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Advice on direction in life?

malakaix

malakaix

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
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I'm looking for a bit of advice here, i'm considering visiting a career counselor in the coming weeks.

I am 25 and i have spent the last couple of years travelling on and off.. i was recently living in Budapest, Hungary for just over a year; during that time i was working different jobs in hospitality some volunteer and some paid but i developed a deep love for the people, city and culture. I just came back to Australia a week ago and i now need to make a decision on what i plan to do next..

(I should mention that i felt the happiest when i was able to help people while overseas, for example.. i knew the city i worked in like the back of my hand, it also helped that i fell in love with the city so i was passionate about knowing everything about it. And because i worked in hospitality people always had questions which i was able to answer in detail..)

On one hand i am in my mid-twenties with no qualifications, i finished school in Year 11 to pursue I.T work at TAFE which i later dropped out of due to lack of interest, in the time between then and now i have worked different laboring and hospitality jobs and have used the money to travel long-term and live abroad. I'm now reaching a point where i feel as though i need to focus on something long-term otherwise im going to be 30-something with nothing to my name.

I know that i want to live in Europe, yes the opportunities and pay is much better in Australia but after living overseas for a year i realized i'm happier there.. I have a British Citizenship so this allows me to work and live within EU countries; its more a question of the type of work.

I have considered the idea of an apprenticeship in either electrical or plumbing.. mostly for the stability (high long-term demand) pay, flexible hours and i could probably use the skill overseas. But i think a lack of genuine interest is deterring me from following through on it.. plus im not sure i would get on with the people in the industry, the other option is i go back and finish Year 12 and look at University.. however i hate the academia environment (I often learn and teach myself online.. and i wouldn't know what i want to study).

A trade seems like the easy option, but i think i would feel very unfulfilled. Perhaps studying Business and Marketing at Uni would be an option, as my friends told me jokingly 'everyone studies that when there not sure what do study'.. but also ultimately working for myself is much more appealing (another possibility with trade work).

I was also in a relationship with a girl while abroad, she's gone to India to do voluntary teaching for 8 months.. i am trying my hardest to approach this decision situation on my own terms without the idea of her influencing it, but its difficult.

Does anyone have any advice? I think i will definitely see a career counselor soon, because this lack of direction is starting to get out of hand.. as far as i can tell, the root issue is long-term i don't know what i want.. which makes it hard to plan long-term. If i was intent on having my own family i would approach looking for work based on stability, demand and pay.. weather i personally enjoyed it or not wouldn't be so much of an issue.

I know i need to approach things for myself, but i dont have much of a reason to do anything other then to survive; this is a result of not knowing what i enjoy personally and been able to pursue that. I NEED a creative outlet..

Thankyou.
 
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My advice is to figure out why you're happier abroad. Is there something you're running away from? Something difficult that you don't want to confront. But maybe would leave you better off in the long run if you did.

Being a plumber or an electrician is a good occupation but regarding your international lifestyle keep in mind that different countries will have different standards/certifications/whatever and you can't go anywhere and just do it (legally). LMAO at not getting along with people in the industry, what, afraid you'd have to talk about sports or something.

I'd say become a travel agent but that job is an IT job nowadays and you dropped out because of a lack of interest already so. I dunno man.
 
You're 25 so if you could get into Uni in the UK again you'd qualify for the student loans for mature students.. which means you could get £3k loan + £3k grant (non-repayable). Providing you've not used your 4 years of study entitlement from them. It's an expensive deal, but then again it's a huge economic bubble that will probably burst at some point and could result in people's debt repayments vanishing haha (don't take my word on this though).

I guess it depends on what kind of person you are. A trade where you're hands on can be fulfilling.. you actually see the results of your toil, which is satisfying. And if you get the right work could be mentally stimulating also, like something involving crafting perhaps. Though the menial stuff, plumbing, electrician etc probably pays a lot better and is more stable.. but maybe a bit boring?

Or you could go the uni route and get into a profession. Which is the option I'm doing (doing an MA in Landscape Architecture). This is mentally stimulating and creatively demanding, which is nice, but not so hands on.. and ironically I prefer the hands on stuff! Very good with my hands, fixing, making, perfecting something.

As for australia.. the sun and outdoor lifestyle sounds great to me. Never experienced it though. England is nice when you get nice weather but the lack of sun does really affect my mood, especially if im stuck indoors under fucking energy saving lightbulbs! Ugh.

