Choosing a career.

Hey guys, I'm 15 and I'm thinking of what I would like to do in the future. I'm not all that sure but I have some in mind but not sure if they are good choices, what do you guys think?

Lawyer
Computer Forensics
Some other form of IT (not sure to be exact)

So yeah, those are only a few careers that I'm looking into. Of course there are more but these are just some I'm currently researching.

Thanks.

You're 15....Enjoy high school don't get hung up on picking a career in your freshman year. Worry about that towards the end of junior year. That's my advice. And by IT, do you mean the Intelligence field?

Just so you know, computer forensics is going to be a lot of you looking for kiddy porn on computers, until you get into it a bit. Also, yeah, just try shit out and see what you like, you have time to make that decision in the future. Sure, think about it, but the best wawy to figure it out is to take classes in Highschool/early in college with a braod range of stuffs, so you can find out what you like.

Man you got a lot of time before this becomes an issue. Should you be developing ideas of areas what your interested in? Yes but planning out a career when your 15? No. You'll change in 6 years and your interests now may or may not be the same as in the future. When you get into college/uni chances are you'll probably change your major 2-4 times before you just wana get your degree done no matter the area of study. My advice just find things your interested in and go from there don't look too far into the future or you'll miss whats going on currently.

You're 15....Enjoy high school don't get hung up on picking a career in your freshman year. Worry about that towards the end of junior year. That's my advice. And by IT, do you mean the Intelligence field?

Just so you know, computer forensics is going to be a lot of you looking for kiddy porn on computers, until you get into it a bit. Also, yeah, just try shit out and see what you like, you have time to make that decision in the future. Sure, think about it, but the best wawy to figure it out is to take classes in Highschool/early in college with a braod range of stuffs, so you can find out what you like.

I think it's smart you are looking into careers now, because I was struggling with finding a career in college. Do all your research now as far as prereqs, schools, job availability/mobility, etc etc, because when you flip flop later its gonna cost you time and money.

@NekuSakuraba: Yeah. It's sad, but it's true. Once you get into it as a career, it gets better, but early on, you'll get the bottom of the barrel.

what ever you do, don't do graphic design, any kind of advertising. i found the hard way of not find any jobs for it right now.  i mean i've only been out of school for a few months but still. i found a part time job as a cashier.

Holy shit, I didn't know there were people younger than me on this site. AAAAAAAAAAAHHH. 
 
Seriously though, you don't really need to think about it too much yet. Think about stuff you'd like to do, but you don't have to go into full research mode quite yet.  
 
EDIT: That being said, I was totally researching careers when I was 15. It's just that now I've realized that it was kinda useless.

There's nothing wrong with thinking about a career at your age.

Use highschool be the 'testing; ground for which classes you have your eye on. For me, it clearly became apparent that I wanted to be in the medical field after taking biology followed by chemistry/anatomy. That and Calc. and Bio AP were just fantastic. I loved my sciences, I liked my math and I enjoyed AP English but I knew that bio was for me.

Is Computer Forensics the big trend for kids these days? I remember when I was 15 everybody wanted to be a Marine Biologist.

Don't just think them, try them. Go see if you can shadow whatever you want to be and if you like it enough, go explore what kind of dedication and school work is required. But for example, for lawyer, don't get discouraged when you find out it requires alot of reading. If you truly enjoy something, you will get through any grind to make it. 

@Bruce said:

@NekuSakuraba:

For the bottom two, how good is your Math? I know you're fifteen, but if you're not already acing Trig classes, don't bother.

As for becoming a lawyer, it's like an additional four years of college (I think, could be more). Not only that, but it's a big monetary investment that only really pays off if you make contacts -- through internships -- as you study for the bar. You could pass the bar and still have trouble finding a firm to take you on, especially if you're a young lawyer.

My advice: You're too young to be thinking about it definitively. You should have an idea by now, but by no means should you know. For example, I thought I was going to be an actor until I was eighteen. However, I switched my focus to English my first year of college. Your first two years of college will be general ed. requirements anyway, so it's another four to five years from now before you even have to think about declaring a major (what it is you want to study).

As for what career specifically: What do you like? What are passionate about? Realistically, what are you good at? Do you have any talents that could be enhanced by studying them? Also, last but certainly not least, can any of the above turn into a well-paying job?

What do you mean don't bother with the bottom two?

Billionare.

@Dany said:

Use highschool be the 'testing; ground for which classes you have your eye on. For me, it clearly became apparent that I wanted to be in the medical field after taking biology followed by chemistry/anatomy. That and Calc. and Bio AP were just fantastic. I loved my sciences, I liked my math and I enjoyed AP English but I knew that bio was for me.

This is probably the best advice. Use your time in High School to take a variety of classes so you can figure out what sort of work you would be interested in and decide what you're not interested in. It'll help a bunch when you're in college, paying a ridiculous amount of money to take classes. Having an idea about what you want to study helps immensely, especially when there are people who barely decide their major before they graduate.

That said, you're only 15. It's not really time to worry about planning everything to do with your future career. Do some research, sure, but focus on doing well in school and enjoying time with friends!

@Hizang said:

Billionare.

best advice.

