Did You Always Know What You Wanted To Do As a Career?

[Star-Lord]

So with covid, it's made me reflect that I evenually want to do a career change or atleast a different job. My current job I can't have much growth and it doesn't pay amazing, 40,000 a year, my issue is now looking at potential other careers or jobs. Im currently in university getting a degree in child and youth care part-time online, so I don't owe any money yet, which will give me a degree in general arts and science. I keep wondering what I want to do and look up career possibilities but its quite hard as it's overwhelming plus doing more schooling for several years is dreading to think, I know im only 23 but by the time im done my degree ill be 24-25. So far I have a advance diploma is child and youth and now a degree. I was thinking of counselling but I know how competitive that field is. I like the idea of traits but not sure if it's for me, I've never been a handy guy before.
What about the rest of you?

 

[Ryuelli]

I always wanted to be an artist. I now teach and occasionally do graphic design and photography on the side.

 

[crazy monkey]

What I wanted to do and what I need to do make money are two different things. I would love to just do some relaxing job but I can't afford to as I have to take care of family.

 

[Pau]

Not at all.

In high school I wanted to be a writer. Then I went to university for statistics and dropped out within a month because of depression.

Then I wanted to be a comic book artist and writer. So I went to art school for a year. Then I realized how fucking competitive the field is and how I would probably never make back the money spent on tuition. So I dropped out again.

I eventually tranafered to another university to study statistics again with the goal of becoming a statistician. There, I got tapped for a fellowship that helps students from underrepresented groups become professors. Dabled in sociology, and wasn't sure if I wanted to be trained as a quantitative sociologist or a statistician who mostly works with social science data. Did a lot of research to feel it out, but ultimately decided academia wasn't for me.

After graduating and working as a data analyst, I decided I wanted to become a data scientist since it combined statistics and computer science. I'm happiest at work when I'm coding or analyzing data. Realized it doesn't need to be social science data for me to enjoy it.

So now I'm in a Master's program for data science, and I expect to work in the field for quite some time.

Secret goal is to eventually just do consulting while starting an independent video game studio.

 

[turbobrick]

I'm 34 and there's still nothing I want to do as a career. I just picked programming and went with it because I can tolerate it.

 

[Shiloh]

I've been very lucky to stumble into a great career despite having no real ambitions for a path or field. Kinda just feels like I've just fell into the right positions at the right time.

Built up a resume working my butt off at smaller startups wearing many different IT hats, but now I work in the giant corporation space specializing in databases.

 

[sirap]

Yeah, I knew I wanted to be an artist from the moment I first picked up a pencil. Unfortunately life didn't pan out that way, but I can always return to art when I'm older.

 

[Flevance]

I've tried 3 different jobs, quit my last one and got a Diploma in Computer and IT; it didn't take me long to realize it wasn't my thing but managed to graduate with good grades nonetheless, either way, I'm just glad I didn't go for Bachelor, it caused me enough headache and boredom as it's

Right now I'm interested in two specialties, psychology and English language, I'm leaning to the latter so I'll end up as a translater if I managed which I think is gonna suits me the most at the moment, but well.. I guess we'll see where life gonna takes me, it have its own plans after all :p

It's funny how the school teach you all kind of things to learn the basic of them and decide what do you want to be your specialty and where to go from there.. yet nobody told you that

 

[Starwing]

I always want to work with cars, whether its designing them, fixing them, or racing them. I still do, and I'm going back to school to get my certification for auto repair then engineering.

 

[Mahonay]

I wanted to be an artist.

I was very talented but I had no guidance and no one to help me plan for schooling after high school. Family is not well off either. I would have needed scholarship money to make it at all possible. I was a troubled high school student with bad grades so that also was not an option. It was something that made me feel seriously inadequate for a large chunk of my 20s.

Nowadays I would like to get back into video production, which was a job I kind of fell into while I was living in NYC. I was planning on going back to school before the pandemic hit.

 

[Reym]

I wanted to be an artist. I work at it still literally every day and on most of my free time...but working hard and being passionate is not enough. My art is still garbage and no one would ever hire me for anything even tangentially related to the field.

So I've taken job after job in a field I hate because it's the only field I have any experience in. And I'm too stupid and worthless to ever get out of it.
...this whole situation makes be a bit miserable.

 

[Professor Lich]

For the most part, yeah. Always wanted to get into games, and enjoyed learning and making art for them. One thing I didn't realize is how much I would also enjoy programming and design. (Wish I had focused on those two more than the former, but alas.)

 

[Forerunner]

Not really. I was surrounded by the military all my childhood, so I always wanted to serve in the military in some capacity. After doing my first enlistment, I realized it's horseshit and not something I wanted to make a career of. So I went to school and ended up landing a federal job shortly after graduating. Since then I've been bouncing between agencies trying to find what I really want. I'm starting my master's program, so I plan on just staying put until I finish it and then it's back to the drawing board.

