If you had your time again, what career would you do? Did you know much about the options as a teen?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Job hunting at the min so thinking a lot about different options...The more I look at, the more I realise I wasn't aware of a vast amount of careers when I was at school or university. My interests are all creative, so I was a bit clueless for a long time about all kinds of corporate careers, for example. Plus loads of other stuff.

If I was doing it all again, I'd like to have a broad idea of different potential areas that might suit me - a proper careers guidance service in school would have been so helpful. I'm working with a career coach now and she's fantastic. Why are schools generally not that great with this?

Has it changed now? Do your older teens get useful info in second level education?

Anyway, just for fun - if you were about to step into the world of work for the first time, equipped with what you now know about yourself - do you know what would you love to do?

At school I remember being told about jobs nearer the top end of the scale, eg it was good to aspire to be an accountant and we weren't told about bookkeepers or we were told about drs and nurses but not the hundreds of jobs in between

Dont get me theres nothing wrong with reaching for the stars but imo there should be much more options covered in each area

I'm quite creative, I see very well and wish I had pursued something there. I was taught that I'd need to be good at art and designing things rather then repairing and making normal things. There was too much drawing pictures for my liking. It would have been better learning patterns and basic maths/calculations involved. I'd be a good seamstress

I Agree, I think the idea that we have to have our careers chosen as a teenager is rather old fashioned. I think for those of us who are creative our options presented in school were and still are limited but in reality there are many. Creative industries pave the way for other industries to exist but they’re still not as respected or well paid as other industries.

Stepping into the world of work with who I am now I would absolutely still start a business, but I would know to act on my ideas sooner and not procrastinate! I’d also probably travel a lot more before getting serious on my career

With better careers advice I would definitely have picked science subject for A level and then gone on to a science career such as medical research, biochemistry, radiography. I think a science degree gives you a much better options for change later in life too. Instead I did a degree in an arts subject. Enjoyed it, did well but I became a teacher of that subject which I dont hate but sure as hell dont want to do for another 30 years. Seeing as I cant afford to retrain I'll have to just get on with it and try and make sure my own children get better advice so they have more choices in the future.

Career advice at my school was patchy at best - I lived in Aberdeenshire and didn’t know about oil jobs. Advice consisted of doctor/lawyer/nurse/teacher/secretary/farmer. This was in the early noughties. Anyway, if I knew what I know now I actually would have gone doctor or vet. Or maybe something more unusual like stunt double.

Career advice at my school wasn't actually that bad, although they were a bit clueless about tech careers. I will forgive them though, as the tech industry has moved on a lot since I was at school!
However, I think going into radiography would be interesting. Schools tend to promote doctors/nursing (ours also covered pharmacy and optometry), I had no idea radiography existed as a field in its own right!

In the early eighties our school career advisor told me “ well, you are doing A’ levels and then a degree, so you don’t need any advice”.

I don’t remember any careers advice, but my self esteem was so low I felt I couldn’t do any kind of ‘grown up’ job.

I really wanted to go to uni and be a teacher, but I moved to live with my boyfriend and got an office junior role instead. I’ve bounced from thing to thing really.

Support and encouragement from your parents is far more important and out of my family, I never got this. The only sibling of 4 not to go to uni as I felt I just wasn’t capable of being a grown up, although I knew I could do the work.

Still feel out of my depth sometimes with life at 39..............

One of the things I've spoken to a lot of people about as an adult was how little school prepared me for the actual world and what I would need to succeed in it.

I went to a bog standard state school and looking back considering the demographic the ridiculous emphasis that uni was the only way to succeed and that trades were for duds was not only damaging it was bollocks. I did everything the academic way and lots of people less academic than I have been way more successful.

In my early 20s as an unemployed graduate 12k in debt whose 2:1 nobody wanted because they were looking for NVQ and demonstrable experience. I felt cheated AF tbh.

Careers advice at my school was non-existent. I was a flight attendant for ten years but now a SAHM! I enjoyed it and do wish it was more compatible with family life.

Careers advice at my high school was rubbish. It was suggested I be a Nurse as lots of my Family are, even though I hate anything medical/hospitals etc 🙄

I should have been a builder or plasterer. I am trying to retrain now to eventually get something outdoors after 2 decades of offices.

I posted similar on here a while ago and was told I needed to accept responsibility as an adult for my career choices, not the shit careers advisor —who didn’t help me make the right choice in the beginning— 🤷‍♀️

I do remember the Careers advisor saying if you do become a nurse the pay is bad but you might marry a doctor! I did become a nurse but definitely not married to a doctor nor would it be a good idea for family life. If I had my time again maybe I’d do something else like occupational therapist or dietician as I think the working conditions are better , or if nursing I’d go and work in Australia or something. I wouldn’t do my original degree in Biology again as it was too general.

I didn't get any careers advice. I wish I'd done medicine.

I didn’t get any and zero direction from parents. I like numbers but not in a maths way so couldn’t be an engineer for eg. I probably should have been an accountant as I like order and I like balancing things even though my job accepts rounding and estimates. Or a photographer as I enjoy that, but not one that works with people, so maybe product photography.

I’m trying very hard to open my D.C.s eyes to various careers, whether that be the trades or professional jobs, work they can do through uni for experience etc.. I’d like them to have more of an idea of what is out there for making a living. And bearing in mind Xenia’s advice, telling them how much jobs pay so they can work out what lifestyle they would like in the future and how they’re going to afford it

I was always told to do what makes you happy: this is bullshit! You have to go to work anyway, so it should be, do what makes you the most money. I wish I'd thought this way back then. I am neither rich nor happy!!!

