Career Choices?

[Strong Bad]

Hey Honkers,

I'm having trouble deciding on what I should do with my life. For some odd reason I decided to ask a bunch of nerds on a Final Fantasy board. Tee hee.

Anyways,

How did you decide on a final occupation to go into? Hmm?

I'm assuming the major population of this Message board hasn't decided on one simply based on their age group... But if you have a general idea of what you want to do when you "grow up"... Let me know how you came up with such a revelation!

Haha, Honkers.

[Furore]

Good question old chap.

Well I dare say, I found the best way to find a suitable career by looking at the industries in need of more people and then picking one I felt I'd enjoy with a rather sizable salary.

In the locale I currently find myself in, there are plenty of Security Guard jobs available due to new training being implemented causing much concern amongst some older guards who decided to leave the industry because of the required retraining. And with an award wage of just over $600 a week, it's quite a favourable job to look into.

I'm currently at the stage where I'm holding my Certificate I in Security Operations, yet I must wait another couple of weeks to actually get my ACG class license due to various checks and safeguards implemented in an attempt to keep unsavoury sorts from becoming security guards. Once I get it, I will have my choice of any jobs falling in the following categories:

- Static/Mobile Guard
Your basic all-purpose security guard. The guys who patrol malls, sit in gatehouses, all that jazz.

- Crowd Control
Bouncer work, controlling crowds at sporting events, that kind of thing. Often riskier depending on the location in question.

- Finance Loss Prevention
Most notably those you see checking bags at stores, or following people around whilst trying not to be seen if they've seen the person grab something.

[Doc Rocco]

My plan is to get a Bachelor of Science in either Pharmacy or Mining Engineering. Both involve Science and Maths which I love. There's also a high demand for pharmacists and engineers here in Western Australia at the moment so I should be able to get a job somehow. They also come with decent salaries which is always a bonus. Graduate pharmacists are on $30,000+ a year, and graduate engineers on either 50 or 70 thousand a year. I can't remember. Really though, it's all about finding a job which incorporates something you really enjoy AND that you'll be able to land. Also, you need to think about whether you want (or can) go to university, a community college, or something else.

As for what I can do...

-Pharmacist at a Pharmacy (Shocking no?)
Sell drugs and whatever else is in stock basically. I would also mix drugs if I needed to.

-Pharmacist in a lab
Mix drugs either experimental or already created. I could also research different types of drugs and their effects.

-Mining Engineer
There's really only one job for this. I'd plan out explosions, excavations and other mathematical things involving mines.

[Victoria]

I'm working on one of my books right now, so I'm going to be an author.
And a model. (Not the runway kind.)
I might do web design if I ever relearn the trade and teach myself some coding languages.

[Martin]

I'm going into lecturing. At university. I decided upon this noble career path thanks to may teachers of mine stating just what a great teacher I would be, and well Uni-level teaching in England is highly sought after so it really makes sense. Also it's something I'd enjoy doing, because I'd actually be teaching those whom want to learn.

I'm a year into my Batchelor of the Arts History degree, then I have to fulfil the requirements of the Masters and get my PhD... then it's a teaching degree, and a six-month on-site placement. All in all it could take me about another five, maybe six years before this comes off but well.. I'll be a happy man when it does.

[Sasquatch]

The key isn't to find something that pays well and try to like it -- it's to do what you like and figure out how to get paid for it.

Since I was a kid, I've always had an interest in three "careers" -- law, military, and engineering. I liked figuring things out and working with my hands, watching crime shows (I admit, stuff like Matlock), and, well, quite a few things made me want to be in the military. Interest in law kind of faded after a while, so that left me with military and engineering. So what do I do? I become a Combat Engineer in the Army. (It still doesn't make as much sense as it seems, since Combat Engineers don't do much "engineering", we're just smart infantry.)

On the civilian side, I'm working towards engineering and construction. Honestly, I could probably build a house by myself -- it wouldn't be the best house on the block, but I know enough about every aspect of residential construction to put one together that would work for a while.

My next goal, actually, is to buy a house and "flip" it -- you know, find an old fixer-upper, fix 'er up, and sell it for a decent profit. The problem with that is that the American housing market isn't the best (thanks a lot to idiots who bought houses they couldn't afford in the first place), and selling it might take a while -- but if it doesn't go well, I can just live in the thing, which'll be better than renting an apartment.

I've also got a couple of inventions in mind that, honestly, I think might sell pretty decent. So if I can get them going, maybe I can sell a patent for some decent money.

After I get rich, I'm going to open a chain of all-night delivery Mexican and Chinese fast-food restaurants. Most will be based in college towns, and they'll be the only places that deliver at three in the morning.

After i get filthy rich, I'm going to run for president on a "Realist" ticket, win by a landslide because I won't lie, and invade Djibouti. Just because because it would be really fun to say "I invaded Djibouti."

( ... See, Djibouti is pronounced more like "jabooty".)

[Chez Daja]

My plan is pretty wobbly. Right now, I'm just looking for a job to get me through Christmas. I'm twenty and I don't work right now.

