How do you know which is the right career?

[Aiguablava]

I'm thinking about changing jobs/starting a new career but I have no idea what I want to do. Where do people start with this? How do you know what is the right job or career path for you?

I've never known what I wanted to do, even as a kid I would give vague answers like be an explorer or an inventor but was never be able to elaborable on what I wanted to explore or invent I guess I just thought it sounded cool.

I'm 28 with a degree in accounting and finance but don't want to workin in accounting or banking which I only realised after starting uni. I've worked in or done work experience in childcare, hospitality, retail, customer service, recruitment, administration, finance, hospital laboratory and translating. None of those areas appeal to me and I'm at a loss about what to do next

My hobbies are baking and reading but I don't fancy being an author or a baker so I don't think trying to turn a hobby in to a job would suit me either.

How do people know what they want to do for a living?

What about teaching? You already have a degree, you could do an extra teaching course and teach in a primary school or, be subject specific in a high school?

A lot of my friends went in to teaching and from what I hear from them it wouldn't be the right thing for me.

I have a good list of things that I don't want to do but figuring out what it is that I want to do is proving more difficult.

When you retire, sit back and mull over your life, you suddenly think I know what I should have done.

That's when you know what the right career would have been for you.

You've listed an awful lot of things you're not interested in, so I agree, this is very tough.

I'm not a career orientated person. I'm just looking for a job that doesn't make me feel like I want to die every time I set foot in the building.

Maybe a job in a sector you've already worked in is worth looking at but for a different organisation?

I had a ‘calling’ to my career so it was easy for me.
As a person, with kids heading towards the end of their career, I would say think about a private pension, think about working hours suiting school hours if you’re planning kids, but mostly to earn money to travel as I wish I’d travelled far and wide before I had kids.
You’re not defined by a career, you are you.

Make a list of all the things you've enjoyed doing in previous jobs and post it here - someone may be able to point you in the direction of something you'd not thought of but that you would love.

Get The Lady magazine and look at their jobs.

I wouldn't say that I'm particulerly career focused in terms of having a high salary and big responsibilities but I would like to have a job I enjoy. Where I work now I am lucky because I have a lot of flexibility regarding working hours and an understanding boss when it comes to childcare arrangements but it is so monotone that I am starting to dread going to work.

I have previously enjoyed the work with children but felt I was lacking a mental challenge and adult conversation which is why I decided against making it a career. I have also been a manager and enjoyed interviewing for new staff members and I've really enjoyed training new employees. I enjoyed translation because I liked switching between different languages and the challenge of finding the perfect fit of words but didn't like the fact that most translations are done with a kind of auto fill software and the translator is morr of a proof reader just checking the software did the translation correctly.

I have considered becoming a speech therapist specialising in bilingual children but I'm not sure about it.

Do you want to work? I mean in an ideal world. If the answer is no then you are looking for the least worst way to earn enough cash to satisfy your lifestyle. If the answer is yes, then realise that there is no 'right' career, only choices. You just need to find your niche and work away at it.
Personally, when trying to answer this question, I start to 'job hunt' in my region with extremely wide search criteria. Then you find all sorts of roles and consider which attract you. Then start to narrow it down and refine the skills required. So, take up job hunting as a hobby (without applying) and eventually it will move you forward.

@ScrapThatThen i think you've hit the nail on the head. I don't really want to work. I have said from a very young age that I would be more than happy being a stay at home mother even if it meant sacrificing a big house and holidays abroad. Unfortunately I am a single mother so being a stay at home mother isn't an option and if I have to work I would like to get some form of fulfilment from the job rather just feel like a monkey pushing buttons.

I do think today's culture/expectations of 'follow your dreams', 'be whatever you want to be' and so on, whilst not precisely wrong, overlooks the fact that for pretty much all of recorded time, 'work' was nearly always something imposed on people who had very little other option, and who viewed it as something that had to be done in order to survive (literally) rather than there being any choice in the matter- if you could ask a medieval peasant farm-worker or a post-industrial revolution factory worker whether they enjoyed their work they'd have thought you'd gone off your head!

And although obviously society has changed a lot since then, I don't think we've really got to the point of occupation being a totally free choice for the majority of people (the exception as it always has been being those who are already extremely well off and powerful/well-connected). We still have an awful lot of jobs which aren't the kind of thing most people feel a burning passion for, and in some cases are physically quite arduous - I don't think many people think cleaning or shop work or driving a bus is particularly enjoyable but we need people to do those jobs, and people need to earn an income so they get on with it. There's a kind of double-think going on in the idea that everyone can be whatever they want to be but also most people have to do a job (this ignores the fact that most jobs just aren't that fun and a lot of people would probably prefer not to have to work at all!).

And I think again if a lot of people who do 'office'/corporate type roles whether they honestly love their job they'd say no, but again I don't think the answer is that en masse everyone ought to quit and become bakers or actors or whatever - who would do all the accountancy and HR and IT support?

I think what I am trying to say is if you can find a job you don't hate, and maybe enjoy some parts of, which serves a useful purpose to society (without necessarily having to be 'heroic') and gives you a good income and lifestyle, allowing you to raise your children comfortably and enjoy your time/life outside work, then surely that's enough, at least for the time being? Even if you don't feel dramatically 'passionate' about it? If you can also find a company or organisation you really like to do that job in and which values you for doing it (for me that's public sector but you could 'click' with all sorts of different types of company), you may find the love for it grows over a time - a bit like how sometimes the best romantic relationships don't start with fireworks and crazy passion but grow from mutual compatibility and respect/affection?