Virtually no career guidance at my northern comp. dad worked in the mines and mum was a sham. I was told to do 'admin'. I did two degrees and am now a corporate lawyer. I wouldn't choose it if I had my time again. Stressful yet boring but good money.

I'd learn a couple of languages to high standard and learn a trade, maybe builder, electrician, plumber. The beauty of these is that you can take them anywhere in the world and aren't confined to an office and desk.

Or pilot. Shit I'd love to be a pilot

Main thing i regret is not buying property in the late nineties. I didn't have a penny to rub together in those days so it was impossible but my friends who did are pretty much retired at 45 with a vast portfolio

Mum wasn't a sham she was a sahm.

Educational Psychologist.

It wasn't a job I knew even existed in my teens. I didn't hear about until my mid twenties.

Probably Accountancy or getting fully qualified in HR.

I'm doing now what I should have done when leaving school, radiography. I had no career advice as such, I wanted to be a vet, but wasn't clever enough to get my science A levels, so went to art college.

Never settled to anything that worthwhile, mainly office jobs, but finally in my 40s decided to do something I really wanted. I will qualify next year and can say working in healthcare fits well with me. I gain a sense of satisfaction dealing with patients I have not experienced before so think maybe I was well suited for this career.

I didn't even know about AHP roles at school, and the vast array of vocational careers linked to healthcare that were available. My oldest child is a physio, no idea what my youngest will do, but at least I am better equipped to advise them on more diverse career options than I had.

Without doubt I would pursue a STEM career, and/or a profession. I am successful in my chosen career, earn well and enjoy it, but I work with engineers and related roles, and feel very humbled/inspired and a little envious when I meet both trainee and established women in this industry.

No idea how successful I would have been. Didn’t like maths at school (although now I work with statistics, which isn’t the same as maths even though a lot of people seem to think it is...), liked science but wasn’t always very good at it, especially physics.

I definitely think schools could share with pupils the job titles and salaries of staff within their local Council, their local NHS trust, local businesses if possible etc.

The range of jobs out there is massive and your average 14 year old has no idea.

Even a lesson spent looking through online recruitment websites would be useful for the job descriptions and person specifications.

Careers advice was lacking in my school. I thought I wanted to be a dentist of a librarian. It was suggested I be a museum curator! I now work in waste management.

I also had appalling careers advice, from both my school and my parents. I was an all rounder and got high grades in everything at GCSE, but was pushed towards music by my mum, who thought I was more talented than I actually was at the instrument I played. My dad vaguely suggested I might like law, which was a complete misjudgement of my character and purely based on status and pay. School did naff all (outstanding comp). I ended up working in events, which was fun when I was younger, but is difficult when you have a family. I am now a yoga teacher, which I love and which is actually quite cerebral if you pursue it in that sort of way, but it is not well paid - definitely a labour of love.

If I could go back I would do science and maths A-levels and study medicine. It feels like such a waste when I look back. I am borderline too old to do it now (late 30's) but even if I wasn't, I am definitely too committed to other things to give it the time it needs.

Unless it is a private school (or it has changed significantly for the better since the 90's) I wouldn't rely on school careers advice. I think parents need to be motivated and active in this area - encourage kids to think about what they'd like to do based on their interests, without being pushy. I also think a degree of focus from A level (and preferably from GCSE) is of huge benefit - my most successful friends are the ones who knew what they wanted to do. I really didn't at that age - partly through lack of guidance and partly due to my own lack of focus - and have subsequently flailed about for years from a career point of view.

I was pushed towards a STEM career because I was amazingly good at that shit. I actually enjoyed and did well in other stuff as well (e.g. literacy, art, etc.), but the STEM stuff was sold to me as a better career (by people who had never done it)

Actually it's bollocks: it's not exactly poorly paid, but long hours, and comparatively less well paid than a management or sales role, despite being a more skilled occupation and taking more intellectual effort.

Also from a work/life balance perspective, the jobs in your specific field of specialism will be concentrated in very specific areas (you can't easily go self-employed, and employers are few and far between), e.g. around certain University cities or industrial centers, and new job openings aren't that frequent (even though employers constantly whine they can't find enough expertise).
This means it can be a real struggle to find jobs near where you live, and having to commute and/or relocate a lot, which can make life really hard if you have a partner in the same kind of inflexible job (and even harder when you have kids)

Also, looking back... The excitement of working with technology has sort of waned, and I regret no one took it seriously when my teenage self tried to explain she'd rather be a gardener...

I don’t recall any careers advice whatsoever so I just pursued subjects I enjoyed. Despite being arty / theatrical, I kept some science on for career purposes, which is just as well as the combo of both has helped my career.

I think it’s vastly improved now as my nieces seem to know loads more than I did and a friend works as a careers advisor in a large school.

Knowing about different jobs early on is what sparks interest in young kids, so I’d encourage everyone to sign up to www.inspiringthefuture.org/ and go and talk to kids about their job. I love doing it & the crazy questions the kids ask. I even learn about jobs I’ve never heard of on the events I attend.

Teaching, which is what I do. Now, in my late 40s, I'm very part time, really don't want to go back to full time (but have no good excuse not to if I find a suitable job)and would actually love to have a go at something different. But I can't regret my choice of career - it was all I wanted to do from age 12 and I loved it for a long time.

Having said that, I don't remember getting any careers advice and didn't really consider any other job.