Career? What Career?

look for graduate it jobs - Im in the same boat as you mate, just graduated from uni at 25 and now looking for graduate positions, but these are all only temporary for my cv. when I have the experience I'll apply for more serious roles.

you cant go to uni without knowing your direction cos its a waste of money, you need to apply to the graduate positions out there, they will be interested in you with your skill set. plus they train graduates to proffessional standard in most positions. google "graduate php" or something similar and you'll get loads of results - that is if you want to work on that. it can be a good starting stone for you.

eventually I want to be a project manager so Im just using php java asp.net etc as a base to my knowledge. It all sounds daunting but you gotta set yourself goals and steps to reach them.

mine are basically graduate developer > training > professional developer > experience in different roles > project manager

I know its not that easy but those are just the basics. you should look at what suits you and plan for that. its not that complicated and you dont need to write it down - just think about it.
 
Le_Petit_Lapin said:
Thing is, I'm a bit stuck at the minute. How do I move on to a better job for example? Its not as if I have any qualifications to show them. I didn't even do art at A Level. Do you have to put a portfolio together? the only things I've ever done are for work, I can't exactly whip out a load of peoples posters, banners, business cards, fliers, etc that I've done in the past.
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I realise it's a 'chicken and egg' situation which is very hard to get around and it took me a long time to get around it, this is where perseverance comes in. Yes a portfolio of some kind is required and there's nothing to stop you showing off what you've done at work. As long as you can justify which parts of each portfolio you did I wouldn't have any problems with it.
 
Find a job path which gives you enough money to pursue your hobbies with the minimnum time input.

Keep your hobbies for pleasure, not work, or they'll just stop being a pleasure.

You'll wake up when your 60, realise your too old to do a lot of things you wanted to, and curse your 'career' for soaking up the best years of your life.
 
I have done a few of the career and personality tests, and the results all vary from one to the other. Some get my personality right, but the jobs they match me up to are really boring and not what I like. If someone could come up with a career test that was any good they would make some really nice mooney.
 
Advice I can give if you don't know what you want to do for a job is try doing some voluntary work for a few hours a week. Do you like outdoorsy things? Then try volunteering for local park rangers etc. A lot of time it's a matter of who you know when it comes to finding a job, the more links you can make through voluntary work or otherwise the better.

Life's what you make it. I certainly didn't expect to be working in wildlife rehab when I was studing Electronic engineering all those years ago, but I'm certainly happy doing what i'm doing and at the end of the day that's what is important. 37.5 hours a week is a long time to be working at something you dislike even if the money is good.

And how did I end up working in wildlife rehab after getting a degree in electronic engineering?

Well, graduated from university 1999 to find Electronic industry taking a bit of a down turn. Moped around for a couple of years, then decided to get off my ass and do something. So I found out about volunteering at local park ranger service (which got me out of the house and meeting folk etc), then I found out about the wildlife rehab place, so I started volunteering there. Done that for a bit then I was fortunate anough to be offered a short term contract during a busy period. Eventually got taken on full time and I've been there about 5 years in total now!

Plan for next 2 years is to move out of parental home (work is relocating so thats a good enough exuse to get my finger out and get saving, got a fair bit tucked away already), then who knows perhaps think about relationships etc.

Meanwhile although I'm not earning a fortune I'm earning enough to be comfortable, I can afford to run my car, pay dig money, put a good bit away each month and still be able to buy toys now and again so I can't complain. Now I've taken up photography as a nice hobby, who knows where that may end up in a few years.

Bottom line, life is what you make it. A few years ago I was in a pretty sorry state (mental health issues, almost admitted to a psychiatric ward at one point!), but you do have to just get on with life and do the best you can. A cliche I know, but life is what you make it.

Chin up! :)
 
Moses99p said:
Look at doing an Access to Higher Education course ;)
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The closest place that does this near me is the place I have been to for 4 different courses, each time I have ended up leaving as the place is a total shambles, I am not going back and wasting my time on anything there again.

I'm looking at doing a foundation degree, then moving on to a full one.
 
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