Made the wrong choice. Kinda stuck. 17years young :(

I'd suggest you find any sort of job so you can help out your mum until September and then apply for all the apprenticeships you can find.

You'll be at an advantage if you've done work experience with the companies you're applying for apprenticeships with.
 
If the course is super easy then thats a bonus your can fly through the work, get a qualification and enjoy the rest of the time doing what you want. Your only 17 you have a life of working ahead of you, use this time to enjoy yourself and persue the things you love. Once your stuck in the 9-5 job your locked into the system and your life will change dramatically.
 
im in a similar position (nvq level 2 though so only 1 year) and im also thinking of doing an apprenticeship next year, but the nearest college which does JTL-organised apprenticeships is ~90 minutes from me :\ probably wont be an issue though, mostly because i can probably find the work-part nearer to me, thats if i even get accepted onto one.
 
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took me 4 years to realise what i wanted to do because i kept quitting courses etc

your job expectations seem a bit high mind... 16k for a 17yrold with no qualifications and expierience is damn good to be fair
 
howdydoody said:
he other option is, you want to learn something interesting, do hands on work and travel too? Why not pop down to your local army recruitment centre? You will do basic training and then you can go into an engineer/IT role. Its rather out there but after your initial 3 years you can either sign on for a long stint or take your existing skills and your new found motivation and walk into a civilian job.
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I done, appearently have to be 3 (or is it more?) years asthma free and im not. really bummer.


"andy" said:
your job expectations seem a bit high mind... 16k for a 17yrold with no qualifications and expierience is damn good to be fair
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Nah just happended to be the crappiest on the interweb last night. When it comes to a job all i won't do is working in a fast food resturant (obviously theres lots i wont do, but jobs that 17year old is likely to get i mean)

Right, best get a shower and stuff heading into collage. Ill speak to em see what they say
 
Allec, if you do drop out one option might be to get a cruddy job for a few days a week (if you live at home you don't need that much money) and then see if you can get some work experience (probably unpaid) a few days a week doing IT stuff.

It'll help your CV and help you get a better idea if you want to work in IT.
 
Can the course, get a related job and wait out the year. Re-apply again next year.

But I have a question: Do you go to college after your GCSE's or A-Levels?
 
I dropped 6th at xmas... hated it, was crap... now im in my 3rd job this year, ive recently moved back to Bradford and im trying to work my way up the career ladder, applying for any job that looks appealing and i now have a agency helping me out...

Theres things you can do out of eduication, its working, real work, and hard work, you have to put effort into it if you want to go somewhere without geting qualifications to give you that stepping stone...

Leave if its that bad and try work your way up a firm starting at the bottom, you will start at the bottom, but see it as a career opportunity not a job..

Your college on the other hand will be more than happy to help and it might not be too late to switch courses if you show the determination to catch up but make sure this time its worth while.
 
doesnt get much better when you get to uni imo

Im stuck in my second year, just trying to push through until 3rd year and then doing what I should have done, getting real world experience in industry and working me way up
 
I don't understand how you're paying to do a BTEC? Education is free if you're under 19 years old...
 
Random Guy said:
Can the course, get a related job and wait out the year. Re-apply again next year.

But I have a question: Do you go to college after your GCSE's or A-Levels?
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After GCSEs... colleges allow you to study A-Levels but they also do vocational courses. It wasn't possible for me to do the combination of A-Levels at my 6th form so I went to a different college, along with a few friends.
 
If I were the OP I would aim for Uni by any means necessary. How would that work if he has only done his GCSEs? Does he need to be in college for 2 or 3 years first?
 
Random Guy said:
If I were the OP I would aim for Uni by any means necessary. How would that work if he has only done his GCSEs? Does he need to be in college for 2 or 3 years first?
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A levels or A level equivalents usually... or if you're a mature student relevent experience can sometimes be taken into account.

Personally I would advise the OP to do 3 A levels - simply for future's sake, and if he wants to study things that interest him greatly, do it in his spare time. Everyone and his dog is getting A levels and a degree these days - what it does mean if that if you haven't got those then you're putting yourself at a disadvantage against every other applicant going for the job.

Sure, university isn't for everone. But getting a job with good prosposects off the back of mediocre GCSEs to enable you to progress and to gain relevent experience is going to be difficult. Get some sort of post-GCSE qualification and then decide what you want to do from there.
 
Seriously, I'd re-do some GCSE's at college - maths and english - and get at least a C maybe a B. Then go in to A-Levels.

I totally agree about getting off the course you're doing. I was on it. That course is a waste of perfectly good brains. I wish they told the truth about it rather than pimped it up with blatant lies to get people on it, then maybe I would be at Uni doing CompSci rather than at home trying to find people who want websites.

What annoys/upsets me is I know I'm perfectly capable of doing Comp Sci and a programming job, but I've not got any route to do it :( I'd have to do a Maths A-Level which is 2 years (there are no maths a-level evening courses within 20 miles, not that I can find anyway) then 3 years at uni, so I would be at least 26 before I'm out.

Which isn't that old, but at 26 I was hoping I'd be settled in a job not just out of uni. If I were 17 and knew what I knew now, I wouldn't have wasted my time on that course.
 
furnace said:
What annoys/upsets me is I know I'm perfectly capable of doing Comp Sci and a programming job, but I've not got any route to do it :( I'd have to do a Maths A-Level which is 2 years (there are no maths a-level evening courses within 20 miles, not that I can find anyway) then 3 years at uni, so I would be at least 26 before I'm out.
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There are some Comp Sci courses at university that don't require maths A-level.... might be worth looking into?
 
Don't worry about the age thing. IMO getting out of Uni older means having a bit more of a life/opportunity to do things as opposed to your 21 year old graduate who gets sucked into the working life.

This is a very competitive world and unfortunately, your A-levels, O-levels and Uni degree are the first thing that many employers look at when evaluating you. Go for the A-levels to Uni route. Work hard and you will never regret it. Also, you will have a bit more time to choose a good career path.
 
I've done what you're thinking of doing, I quit my Btec course at college and went to work for a year till the following September, when I thought I'd go back to college, do something I'd enjoy and everything would come up smelling of roses.

It didn't.

I went back to college on a different course, same old scenario. Didn't feel like I was learning anything and it wasn't a very practical course, just lots and lots of sitting and listening to a tutor whilst falling asleep.

So now I'm back where I was this time last year. Out of college, looking for work, trying to figure out what the hell I want from life. I enjoy the learning side of college, I'm just too practical-minded to be sitting in a room, taking notes all day, so I'm looking for apprenticeships for next year in something like electrical servicing where I'd be out and about, doing hands on work and not stuck doing paperwork in an office all day.

Hopefully I'll find something I'll enjoy within the next decade :D.
 
daz said:
Sure, university isn't for everone. But getting a job with good prosposects off the back of mediocre GCSEs to enable you to progress and to gain relevent experience is going to be difficult.
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This is pretty much what apprenticeships are for.
 
da_mic_1530 said:
doesnt get much better when you get to uni imo

Im stuck in my second year, just trying to push through until 3rd year and then doing what I should have done, getting real world experience in industry and working me way up
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Uni isn't a free pass into a job, you need to work hard to get the qualification. If they handed them out to everyone (although that seems to be becoming more the case with all of these "universities" around now) then they would be worth nothing.

But yes you probably should have gone into industry rather than go to Leeds Met.
 
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