Whether I will "enjoy" my profession I don't know. Once I make it to £30k that should be enough to give me the lifestyle I want though.
 
my advice to you is to 'shadow' people who have been doing their jobs for years, and see first hand what exactly their day-to-day work is like, and decide if you could honestly see yourself doing that as a career. you can do all the research in the world on the internet, but until you see it first-hand, it's not quite the same

especially in the trades, if you cold call some plumbers / electricians / carpenters / whatever you're considering... and let them know of your situation. You're offering to work for free for 1 day, provided you can ask them a whole bunch of questions about their job, get their advice, record the conversation (so you can listen to it later, etc)... I'm sure they would be willing to work out some kind of deal

Best of luck!!
 
Thank-you all for the advice.

I've had some time to look at options and really ask myself what i could see myself doing and enjoying.

I have done this 'shadow' work in the past, i spent a week with an electrician on a voluntary basis to get an idea of the industry.. unfortunately the dude had a super short fuse and was impossible to work with, it may of tainted my perception of trade work but giving it more thought i just don't think the environment would be stimulating or creatively challenging enough. - My brother is a qualified tiler and he can't stand it anymore, he's looking at other avenues of interest.. he can make very good money and has stable work, but for him it's just too repetitive.

Honestly i think i've been looking at all of this from the wrong angle.. I've never enjoyed 'working' on instruction; i have historically been terrified of responsibility and have opted for work where i have little to no responsibility; but i know deep down i desire it as it's also synonymous with freedom. When i was working overseas in the hospitality field.. there were days, sometimes entire weeks where due to unforeseen circumstances i had to run the entire business myself.. and to my surprise i loved it! I was in charge of everything, it was chaotic and i often had to think on my feet and problem solve.. you never knew what to expect next. But i had the full responsibility of it, which also meant complete freedom to determine the best course of action..

Looking at it from this perspective, i think owning and running my own business focused around my interests of travel and culture may be an interesting way to go.. if even ultimately as a social enterprise. I need to be in a position where i can constantly create and improve (This is a reason i enjoyed freelance I.T work.. i was my own boss, and i had to actively think outside the box to solve problems) So i think i might look further into studying business and marketing, while working part-time to save cash for an investment.
 
um apply for foodstamps formost. Then like fasfa thatshit.take like all electives and use the remaining cash to take yo girl out or get the eth sab.mount in wow. Your call
 
Hey, tis you! Good to see you survived Pest (be honest, how many times did you have your pocket picked by gypsies? ;) ). Here's an idea, aren't there trade schools in OZ where you can finish getting creds for IT? Going to trade school for IT is way more engaging and better bang for your buck than going to university, and in the market it's not worth any less. If you intend to go back to Europe, it would be smart to get proper IT credentials because software development is one of the top industries in Central European cities like Budapest, Bratislava, Brno, Berlin.

I wouldn't shift to business/marketing personally, just because those are not as universal as IT skills are. A native English speaker has a huge leg-up in being an IT professional, whereas the knowledge required for business and marketing professions can differ widely between regions, because of the differences in politics and culture.

If you put your all into it then no doubt you could succeed but IMHO you would have a better starting position, internationally, with IT creds.
 
thujone said:
Hey, tis you! Good to see you survived Pest (be honest, how many times did you have your pocket picked by gypsies? ;) ). Here's an idea, aren't there trade schools in OZ where you can finish getting creds for IT? Going to trade school for IT is way more engaging and better bang for your buck than going to university, and in the market it's not worth any less. If you intend to go back to Europe, it would be smart to get proper IT credentials because software development is one of the top industries in Central European cities like Budapest, Bratislava, Brno, Berlin.

I wouldn't shift to business/marketing personally, just because those are not as universal as IT skills are. A native English speaker has a huge leg-up in being an IT professional, whereas the knowledge required for business and marketing professions can differ widely between regions, because of the differences in politics and culture.

If you put your all into it then no doubt you could succeed but IMHO you would have a better starting position, internationally, with IT creds.
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Hey thujone.. good to see you again, yeah i survived :) Actually.. and i am been honest here, never had my pocket picked in Budapest.. i found the city to be quite tame compared to some other cities in that region.. there are a lot of gypsies though wow, and each year i see more homeless on the streets, but there's a lot of new infrastructure been built.

