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What Would You Do At 25?


geoff-r

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I won't bore you with the long story but what would you do work wise at 25? I'm inching ever closer to handing in my notice at work and there is nothing that would change my mind but I am facing a real uncertainty of what to do. At 25 you think you're getting pretty old until someone older tells you to stop talking rubbish. So what were you doing at 25, and what should I consider? I currently have a desk job in finance but I know I enjoy being active in a manual hands on roll more, this is a dilemma :shrug:

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not too late to change course :thumbs: ........... my advise FWIW ... move into an area where you enjoy the work you do ......... I love my job so much that I've decided not to retire until something or someone stops me doing it .... life is not a practice session

..... work hard - play hard (to coin a phrase) :teeth:

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Personally I'd stay stick with the current job for a while, get some financial security and show you can stick the career out - at 25 you should have enough energy to enjoy yourself and hold down the job. Then when you're a bit older and have the money to do what you want you can take a break or whatever and it would be a lot easier walking back in to a job as you would have proven yourself already... but that's just me, 34 and still in a desk job in the finance industry.

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not too late to change course :thumbs: ........... my advise FWIW ... move into an area where you enjoy the work you do ......... I love my job so much that I've decided not to retire until something or someone stops me doing it .... life is not a practice session

..... work hard - play hard (to coin a phrase) :teeth:

 

See now that's a position I wish I was in. What do you do for a living mate?

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at 25 i was teaching and getting married.

 

at 25 the world is still fairly open, your not to old to retrain and generally you've not got that high up the pay tree to take to much of a loss to start in a new profession.

 

depends on how serious you are and what you want to do, you might have to make some sacrafices to start in the job you actually want, and work your way up to a point where your at now. this could mean saying good by to the zed and saving cash else where to get started.

 

what do you want to do

 

police is a good career, the armed services still have till your 27 to join.

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not too late to change course :thumbs: ........... my advise FWIW ... move into an area where you enjoy the work you do ......... I love my job so much that I've decided not to retire until something or someone stops me doing it .... life is not a practice session

..... work hard - play hard (to coin a phrase) :teeth:

 

See now that's a position I wish I was in. What do you do for a living mate?

I started with a degree in Civil Engineering .......... constructed a couple of motorways (not on my own obviously lol) ........ specialised in materials engineering (concrete etc.) ....... moved abroad chasing money .... built a couple of airports and a sports stadium (again, not on my own obviously lol) ....... moved back to UK and was self employed for a while doing structural design, expert witness etc. ..... moved on to architectural design because that's where my main interest lay ........... designed schools for a period ........ now telling others how to design schools and loving every minute :teeth:

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At 25/26 I jacked my job in and went back to uni and got a degree..... best thing I have ever done :thumbs: Although I would have to think long and hard about doing the same thing today. I count myself lucky that after 4 years I came away with 14K debt.

 

If I was to think about doing something different I think an outside job would be nice..... Forestry commission type thing :shrug:

 

Good luck in your search :thumbs:

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I know where you are coming from, I was 27 working in London in finance and I really did not enjoy it. After some hard thinking I decided there is more to life and I didn't want to spend it doing something I really didn't like even if it was a very financially rewarding career.

 

So I resigned and went back to uni to study software development. Best decision I ever made. Got a masters and then stayed on for a PhD because i was really interested in the subject. 3 years ago I finished that and joined a software company back down south and in all honesty I absolutely love it. I can honestly say I enjoy going to work, great team and a stimulating and challenging role. I am so glad I gave the old job up.

 

I admit it's not so easy to press the big reset button if you have commitments and responsibilities but in my old work I saw so many people work day to day, year to year really hating what they did and I never wanted to be like that. You are young, I say consider it carefully and look into other options. If it works out great, if not look at other options.

 

You get one shot on this planet make the most of it.

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Was a bit younger at 22, I gave up being a mechanical engineer and trained as a psychiatric nurse.

 

pay not too bad when qualified and pretty decent if you get a couple of promotions

 

with the qualification you can basically work anywhere in world have mates who went to Australia, Bermuda and middle east.

 

No two days the same, I work in forensics - basically people who offend due to the mental illness which can be rather challenging :boxing::boxing::boxing:

 

3 years at uni to qualify and you get paid (not a lot) to do the course

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not too late to change course :thumbs: ........... my advise FWIW ... move into an area where you enjoy the work you do ......... I love my job so much that I've decided not to retire until something or someone stops me doing it .... life is not a practice session

..... work hard - play hard (to coin a phrase) :teeth:

 

See now that's a position I wish I was in. What do you do for a living mate?

I started with a degree in Civil Engineering .......... constructed a couple of motorways (not on my own obviously lol) ........ specialised in materials engineering (concrete etc.) ....... moved abroad chasing money .... built a couple of airports and a sports stadium (again, not on my own obviously lol) ....... moved back to UK and was self employed for a while doing structural design, expert witness etc. ..... moved on to architectural design because that's where my main interest lay ........... designed schools for a period ........ now telling others how to design schools and loving every minute :teeth:

PS

I really wish I'd gone into car design ............ a wish that has been realised by my eldest son who, having worked at Bentley on the GT and GTC, now works in Melbourne for Ford of Australia

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my biggest wish in someways is that i hadn't gone to uni and actually done an aprenticeship instead. i made it through but it was bloody hard work and i've made it in to a proffession i enjoy but life i think would have been better if i'd learnt a full trade; and not just picked up little bits of everything. today i find i'm a jack of all trades but i wouldn't say i'm a master at them; good yes but not master.

