To ask how old your dc were when they knew what they wanted for a career

[GladTurtle]

dd1 knew for sure in year 8. ds2 is in year 9 now and still has no clue

i only ever wanted to work with horse, knew by 21 it didnt pay well enough to sustain my own horses and competing. i didnt want to do anything else.

I fell in to payroll when i was 26 and worked my way up to the top of the ladder and now i'm stuck here because the monies too good for a career change 😂

I'm 33 and I don't know, and I have a very good professional job. So weird to assume a kid/teen would know. Give them a break! Nowadays we work so long, it's rare to pick one career and stick to it for life.

DS always knew since toddler. DDs didn’t land in their forever professions until in their thirties.

Dd was second year at of 4 at uni

My ds knew at 15, i think. He's a musician.

One of my DC knew from year 7 that he wanted to be a lawyer. He's 26 now and has been qualified for coming up to 3 years. My other DC is 23 and still doesn't know what they want to do!

DD has wanted to be a police officer since she was 6. She's now 15 and a volunteer police cadet and hoping to start a policing course at college in Sept if she gets the right grades at GCSE.

DS had no idea until he did a week of work experience at my BIL's company when he was 16 ( top 5 accountancy firm) He is now in the final stages of hopefully getting an apprenticeship there after his A levels.

My 16 year old has no clue. She hates exams so going to art college to do a course with lots of tech and transferable skills. The 13 year old decided years ago and knows what she needs to do, already thinking very hard about A levels and Uni. I think DD2 is really lucky not to worry about it. She has a realistic plan for dream
degree and career. Doesn’t matter if she changes her mind later. DD1 is really stressed as she had no clue what she wants to do.

DH changed career at 40 (full time Uni degree), and I changed course in early 20s and got a professional qualification whilst working as I was unsuccessful in launching my dream career. So no pressure on the DC from us.

DS knew at 5yrs old - now qualified (at 23yrs).
Middle child - no clue although I think getting closer now (mid way through degree - 21yrs).
DD - wanted to do 2 things as a child/mid teens and changed mind at 18 yrs. Started degree and not clear on actual jobs, although definitely knows what she doesn't want to do! 19 yrs.

DD decided in y9 and is now 24 with MEng in civil engineering and just got promoted to Site Engineer.

I decided to be a nurse when I was about 7, and I did start training but dropped out after 18m. It wasn't for me.

Thanks for sharing everyone! dd is quite afraid of the prospect of changing her mind halfway through her degree. She seems quite fixated on one particular path. Does she need a back up plan?

I’m 35 and still no idea! Studied a subject at university that I was good at and would lead to a mix of career options. I’ve got a decent job but don’t love it and still want to find something with more purpose.

When I was in year 8 I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I wanted to be an archaeologist. I can't remember how long it lasted though, definitely didn't still want to when I did my GCSEs.

Since then I have wanted to work on cruise ships, be an accountant, work as a counsellor, and also work in digital marketing.

I have now finally decided what I want to do when I grow up, and that's work in data. I just need to do the growing up part now (I'm 44)

I think there can be too much pressure to make these decisions at an age where kids are still developing.

I was 3, wanted to be a doctor.

Still think I only am a doctor because age 3 I knew about 5 jobs and picked one, then never had to rethink as I got the grades.

I was certain from about Y8. Did the relevant degree and PhD (loved the undergrad and then ennui set in during the (fully funded PhD)). Did finish it but then became an accountant (Big 4 grad scheme…there were several people with PhDs in my intake) and have done very nicely. Assuming DC have a work ethic then please get them to study what they love whilst exploring career options (that said, I’d be realistic about earning potential but given my grad entry included people with History and English degrees I wouldn’t worry too much).

All three of mine are happily and successfully building careers in job roles they'd never heard of in industries and sectors that barely knew existed when they were at school. Which I think tends to be the case for a lot of people. If i remember rightly they expressed an interest in the usual well known careers at some point or another, doctor/teacher/solicitor but really only because they were things they'd heard of rather than their life's passion.