Thankyou for the advice about I.T. Yeah there's a trade school here; TAFE where you can pursue study in I.T related fields.. i should look into it again.. the course i finished focused primarily on the technical side of hardware and circuitry repair rather then software systems (which is what i prefer and have a better depth of understanding).. but your dead-on about I.T been one of the top industries Central Europe.. almost all the foreigners i met working in Hungary or neighboring countries were working in I.T related jobs.
 
yeh, i started out in electronics engineering too, had some ups n downs switching over to software but in the end i feel it was the right choice, there seem to be a far greater range of opportunities in software than in hardware stuff. trade school just gives you the diploma then it's all up to your own leanings and resume whether or not you look better than someone with a bachelor's degree. should be able to do the courses at night too, frees up the days for work
 
Since you like traveling, why not be a flight attendant? :)
 
You might not feel young, but you ARE...so sometimes try to relax and be content with "Existing" ...
so much pressure to "be somebody" these days. You are somebody. Direction is good but don't over think it or you'll get stressed.
You already are "somebody". :) corny? meh... ya. But still...
"Just beeeee"
 
Yeah why not finish your IT course, and try the software side, or try to be flight attendant if you really like traveling
 
If you are unsure- I have a friend who has a sister who just works as an english teacher in Turkey....I heard its really easy to qualify for an english teaching job in a lot of countries and you could continue your travels until you really find out what you wanna do! Hope you figure it out!
 
If you like travel, why not stay in the hopitality industry in marketing?

We hire a group of visa kids during the season where I work...some from Bulgaria, Australia, Poland, etc. I love spending the summer with my adopted kids when they come here for 9 months out the year!

Maybe you can apply for a visa and work at one of the nice resorts year round.

Just a suggestion....
 
I'd say the best advice is to think of things you would enjoy doing without pay, and then get a job in that field.

Would you spend your free time plumbing for your own enjoyment? If so, go for it.

If you find something you love doing, the paycheck is just a bonus.

Working a job you're not really fond of just for money sucks.
You can also fail and something you don't even like, which is worst of all-- so you may as well try for what you really enjoy.

You may have to work jobs you don't like to get to that point, bit it will be well worth it when you actually look forward to working.
 
LilikoiMoon said:
If you like travel, why not stay in the hopitality industry in marketing?

Maybe you can apply for a visa and work at one of the nice resorts year round.
Click to expand...

Yeah i think i will do something like this, im fortunate to have an EU passport so i can legally live and work in any of the member countries of Europe.

mabzie55 said:
I'd say the best advice is to think of things you would enjoy doing without pay, and then get a job in that field.

Would you spend your free time plumbing for your own enjoyment? If so, go for it.

If you find something you love doing, the paycheck is just a bonus.

Working a job you're not really fond of just for money sucks.
You can also fail and something you don't even like, which is worst of all-- so you may as well try for what you really enjoy.

You may have to work jobs you don't like to get to that point, bit it will be well worth it when you actually look forward to working.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Mabzie55

You make a lot of good points, many of which i've taken on board. Since i created this thread I've spent a great deal of time thinking about what i plan to do.. taking into consideration all of the above points.

I mentioned this previously.. but i worked in a hostel abroad for just under one year, it was purely volunteer work with little money here and there.. i was working for free accommodation but essentially i was working for free. I thoroughly enjoyed what i was doing.. it catered to my interests; i was able to meet new people every-day.. talk about travel and life.. and the job required a constant 'think on your feet' mentality because there was always unique situations arising which kept the environment interesting and allowed you to be creative, plus i was engrossed in the culture surrounding me by living and working in a foreign country. I remember thinking while i was working about how i could do a better job then the people who owned and ran the business.. from marketing to basic maintenance and upkeep, there was so much i wanted to do to make everything better.. but it wasn't my business to do so.

So i took this information and thought about how i could turn this into something more long-term. A friend of mine from Seattle was talking to me some time ago entertaining the idea of a hostel business.. at the time i was pre-occupied with other events in my life; but i recently i remembered this and started researching the idea.. i have found people interested in partnerships, investments and sharing business ideas.

I plan to go forward with this.. im going to be met with a lot of resistance and doubt from people, friends and family.. and a lot of bureaucracy. I mean, fuckit you have to pursue what your passionate about even if it seems really out there.. otherwise whats the point? I'd rather try this and fail then settle for something im not interested in and hate just because it provided more financial stability. I've already been in contact with some people both local and foreign who have actually done this successfully.

So right now im back to working 40 hour weeks doing basic warehouse, driving and laboring work, im not a fan of this work.. but it pays very well and over the course of next year and into 2016 it will provide me with the capital to begin investing into a business overseas and potential partnerships.

I don't know how everything will turn out.. but for the moment, it's given me something to aim for :)
 
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