help please?

Question

im in the last year of Secondary school and i really dont know what i want to do with my life when i leave. Yeah im not the brightest person ever but everyone keeps saying what you going to do when you leave. All my friends know what they want to do and i dont has anyone got any advise that will help me.

Answer 1

hey there. first of all, dont put uneccessary pressure on yourself - alot of young people i work with dont have the faintest idea at the stage youre at either.
you should have in your school, somewhere!, a careers adviser or connexions worker. as youre in your last year of secondary school it should be one of their important tasks to speak to people like yourself before you leave and are still not sure of what to do. so, they will only be too happy to help!
i would suggest you do the above primarily. it should not matter that you do not know what you want to do - the fact is, there will be things that you are good at, enjoy doing, or both - and these are the things to build on when thinking about the future. you will have picked your gcse's because of these reasons, and they are just as good a reason as any to pick them. you dont learn as well if you dont like something, so at the end of the day dont concern yourself with past choices of wualifications. also, ignore the previous poster above who said your only option was shop work or work in a care home. what a complete load of tosh, they know absolutely nothing about careers advice. if you speak to your careers adviser, ask to complete a computer programme called 'kudos'. it asks alot of questions, and can help to narrow down job ideas for you, and give you new ideas also of jobs youve a)never heard of, and b)never thought of doing. it will also give you ideas about qualifications needed, and pay scales and job descriptions.
you have many options ahead of you, and you certainly dont need to make up your mind right now. but, to give you an idea, heres a few:
full time college/sixth form
part time college, part time work
full time work
part time work
apprentiships
training schemes

it all depends on what you want to do - can you see yourself studying for another 1, 2 or more years? if you cant then perhaps taking a year out and working for a bit to get some good experience is the thing for you. if you like the idea of learning while working, then an apprentiship could be it!

but like i said before, dont panic. you do have time, and most colleges do still take applications well into september so in theory, if its college youre looking for, then you have around a year to come up with an idea!

best of luck, im sure youll be fine :)

Answer 2

I was in the same position as you when I was at Secondary school, I wasnt the brightest and did not have a clue what I wanted to do after I left... I had dreams of doing this and being that but when reality finally kicks in - its hard to know which path to take when all your other friends have already made their decisions!!

I would first consider which subjects you are interested in, ones that you enjoy, and subjects that you do well in. Then speak to your tutor and ask if you can speak to a careers advisor and they should give you many options to which path you would like to take...from there on, you should have some idea what you could do.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Do not worry about it. Its a HUGE decision and in time you will find your way. We always think we have to make the "right" decision or our lives will turn out to be a huge mess. You do not need to make the decision at school. You can try a few different things when you leave school and if they do not work out try something else. I know some-one who studied all their life to be a teacher and now hates it with a passion. Just let your decision evolve and take it from there. Do whatever makes you happy. You do not need to be a brain surgeon to be a success in life, there are a billion jobs, find something you like and take it from there. You may, for example, get a job in a hospital as a filing clerk and then discover you want to be a nurse. You can always go back to Uni and study for it when the time is right. Good luck.

Answer 4

It's hard knowing what you want to do when you have little experience of life - on the assumption that you know what you want by trying different things, then limited experience means you'll have little idea what you want to do. The opposite view is simply that you may always have wanted to do something from as long as you can remember, and nothing in life will stop you achieving that.
If you don't have a definite life goal, then you really need to try different things and experiment - find out what you like, don't like, where your strengths and weaknesses are; this latter approach can take as long as it takes.
Whichever approach you take, take the time to enjoy what you do and don't take it all too seriously.

Answer 5

YEAH HELLO,hope your not stressing to much though it will be stressing you out, most people go on to study college and others choose some sort of training, but there are others who choose to go into employment straight away and work through experience,
im 21 of age and the most important thing i have learnt is that education means alot, i was not the sharpest tool in the box but i worked hard and went and finninshed my degree, i get alot of respect and feel good to, i think you should definatley study and get somewhere throgh that way, at the end of the day if all cracks down then youl always have your education or experiance to fall back on, best of luck

Answer 6

Neither did i when i left school, did a few jobs here and there, mainly retail.

I eventually found what i'm good at and became so successful i retired at 40 (sort of), i spend months of each year travelling, drive a Porsche, have a nice house with a pool, etc.

What i'm getting at is not to get to bogged down with worry at this time, so many people rattle on about planning ahead but seem to spend more time planning than actually achieving anything.

I wasn't the 'top boy' at school, i just worked hard, dedication and a bit of luck.

Answer 7

Get on a course for a job which not many other people do.

That way, you will never be out of work.

Go for a traditional trade, plumber, mechanic, joinery, or if you don't want to get your hands dirty, something like a draughtsman maybe.

If you have the grades, be a lawyer or an accountant. Might be boring, but hey, look at the car a lawyer drives, and look at the van a plumber drives? What do you want?

Answer 8

Well honey - if you have a hobby - they always say the most enjoyable job you can have is if you can base it around a hobby! I mean say you like animals - try get a job as a vetinary nurse - if you're into cars - be a mechanic/car shop - that kinda thing.
It may not be what you want very long term - but have a think of what interests you and what you enjoy and maybe youll find inspiration from that?

Answer 9

Try and think of a topic/area that you have an interest in and then see what jobs involve that.
Also you should decide if you want to spend your days at a desk in an office, or do you want to be out and about?
Do you want to be dealing with people a lot or would you prefer to be working by yourself?
Is a high salary important to you?
Ask your self these type of questions and you will start to narrow down the type of jobs you are suited to.

Answer 10

The first thing is to just get A job that you can live with. It doesn't have to be the job of your dreams but particularly for those of us who didn't exactly set the academic world alight, any job experience is good experience.

Are you good at manual things like DIY or fixing things. If so look at the building industry or mechanics. (And yes, both are open to females providing you can take the teasing you might get).

Don't worry that you don't know what to do. No matter what job you do get it doesn't have to be for life.