Do you think kids are expected to know their future career too early?

[cheat-master30]

To me, I'd definitely say the answer is yet. Truth be told, no one knows their preferred job or direction in life at... like 16 or less. Those aptitude tests, those ridiculous books you have to fill out which apparently say what kind of learner or person or whatever you are... frankly, I'd say they're flat out wrong most of the time, and there's no real basis to assume what someone answers when they're still in school will hold steady when they go off to get an actual job.

To add to this... a lot of kids do not just leave school any more to get a job. Most probably go to some form of college (whether six form or regular kind depending on country), maybe university (college, depending on country), etc. Interests in a subject can change at college/university just as easily as at old fashioned school, even in cases where you've chosen to do a certain subject. Subjects are taught differently in various levels of education...

So, do you think kids are expected to know what they want to do in life way too early? Before they even know themselves? Do you think these tests saying rubbish like what job you would be 'suited to' are complete and utter junk and a waste of time?

[imalittlecrazy]

^ I totally agree. People expect you to pick a career when you're not even in high school yet.

[Fire Luigi]

^ I totally agree. People expect you to pick a career when you're not even in high school yet.
Yep, you're right.

Like you're not suppose to be even thinking about this stuff until you go to high school, right?

[Phazon]

I was 16 before anything like this started to happen to me. I wasn't aware it was happening to anyone before that age. You at least need an idea of what job field you want to work before you go to college.

[Fire Luigi]

I was 16 before anything like this started to happen to me. I wasn't aware it was happening to anyone before that age. You at least need an idea of what job field you want to work before you go to college.
Yes, I agree with you.

[Socks]

Yep. Why the hell is it so stereotypical that little kids saying bland stuff like: I wanna be a fireman"
As far as I go I have many different things I want to do. Something Science based or be a LCSW.

[benoit489]

In 9th grade I took a class called Intro to Life and Careers. I learned nothing. Right now I'm 20 and about to go into my 3rd year of college. I'm still not sure about what I would like to do as a career. Nothing really grabs my interest, but I applied for admission to my college's business school and I got in so I'll be studying Financing this year.

Some people just know what they want to be and others have no clue.

[Chrisjh0223]

I for one believe kids are expected to know their future self in the work world too early. If you are aware of children in Japan, you know that they go to normal school, return home for some part of the day, then go to cram school in the evening to do more studying/schoolwork. They also have Saturday School for some part of the day. This is to enhance their learning ability early in life and prepare them for the world of work.

After hearing of this in my school, I believe the Japanese children are motivated well but to the point of learning about themselves too early. While the extra studying is helpful to pass grade school, it does not necessarily help them come to a consensus as to decide on their future career. It is well known that people change their decision on a possible job, and thus revert the career wheel in a new direction.

It does not seem that way in other places of the world, notably the U.S.A. where we are free to choose a future career at will with the element of altering our course of direction. I mean, I was originally studying to be a computer programmer but after finding out I could not understand a single thing about coding, I switched direction to accounting. Had I been studying computer programming obsessively before that may have helped, but if it was not helpful then the time spent on that would be wasted.

I guess knowing about a future career earlier in life is practical for some people, but not for others.

[imalittlecrazy]

Yep. Why the hell is it so stereotypical that little kids saying bland stuff like: I wanna be a fireman"
As far as I go I have many different things I want to do. Something Science based or be a LCSW.

A lot of kids say stuff like that cuz they think it's cool. Not because they truly are interested in it. Sure, some of them do become fireman or whatever they said they wanted to be as a kid, but not all if them. If you're like 5 and you say "I wanna be a police man", you may decide, say ten years down the line, that you want to be a carpenter or a doctor or whatever you decide. Now I on the other hand, have always wanted a music career. I don't have a huge one now, but someday, there's bound to be some old rockstar to take me under their wing.

[UnknownToaster]

I'm in senior year and almost everyone I've asked says they don't know what they want to do. I've know since I was 10 what I wanted to do. Become a video game dev and designer! :D

[MrLuigi]

I'm going to push buggies at Food City, not going to college, of ANY kind.

Yep, pushin' em, ridin' em, crashing...

[imalittlecrazy]

Wow, that's kinda sad.

Well listen guys. Interesting people I know didn;t know at 22 what they wanted to do with thier lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't

[Firemonkey1]

Well, I am a child, not even a teenager, and I haven't experienced any tests of that type yet. I assume that I shall be told inside of middle school to take one. I want to be a primatologist, because I find primates interesting, especially the chimpanzee. I also want to go to a primatology college inside of Wisconsin. I wouldn't mind the quite short yearly salary for a primatologist, because I could find alternate methods of obtaining money. I don't really know what field of primatology that I would be fond of, though.

