How did you get into your career?

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dartiss@reddit

I'm going to rewind a bit here. Can you explain a little more about why you struggled? I think what happened around not getting an apprenticeship may be relevant to what we'd recommend next - no point something else that you also don't complete, for example. Also, what are you actually interested in? Not as a career, but in doing?

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

I struggled with the theory work and unfortunately the third year was 100% theory. I also found it difficult in the first and second year. I’m interested in racing cars and aircraft but I probably don’t have the qualifications to get a job in any of those fields.

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Big_Geezer_@reddit

RAF?

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

It’s something I was looking into doing.

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

That’s something that I have been looking into doing.

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Kickkickkarl@reddit

Mate just because you struggled in your third year and didn't get an apprenticeship. You can still apply for an apprenticeship and do your level three in a few years time when you are abit more older, smarter and have the ability. Don't write yourself off if you want to be an electrician is in your interest. I had a friend who re-trained at 28 as an electrician. He started labouring with a agency. Worked his way into being an electrician's mate helping the sparks on the job, went to college for two years and is now working along side doing electrical work daily. The country has a severe lack of tradesman for the future and you g people are writing themselves off because apparently they didn't get the grades or can't find an apprenticeship because all they have done was send a few emails and have never got a reply, when really you need to get off your backside and go and ask a few electricians when you see their van in the street if they will give you a chance and start.

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

I didn’t really have an interest in electrical, I just picked it because I didn’t know what else to do. I struggled with the theory in year one and two. The third year is 100% theory based and I found it extremely difficult that I wasn’t enjoying it. I did work experience for 6 months without pay and was told I would get an apprenticeship at the end of it. Ended up with nothing. Maybe I wasn’t good enough but I did try my best. So I’m looking to do something else.

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Kickkickkarl@reddit

Unfortunately what people say and the reality doesn't always happen. Yeah I have heard level three is all theory based. At least you tried your best.

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

It hasn’t all been doom and gloom. Managed to get my maths and English GCSE’s whilst I was at college. Just don’t know what to do now.

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Kickkickkarl@reddit

Unfortunately knowing what to do next comes in time. Maybe got and get yourself an agency job or something to bring in some income and during that time have some self reflection on what you might like to do next.

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VOOLUL@reddit

The trick is to find something you're genuinely interested in. Like you want to get good at it and you enjoy the process. Some people are lucky in that the thing they're interested in is a viable career path. Some people aren't that lucky and might have to search wider for something that just clicks with them. Are you genuinely interested in becoming an electrician? Like you have a strong desire for that job? I suspect you don't because if you did I think you'd be focusing on building the skills and knowledge required to start that career. Some people never really find their knack. You've either gotta take whatever job you can, and just battle through it to make it a career. Or you've gotta dip your toes in everything until you find that one thing.

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

I had this exact same problem when I left school. Wasn’t sure what I wanted to do then I just picked electrical and tried to stick with it.

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Carelink41@reddit

Have you thought of joining the military?

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

It was something that was on my mind but I don’t think I would be able to cope being away.

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throwRA18272h@reddit

Civil servant: been lazy since a child, want to do as little work as possible, want a good pension so can retire early, don’t want to be sacked for doing no work.

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Naive-Interaction567@reddit

I did a lot of volunteer work aged 17-21 while I was doing a pretty standard arts degree. I found that really helpful for me working out what o enjoyed and what I didn’t. I saw the volunteering I hated as just as much a life lesson than the volunteering I loved. I ended up training to be a children’s social worker and absolutely love it.

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Ill-Ad8902@reddit

Was applying for entry level jobs after Uni. Luckily fell into a role I love and am now at manager level in the payroll sector I consider myself very lucky!

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WarmTransportation35@reddit

My parents told me what career to go and I had no choice but to do it.

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lucanidaeblack@reddit

I did a lot of random temp jobs until I found a line of work that seemed vaguely interesting. As much as temping absolutely sucks it's good for getting a wide experience of different workplaces and industries.

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Ethereal42@reddit

Most temp jobs I have done lead to promotion or up skilling, a lot of temps don't show up to work or put in bare minimum effort so it's easy to differentiate yourself.

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andalusianred@reddit

You’d think, but agencies always throw me in warehouses even after I specifically ask for office-based roles 💀

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LongrodVonHugedong86@reddit

Honestly I fell into my current job. I left school at 16 and joined the RAF, was supposed to be an Avionics Technician but there was an issue/backlog and was told rather than September I couldn’t join until the following May/June unless I wanted to do a different Trade. I panicked, chose a different trade, regretted it, left in 2010 when my then girlfriend talked me into it (never trust your dick in making decisions boys!), was self employed for 1 year, then became the manager of a bookies, then a manager in Tesco, did that for 9 years and then my current job as a Security Operations Manager (fancy title for sitting in an office with a phone in case of any issues) came up so I took that

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RagingFuckNuggets@reddit

I got into mortgages with no knowledge whatsoever about them. Worked my way up to quite high in my department now after 7 years.

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PM_ME_UR_SUMMERDRESS@reddit

First of all…why didn’t you complete the college course? Can you redo the final year? I worked in engineering for years, I had a couple of cool opportunities that I should have explored, but I had a “stick with what you know” attitude, which in hindsight, and even at the time, is daft. Then I retrained, you’re never too old to train. There’s that saying about if a course is 4 years, you’re still gonna be 4 years older, but it’s better to have a qualification.