 

[That Guy]

Mostly yeah, always wanted to be a doctor, couldn't see myself doing anything else (which may not be a good thing), so I was fortunate in a way in that from the age of 16 it was pretty clear where I wanted to go and what I needed to do to get there, and the job progression after you graduate is pretty clearly laid out (with some slight deviation for extra degrees/taking time out). On the other hand the feeling of being on this constant treadmill where everything is planned out for you can get a bit much, and it is nice to take a year or two out at certain points to explore other things you wouldn't have a chance to do or work abroad.

 

[Patriiick]

I'm almost 36 and still haven't got the slightest idea of what I want to do.

 

[Inugami]

I'm almost 36 and still haven't got the slightest idea of what I want to do.

Click to shrink...

"Only" 34, in the same boat. I have career ADD... Too many things in the world are interesting and I'd like to persue. I've literally gone back to school 3 times for very different career paths (psychology, vet tech program, and accounting).

 

[Dervius]

Not even remotely.

I ask myself weekly if I'm doing what I do now because I like it or simply because it pays reasonably well and is 'hard' enough to satisfy my intellectual ego.

But then, I have literally no idea what else I would do beyond quiet fantasies of success in other fields.

 

[Kisaya]

I was undecided of what I wanted to do up until I was 17. During the summer before my senior year of high school I had an amazing internship that directed me to want to do arts administration. Had an amazing 5-year career after college, but now reconsidering just because of how terribly the art world responded to the pandemic.

 

[MrCibb]

I think it's normal to not want to know exactly what you want to do. I wouldn't even consider your age, I know people have a habit of thinking you know, at a certain age you should know for sure, it takes different people different lengths of time to work out.

Growing up I always knew the field I wanted to work in, which is to eventually work on movies, but the role and the stepping stones needed to get there I didn't figure out till I was in my early 20's. A degree and some menial jobs later and I eventually made it, but I was pretty vague on the exact job I wanted for a long time. Every single time someone asked what I wanted to do, I'd answer with "something in movies."

 

[Random Painted Highway]

Lawyer, specifically white collar fraud prosecutor. Did this a bit over 8 years but the grind and stress was really tough once we had our second child. Now doing complex civil litigation which isn't as interesting but I don't have the grind of multi week trials every few months.

My wife also knew what she wanted to do from youth. I'm not sure how were going to react if our kids flop around career wise...

 

[FaceHugger]

I've shared this story here before, but, when I first hit college I had no idea what I wanted to do. I saw an ad for work study for the IT department and decided to go for it. I was accepted and the rest is history. Turns out I was good at messing with technology of various kinds.

 

[Zerokku]

30 and I've got a snug career doing software QA/UAT in the payments industry and while I enjoy it well enough its not necissarily the specific *industry* that interests me. I'd love to get into it in the gaming industry but from what I can tell very little of it seems to be internal/pay well.

Then theres 2020 and me not being entirely sure I even want to stay in the US long-term, and trying to think about what career prospects would actually be looked for in other countries from a non-native, and what of those kind of jobs would I even enjoy.

 

[Skade]

I tried to get an History degree.

I've been a web developer for 12 years now.

Nailed it.

 

[LakeEarth]

Yup, rock star!

No, not really, I just kept adjusting my goals to what I was good at until I arrived at my current occupation.

 

[Midramble]

Yes, it's just not an easy career to navigate

 

[Budi]

I still don't know and I'm 36. Though right now I'm really happy where I'm at. Shame it's only a fixed term contract, but if possible I want to stick around. People there seemingly want to keep me, but there's some hurdles with budget and my education.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Nope. Wanted to do something related to video games. Went from wanting to play video games for a living or something, to wanting to program video games, to programming software in general due to seeing how toxic working in the video game industry seems to be.

 

[Deleted member 41178]

Other than wanting to be a cowboy, astronaut or super spy I wanted to be a video game developer.

I did a year in that industry before I realised I could be making a lot more money elsewhere and with a lot less hours involved. I'm still in development/engineering just no where near video games.

 

[iFirez]

I started 3D Modelling and doing 3D Art when I was 11. I got into video editing when I was 15. I guess I've always known what I wanted to do. Now over a decade later (I'm 28 now) I still do the same things every day but I get paid for it now... and I continue to do it in my free time as a hobby too.

I was a 'Full Time' YouTuber for 5 years, a professional video editor for tv/film for 3 years and I've been a Graphic Designer/Motion Graphics Animator/Video Content Creator/Corproate Brand Identity Guy for a large AAA video game developer for over 15 months now. My current job is really varied which suits me well as it means each day is different. Some days I can be filming - so setting up lights, cameras, audio...etc, another day I might be animating a large 3D motion graphics project, another day I could be editing video or another I might be designing print advertisements for magazines and online publications.

When I started designing OTs for the gaming side of Era back in 2019, the designs I made helped get me my current job too.