What have you enjoyed most/least in the jobs you've done so far, trying to pick out what you like (not necessarily love) about work can be a good starting point rather than trying to bend your brain to find a calling?

Work in a food company, restaurant or publishing house in a finance capacity?

I had a career i loved but Because Reasons it was ripped away from me and I had to start again. I had backup options, but these sectors proved impossible to get into. Very little 'crossover' in my quals from career 1, nobody but nobody wantrd me. I ended up hitting rock bottom and working for an agency. Whilst there i was thrust into a job purely for the cash, something that would never have occurred to me before, and I enjoyed it, shot through the ranks and carved out another career. I may not stay in this sector for good, but its seeing me through covid and the higher i climb the more options i get.

I once temped in a finance dept. I've always remembered one of the accountants saying the job was nothing special but it paid for great weekends.
Could you perhaps reframe your current job? You've already said how great it is for flexibility / child care.
As you're a single parent, do you need to focus for now on how you're spending free time? Is the dissatisfaction with your job something you can park for now, and try to improve your evenings and holidays?
Good luck

How do people know what they want to do for a living?

most people don't know what they want to do and just do whatever they feel comfortable doing or wherever they are successful. like these days with covid lost of people have lost their jobs, now these people will not have an option but may have to just accept any job they can get. so hard times for people

I realise I'm lucky to have a stable job that adapts well to family life but I would aslo like to have a job that I find interesting considering that I'm going to spend the next 40 years working I don't want to spend the majority of my working day bored out of my mind.

I had thought that most people have things they are passionate about and even if they don't work in that area its something that they can aim to do someday. I've never reall felt passionate about anything and couldn't even begin to list any kind of careers that would interest me. I was just wondering how do people know what jobs they might find interesting.

I was just wondering how do people know what jobs they might find interesting. ?

I always felt I can expand on my knowledge through volunteering that shows a person different kinds of roles available. other ways i knew what I would like to do is by seeing/thinking what I'm good at and also what kind of suits me. There is self employment which some people do, like some people do ironing business or any other online sales business etc. sometimes you need to work to pay the bills, but I know what you mean that its hard to be stuck in a boring job.

it doesn't really matter what you studied at uni, its fine to change career as you wish. i would say if you don't knwo what to do then its a good idea to try different things. you've already done work experience in some areas, now you could try other areas.

if you do want to do the speech therapist I would first get some work experience to make sure that is what you want to do. when im looking for a job, I know i don't want to work in a hopsital, I didn't enjoy working there previously, so I leave those jobs out.

What do you do in your current job what is a typical day like?

I think there's a lot to be said for the flexibility your current job offers you, and while it might not be igniting a passion in you, it is enabling your life in many ways.

I think I'd be using this as a wake up call that this job isn't forever, but it is working for the now, and be looking for opportunities to find the job you want a little later. Look at voluntary services and see if they can make use of your skills, never pass up a training course even if it looks irrelevant, network at every opportunity and meet people working in languages and get their advice.

I reached a similar point in my life, and realised I could do my job on a self employed basis. It's not going to set my world alight, but it gives me complete freedom in my working hours, can travel freely and the wage allows me to work for only 6 months of the year, using the contacts that I have built up

Also the beauty of accounting and finance is that all companies or industries typically have some need for accounting or finance. So if you do find something you are interested in, shoe making, advertising, wine production, you have a chance to get into the industry with your skill set, then retrain as a 'whatever' with some inside knowledge.
See your skills as a stepping stone

OP, no advice but just wanted to say I feel exactly the same as you. You are not alone. I envy people who say they know what they want to do and be and panic at the years ticking by when I still haven't got that calling to something in particular! It's a horrible feeling sometimes

I agree completely with what @maxelly said 👍

In terms of the speech therapy, I'd advise getting a job as an assistant. It will give you the greatest insight into the job. Far better than shadowing or volunteering as you will be delivering therapy sessions as directed by a therapist.

I'd say that you really need to like people, working with them one to one, encouraging them and finding creative approaches. You need bags of patience and the intensive nature of the work is quite tiring.

How would you describe yourself? Do you working alone or in a team? Do you like a busy or quiet environment? Rather than thinking about a specific job which are the aspects of the jobs that you've done that are a really good fit or you've really enjoyed. If you didn't have to worry about earning money, what would you do for free?

@dooratheexplorer thanks for the insight in to speech therapy. You've put me right off. I have very limited patience so I don't think its for me.
This always happens. I have an idea about what I might lile to do but when I start researching I always find something that makes me think it wouldn't be the right thing for me. After so many false starts in different careers I'd like to avoid the same happening again. My CV is very bitty and puts a lot of employers off and also I want some stability in my working life and don't want to be constantly searching for new jobs and doing interviews.

I'm a definite introvert, more comfortable working alone but I also like the responsibility of being a team leader/manager. Want a quiet stress free environment, standard office hours with no expectation of staying late at the pffive or being contactable out of hours.

If money was no object and success was guaranteed I would buy a campsite and run it with a few staff. I wouldn't want to set up a new campsite but would buy a one with an already established customer base. I wouldn't however want to work on a campsite without being the boss nor do I have much desire to do anything self employed as I prefer the security of being an employee.

I think perhaps my expectations are not in line with reality. Perhaps I should appreciate what I have more because in comparison to jobs I've done in the past, the one I have now is probably the best.

Rather than just being good at maths do you enjoy it?

Have you thought abour training to be an actuary? Work is generally easy to find, there are a wide range of jobs in a range of businesses, many are now family friendly, lots can be done remotely and the starting wage is very good.

Project Manager in engineering or IT? You're in charge and you're generally working with introverts.