Which career should I follow (how do I choose)?

Question

So I am freaking out. I am in Grade 11 in high school with the grades to do anything i could possibly want, and my parents have saved money for me to go to college and pursuit my dreams. There is one problem, I don't know what my dreams are. For the longest time I wanted to be a lawyer, I had it all planned out I was going to go to harvard law, but now that has all changed. I figured out law was a figure of the type of life I wanted, but not the career i wanted. Now I have so many thought going through my head, should i become a surgeon, a vet, an engineer, should I even go to college. I have no clue what I want to do, but I can only afford to go to university once, so I need to do it right I can't be unhappy for the rest of my life thinking about what might have been. How do I choose?

Answer 1

You could always start taking general requirements and get them out of the way, as these will count towards any degree you take. Then start focusing on getting more specific. If you want to decide now, take some career tests and spend some time talking to your school guidance counselor.

Answer 2

Well I heard the your perfect job has three componants;

1. It is something you like to do

2. It is something that you are good at

3. It is something that people will pay you money to do.

There are various resources  that can show you the thing you have apptitude in. There are also personality test liek the Myers-Briggs that can guide you into a paricular work environment.  Are you a people person or a task person.  

Answer 3

You should really sit down and work out what you enjoy and what you're good at then think about the career that would ensure you were utilising these skills and enjoyments. You could do some of those career tests although I'm never sure quite accurate they really are. They're fun though to get you a better idea of your strengths and interests.

http://quiz.ivillage.co.uk/uk_work/tests...

http://www.jobjuice.gov.au/jobjuice/apps...

Probably the best advice I could give would be to talk to a career counsellor. Do they have one at your school? They're someone who should know what careers are out there and someone who can help you realise what you'd be be suited to.

Don't forget, just because you go to college to study something, it doesn't mean that's what you're going to do all your life. You might change your career any number of times depending on the situation and the job market. Also you shouldn't limit yourself to saying you can only afford to go to university once. You never know, you might be earning great money one day and can afford to do a masters at night or to further your career by doing some non-university related training.  

Answer 4

Surely by grade 11, there is something that you are passionate about? For example if you are into sports, Carnegie Mellon have a great program for Sports Management.

Only go into engineering if you have a passion for it. I am an engineer but I am only successful because I started to tinker with technology before I can even remember though my parents have a picture of me under the hood of a car when I was 4. If you do not have a passion for technology and are not pretty good at math, you will fail at engineering.

My daughter picked up my hobby of studying economics and she just got her bachelor's degree in Economics. However, because she loves trains and transportation, she is getting her Masters in Technology management with an emphasis on Transportation.

Because if you study what you have a passion for, it will not seem like work. Like now, I am passionate about audio electronics engineering and they pay me great money just to hang around their office to do stuff I would do anyway as a hobby if I did not have to pay bills.

If you have no passion about anything, take a general business degree because at least you will be employable.

Answer 5

Hi,

Try http://www.free-college-videos.com as there's loads of information about colleges, courses, current students views of colleges and social life, accomodation info, recommended college majors etc etc.

I hope that helps.

Answer 6

some careers you may have forgot about: business administration is a good one, many jobs available and your not tied to one thing.  Engineering is great money so if you like inventing and making things more intuitive thats an awesome one. Computer Information Systems is pretty popular at my school and you can get some nice IT experience in that field.