 

i would love to have one good trade like master carpenter or blacksmith. i can make furniture and do metal work but not to that kind of standard.

 

this is partly why i've gone off and started my own business in my spare time to give me a release it to something that is my own and i enjoy. and if it takes off then i'll crank back the teaching.

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Right mate - you may have noticed from a lot of my posts I'm in a potentially similar situation - 28, finance job since leaving school, did well, paid well (or at least I think I am) but losing my enthusiasm and find I enjoy working with my hands.

 

You'll find a lot of people who you ask this question too will assume you simply want out and will back up any idea of leaving for another career.......so in this instance I'll be devils advocate and cover the pro's of staying put.

 

- Are you paid well where you are? Regardless of however bored I am I simply cannot leave my job......I've been paid reasonably well and I've cut my cloth accordingly. Car loans, mortgages, aspirations of bigger houses and weddings mean I would need to either jump straight into another career at the top or dissolve my life and start from scratch.

- Do you have a partner? If so this has a massive impact on them and will also restrict your decision unless they'll support you through and agree to giving up on a few luxuries.

- Is there any prospects to move on in your job - could you get any qualifications out of where you work before leaving (Ce-MAP, Ce-FA ETC)? I've never wanted to get into management because you generally have to become more stupid and lose your common sense.......however I've been so bored of late and my CV is missing the next vital step - management experience......I've gone and applied for a managers job.

- Is this just an itch.......the vast majority of my whining is due to an itch. I need to be kept occupied and the job has always required me to bounce to one department as another. Are you just bored in your current role.

- Try and remember that many people who have 'hands on jobs' hate them too.....make sure you don't lose a good job in a nice warm safe office and get saddled with dodging hepatitis infested spittle being gobbed at you by some smackrat for your 23k a year (plus you'll probably have to be a gay, female, ethnic minority to be employed by the police these days).

- Are you good at what you do....if you are and you work in a lucrative industry I'd be tempted to get your cv fully pimped out and make something of yourself in your industry.

- Is 25 too old to change industry?!!? OF COURSE ITS NOT!......provided you don't mind being unemployed in the worst recession in the history of modern economics, battling to change your skill set with 2.5million other unemployed people. I would be VERY careful with this option if you've have any aspiration of doing anything that involves money for the next 3-5 years

 

However........if you are single, commitment free, living with mum and dad, paid poorly/average and truly are disillusioned with the job then wholeheartedly go for it while you've got the chance.

 

The grass isn't always Greener :thumbs:

 

PS - also take into account that anyone who's anyone who's ever made anything of themselves has ignored literally everything I've written above and stuck their knackers on the chopping block before making squillions of pounds (Branson, Sugar, Gates, Zuckerweasle, Sarnie ;) ETC).

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when i left school i knew i wouldnt be able to handle working in an office. so i went into plumbing. i work on sites only so no unblocking peoples toilets for me.

 

i love it! no 2 days are the same and i get real job satisfaction when i can stand back and see something i made, working and have other trades say "you've made a nice job of that mate." also get to meet some real characters on site and have a right laugh most of the time. and if you work on price the pay isnt to shabby either ;)

 

im only 25 aswell. :thumbs:

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Joined the Army at 16 and still loving it 14 years down the line woulnt change it for the world. Like every job you get your good days and bad days. Like i say to the lads below me when the bad out way the good then its time to leave. The army still recruit up to the age of 30 so plenty of time left if you fancy a go at it even if it is only for 4 years.

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Firstly, I understand that at 25 you think you are stuck where you are, believe me there are lots of different opportunities out there.

 

I have a job I love and am very lucky. It was very much luck though.

 

I would never quit a job until I have a new one, I have been made redundant twice and it was very hard to get work both times and makes life difficult.

 

If you can find a job that ties in with any of your interests it can be like getting paid to do your hobby. :thumbs:

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In my opinion, you need to decide what your priorities are? Money or job satisfaction?

 

Neither my main business nor my EBay stores are particularly taxing, interesting or stimulating. Infact they are pretty dull.

 

But, to me they are a means to an end. I'm more than happy to do them as they generate the income that allows me to do the things my familiy and I enjoy.

 

My ideal job would be a Sky Sports News reporter or an Ibiza night club reviewer, which would be awesome for a while, but if the pay was £10k a year it wouldn't last long.

 

If you can find your ideal job for similar money to what your on now then go for it. If not then think carefully, as 'Job Satisfaction' won't put petrol in the 370z unfortunately.........

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By the age of 25 I was pretty well settled into a career, I had been to college and got some decent qualifications in Chemistry and progressed to a fairly senior job by the age of 30. Didn't like the responsibility though and wanted a job that I didn't have to bring home so when the opportunity arose I moved to another company, earning more money, but with less stress and a status drop of several grades. To be honest I wasn't cut out for management and only went to college because the company I worked for (British Steel) gave me the day off :shrug: There's nothing you can do about the era you were born in but today I wouldn't have wasted time studying Chemistry that's for sure, I'd have gone into a career in Computing, :)

 

 

Pete

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