I took the time when I was in high school/roughly 15 to take a wide variety of classes and join all the different school clubs because I was into everything and interested in all that my school had to offer. I did that to see what was best for me and what my strengths/areas to improve on were. Come next year you'll probably have 3 other things you'll want to do, just a warning, haha.

Computer Forensics 

Network Administrator.

15 is not the age to worry about your career. Just have fun in high school and don't take the time for granted.

@Dany: I ONLY give the best advice son.

At 15 you should be having fun, enjoying the best years of your young life. Your career will come to you in good time, worrying about it at your age won't do shit but make you paranoid.

You should try to find out what kind of personality you have. Try to read about the myers-briggs and see what fits you the most.

That way you can see what kind of work day you prefer. Heavily schedueled, or result focused? Personally, I am INTP which means I will get depressed by getting up an 8 am every day, lunch at 12 and so on. I need to have a job that is focused on results, not meeting up at a given time, and leave at another given time. Right now I'm studying, but I already landed a job in account management which I think suits me. But I recommend you find your personality type, and then find a career that suits your needs.

Billionare.

I'm 21 and still don't know what to do for a career. If you're like me, you're gonna change your mind constantly. I'm starting to narrow it down though, after a lot of pressure and nagging from my mum...

@Axxol: Ture but don't you think he will probably change his mind? The important thing is that he IS think about having a career. Just get good grades and you'll be fine. I didn't decide on a career until college. I don't recommend that though cause I am behind and will graduate probably in five instead of four but the point is don't decide now because you may become so hell bent on it that you may miss something else or be very disappointed at what the job really entails i.e. the kiddy porn in computer forensics. My advice? Stick with math and science and date a linguistics girl to proof read your essays, once you do that you can pretty much get a degree in the jobs you seem to be thinking about. Math though, learn to love it cause it gets fucking crazy.

@NekuSakuraba: dude just enjoy life right now.  Are you going into Grade 10?  I mean, you can worry about all that stuff next summer or during a Planning course if it is mandatory in your country/state/province/whatever.  Oh and dont fall in love at that age.  So hard to get over that crap at that age.... 

Meh you don't choose a career these days, you just pick whichever job you can and be happy you have money.

Keep the thought in the back of your head. You don't have to decide on anything, but it never hurts to explore your options.

At 15 I'd say it's more important for you to know a general idea of what you want to do rather than a specific job. Think about what subjects you enjoy the most in high school, and then look into what majors apply the subject(s) you like the most. Then figure out what careers you can get into with that kind of a major. In my opinion it's more important to pick a major that you would like than a career that you would like. A lot of people pick a career that sounds cool and then base their major off of that, but that just seems completely backwards to me. Also, keep in mind that you're not locked into what you decide at this point in time. Chances are you'll end up changing your major a year into college anyway, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Out of those options, I would chose Computer Forensics. Some one mentioned there is a lot of math, and there is. I'm just ok to above average at math, and I made it through Calc 3. Yeah, its a lot of work and so are the often required Physics/Chemistry classes that go with computer majors, but I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end. When I was 15, I would have never dreamed that I would have to be taking this much math to have a BS in Computer Science, but it's not that bad. Except for my Calc 3 teacher's tests,ugh. 
 
Also, if you interested in Computer Forensics, you might like Computer Science with an emphasis on Security. Cryptography and Database Systems might ne something you're interested in. 
 
I haven't heard any one who is happy being a lawyer. If you're in the IT field, you'll feel like your customers are idiots and you'll get tried of fixing the same problems. 

Ignore all those people who does not want you to look in to things , if you already want to focus your life I see no problem with that , it is better as many a times people on the brink on going to college have no effin clue as what they want to do , which is stupid and money waisting , as others have told you if you are interested in a career , look for the classes courses that have to do with it and see if you like/have proficiency in them. Thats the best way to find out what you like/good at

Think about what you want to do, rather than what people are telling you what you should do.

@Axxol: Ture but don't you think he will probably change his mind? The important thing is that he IS think about having a career.

Janitor.

@Joeybagad0nutz said:

You're 15....Enjoy high school

lol? Really? It's not possible for people to enjoy high school.

You have plenty of time to figure that out. I bet you will no longer wish to be a lawyer by the time your 18.

Do you want to be a lawyer because you heard it's a well-paying job or because you really have an interest in law? I'm not asking to be an asshole or to doubt your intentions, I just figured you should be aware that it's a lot of boring-ass reading and memorization, not to mention that you'll have a hard time finding a job when you leave school. I don't want to scare you off if that's what you're passionate about, go for it, but the whole "Why you no doctor or lawyer? Why you no make money?" route is a thing of the past. You could have it worse, though, you could be an aspiring writer, in which there's absolutely nothing available in that field.

Then again dude, you're 15. Go smoke a joint and drink in the woods or fuck in the woods or whatever it is 15 year olds are doing these days.

janitor  
 
oh fuck me, can't believe someone already did that just a few posts back. smfh

Chances are you won't get into anything on that list unless you really enjoy one of them. People's minds change. Try things out. I'm a second-year university student, and that's what I'm doing.

Creature handler with a bit of tailoring and architect on the side.

Wait.

Wrong forum. Sorry. D:

The best way to figure it out is to get some work experience and see what you like and don't like.

I'm going for president of the world. Wish me luck guys.