I feel too naive to choose a career

[leoncour]

I graduated from college about 2 years ago and thought about being a teacher but decided against it. In the meantime I have been stagnating at a dead end retail job. A couple of months ago a friend introduced me to his career which seems pretty interesting, and I decided to persue that instead. I am making contacts in the feild and I might get an internship, but to be honest, I am really ignorant of all the different career fields out there. I have browsed through the occupational outlook handbook and several other books, but I still feel too naive to choose a career.

The career I am persuing now is interesting but to be honest some of the reasons of persuing it are based on expediency, not passion for it. I need to earn a reasonable income to move out on my own, I need to learn a parctical skill that won't be offshored or become obsolete.

I suppose I should persue this while I can and if I find something better along the way I should persue that instead. I guess thats how most people live thier lives, right?

[tdko]

Far better to make a bad decision than to make no decision. You should definitely keep your job until you find something that really motivates you. Volunteering helped me find something to be passionate about, and now I'm applying to grad school for it.

[paiger81]

Maybe it's me, but I never had the intention to have my career be my passion. I see my career as a way to fuel income so that I can experience my passions. I do like my career, though, it fits my personality well.

[MuBetaPsi_Xi]

I just fell into my career because I was out of college and needed a job. My current apartment-mate at the time (who is still a really good friend) helped me to get a job in the office where she worked. I knew absolutely nothing about the industry at the time. I planned on working at her workplace for only a few months (the pay was lousy) so that I would have something to put on my resume. That was more than 5 years ago. We both ended up leaving this firm eventually, but we both are still employed in this same industry and making decent salaries for our age and location. We were both able to build on our experience at the low-paying office to find better jobs.

I've thought several times about looking for another line of work, but it seems as if everything else available in my area for someone with my qualifications (a BA in a liberal arts major) would offer less pay and room for advancement. When I first left college, I had no idea that my occupation even existed. My advice is to give a try to the job opportunity your friend has presented. If nothing else, it'll give you a better idea of what's out there. You don't have to be locked into your first job forever; in fact, I read that most people change professions about 4 times in their lifetime. Taking the job opportunity will let you know whether or not you like it.

[shadeofgreen]

NPR ran a series about people who switched careers, voluntarily or otherwise. The guy who stands out in my mind was the bartender turned brewer turned...physician. He decided in his mid-thirties that he'd go to med school and now he's finishing his internal medicine residency.

I kind of wish I'd heard the whole series. I believe it's on the website, though, npr.org.