Careers advice

[Muji]

I think this may be the 1000000000th thread on employment, careers etc etc but I'm having trouble deciding on what sort of career pathway I'd be interested in.

I was thinking of getting some advice from random users studying/working talking about there courses and jobs, the pros/cons, their current/potential pay and if they enjoy it or want to get a new job or study a new course.

I'm not really interested in mathematics related careers/courses such as Engineering etc I think I'm fairly below average in these subjects/areas.

Entering year 12 this year and I want to study at Uni hopefully, but thought of different courses and stuff I wanna study and not sure what exactly some of them are.

Courses of interest:
* Commerce
* Journalism
* Law
* International Relations/Trade
* Aviation
* Economics
* Arts
* Accounting
* Logistics (recommended to me)

Some of these courses I've thought of doing double degrees. There's more but can't remember off the top of my head.

Any other career/course recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance

 

[Bombers_Forever]

First up, get the pay out of your mind. I would sacrfice pay to go to a job I like everyday which is what I currently do and I am happy. It is not worth the money for the long hours and if you hate your job (e.g. lawyer, accountant).

Pick things that you genuinely enjoy. For example, what subjects do you like at school now? If you enjoy Legal Studies, then maybe Law would be good. If you like Economics, Business studies, do commerce or Business.

Don't worry about the "career" at the end of a degree. I studied Sport Mgt and Marketing as part of my Business degree and work in aviation- totally different to what I thought my career would be in sport but it didn't happen.

Also, don't study subjects you struggle in. You have to be good at them - e.g. if you are no good at Maths, you won't study it. Sounds simple but it is amazing what people think they can learn at uni.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

accounting is mathematics related.

 

[sear]

Im doing law/international relations - its pretty good - but i wouldnt recommend doing law unless its what you really want to do (well are at least interested in) In year 12 legal studies was my favourite subject so of course i chose law - but a lot of people in my course have now dropped out after our first year becuase firstly they didnt do legal studies and were already behind then couldnt keep up with the workload. Although legal isnt a pre-requisite from what ive seen, you'd be pretty stupid not do it -pretty much gives you an automatic disavantage.

International relations is a lot of fun - but again, theres a lot of reading involved, and a lot of really passionate people, so you need a really good understanding of world affairs

But apart from all that negativity ive mentioned, its a really good degree, with lots of options- im hoping to work for DFAT but so is pretty much everyone else doing my degree lol, but from what ive seen, there are still plenty of options even if (like me) you dont actually want to practice law or be a polition, you can probs get a job in any multinational company or whatever

 

[Muji]

Sorry guys forgot to post my current subjects. I'll be studying English, Further Maths, Legal Studies, Business Management and History this year.

Bombers_Forever mentioned not to do subjects I'm not good at. Maths is not my strong point, but my school makes everyone do atleast one sort of maths subject, so I'm doing further maths. With regards to doing subjects I genuinely like, all of them I enjoy immensely except for maths which I'm quite average at.

Also I don't see the pay of a job as a criteria to enter that field of study/course, but just a bit of knowledge on what people could earn doing different type of jobs.

 

[Philhawk]

The most important thing is to find something that you like.

No matter what job it is, if you find something that you like and you excel at it, you'll do very well for yourself.

I recommend you go to a University Open Day with your parents at some point during the year. It'll really open your eyes to the wide range of possibilities that there are out there for you.

 

[puddingfactor]

The way I look at it, if you wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work, you're on a good thing.

You've got to put things such as money, what your parents say, or what courses your mates are doing out of your mind.

Depending on how well you do in Yr 12 you may want to consider a double degree at uni. It gives you a bit more versatility.

I know it is still a long way off, but once at uni don't forget to put in the hours in a part time job and if you have time, things such as volunteer work or even playing footy on the weekend.

It might not seem obvious, but those kind of things can give you the workplace skills which someone who just sticks to the books might lack.

 

[Hot Spenny]

You've mentioned you don't like maths, but the surveying industry would be happy to have you. a tonne of opportunities, and the money is very good.

 

[TheBigUnit]

Talk to as many people as you can working in different industries/jobs (very important - parents/family friends and/or get your career counsellor to help you organise meetings - accountants are good as they can give you a rough idea of earnings of different professions), uni students (forums like boredofstudies.org are good places if you don't know many) and attend as many uni open days, read the course handbooks to give you a better idea of your options.

I disagree with people here who say money shouldn't be considered strongly, it most definitely should (e.g. look at how many do teaching and other comparatively poorly paid jobs and end up quitting and going into other industries) - but it's not so much looking at what your starting salary is fresh out of uni, it's how much, how far and how fast your salary/income can potentially rise in the future, if you have opportunities to expand into your own business etc. (i.e. look at the bigger picture).

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

The most important thing is to find something that you like.
No matter what job it is, if you find something that you like and you excel at it, you'll do very well for yourself.

I recommend you go to a University Open Day with your parents at some point during the year. It'll really open your eyes to the wide range of possibilities that there are out there for you.

Damn right, you have 45 years in the workforce left. Rather do something you'd enjoy or become another drone.

 

[de_LICA_ish18]

I think its almost impossible to choose a career when you are 16 or 17. I wonder what the percentage of people is, that work in the field that they studied for.

As people have said you need to find a field you enjoy. I'm paid reasonably well but hate going to work. I would be happy to sacrifice pay to enjoy work again. There was a time when I absolutely loved it, but things change.

 

[Bryceson]

im pretty much in the same boat as muji. exept im in year 11 not 12. but really i have absolutely no idea what i want to do.

i am passionate about sport, so something in that area would be great, but i really have no clue what that could be.

i am interested in going into the police force, but i want to go to uni before i consider aplying for that.

this year im doing:
-english
-maths methods (im good at maths, but dont enjoy it)
-p.e
-legal studies 3/4
-japanese
-art/re (cos my school makes us do 1 RE subject)

any advice?

 

[GoDons]

My advice would be to not worry at all if you don't know what kind of career you want to follow in Year 11 and at the beginning of Year 12.

Chances are that you'll go through all sorts of transitions in the process of making a decision on your career and a lot of people are still going through transitions once they've got a career.

It's important to remember that you're not locked into anything. You can transfer courses at university and it's never too late to gain an extra qualification.

I think the most important thing is to realise what you're good at, and chase that. Things are always going to be easier to do if you're good at them, and you should gain satisfaction from doing good work. You may not realise it at first, but most of the time what you like is what you're good at.