Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I graduated at 20 with a BA in Communications/English and spent a year screwing around in Europe, returned to my hometown and got my first job at 21 in corporate communications. Since then I've gone from that to magazine editing, association publishing, government communications contracting, freelance writing, and now speechwriting. I've worked in Texas, London, Washington DC, and soon, Geneva, but each of my 9 jobs have been within the same genre--I think that's unusual over the course of a working life.
The job that I have right now is in IT, and has NOTHING to do with public policy or research, the kinds of stuff that I'd like to do. I'm still applying and stuff, hoping to get my foot in the door in nonprofit, but in the mean time, I'm dreaming of that beautiful start to my political nonprofit career.
I'm just 21, so I know I still have plenty of time.
How old were some of you when you started your career, and what was it in? I need some hope that I'm not falling behind or something, cuz it feels that way.
I was 24. After college, I worked as a stockperson in the basement of a drug store, a security checkpoint at a department store, and I unloaded trucks at UPS. I was a Computational Mathematics/Computer Science major and it took me a year and a half to finally secure my first career job as a software engineer. It required me to leave home for the first time and leave my family.
Hang in there and be persistent and focused. Target your search for the places you want to be and don't walk away if they tell you "no." If you seek entry into a place long and hard enough, sooner or later, they're bound to let you in.
Last edited by LexusNexus; 12-04-2009 at 11:03 PM..
Considering I still don't know what my "career" truly is, I haven't yet and I'm in my mid-twenties.
I thought that I wanted to go to work for corporate IT in an office setting and work my way up, but after doing that for 3 years out of college, I now know that I'd take being a trash collector over wasting away in an office for the rest of my life.
im 28 and still no career...good to hear that at your young age, theres a lot in store for you...i was 22 when i finished my pre-med course ( biology)..went to medicine proper for 2 years more, then my sponsor passed away so i had to stop and shift to nursing, i took another 3 yrs for nursing...finished 2 BS degree courses at age 27..now im 28, still waiting for hospitals to hire me...its kinda pooling here...i wish something better will happen on me...
It happened in my 30's, but that's also when I finished up my degrees. I was very lucky. The first interview I had in industry as a contractor landed a position and within that year I was offered a perm position. I'm not sure where it will lead, but my goal at this point is to climb the financial ladder.
The job that I have right now is in IT, and has NOTHING to do with public policy or research, the kinds of stuff that I'd like to do. I'm still applying and stuff, hoping to get my foot in the door in nonprofit, but in the mean time, I'm dreaming of that beautiful start to my political nonprofit career.
I'm just 21, so I know I still have plenty of time.
How old were some of you when you started your career, and what was it in? I need some hope that I'm not falling behind or something, cuz it feels that way.
I finished my first education degree in two and a half years and started teaching at the age of twenty. I stayed in the profession for 36 straight years with no break in service except for six weeks (I used accumulated sick leave that I had saved up.) when I had my only child. (I did not, like some teachers I know, take years off to stay home with my growing child. I was lucky to have excellent child care.) My husband and I just retired (He taught for 34 years.) in May, 2009. You still have some time.
At 21, I hadn't planned on making the job that payed my way through college into a career, but I poured myself into it, won contests, worked for the top local companies with other well known (albeit local) designers. At 36, I finally broke into my current career. Thank God!
But if I was to provide only an adequate amount of effort in any job or volunteer position I had until I was in the actual career path I want to be in (cause I'm not there yet), I would miss out on learning the skills that will be important for me later on - plus the good reputation developed in the past pays off in connections for the future.
Succeed where you are!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, there is time.
