What do I do?
Posted by Fast-Yogurtcloset468@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Im 17 and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Im getting to that point now where I have to have some idea because im going to be an adult very soon. What job do you guys recommend for someone who just wants to travel the world, make memories, actually live and be okay financially!
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Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
Air Stewardess, travel the world. And work.
Koda614@reddit
I agree with what others are saying - Get yourself trained up for a trade. Especially as a female you’re going to find it quite easy to get in to this and have an advantage once qualified and looking for work as you’re going to be a rarity and in demand. Both if you opt for employment or self employment.
As for what trade, is there anything that you naturally feel yourself drawn to or turned off by? Do you have any kind of interests or talents that could potentially be of help by going into some specific trade?
The other thing that I’d encourage you to get as soon as you can is a driving license. As well as giving you tons of freedom it opens a lot of extra doors for work and puts you at an advantage against others who don’t have one. Important in a competitive market when there’s lots of people applying for just one job.
The other thing I’ll say is don’t get hyper focused on “I have no idea what I want to do” to the point where you end up getting nowhere. Even if you end up starting off with your first job working in retail, fast food, sorting Amazon parcels etc. - They are all giving you experience, and they are all putting money in your bank account. You may be ready to move on to something better quickly like your trade as soon as you find your way in and can get on the job training. You may end up there longer to the point where you start career progressing within the first job and moving up to a higher role with slightly higher pay etc.
The reason I say this is I’m 30 and honestly I’m still not sure what I really want to do for the rest of my life. But I learned a few years ago that I’m better off at least trying and exploring stuff to see what sticks… I put myself at a real disadvantage by stagnating when I left college because I ended up doing nothing at all while trying to find that one special thing for me.
Get your foundations sorted right now. Establish yourself. Once you’ve done that you can really start earning. Wait for that before you do your travels. I know people love to do it super young. But it’s actually better to do it a few years down the line when you have some extra finances to make the experiences more special, and extra life skills to help keep you safe while exploring random places.
W51976@reddit
30 is nothing. I’m nearly 50, and still haven’t found a job that really suits me, in terms of fulfilment. I’ve just had plenty of jobs that just ‘pay the bills’.
Notreallyhere89@reddit
This and also if you travel after some work experience and you choose to do working holiday visas to extend the travel - having work experience will make it far easier to get work and better paid work as well.
FunUpstairs4008@reddit
You’re young enough to get out there and try whatever you want to do. There’s no set age for doing things at. Never be in competition with people as tbh no one gives a shit. Again try new things see what you like and don’t like and focus on them. Air hostess for a job with travelling. May decide from that you’d like to get your pilots licence? Again it’s going to take time to make money from the age of 17 but maybe look into joining one of the public services as you don’t need massive qualifications for it. Have you got an interest in anything you feel you may want to peruse?
W51976@reddit
Become a massage therapist. There’s good money to make in it. Charge a client £50-£60 an hour, 5-6 clients a day. You’ll easily make £200-£300 a day, and you can earn more further down the line.
33backagain@reddit
Most people don’t know what they want to do with their lives at your age. You don’t need to decide yet. It took me until mid-20s to figure it out. Do some fun stuff and try different things before settling
Smooky28@reddit
I would become as highly skilled as you can. Think about where the world is going - its going towards AI. So I would suggest this area. See what university courses there are that are accredited or tailored towards this. Don't be deterred necessarily by the tuition fees..Highly paid AI or software engineer positions will barely hit the dent. alternatively self teach via a work apprenticeship. Have some projects you can show you've worked on and climb the ladder.
SmashedWorm64@reddit
The great thing if you still have plenty of time to decide whatever.
If you can, stay in education and do A-Levels/BTECs. I wouldn’t go to University without a goal in mind because it costs £££.
Get a weekend job doing something interesting - a lot of my friends current jobs are just continuations of jobs they had at 16. One of my close friend worked for a boat hire company as a teenager and when he left school they offered him a full time role as an engineering apprentice. Work experience that you are passionate about is very important to employers and can make you stand out - for me being able to talk about the library I worked at was vital for me to land my job as an accountant as they saw I was passionate about it.
