LuvingLife Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) I have been thinking alot lately (and that's not always a good thing depeding the subject) about my career choice and I might want to change it or I might not. I love music therapy don't get me wrong, but the schools are not close by and I am not so sure I will be able to attend. But I still like my career choice and it is still on my list. Then I start thinking about other things that I love and want to make a career out of, like history, english, and photography. I wanted to say nursing but then again it's not my favorite job. There are just so many things to choose from and I don't know what to do, my head is in a whirlwind right now and I just can't fit the puzzle pieces together. I don't want to go to college with an undecided major, no way. I want to have a plan and stick with it (although that's not always possible) and choose a career that I love and not one I will hate doing. What should I do?:confused: My mom doesn't want to see me end up struggling like she and my dad have so she kind of pushes choices on me like nursing, vet, doctor, and a lot of things like that. Who know I mean I could end up doing one of those but I want a career that I really enjoy! Edited May 27, 2011 by LuvingLife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Well, honestly, I changed my career direction three times so far and had to go back to school a few times to do it. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up and I am a grandmother. I went into nursing myself at one point because I was more concerned about being able to pay the bills than I was with being happy in my work. I found that nursing is an interesting field because you really can do a lot with a nursing degree if you are creative enough, and if you just need to keep a roof over your head and pay your bills you can usually find some type of nursing work even if it isn't what you might find particularly fulfilling. The worst part about being a nurse is not the patient care, it is dealing with the doctors and the managers! I think that working in a few different fields doing grunt work without a degree might give you more of an idea whether those fields can hold your interest, or even starting school with an undeclared major and giving yourself some time to take a few classes in some different areas might help you come to a decision. Just remember that nothing is carved in stone and you can always change your mind later no matter how far down a particular career path you have gone. You might even find that ten years from now your likes and dislikes will be completely different and the work that satisfied you at first may seem tedious to you a decade later. I also think it is worth taking the time to figure out what you want to do before you put a lot of effort into any particular path and I think that it is important to not be afraid to change if change seems to be what you really need to do. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actuary Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Have you considered flipping through one of those career books that has a bunch of career ideas for a students who chose a particular major or students who have a particular personality type? My library had a bunch of those career type books and so one summer while I was in college I picked a book up on careers for economics majors. As I was flipping through the book, I saw a page talking about what actuaries do and I was really interested. So, that's how I stumbled upon my future career. Can you think of it as narrowing down your interests - like you don't have to pick one specific career but just be thinking about general career paths? And maybe try to read as much as possible about what different careers entail and what daily life is like for a person in that field so you can get an accurate picture of what it would be really like if you went into that field. Those are just some of my random thoughts - I went through this whole process not too long ago (I'm in my early twenties), and I know it can be stressful but try to enjoy the process of exploring different careers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Well, honestly, I changed my career direction three times so far and had to go back to school a few times to do it. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up and I am a grandmother. I went into nursing myself at one point because I was more concerned about being able to pay the bills than I was with being happy in my work. I found that nursing is an interesting field because you really can do a lot with a nursing degree if you are creative enough, and if you just need to keep a roof over your head and pay your bills you can usually find some type of nursing work even if it isn't what you might find particularly fulfilling. The worst part about being a nurse is not the patient care, it is dealing with the doctors and the managers! I think that working in a few different fields doing grunt work without a degree might give you more of an idea whether those fields can hold your interest, or even starting school with an undeclared major and giving yourself some time to take a few classes in some different areas might help you come to a decision. Just remember that nothing is carved in stone and you can always change your mind later no matter how far down a particular career path you have gone. You might even find that ten years from now your likes and dislikes will be completely different and the work that satisfied you at first may seem tedious to you a decade later. I also think it is worth taking the time to figure out what you want to do before you put a lot of effort into any particular path and I think that it is important to not be afraid to change if change seems to be what you really need to do. Have fun! Thank you so much for the advice, maybe I will try to volunteer or work in the field I am interested in to see what it involves, maybe that way I will get a better understanding of what I am in for! :) Have you considered flipping through one of those career books that has a bunch of career ideas for a students who chose a particular major or students who have a particular personality type? My library had a bunch of those career type books and so one summer while I was in college I picked a book up on careers for economics majors. As I was flipping through the book, I saw a page talking about what actuaries do and I was really interested. So, that's how I stumbled upon my future career. Can you think of it as narrowing down your interests - like you don't have to pick one specific career but just be thinking about general career paths? And maybe try to read as much as possible about what different careers entail and what daily life is like for a person in that field so you can get an accurate picture of what it would be really like if you went into that field. Those are just some of my random thoughts - I went through this whole process not too long ago (I'm in my early twenties), and I know it can be stressful but try to enjoy the process of exploring different careers! I will look up some of those career books, I have not tried that yet and I might as well while I have the time! Lol, I have the tendency of changing my mind a lot, so I hope I will just pick something to major in for now! Thank you for the advice!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Honestly? You cannot micromanage and pre-plan everything. Life will take its course and much of it is going to be about luck and case, about little accidental things that will push you in one direction more than in one of several equally good directions; and you might as well change your field one or more times in your life. Happens. It is all a part of life. Because of that (and many more reasons) one needs a solid general education, to allow for some versatility, to allow for seeing much more broad options. When I was your age, I could see myself going in roughly three different directions. To this day, I am still not 100% sure that I picked the best one, still not 100% without regrets - at least some days - for not having picked up one of the other two and still not 100% sure that, all things considered, I had the best potential for self-realization exactly where I landed. But when you start thinking like this, you end up in speculations and "would have been"s - there will always be an amount of that in life, but it is important not to stumble upon it and continue to go on your road, even if it means doing some "guesswork" along the way... much of life is, essentially, "guesswork", as you will see... even those things we usually take so seriously, as our academic formation and career path. There are just no guarantees in any case. Go with the best of your intuition. Allow place for reasonable speculation, but ultimately, go with what feels the best, see where it leads you, and if you grow to dislike where it led you, you will adapt or change direction. That is how it usually goes. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nissi Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Do What you are: Discover the perfect career for you through the secrets of personality type by Barbara Barron and Peter Tieger is a book that was helpful which we were able to find at our library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 Do What you are: Discover the perfect career for you through the secrets of personality type by Barbara Barron and Peter Tieger is a book that was helpful which we were able to find at our library. Do you remember what the book was called? Just curious and thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Here's a link to the book: Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifra Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 You should check out the book The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One by Margaret Lobenstine. She has great advice! She has a website, too: http://www.togetunstuck.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Thank you for the links, I am going to the library to see if it has those two books. I am a very dedicated person to a lot of different careers. It is so hard to pick just one and I am glad that we live in a day and age where we can choose many different careers. My mom said that my lifestyle will change once I start having kids lol, I don't know, I love working with kids so I don't think that will be a problem! Very good advice!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AdamC86 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I would have to say that if you are happy with what you are doing, stick with it. If you're not happy, try something new. There are a lot of careers in the social sciences that you might like, especially if you enjoy helping people. If you do decide to go back to school, take a look at my website, socialsciencedegree.net, to find the perfect school for you. You want to make sure you choose the right place or else you may feel stuck once again. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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