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Rough_Phrase_8113@reddit (OP)

I didn’t complete the course because I found it too difficult and simply wasn’t enjoying it. I could retake the final year but It would just be a waste of time. The final year is 100% theory based and I even struggled with the theory in level 1 and 2.

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seph2o@reddit

I'm 32 and have been working as a data analyst for just over 2 years after transitioning from a completely unrelated field. I started by learning advanced Excel concepts and applying for entry-sounding positions which only required Excel knowledge. I've picked up Python, Power BI, SQL etc since then and recently started a new job for much more money.

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welly_wrangler@reddit

Applied for job, interviewed for job, got job.

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JellyfishArm@reddit

Had 2 interviews in the one day. 1st one offered me the job there and then, so I cancelled the 2nd. That's literally all it took for me. Left school at 16 with not so great exam results. Turns out they meant nothing anyway. 17 years later I'm a fully qualified engineer, earning a pretty good wage, all because the interview was scheduled earlier than the other one. The other interview was to be a bricklayer.

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BobbyB52@reddit

I dropped out of uni and joined the Merchant Navy. Spent 6 years as a deck officer, seeing and doing cool stuff, but then got tired of being away so much and so left and joined HM Coastguard. The Merchant Navy has a lot to recommend it to a young person without too many attachments.

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AffectionateCoffee27@reddit

From 15 to like 28 i worked any and all jobs. Cleaning. Labourer. Window manufacturer. Warehouse. Shop refits. Sales. Bars. Restaurants. Contact centres. Truth is you can get into entry level jobs pretty easy especially I'm all of the above because they have fast staff turn around. Now. I work as a IT business analyst on 40k. Because I spent the last 6 years at the same company and have been able to progress from being a customer service agent to an analyst who delivers reporting for the board and shareholders. I Ieft school at 15 and don't have a single qualification to my name and I just tried everything until I found something I enjoyed. It's also finding the rigut company. I have a very good working relationship with my company and have great flexibility. Don't settle for shit companies with shit pay and shit policies. Don't spent 10 years in the same job because its easier than getting another job. Best advice I can give you. Don't settle.

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cheandbis@reddit

I did a Maths degree and just applied for any grad scheme in the financial services and just took whatever came up.

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Rasty_lv@reddit

Moved to UK. Started in factory. Moved then to warehouse. Worked around in different departments until I found myself in position I'm right now. Inventory stock clerk/admin. I genuinely enjoy role itself. Management and building itself? Heck no. But actual job I do, I still love it after 4+ years in role. But lately I've been thinking of doing something I really enjoy, IT. Not programming, but actual hardware part. I just need either some kind of qualification.

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Maleficent-Sink-6367@reddit

Going out of secondary school I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn't have the science and maths grades I needed to go into that. Wasn't going to not go to uni so did a degree in Psychology since it was adjacent and had a clear medical pathway (even if not a physician role). Worked in a psychology clinic in uni, hated dealing with mentally ill clients, so started looking into other career paths. Not sure how I stumbled into considering being a librarian, since I loved books, probably from one of those online career quiz sites like [https://www.prospects.ac.uk/](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/). During my exploration of that pathway I learned about Information Architecture. Information Architects were not really a career anymore at the time, they had developed into UX careers. I was a big internet nerd so working on the internet seemed like a good fit. Did a Masters in HCI, which had a internship component, joined the field at the right time with the right experience (lots of juniors but not many with MScs, so I stood out, and this was before EVERYONE wanted to go into UX), then as UX changed from UX Designers to Product Designers I pivoted into UX Research.

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Yooustinkah@reddit

For me, I didn’t wait to know what I wanted to do before getting a job as I wanted to be financially independent. I love what I do now but it was through trial and error across a number of shitty jobs. From that first job, I figured out what I hated about it (e.g. speaking with customers on the phone) and what I liked about it (e.g. playing about with spreadsheets). Not in a ‘what career is for me?’ sort of way, more like what I liked/hated doing on a daily basis. I then looked for another job that gave me more of what I liked and less of what I didn’t. Rinse and repeat. It’s a long process and I’ve made 3 significant career changes along the way (because, and I can’t stress this enough, whatever you choose now doesn’t need to be an irreversible life-long decision), but I’ve learned a lot about myself and as a result now do something I genuinely enjoy.

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bambinoquinn@reddit

Couldnt get a job for years, really struggled. Then Got a job at a bank call centre. Randomly applied for a role at the same grade that was way more specific, which enabled me to get a job that sounded fancy at a different bank, which helped me my current job as a Risk Analyst. Never had any intention to go down this path at all, but I'm okay at it

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wretched_cretin@reddit

Try a bunch of things. Work out what you're good at and what you can successfully apply yourself to. There is no "perfect" career, but there are plenty of "good enough" careers. You can always change careers later and bring your skills and knowledge with you.

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philphoo@reddit

Took an alevel on a whim and got my top grade in it so kept going

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Bangkokbeats10@reddit

At this stage if possible, and if you want to it might be worth finishing your apprenticeship. I nearly quit mine, many, many years ago as I wanted to join the military. My old man talked me into finishing it as then at least I’d have something to fall back on. I finished it, did a couple of years then joined up. It turned out to be the right decision, having a trade opens a lot of doors, there’s always work and multiple routes for career progression.

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bestorangeever@reddit

Just join the army and do your minimum 4 years, you either leave set up for life or stay in and have a career, can be an electrician in the royal engineers and they pay for your quals

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