At what age did you start thinking about the job you want to pursue?

[moonford]

Since I was 5 I wanted to work with animals but when I was like 12 I decided I wanted to get into writing as well.

So I'm going to aim to do both, I will definitely manage.

 

[Shawna]

I have been interested in being a author/writer since middle school or high school, but I didn’t really start thinking about it as a main dream job until a few years ago.

 

[Corrie]

I'd say probably as soon as highschool started because you'd have to pick your courses. You'd have to know which ones you'd need based on college/uni requirements. So it forced me to decide.

 

[ShawnFuzz]

I am 47 and still thinking about it.

I believe I am destined to be blue collar until retirement.

 

[Envy]

Eh... It's complicated for me. As a child, I wanted to draw comics (the ones in newspapers, not the super hero stuff, I was never into that), as a teen and throughout my twenties I was all-in on music. That evolved from wanting to be a professional musician, to being a band director, to ultimately being a music history professor. But then in my thirties I've had another shift.

It's important to note that me in my late teens through twenties was in some sort of mental freeze state and unable to really "grow up". That isn't to say that music is not a legitimate passion of mine, but at no point in my twenties was I ever living toward a true future. I didn't really think I had much of one and was just trying to live like I used to to keep myself comfortable. I went to college to learn, not really career-minded.

In my thirties I have changed a bit, as the mental freeze finally cleared up I had to go back to the drawing board. Now, continuing to pursue music history was still a strong contender for me, but I think what ultimately changed my mind was another factor: The me that chose to go into music had more optimism about the future of my society and country, thus making me think I could pursue one of my passions that is more just for enjoyment for me. The me of especially the last year has had that optimism completely crash and burn and I've been completely morally distraught.

My thirties have been a time of more deeply thinking of what my career should be than ever before. There are careers that I wish I could do but I just don't think fit my personality (politics, law, journalism, etc.) and I mean it was really hard for me, as I still feel like law would be something I really WISH I could do, but again, my personality. Ultimately, I chose to pursue social work and focus on being a counselor for victims of abuse. So, it was at age 36 I finally made that decision. Now I've got to back to school... Yay...

 

[-Blue-]

I am 47 and still thinking about it.

I believe I am destined to be blue collar until retirement.

As long as you're happy with what you do and where you are that's all that matters! I think too many people make a big stink about careers and try to tie their whole life to their career because it's what society tells us that's what we need to do.

 

[KimiyoCake]

Thing is, with age, career goals change. When i was like 5, for a project I was interested in becoming a Hair dresser. But by High School, you had to figure out what career path you want to pursue and what college etc, so at the time I was doing a bit of Media and wanted to work in like Manga industry (the ones who translates). But when I got to college, I didn't really have a set career goal. It kept changing, and then thought 'maybe it'd be best to be an english teacher in a different country' but that would require changing my whole college career track. And so, in my 30s, i just have your typical retail job.

 

[Beanz]

i always knew from a young age that i wanted to do something creative but i didn’t put much thought into it until i was around 17 years old, when i decided to apply to college as a graphic design major.

i’m in my second year of college now and i’m still going for a design degree but i think i want to continue on with the shorter, more generalized program because i’ve also decided to pick up a second major in a technology related field for job security purposes.

there’s plenty i could do with those two majors and i’m thinking of maybe pursuing UI/UX after college although the job market might be tough for that atm. other than that, software or web development sounds interesting to me.

IMO choosing the shorter version of the design program might be smarter choice over being a full on graphic design major because at the end of the day, i’ll still have that juicy art degree either way

 

[Soigne]

Elementary school when I started considering possible career paths, but I was 22 before I decided to do what I'm doing now.