sooper-supra Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Well my son Ben 14 who leaves school in 2 years is now having to think hard on what he wants to do for a living when leavin school he has thought of many jobs but not sure Me and my wife have tried to give him as much advice as we can to guide him.But i was wondering if anyone on the forum could give him any guidence in what way to go (eg ict etc) he is good with computers into media ict and many things to do with these. any job suggestions? Cheers Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt T Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 College? Thats what i would do, and did do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 He doesn't leave school for 2 years, why does he need to decide now? I didn't decdide what line of work I wanted to do until about 3 months before finishing uni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Leaving at 16.. tell him to work hard and get some Qualifications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooper-supra Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 He doesn't leave school for 2 years, why does he need to decide now? I didn't decdide what line of work I wanted to do until about 3 months before finishing uni. College is where he does want to go but however not sure on what to study etc They make them start to decide now for college courses and interviews / work experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Perhaps he's at the point .. where he's choosing which GCSE's to study for. Should'nt the school be providing advice ? Or perhaps - get to look through the Job websites. That's what I did - I then had a vague idea of what I wanted to do .. and the school told me what I needed to study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooper-supra Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 The school have been giving him advice to do with jobs and gcse's to take he is taking a full media gcse which he says he likes as it involves computers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_M Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Most of the "trades" seem to be short of skilled people and there is good money involved. If your sons practically minded then he may enjoy this kind of work. I know nothing about the IT world but there would be plenty of people here to give advice down that route. I would have thought at 14 he still had a couple of years to consider options though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I'd steer him away from IT personally, the market is saturated with well qualified chaps who get very little real work experience beyond 1st line helpdesk stuff in the hope an opening will come up higher in the chain... The money seems to be in the traditional stuff, electricians, plumbers etc - mainly self employed though I guess. I reckon a good understanding of electronics, some practical stuff in metalwork, woodwork and physics tied in with IT would leave him fairly flexible when it comes to choosing college. He might benefit from a one year foundation course that gives him a taste of a lot of things so that he can decide what he enjoys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 College is where he does want to go but however not sure on what to study etc They make them start to decide now for college courses and interviews / work experience Wow, really? Didn't realise that :o Good luck to him then. My advice would be to do whatever he enjoys - if you don't enjoy something, you don't put the effort in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 College definately. I'd just advise him to do whatever makes him happy. If you're interested in your job then it makes life a whole lot easier. I feel lucky that I love what I do for a living. What he decides to do as a career now will probably have no bearing on what he's doing in another 10 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Same as John M and Mcanny said, Good tradesmen are few and far between these days. Im a joiner so i know the score and there is really good money to be had especially with plumbing and electrics. If he is practical and doesnt mind getting his hands dirty get him interested. Too many people are coming out with IT qualifications so jobs are harder to get plus people will work for sod all money due to the competition getting into the jobs and been desperate. Just my two pence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooper-supra Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 As being a builder i would like to have him in the same kind of line of work maybe plumber or electrics he said he wouldnt mind any of them he just need qualifications for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afreemason Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I'm a recruitment consultant, I stopped on a school and then went to university ..... so I think I can offer at least a considered oppinion ...... encourage him to study what he enjoys for as long as he can ...... that way he'll end up doing a job that he enjoys when the time is right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I'm a recruitment consultant, I stopped on a school and then went to university ..... I used to be a recruitment consultant and I didn't go to University, I pretty much went straight into it. While all my mates ate beans and Pot Noodles I was busy buying a house and a brand new car. Sometimes education doesn't get you the money but I reckon they enjoyed themselves a bit more than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Come 15 years and you're competing against the likes of them with their Hons Degrees or Masters you may well appreciate the difficulties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I've already been up against the "graduates only" jobs and secured two of them based on skills and experience coupled with my 'graduate potential' - a degree is simply confirmation that you have the ability to remember things and take time out fill in some bits of paper when prompted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Im not talking about today, but in 10-20 years. Hence the push that government is trying to get people into Higher education, companies dont want to invest in places with poor education. Why do you think jobs are going to places like India and not Botswana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 If I lose out on a job due to a lack of a "Expression Through Pottery" degree in 20 years time I'll look back on this thread... and then retire or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Dont be flippant, 2 of the last IT companies I have worked for have both started requesting lists of skills and qualifications specifically for use with contract bids. Im not saying people without degrees are on the scrap heap, I believe that in the future it will be a very important to a company to be shown to have capable staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Man Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 degree is an advantage, not essential. I am sure Mcanny is very experienced and very good with people therefore he has not problem with working life. I would advice not only your son but anyone to choose their UNI degree carefully. There are a lot of new degree out there which basiclly nothing more than filling out a form and people offering high paying jobs (30k+ starting) knows that too. If your son is interested in being employee and get sustained income then go for degree that would enable him to be "registered" i.e. Law, accounting, Medicine, dentist, pharmacists etc. Which all would need some specific A levels subjects. or if he want to work for himself then learn some trade skill which will be useful for a life time, specialist in Supra turbo would be ideal IMO !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankee Ruin X Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 If he likes computers then try computer game design/programming there is so much money in that at the minute its unreal. Just study the computer courses at college and your off unless you want to go to uni to fine tune your skills. I've got a friend who works for the company that make the Project Gotham series on Xbox and he gets to travel all over the world taking pictures of cities so that they can put them in the game and he gets about £40000 to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael parker Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I didn't go to University, I pretty much went straight into it. While all my mates ate beans and Pot Noodles I was busy buying a house and a brand new car. Sometimes education doesn't get you the money but I reckon they enjoyed themselves a bit more than me And being in the Navy i reckon i've had just as much fun,with 6 years of around the world, own house at 21, soop TT at 23, no uni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Man Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 If he likes computers then try computer game design/programming there is so much money in that at the minute its unreal. Just study the computer courses at college and your off unless you want to go to uni to fine tune your skills. I've got a friend who works for the company that make the Project Gotham series on Xbox and he gets to travel all over the world taking pictures of cities so that they can put them in the game and he gets about £40000 to do that. the problem with IT is that the top people gets all the perks and enjoy high life where the 2nd best get stuck with doing support stuff where pay is very little. I yet to see a dentist/plumber not able to buy a house. I personally know a few IT friends who is not struggling but not really taking off as they had hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 And being in the Navy i reckon i've had just as much fun,with 6 years of around the world, own house at 21, soop TT at 23, no uni. Me too, Left school after A levels, now 22 years old have supra TT, work car and im in the process of buying my second house. Most my mates have just finished their degrees and have stacks of debt to go with it. I dont think i missed that much not going to uni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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