 

[Qikz]

I'm 30 working in IT Support and while I don't think I want this to be my career I don't really know what else I'd do.

 

[lt519]

I always liked tinkering with electronics and understanding how they worked. I never had a vision of exactly what it was I wanted to do but I knew it was to be a hands on engineer. Went to an ECE program and tried a lot of different fields within ECE. I really took well to signal processing and RF so got a masters in Medical Imaging (designing ultrasound systems) and then entered the work force. Ended up a Systems Engineer on wireless communications systems doing a lot of DSP and spent a lot of time in labs and the field working on prototypes (a significant amount of overlap with my Masters).

It was pretty ideal and then I started down the management track because I wanted to have more sway in business development and product roadmaps. So 10 years later I'm now a Product Manager not really doing what I used to love. Riding out the good paychecks right now but I want either back in my previous role or follow my second love which is teaching/mentoring. I do like business development but I definitely miss my time in the labs solving hard problems.

 

[Carnby]

Nope. I changed careers too.

My initial mistake was making a career out of something I loved and didn't consider the quality of the rest of my life. I came around to that realization and changed careers to something I enjoyed and with significantly better pay.

 

[vastag]

Since I was little I wanted to be a scientist. I enjoy researching, but is stressing and I'm not sure if I wouldn't go to the private sector if I had to do it againg.

 

[The40Watt]

I'm 40 and I wish I knew what I wanted to do, what I'd have a passion for.

I started in a Government job at 18, they paid for me to go to college for my degree in IT and I switched to a programming.

Now I've worked myself up to a very senior management position and I'm well paid but it's just a job. I've no passion for it.

 

[Jay1V]

Mostly yeah, always wanted to be a doctor, couldn't see myself doing anything else (which may not be a good thing), so I was fortunate in a way in that from the age of 16 it was pretty clear where I wanted to go and what I needed to do to get there, and the job progression after you graduate is pretty clearly laid out (with some slight deviation for extra degrees/taking time out). On the other hand the feeling of being on this constant treadmill where everything is planned out for you can get a bit much, and it is nice to take a year or two out at certain points to explore other things you wouldn't have a chance to do or work abroad.

Click to shrink...

I was set on becoming a doctor too but found out the work-life balance wouldn't be the best depending on the specialty. I decided to go with dentistry instead, 3 more years until I graduate unless I decide to become an orthodontist

 

[Chivalry]

Decided to be an artist at around 22, now I'm 30. So, for less than a third of my life.

 

[davepoobond]

No. If you asked me 10 years ago where I'd be there'd be no way I'd guess what I'm doing now.

Even now if you ask me that question I have no idea.

 

[EchoChamber]

I'm jealous of people that know what to do with their career from a young age.

 

[Philippo]

I'm 27 and I still don't know.
Do I want to become a game developer, or is it just a teenage fantasy?
Do I want to invest in my documentary and become a director?
Do I want to keep working in translations?
Or should I just shut up about it?

 

[bic]

I had no idea what I wanted to do years after I graduated college. Now I'm stuck in a job I have no passion for and find completely unrewarding. At least it pays pretty well and has a good work/life balance. Although it's a double-edged sword, as I'm too afraid to abandon all the benefits for a job I might actually love.
If there's one thing I'd tell my future child, it's to find something your passionate about and pursue it to the fullest.

 

[mugurumakensei]

Picked programming in high school cause I wanted to work on games. Experienced the realities of working at smaller game studios in college through testing. Avoided game development as a career since. Now, I'm an backend and front end engineer.

 

[Zombine]

Since I was 10 years old I wanted to be a garbage man. Now at 30 I am trash. It all comes together in the end.

 

[ranjaboy]

No. And i still have no clue what i want to do.

 

[Grenouille]

No. Up until I was 24 all I wanted and was good at was drawing. I wanted to be an illustrator, I felt like I was born for it. But I never found any professional success in that, so I did a 180 turn at that age, and started coding. It's very enjoyable, but that's only part of my work. Overall I like the job, but I feel empty sometimes. Don't know if I can see myself doing it in 10 or 20 years.

 

[Moff]

so, my career found me at 36

 

[Plumpman]

I actively didn't want to be what I am (Programmer), but through self teaching and the act of creating something, I ended up absolutely loving it. Goes well with my OCD.

 

[Yasuke]

I'm 28 years old and had a panic attack in my childhood bedroom this morning as I reckoned with the fact I still have no idea what I want to do with myself.

 

[Cipher Peon]

Yes, I've wanted to be a game designer since I was extremely young. Always worked towards that dream and decades later I can happily say that my career is starting very well.

 

[mhayes86]

Absolutely not. During my college career I went through 4 majors. Landing on information systems was one of the best decisions I've made.

Edit: FWIW, I started community college at 18, and university at 24, which is when I decided to do IS.

 

[pikachief]

All I know is what I want to do for a career is not what I'm doing now.