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Asked by sept522feed on 6 Mar 2025. This question was also asked by hand522qats.
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John Easton answered on 6 Mar 2025:
There isn’t an easy answer to this one, but let me give you a few thoughts…
1. Write down a list of the things that you really like doing?
2. Write down a list of the things that you really hate doing?No job is perfect, but as long as any job has more of list 1 and very few of list 2, it’s probably a good start.
3. How many of the things on list 1 are you really good at?
4. What things really interest you? And here, I mean that you enjoy knowing about / want to know more about?If you are really interested in something (say it’s animals for example) and you are really good at things on list 1, then that combination is probably the place to start looking. A job that has things you enjoy doing, are good at doing and with something you are interested in.
Lastly – remember that you can ALWAYS change your mind. If you try something and it’s not for you for whatever reason, you can always look for something different. Each time you do, you will get better at creating those lists 1-4 and that will help you figure it out. Good luck!
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Jan McKendrick answered on 6 Mar 2025:
I think you first figure out what interests you and what you are good at. How would you feel if you did some more studying in that area – would you be happy or nor? Do you like writing essays or working with numbers? Are you good at languages?
There are so many jobs out there that we just dont even know about – check out some of the profiles of the people in the I’m a scientist / mathematician sites to see that! So dont worry too much about the specifics, just start to think about bigger things like do you want to work in a office etc.
There are lots of good online places that give you ideas if you just search with some words of things you are interested in
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Edward Smart answered on 12 Mar 2025:
Very good question and very tricky to answer! When I was growing up, for maths, all I could see were finance, teaching and IT, none of which I really wanted to try.
I did a two week job placement at an accountancy firm and it just wasn’t for me so seeing if your school offers work placements can be helpful, even if the end result is that you DON’T want to do job X!Your grandparents may have had jobs for life but right now, that is very unlikely. At the moment, with all the advances in technology, people are changing careers perhaps 2 or 3 times during their working life.
One good thing to do is think about how you like to work and the skills you feel you have. Do you like numbers? Do you like using them to solve problems? Do you like to talk and often enjoy explaining tricky things to people? Do you prefer to be inside or outside? Do you like helping people? Would you prefer a more solitary role or something where you come into contact with many people each day?
Some skills are pretty timeless. For example, being able to explain things clearly to different audiences. Presentations are a key skill. No one wants to be bored to death by powerpoint! Working together with other people will likely be helpful. Listening to people and hearing their views even if you don’t agree. Being nice and polite is surprisingly helpful. No-one wants to work with someone who is rude and annoying!
What subjects do you like? A lot of the time, your subject will have a professional society (e.g. the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications). They have great careers pages where you can see all kinds of jobs you never knew existed. Good luck!
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Martin McMahon answered on 17 Mar 2025:
I never really figured this one out when I was younger so just started working in areas I found interesting. However, that was after first choosing to join the army, that took me to university, then some research, and following that I have worked in many different areas. All this gave me a lot of experiences and I was finally recruited to work in 3D printing.
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Fran Biggin answered on 24 Mar 2025:
This is a great question, and you’ve received some really good answers already which I don’t think I need to repeat (John Easton’s answer is particularly good). I think what I would like to add is that it isn’t necessary to know now what you want to do in the future. It’s okay to try a few things before you find something that suits you. I know some people who are in careers that they always knew they wanted to do from an early age, but there are many others who still don’t know what it is they want to do years later! It’s okay not to know, and it’s okay to change careers if something doesn’t work out for you.
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Neil Barnby answered on 25 Mar 2025:
A difficult question to answer. I think the main point is that you really don’t have to worry too much about getting it right first time. I started out as a chef, then a radio engineer, TV engineer, computer engineer, teacher, prison instructor and now an AI product manager. All my past experiences from my past jobs contribute to the job I do now, and for the most part I enjoyed each of those jobs and was good at them.
It is fine to change your mind so figure out what you would like to do now by looking at what you enjoy and go with it. You never know where it will take you. -
Luke Humphrey answered on 28 Mar 2025:
Honestly this is so difficult and something I struggled with a lot. Some suggestions:
1. Accept there is no one correct answer.
2. Recognise that you can and likely will do many different jobs over your career.
3. Consider that if your “dream job” does exist, you probably haven’t heard of it yet. There’s a lot of variety of jobs out there!With this in mind, I’d suggest taking a curious attitude and give this stuff lots of thought, but don’t go thinking around in circles trying to narrow it town to one job you want to do. You really won’t know until you start your career and start exploring. At least that’s how it was for me.
Hope this helps. You got this. ✊
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