your design and/or art skills?
Can you wield a saw or drill with ease?

[Tef]

I've been doing some internship in terms of internet marketing two years ago, and I'm completing another session this year.

Hope I'll be able to get into the internet marketing industry in Vancouver when I graduate...  :popcorn:

[Neox]

I HAD a career plan lined up.  I took a year of college in electronics and I wanted to become an electronics engineer, specializing in telecommunications.

Then, as soon as I graduated, I heard of an opening at a water-bottling factory in Hope, and I applied, thinking it would be an interesting job (and the pay was pretty nice, too.)

I spent 4.5 years at that factory before quitting and applying at another factory in Chilliwack, one that makes weatherproofing membranes out of bitumen (modified asphalt).

While I was at Nestle (the water bottling factory), I never sat there thinking, "Damn... this isn't the career path I chose.  I gotta get out of here and find some place to use my training in electronics!"  I simply saw a job that I had to do and I aspired to be the best at it.  I got really good with machinery and ended up expanding my interests to the point where I realized I could make a nice cozy career out of it.  I started-off as a simple machine-operator and made my way up to becoming the best untrained mechanic that factory ever saw; now I'm a team-leader, machine operator, mechanics-assistant and 4th-class power engineer in training, and I have my foot in the door to become the production supervisor at my new factory in a few years.

The point of this isn't for me to brag; the point of this is for me to show you how your "calling" is what you make it.  I thought my calling was electronics.  When I started working at Nestle, I found that, if I applied myself and sought to improve myself in any way possible, I could find myself taking a genuine interest in whatever it is I do, and turning it into a career.  My career goals are always fluid, depending on what I'm doing at the time.  At Nestle, it was my goal to take my boss's place as the head blowmold mechanic at our factory, and make a good impression so I could possibly get a job working for the company that built the machines that I ran.  I almost had it, too, but I decided to get a job closer to home instead.  Now my goals are to become the factory supervisor at this new place, and possibly go higher from there.  I want to finish my 4th class power engineering certificate and become a boiler operator/maintenance technician.  From there... who knows?  Maybe I'll train myself up to 1st class and go to school to become a nuclear physicist so I can be a director at a nuclear power plant.  Opportunities are endless, Fazar, you just need to keep both eyes open and pick them out.

Don't limit yourself by trying to find your calling BEFORE setting out on a career path.  Try different things, apply to different jobs and continue learning and exploring opportunities until you find something you enjoy doing and can better yourself at.  The definition of "career" should be "self-improvement in the working world."  So many people think they have to find their calling before the age of 20 and have their schooling finished so they can have their dream job before they're 25.  It's a sad, nigh-unrealistic goal, and it causes people to pidgeon-hole themselves in a single field of work.  You never know what you might be good at until you try it.

[Renwaldo]

I don't particularly care what I end up doing for the brunt of my life, as long as it's something meaningful.

I have a job right now. I can find any number of other jobs anywhere. Jobs aren't difficult to come by. :/

I want to do something of longterm value though. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on a routine of meaningless tasks for a monetary value.

edit: Not to jijack the thread, I can only speak from my personal experiences. :p

[Drake Wingfire]

You can count me as another one of the 20-somthing who has a past as a job hopper and who can't make up his mind on a career.

When I was in high-school I thought "dude I love electronics... maybe I can get into robotics or computer engineering!" When I graduated and was able to get a better chance to see these courses I realized I had no where near the level of "book smarts" to even get accepted into such a course. I did manage to find a  fast-track sort of course for computer engineering at a university in Victoria, I joined up thinking "awesome I can get my math up to par AND do the courses I want" little did I realize that a fast-track course didn't mean actually learning anything, it was all a matter of cramming 2.5x the content into your standard semester... I could not handle it, I was 18 at the time and I was stressing out to the point of feeling physically sick because I would just be finally understanding a lesson only for the teacher to be rushing so fast that I was always 1-2 steps behind. The homework we got seemed irrelevant  as we never handed it in, we just glazed over it in 5 minutes and then moved onto another lesson.

That failed attempt honestly demoralized me a bit in regards to anything "high electronics" I still LOVE electronics, I build my own computers and make my own little projects, fix and build various things ^.=.^ but I realize there is a different thing between having a personal talent/nack and "on paper talent" I honestly don't think I will ever make the on-paper-talent part for such a career.

So I worked for a few grocery stores, bakery work, nothing special or brag worthy in the least. It was okay, hell even today I could see being an actual baker being a decent little tie-me-over career until one is ready and actually knows what bigger dreams they wish to move to. Finally I got one of the most lucky breaks.. My best friend who worked at a local computer shop informed me that one employee had quit and they had not found anyone to fill the gap. Naturally I ran down there resume in hand, told them about my electronics work in high school and how I even re-build old computers like AMD k6 based ones, Intel 486's etc, just by luck my friend had one of those systems cause I gave it to him (I had no more space at home) and he had shown the guys it some time back just for a bit of a chuckle at how mix-n-mash some stuff was. But I guess they saw some potential in me if I was already doing stuff like that as a hobby, so they hired me on the spot. I worked for them for nearly 2 years till 2010 when I was layed off roughly due to the shop not doing so well profit wise after everyone got economy paranoid. At this point I was like "you know... that was a steady 9-5 job, a solid 40hrs a week... that was almost a taste of what a career as an IT guy could be.. I think I can deal with it for the most part."
Only one teeeeny problem. the entire time I was working for that shop it was based on my own talents, I had no A+ certificate or any sort of computer related training.. So when I went to other shops and even big-chain stores inquiring about working in the computer service dept I was most always brushed aside, regardless of them hearing good things from my former boss and seeing how long I was at that job. Honestly it pissed me off, well the whole notion pisses me off on a level where someone with a talent to do something can be pushed aside for someone who has the on-paper training.. but who can not even really care about his job or even do it that well.

Right now I work at a dealership on the outskirts of Duncan, I am pretty much a Lot-boy/ Detailer. Its not a bad job, great hours, outside lots, relatively nice co-workers, get to drive cars around a lot some days, the wage is okay, its the most I have ever made at any job to date but its more of a students wage if you know what I mean. I am feeling that particular flavor of "tired" where you don't want to job hop anymore and you just want one steady good paying job. If I stick it out here, I am sure I could eventually work my way up to an official full on detailer position (but still thats only so-so pay, just more job security), heck we are getting a mechanics shop now, so I have been thinking of actually doing some mechanics courses and giving that a shot, I do have something of an interest in vehicles.



But there you have it, my great wall of text describing how I have job hopped roughly 5 times and changed my mind on career paths at least 3 times. Some of us just take a bit longer to really get an idea of what we want to do... and given the endless barrage of tuition hikes and getting less bang for your buck, who can honestly blame some of us?

[Pat The Fox]

There are a variety of vocational interest surveys, most notably te JVIS. Could give one a shot to at least see what direction it points you in.

[Silvermink]

I went into IT. I don't think it's my passion, but there are jobs, at least.

[tokar]

find something you enjoy doing and that you do well, and then pursue that.  if it is that important to you to have lots of money then maybe you will have to do something you really don't want to and keep what you are good at for your hobby.
then there are the other options.  do what you enjoy with the lower pay and find a mate with a great income, win the lottery, or inherit a fortune - which is also a form of lottery - you never know if, when or how much.

good luck