How did you choose your career?

I studied geology at uni but when I left there were no jobs out there for people who specialised in volcanology haha! So I then studied GIS which is mapping on computers and really enjoyed the technical side and did some information systems papers and when we came to aussie moved into the database admin side of things in mining which of course related to my geology degree. Loved the work because I am pretty (very?) a*al about data and also love working out how programmes work and how they can be made better. Also love the customer focus side of things which lots of IT people suck at.

So in a roundabout way, I ended up working in the field I originally trained in.

All my life I'd wanted to be a vet...... or something else to do with the care of animals. I am absolutely animal mad. I did a weeks work experience at a vet clinic but decided it wasn't for me. I just got too upset seeing sick animals, and seeing them put down etc. I also did a weeks work experience in a dog groomers. I really enjoyed that but decided I didn't want to be grooming dogs for the rest of my life. I then got into horse racing and did a bit of stable work and then enrolled myself in an equine course as I wanted to become a harness driver, but then ended up getting offered a fulltime job in Sales at Harvey Norman. Was there for a few years and loved dealing with people, but then got told by a friend about a job going at a local Bathroom store so thought I'd go for it. I got the job and fell in love with all the amazing products available. I really enjoyed working with house plans and helping clients choose the right products for their home. Overseeing the job from floorplan to finished room was awesome, and knowing that I'd had input into how it turned out. I've been working in bathrooms for about 5yrs now (altho I have moved to a different employer) and I am now looking a enrolling in an Interior Design course where I can earn a Diploma and hopefully set up my own business one day.
I'd never done that quiz on career services but I just did it and the top jobs that came up for me were Interior Designer (funny that), Interior Decorator, Architect or Lanscape Architect! lol so looks like I'm heading down the right path........

Edited by nzlisajo

I'm still trying to decide what I want to do at 31yrs old!

I left high school and did a bachelors in sport and exercise science, picked up a few psychology papers and loved it, so went on to get my bachelors in this. Then decided I didn't really want to be a psychologist so went back to my sport degree and did a post-grad diploma, decided I did want to be a psychologist, so started my honours in psyc, then fell pregnant and miscarried, withdrew from uni due to post-natal depression, fell pregnant again at the beginning of this year, so never resumed study, and went back to work as a nanny. As far as jobs go, I have nannyed for a great portion of my post-school years, both here in NZ and the USA. I have worked in a sports development organisation which I loved, but office work itself kind of bored me (need people to talk to!), and worked as an early childhood teacher both in a center and home based. I don't know what I will do after baby is born- I plan on being a stay at home mum but know that I would like to have a career at some stage.

Good question Stacey!!

I loved my time spent in a centre too MrsMc but wonder if I will still enjoy it once I have my own children ??

I've always worked in Admin roles but I really enjoy helping people find jobs etc and want to get into recruitment / hr. I did sign up for a course through Open Poly but I haven't been to school / studied in over 10 yrs that I have forgotten how to write academically and I am just about to give up (lucky I paid via my fly buy pts)...but I really want to do it but I am think that Uni is probably a better option for me.

I struggled trying to decide between nursing/teaching and doing something i was good at. I did a bachelor of design, then cross-credited over to bachelor of visual arts. Then went on to work for an insurance company and hated every minute of it, regretting all the study I had done! I remember wishing I could just work from home running a photography business, but because of my financial situation i couldn't afford to leave work to try it all out. Anyway, after Jackson was born i decided not to go back to work, and thought it was a good time to go back to study. I was this close to enrolling into nursing, but found ourselves in yet another financial situation and had to make some money somehow.. So that's how i started my photography business! And I haven't regretted it.

I realized that I like graphic design at the university. I was one of the designers of the student newspaper and realized that I liked this work. Now I'm often looking for a part-time job on the Internet and offer quality graphic design services. I'm pretty quick to cope with such a work, because I use free ready-made mockups such as here https://www.ls.graphics/free-mockups/magazine-mockup , for example, to save my time on performing routine tasks and optimize my workflow. It seems to me that this is a good solution for many designers.