Teen needing job advice!

.Sean

.Sean

.Sean

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Joined
30 Sep 2007
Posts
1,693
I created a thread here in March 2010 asking for help regarding college. Unfortunately, it turns out I've just wasted time as I recently left my IT course. That was my second time there and to be honest, I should've known that it wasn't going to work. My father is a very intense man at times, especially when it comes to my education. He insisted that college was the right thing for me, even though I wasn't very keen.

tl;dr - I dropped out of college and now I'm in the poop. :(

I'm 18, left school at 16. I have 7 Scottish Standard Grade passes at General and Credit level and 4 national unit passes before leaving college. I have no Highers/Advanced Highers due to leaving school 2 years early. Uni isn't possible, college isn't an option anymore and my dad is going to kill me! :D

I don't know what I want to do career wise. I enjoy working with computers but without a certificate I probably couldn't get a job around here. I've never written a CV in my life, but I think I could maybe muster something up after reading a few threads on here, although it'll end up being bare due to my lack of study and work experience.

Honestly, I'm lost. I have no one else to talk to about this which is why I'm posting here. Has anyone been in a similar position to me? I'm not sure where to go from here. Should I be talking to some sort of careers adviser/job center for some help?

Thanks for reading, any help is greatly appreciated!
 
I was in a pickle once myself when I left school. Parent were adamant that I stayed and did 6th form. I knew that I would go, just not do any work and mess about. Anyway, I did an engineering apprenticeship which was the best thing career wise i've done so far, I loved it. Worked 4 out of 5 days a week and on Fridays i'd have my day release to go to college from 9am to 7:30PM.

If you;re doing I.T look for a small shop that might take you on as an apprentice.
 
billysielu said:
I don't understand - why did you drop out?
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Didn't get along with the tutors and I missed a few deadlines. I fully accept that everyone has a tutor they don't get along with and that I should've completed work in time. My fault, but college isn't for everyone. I really didn't enjoy it so I decided to leave.
 
I ask because you seem reasonable - I don't see why you can't succeed with education. I think it would be best for you in the long run.

If you disagree - there's no reason why you can't get into an industry and train up. That's a perfectly valid way to go, and if you're motivated you can do just as well if not better than someone with a degree.

The question would be what career path to start on?
 
tesco , asda , sainsburys , M & S , aldi , morrions maybe one day harrods on the check out !

or you could try to get a job at ocuk working in the warehouse sweeping up and putting cardboard boxes in a skip
 
OldCoals said:
Why are people suggesting the educational route when it is clearly not suitable for the OP.
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Because whilst no, it's not for everyone, the OP lives in a tiny place in the north of Scotland where jobs are probably not his to pick and choose from. I think his location plays a massive part in how easy (read : hard) he'll find it to work at an apprentice level.
 
.Sean said:
Didn't get along with the tutors and I missed a few deadlines. I fully accept that everyone has a tutor they don't get along with and that I should've completed work in time. My fault, but college isn't for everyone. I really didn't enjoy it so I decided to leave.
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Least you didn't steal a hard drive. :D :p

Perhaps you should have just stuck it out at college or try and get an apprenticeship now.

Either way, good luck! :)
 
buchtis said:
I was in a pickle once myself when I left school. Parent were adamant that I stayed and did 6th form. I knew that I would go, just not do any work and mess about. Anyway, I did an engineering apprenticeship which was the best thing career wise i've done so far, I loved it. Worked 4 out of 5 days a week and on Fridays i'd have my day release to go to college from 9am to 7:30PM.

If you;re doing I.T look for a small shop that might take you on as an apprentice.
Click to expand...

Perhaps an apprenticeship would be a good idea, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to find an IT place around here that'd take me on.

Sometimes I wonder why I limit myself to IT. I'm just worried that if I chose anything else I'd regret it.

meghatronic said:
Foundation course + Uni?
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I don't think Inverness College offer anything like that. I wouldn't mind moving to Aberdeen/Glasgow/Edinburgh for such a thing, but that's probably impossible as I have no money. :o

billysielu said:
I ask because you seem reasonable - I don't see why you can't succeed with education. I think it would be best for you in the long run.

If you disagree - there's no reason why you can't get into an industry and train up. That's a perfectly valid way to go, and if you're motivated you can do just as well if not better than someone with a degree.

The question would be what career path to start on?
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Maybe it would, but I'd have to figure out what I want to do. An IT based course at Inverness College is no longer an option. I'm not even sure if the college would take me back after leaving two courses already?

arknor said:
tesco , asda , sainsburys , M & S , aldi , morrions maybe one day harrods on the check out !

or you could try to get a job at ocuk working in the warehouse sweeping up and putting cardboard boxes in a skip
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I appreciate the reply, but I think my soul has taken enough of a beating. :p

[FnG]magnolia;18204376 said:
I think his location plays a massive part in how easy (read : hard) he'll find it to work at an apprentice level.
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This tbh. I don't actually LIVE in Inverness either, I live 25 miles further North. It's a 1+ hour bus ride every morning for me to get there due to traffic. :(
 
Are your parents not offering you any support and/or money to pursue an apprenticeship or whatever?
 
Macky said:
Are your parents not offering you any support and/or money to pursue an apprenticeship or whatever?
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I've not directly asked them about an apprenticeship. I'll bring it up with my dad the next time we talk. He'll probably be too busy raging at me for leaving college though. :(
 
I think an apprenticeship is your best path left. At least you can get some experience within IT and not have to worry too much about the education side of things. As for being unsure about what careers you want in life, it's okay, you're young. Have a think about something you like doing and look at career prospects around that.
 
Hello again! I've read a bunch of CV threads and created my own using a lot of great advice. I genuinely don't have much I could put into a CV, so naturally it looks a little bare.

There is a position avaliable for an apprentice technical engineer that I was going to send this to. But before I do that, I of course need to get the approval of GD!

It's not much, but it's something. Click the image for a slightly larger version, I had to scale it down in Word for the screen shot.

http://img834.imageshack.us/f/51018634.jpg/

I'm not going to lie, I nicked a few lines from various other CVs found on here. :o
 
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.Sean said:
Hello again! I've read a bunch of CV threads and created my own using a lot of great advice. I genuinely don't have much I could put into a CV, so naturally it looks a little bare.

There is a position avaliable for an apprentice technical engineer that I was going to send this to. But before I do that, I of course need to get the approval of GD!

It's not much, but it's something. Click the image for a slightly larger version, I had to scale it down in Word for the screen shot.

http://img834.imageshack.us/f/51018634.jpg/

I'm not going to lie, I nicked a few lines from various other CVs found on here. :o
Click to expand...

Very bare is a slight understatement. Do you have anything you have done to put on it? Sports teams, youth club leadership, joined any sort of club at college? Any work experience???

If not, then at least look at what the apprenticeship/job advert states are the required skills and state that you have them on your cv. Also, I would write a cover letter explaining that although you don't have much experience you are really interested in the opportunity they are offering (be specific to show you are keen, why do you want to be a technical engineer? why do you want to work at their company?...). With that CV you have to go the extra mile otherwise you'll never get a look in.

edit: make sure you menton that you have good social and interpersonal skills as I imagine an apprenticeship means you'll be working with people.
 
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