[imalittlecrazy]

State of Wisconsin? Awesome. I'm going to Smith or Bay Path. You know, girls only schools. FEMALE EMPOWERMENT!

[Zexis]

I disagree, actually.

It's not that they expect you to know your path in life. They just want to give you a general direction. That way, you can explore things that may be suited to you, and then make your own choices as you explore yourself and develop. It's not about being expected to know your future career, it's about being given a starting point. A suggestion or nudge in what they think may be the right direction for you. You ultimately make the final choice, and you're expected to change your direction of study at least once, if not multiple times. Because at such a young age, who really knows what they want in life?

[MrLuigi]

Zex, sadly that ruined my attention spam.

[dantheman]

i know what im doing... im super good at football. i may go to the nfl in the future if i play my cards right. if it dosnt happen, ill fall back on programming and designing video games.

i have my career planned out. im already starting to learn how to program.


sooo... i dont know. thees a high chance of me being successful.


and i do think kids are expected too early. i was asked every week for the past 8 years. i origionally wanted to be a chemist. but now i want to be what was said above.

[imalittlecrazy]

i know what im doing... im super good at football. i may go to the nfl in the future if i play my cards right. if it dosnt happen, ill fall back on programming and designing video games.

i have my career planned out. im already starting to learn how to program.


sooo... i dont know. thees a high chance of me being successful.


and i do think kids are expected too early. i was asked every week for the past 8 years. i origionally wanted to be a chemist. but now i want to be what was said above.

you have a 1 in 250,000 chance in being in the NFL

[MrLuigi]

I plan to be a pirate in Somali, with buggies.

[Zexis]

I plan to be a pirate in Somali, with buggies.
Spam once more and you're out of here for good, MrLuigi.

[Chrisjh0223]

I disagree, actually.

It's not that they expect you to know your path in life. They just want to give you a general direction. That way, you can explore things that may be suited to you, and then make your own choices as you explore yourself and develop. It's not about being expected to know your future career, it's about being given a starting point. A suggestion or nudge in what they think may be the right direction for you. You ultimately make the final choice, and you're expected to change your direction of study at least once, if not multiple times. Because at such a young age, who really knows what they want in life?

You're on a good path of thought Zexis. To enumerate on what you said, I shall bring up my own learning experiences.

I remember taking computer courses in high school, most notably "computer graphics" and "computer installation & maintenance." It was the latter which really helped me prepare for later years, we covered all sorts of topic in there, much more than the name suggested. We also reviewed how robots and Artificial Intelligence function alongside computer technologies. While most of this is generalistic, I did learn helpful things about how to treat a computer if I encounter technical difficulties. In my college class "Introduction to Computer Information Systems" I learned helpful tidbits about the computer world, most notably tricks in Microsoft Excel and with the numeric keypad that I can use in my Accounting career. That's right, now I plan to be an Accountant when I graduate from College. I originally planned to be a computer programmer but as you said, "You ultimately make the final choice, and you're expected to change your direction of study at least once, if not multiple times." You are right, I tried my honest best in a Computer Progamming class but I ended up understanding none of the material & assignments in the slightest. I tried to work with the code, but I unfortunately could not at all. But now those troubles are behind me, and I've moved on with life.

Say, since we're on the issue of choosing and/or expecting a future career early in life, here's some food for thought. It is a Confucius quote, let's take a look at it:

Find a job you love and youll never work a day in your life.

That makes good sense to me. Seriously, if you love a particular activity (such as painting) and you work in that kind of occupational realm (painter) then you will feel very happy and actually perceive it as a fun activity.

I for one have a love of computers and math, so when I get a job in accounting I will actually love it, rendering me a highly efficient worker.

Preparing younger folks for a job they will like later in life is a good idea for grade school. This way they are geared towards a general idea (or job category) and benefit from that.

[Zexis]

Ah, I do enjoy reading your posts, Chris.

Now, when you quoted Confucius, "Find a job you love and youll never work a day in your life," it made me think of a discussion I had with my mother earlier today. We were discussing careers, and how I wanted to find an occupation that I enjoyed. She said that you could never truly find something you are completely happy with, and that very few people are able to have jobs they actually enjoy doing. I'm not sure I totally agree with her, but I do understand that many people don't have jobs they enjoy. This could be for any number of reasons; for her, it's that she doesn't have any real skills to put towards a job she would enjoy. She also didn't go to college :/

My hope is to use my knowledge and future years of education to explore my interests and hone my skills. That way, I ought to have a better chance of not minding going to work every day.

[Nintendofanthr33]

me yes, for most kids, no