I did art and designing at college, but that isn't the route I plan to take straight away. Right now, I'm studying cookery here and there, and am planning to work in a kitchen or a restaurant or even a bakery... Whilst there, I will practise my painting and sketches and then try to edge my way in with the bigwigs at the Tate. If I manage that, I'll get my art accessed and I'll go from there.

It's a very shaky route and has about 30% chance of actually being any kind of success, but that's what I'm going to do nonetheless.

[Strong Bad]

I might do web design if I ever relearn the trade and teach myself some coding languages.

Hot diggity! I just graduated from a Web Design program.

I've applied for a few Web Design jobs (One being $54,000+ a year) but I doubt I'll get them.

I think I'm going back to school for my Bachelor of Fine Arts... or perhaps I'm just going to take some Drawing and Painting courses to improve my skills...

There's this course at Seneca College in Toronto that teaches Special Effects... It's about $10,000 to take the course... but it could be fun? Apparently pay for a special effects guy is somewhere between $20K - $90K a year.

That wouldn't be too bad, I suppose?

It's still pretty difficult to make a final decision. I'm glad you guys seem to know what you're doing...

[Sean]

originally I wanted to be a chef, until I realized the hours suck, the work is arduous, thankless, and tiresome, and the pay is total shit. I feel sorry for today's generation that wants to get into cooking seriously, the pay isn't there and it never will be. More restaurants are folding than are opening. It's a dying trade.

Now I'm going to be a Network Specialist in Information Systems. Go go technology, at least it pays.

[Zell Dincht]

I currently work as an International Student Advisor at a university. Its fun and I get to meet lots of people all over the place. They also pay me to go and recruit international students so I get to travel as well I was in Yemen last fall and this fall I will be going to Taiwan and Indonesia.

My pay is ishy but it pays the loans back and I get full benefits

[Priscilla]

Well if I pass Year 12 and get the marks I want I plan to go to University and study Bachelor of Arts, Japanese. That goes for three years. Then I will do a Bachelor of Education (Middle Years) which will go for a year. Then get a TESOL certificate or equivalent if need be and eventually teach English at a school in Japan.

Apparently the pay is so-so and there a quite a few negatives but it is something I am interested in.

I am also interested in animals (I want a lot ><) So a veterinarian is also an option.

[loaf]

Right now after a year of graduating from High School, I have started up school again. I am going to CSN (College of Southern Nevada, yes it's a Community College) I am taking 2 classes since I am broke and trying to get more hours at work. I am going to be getting a Certificate in Animation. 3D Animation is the main Animation I want to take. Some of the pre-requisites are different types of classes such as Photography, so even if I don't like the Animation I will have other classes to take and aim for another career. This is what I'm taking, I know many others would love to make 3D Animations of characters they create.

[Strong Bad]

I've done some 3D animation work... and as much as I like it and find it interesting - It's hours of pain staking labour. It's very repetitious and involves long hours of work.

Although, I imagine the more you get into it, the better you'll become. You'll be able to do things faster and more efficiently and it could turn out very rewarding! Fun!?

[Rasler+]

There are a lot of things I'm into right now: Music, Arts, Journalism, Poetry and other stuff about writing, Programming, and doing stuff for people at a local parish. I haven't quite decided yet. But I think I have to decide soon before I graduate. Right now I'm taking Computer Science and programming and I even dared on taking a master's degree. If possible, I want to take on a terminal degree so that I can teach. I want to be an English student too, because I love reading and writing.

Right now, I don't have a choice yet. But I guess it'll just hit me when I least expect it.

[Govinda]

I've done some 3D animation work... and as much as I like it and find it interesting - It's hours of pain staking labour. It's very repetitious and involves long hours of work.

Although, I imagine the more you get into it, the better you'll become. You'll be able to do things faster and more efficiently and it could turn out very rewarding! Fun!?

They also get paid shitloads, just because it's so repetitive and, to most people, completely mind-numbing. My brother's headed down that road, it's all he's ever wanted to do. He'll happily spend six hours in his bedroom making stop-motion things; he did one once where a plastecine snake model he'd made crawled up and down a miniature of the Eiffel Tower. It took his eight hours, and he got five seconds of footage. But he was beyond pleased. I don't get it, personally.

If you can put up with it, go for it. It's a lucrative business just now. But not if the time it takes to produce the goods gets to you.

I have decided that I'm going to write things. I don't know what yet; I spend most of my time just now churning out shitty little stories, and I have an apparent 'novel' on the go. But that's such a silly thing to say. I don't think I've ever met a 'writer' that wasn't a total egotistical twat, and that worries me.

Aside from that, I'm doing a degree to get me a proper job if, as expected, I never get a little flat somewhere filled with cats and cushions and spend my days writing. My Masters in French, International Relations and Russian is a ticket into either:

The British Diplomatic Service (I'd love to work for them)

Foreign/Political journalist of some kind, for Reuters or The Economist or similar (would also love that)

Simultanous Translation for the EU, UN or NATO (boring as ****, and I can't spell it properly, but they get paid an awful lot)

Translator/TEFL teacher (if I fail at life completely, you'll find me there.)

Or a political analyst for any number of agencies that regularly hang about in the IR building putting up posters for internships and jobs.


But all that said, I'd still love to write. But I have no pretensions about how hard it would be to make a living off of it.