How can I figure out a career I might like as an adult?

[Essie274]

I spent my teens quite mentally unwell and as a result ended up with no A Levels, or really any idea what I wanted to do as a job. I had a reasonably 'successful' blog and social media (stumbled into it with no real thought of it earning money back then) for a few years, but no longer do as I prefer my privacy (and also the industry has gone absolutely wild). I also worked part time jobs in cafes, travelled a lot, got married and had children fairly young (early 20s), bought a house and became as SAHM. Now I'm 27 with two children (4 and 2) and it has dawned on me that by the time I'm in my 40s my children will be off at uni and I'll still have decades to work. So while I'd be happy getting a part time job in a shop or cafe when they're both at school for now, realistically for my future and thinking of my whole life I'd really like to do something where I can use my brain properly again (and earn more money). Until I was 14ish I always found academics easy, then I missed a lot of school due to ill-health and things kind of crumbled (I have half decent GCSEs).

All of that to say.... How on earth do I figure out what I'd like to do? I can only ever think about the 'obvious' jobs like teaching, nursing, etc but they don't appeal to me (I actually think I'd be a good teacher, but not in this system). I think I just don't know what jobs actually exist, and I feel that I have to be really sure of my goal and that it is right for me before embarking on years of study when I have two small children.

Any ideas? Or ideas of where I might turn to seek some advice or inspiration?

What Color Is Your Parachute? - Wikipedia helped me.

Following with interest. SAHM job hunting feeling lost and sad and a bit panicky!

If you're good at social media maybe you could work with a small business that makes/sells things and needs a good social media presence, or perhaps even start your own online store. That is something you can do part time to start with.

Otherwise, if you have no particular interest, just try to get a job in a large company in an industry with growth where there are different types of jobs you can do.

Insurance, start in frontline and get knowledge of insurance, then you can move to back office support roles, there are so many different types it's unreal.

Security - get a position in admin to start with, and see if you can work your way up.

Etc.

Very few people think "THIS is the career I want". More often they get a job, find the industry interesting enough, and work their way up.

What do you enjoy doing? For instance, are you creative? Outdoorsy?

what are your strengths? Organised? A people person?

make a list of your interests and strengths and go from there

What interests you? I don't mean in the work sense, I mean things you find interesting in general.

What do you enjoy? I’ve switched careers a couple of times and it struck me that I’ve done most of the jobs I wanted to be as a young kid ( apart from astronaut!)

what kind of games did you play as a kid? You don’t need to necessarily do that exact job, but it gives you an idea of the type of thing you enjoy before any social conditioning kicks in!

For example, I was very artistic, so was drawn to a creative career. ( even though I don’t use felt tips pens to draw pictures as an adult!)

The blog and social media career suggests you would enjoy a creative career, or maybe marketing or setting up own business?

think about the aspects of your blog/ social media stuff you enjoyed and then look for jobs that share those traits.

was it the independence/ flexibility
being your own boss
creativity
engaging with people
teaching/ informing people
promoting a hobby

then do a google and look for jobs which need this

Oh no, I hate social media. I fell into it by accident by being a self-indulgent and mentally unwell teenager with unlimited access to the internet and too much time on my hands. I was ever actually 'good' at it and have no concept of the short-form videos etc that you seem to need to do now. It did pay for my house deposit, though!

You are probably right about most people not knowing THIS is the career for them, though!

As a child I wanted to be an explorer . Not sure I could swing that, haha. Great ideas with lots of food for thought though - thanks!

Also think about what you want your days to look like work-wise e.g. are you content to be in front of a computer for several hours or do you prefer something more active or manual, or to be on your feet just some of the time?

These things can really affect wellbeing and engagement at work

Myers brigg testing - there are some free resources online