Career Advice For Teens

We've all been to school and we all know how tough it can be on teenagers when at just 15 years of age, they are asked to decide what their lifetime career will be. Have you ever heard... "The next few years are so vitally important", "you must choose your career now, and choose your subjects accordingly", etc etc.

My advice on this page does not come from the stars, it comes from experience. A very wise teacher once told me:

"Choose the subjects you like, and the ones you're good at"

I took his advice and I haven't looked back since. I'm in my mid-twenties and I'm still not sure what I want to do for the rest of my life. I own my own business, am currently working my way up the Information Technology ladder in my chosen career, I'm also going to university part-time so that I can teach people, AND I'm looking into buying an investment property after I've saved up for a few years.

Believe me, there is always a different route to get to where you're headed, and don't just stop after the one thing has been completed, there are so many different things you can do with your life after schooling, to keep you interested. You name it, you can do it.

"An inventor may try thousands of times to perfect his invention.
This represents not thousands of failures,
but thousands of steps closer to success."

Since high school, I've learned a few things, which may help the rest of you who are struggling.

Did you know that the average person changes their career in a major way three times in their lifetime? So really, you are only choosing your first career. Don't panic if it's not all you thought it would be. There is such a thing as a mature age student, one who goes back to schooling whether it be university/college/tafe etc. to learn something different.

"It's never too late to be what you might have been."

Also, if you enrol in higher education (eg. university, college, tafe) and decide you don't like where your subjects are heading, enrol in another course! It's become very easy these days for university students worldwide to swap and change courses/degrees and subjects. Sure it might take another year or two before you finish the new degree, but what's two years when faced with the rest of your life?

"A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation,
with the bricks that others throw at him or her."

Lastly, it takes a huge amount of determination to get you through these tough years. So don't think it will be an easy ride. I believe that the harder you work during your schooling years, the more benefit you will receive out of them, in all the years to come. When I was 15, my mathematics teacher told my whole class, this last phrase about studying and doing homework, and I hope it hits the same spot in you that it did in me at that age.

"the pain of self-discipline,
is easier to bear,
than the pain of regret"

To be honest, I believe this last phrase could be applied in almost all areas of a persons life.

~ Kelly