to be disappointed that my son's Morrisby results say he should look at a career as an actuary.

[Caroline1852]

I want him to do something interesting. It is so hard not to roll round on the floor crying, no no no, nerdy nerdy nerdy. I wanted him to do something I might like. The other suggestions were equally scary: Microbiologist, Chemist, Bio-Scientist. Doctor was the only reasonable suggestion in my book and I wouldn't actually encourage him to do that as it is so stressful. I want him to have a nice life with hot chicks in pursuit. An actuary wtf.

It said that for me when I was at school.

Wish I'd listened.

Now a SAHM struggling to make ends meet with a medical degree I'll probably never use again thanks to the bloody government.

Where do you see his strengths, in reality (rather than in hope)? Let him do what he wants to do. He won't thank you for it otherwise.

the BBC test says i am

Artistic - artist, singer, designer, photographer, musician, writer and actor.

investigative - scientist, engineer, laboratory worker, computer programmer, pharmacist and vet.

and enterprising -salesperson, manager, estate agent, supervisor, lawyer, advertising or marketing executive and often like positions that have status and prestige.

is it accurate? search me! for one so wrapped up in myself at times, and given to self analysis (snore) to the nth degree, knowing what i want to do or what im good at is something ive never had the faintest clue about!
tho gut reaction says; prob not talented enough for the first, tho yes, id love all that for sure, always fancied myself as top investigative copper or lawyer but am pretty sure my fantsy is nothing like the reality and how would i cope with the disapointment? and status, no, prestige, yes. would love to be proud of my achievments... selling stuff? nah, definately not my bag.

hmmmmmm. the other test is 6 hours you say? maybe ill give it a miss

Caroline - don't you listen to all those actuaries with their nice smiles and stories of untold wealth. Run, woman, run like the wind. Actuaries are like a cult and will not let go of your first child once they get a hint that he may be "one of theirs".

I have nothing against actuaries (nothing against Morris Dancing either ) but I just can't imagine my 15 year old son being one, it just doesn't fit his personality. If this was the Morrisby result for my 11 year old, I would not have batted an eyelid as he is brilliant at maths (he can do the most womderful things with numbers even in his head). I feel as though I can't really know my own son very well.

By the way in that BBC test. I was
Artistic then Enterprising. Investigative and realistic were the bottom two which should go some way to explaining why maths and science is not my thing.

Caroline, maths and science might not be your thing, but it's not your future career we're discussing here.

Don't try to force your son into anything, just be proud of him no matter what he does.

And by the way there are lots of nerdy actuaries, but there are lots that aren't and you should judge people by who they are not their chosen career.

trixymalixy - I am not so shallow to judge someone by what they do for a living. I judge people entirely on what they look like.

Far too lazy to read all the posts, but I remember doing a Miles-Briggs Personality test which gave me career options when I was at school - it said that I would do well as a social scientist, pyschologsit, counsellor etc.
I am now a Lab Manager for a large waste management company having done a degree in chemistry, I can assure you that i'm not nerdy and geeky and in fact AM a hot chick well in my husband's opinion anyway lol.
There is nothing wrong with apitude in the maths and sciences - I'm afraid you appear to be taken in by the stereotypes of those jobs in the media. If your son became an accountant I'm sure he won't be like Louis Tully in Ghostbusters....

Don;t listen to them Caorline - read my last post and stick your fingers in your ears... lalalalalalalala

Ah well that's alright then .

And by the way I was actually better at art and music than I was at maths at school, it's not mutually exclusive to be good at one or the other. I just made a decision that i would have a better career following the nerdy route.

We pay our actuary a bloody fortune!! 1000's a year to advise on investments etc, mind you, he is quite good!

I am an actuary too and don't have a beard or glasses, except on very bad mornings

It is a well paid job and enabled me (and DH, also an actuary) to retire when still in our 40s. I am not convinced it will continue to be as well paid in the future.

Best actuary joke IMO and cut very short:
Accountant, lawyer and actuary are out for a drink.
Accountant says have a wonderful life, lovely wife etc
Lawyer says my life is much more exciting - beautiful mistress etc
Actuary says you don't know what you're missing. I have a wife and a mistress. I tell my wife I'm with my mistress and I tell my mistress I'm with my wife but really I'm at the office doing actuarial calculations

Barbadosmama - Love the joke.

On the plus side most actuarys I know at my work do seem to earn twice the salary the rest of us do! Not sure wether I should be jealous or not!

Although I think yabu at least you are taking an interest in what your son does.

My parents (bless em) never gave me any guidance, they just wanted me to be happy and as a result I've kind of drifted along. Its only now (35 years) that I am finding something I am interested in (bookkeeping hopefully leading to accountancy).

School careers advice was useless - typical girly things such as I should be a teacher (I'd make a terrible teacher - I did get a place at uni to do Primary Education but luckily realised my mistake before I went!), nurse or hairdresser (I did that and did enjoy it for a while).

I think I'd have loved to have done a test like that - it would have enabled both me and my parents an idea to look into.

Hope your son finds something that interests him and doesn;t disappoint you too much!

Bio sciences would be great I did this sort of thing for years and loved it!

I have a friend who is an actuary. He lives in bermuda and has his own boat!

Verrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy nice life style! Don't knock it

I did one of those tests at school and was very offended to be told that I wasn't caring enough to be an acturist (or something similar, I forget). Just done the BBC test which has again said I'm very antisocial. Dunno where that comes from, as I work as a manger in the NHS, and especially enjoy working with people. I am an introvert, so I think that it just comes out as a preference to working with ideas, which I do like - I just like people too. I think all those tests should be taken with a pinch of salt. Career choices shouldn't be made until after univestity IMO, unless you have a burning desire to do somethign very specialist. For A levels, you should do what you enjoy, and what you are good at, otherwise you won't get the best results, which after all is the most important thing.

My brother in law was an actuary. Now he teaches people to become actuaries. He is really nice and is going to retire soon!!! (He's 40)