I also recommend developing soft skills; the easiest way of doing this is socialising and putting yourself outside of your comfort zone. A lot of people underestimate the gift of the gab as my mother would say. Also being able to work under pressure is a good one - never realised I had the skill until I had to jump in to action to defuse a fight between two people whilst on the phone to the police; got a few e-mails from customers saying how well I handled it at 16. Usually once you realise what soft skills you are good at, it can help inform a career choice.
donkey-oh-tea@reddit
Listen to the song "everybodys free" by baz luhrman like 5 times
Delicious-Cut-7911@reddit
Hotel Management/tourism industry.
CarpeCyprinidae@reddit
If anyone asked me right now what industry they should get into that will still exist when they want to retire, I would say energy (electricity, gas).
AI will need it. Cars will need it. Machines may be able to design wind and solar farms but only humans will do the paperwork and the building, and make electrical and gas connections to new households.
Energy generation, planning, maintenance, scheduling and management is something the UK is going to have more and more jobs involved in, particularly as we shift off dependence on foreign gas and oil
MistaSands@reddit
Honestly if you want to travel then do.
There are great sites offering work in exchange for bed and board.
Look to Helpx, Workaway. They have opportunities all across the globe.
Forget your finances, these opportunities need not rely on money. Spend the next 6 - 12 months preparing for your great adventure. Get some minimum wage, boring job just to save up enough in emergencies, your first flight ect. - and sack it off when you're ready to go and in the meantime contact these opportunities. Put a roadmap and a plan into place. I did this and set it up so I could travel the world on a shoestring budget. Gave me some massive life-skills and experience in a variety of trades.
Eyoopmiduck@reddit
What are you doing at the moment? I am assuming you’re still in education.
What are you studying? What are you good at and what interests you (outside of career related things)?
Have you ever done any personality tests? Have a go online and get some insight into what type of person you are, as from that you can often find information about suitable career paths.
GuybrushFunkwood@reddit
Best friend spent 10 years as an air hostess with BA and she loved every second. Hard work but the places she’s visited and spent time always sound amazing when she chats about it.
IllustriousFoot4478@reddit
Get a trades apprenticeship. It’ll keep you hands on and relevant for years. AI security and risk of losing job. You will also eventually be able to work for yourself to have a break whenever you want.
Fast-Yogurtcloset468@reddit (OP)
Thing is I’d actually love to do that but I’m abit of a girly girl, don’t really want to do anything beauty related but I also didn’t do very good on my GCSEs. So I’m abit stuck tbh. Thanks for that though, I’ll consider it!
franki-pinks@reddit
I’m a 41 year old and didn’t know what to do once I finished my a levels so I applied for an engineering course at uni. I was the only woman there and now I own my own business with 100 employees making our own tools and machinery and some custom work.
I just kind of fell in to it but don’t worry about being a girly girl. I nearly quite because I realised I couldn’t have long nails but you get used to it lol.
IllustriousFoot4478@reddit
There’s a lot of support for girls to get into trades and even more once you’re in. You will also be memorable due to being a unicorn. So definitely repeat work if you’re good.
GCSEs will need fixing regardless of what you decided to study.
Fast-Yogurtcloset468@reddit (OP)
I love that being a unicorn 😂😂 what sort of trade do you recommend?
cboel@reddit
Check out Natalie Lynn's Borderless series on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZvRVbBCVbGrNTNpilwwSoSKIEXh70DzC
Travelling is great, so look into eigher something related to travel or digital nomad stuff that allows you to work anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.
Since you don't know what you want to do (don't worry, it isn't that uncommon), you will need to start trying stuff to figure out what you might not be as god as you hoped it would be (travel isn't for everyone).
Other_Yak_6881@reddit
Get a trade get yourself off to Australia there is absolutely nothing here for you my friend
Fast-Yogurtcloset468@reddit (OP)
What trade would you recommend? Im abit of a girly girl, and dont kno if i have it in me to be some big grafter 😂
Other_Yak_6881@reddit
For a woman electrician would be the cleanest and best payed roll for you ….and you always have the bonus of when you apply for roles that companies have to employ a certain amount of females in a field that’s heavily dominated by men so as long as you learn properly you will never be out of work …and then I would invest in stocks and crypto by the time your 24/25 you will be sitting on nice amount of money to travel the world and come back to a career and a deposit for a house ….
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