Career advice

[Freespin]

At 21 years old i am starting to think i need to find a career. As there are lots of parrot forumers (making up words) with life experience i thought i would seek some advice!

I currently work with horses and i enjoy my job (have been here for 3 yaers) but its not something that will lead me to do anything i want to do for the rest of my life. I would however like to work with animals but i would like a career that will take me somewhere! I am thinking about investigating a job as a dog handler with the department of conservation or similar but apart from that im at a loss. The other one is a zoo keeper although i imagine jobs would be hard to come by and i would have to study and i have no money saved up and live at my current work! Now if it came down to it i could probably move in with my partner while i study.
I am in serious need of some advise on life!

 

[henpecked]

EDUCATION, more education.

 

[strudel]

How about vet nursing?

I don't know what resources they have there, but over here they had contacts at the education department and colleges and unis who know all about the courses and what you need to have to get in, and what the job market is like, all that sort of thing. I did some aptitude tests, they tested you to find out what your strengths are and what you could do (but this was a looong time ago). Get on the blower and start finding out about courses. There's probably stuff you might like that you don't even know exists.

 

[Betrisher]

It's very hard to become a zoo keeper because of the large number of applicants compared to the number of zoos available. You need to really, really be honest with yourself about what you want to do each day. When I was young, I was told 'You love animals, therefore you'll want to be a vet'. Nothing could have been further from the truth! I worked all my holidays as a vet nurse and soon found that veterinary work was not what I liked (although it was sorta fun at the time). What I'd always enjoyed (and still do, all these mumbledy-teen years later) was zoology: the study of the Animal Kingdom. Ultimately, I found my way into a zoology degree and those were the happiest days of my life! Sadly, I never did find an avenue to get paid work in my field, so I wound up teaching school. That was nice, but never what I really wanted to do.

My point is, don't waste valuable years chasing after something that's not really what you want. Try things. Volunteer. Do a bit of work experience at rescues or vet clinics or even a zoo if they'll insure you. Get in touch with Unis and schools and ask for prospectuses for their animal-based courses. You might enjoy working with farm animals, so you could visit an Ag. College and see what that's like. (I spent an hilarious six weeks working at our local Ag. College and nearly killed myself several times over, what with bolting horses, furious milking cows and electric fences - LOL!)

At your age, education is the very best and most certain way of getting into a particular field. Don't be afraid of Uni: it doesn't take brains as much as a willingness to find out and write it all down. You'd be exactly the right age to start as a mature age student too! (NB. Not sure what the educational set-up is like in NZ). Most of all, ask questions. Ask them of people who do jobs you admire or think you'd like to do. Ask them of people who've done courses you might like. Ask them of your family and friends too: they know you best after yourself.

Best of luck in making your decisions. I can't believe how hard is for young people today and I'm glad all my decision-making is done and dusted. With a sensible attitude like yours, I think you'll work something out and before long you'll be on your way!

 

[strudel]

Just one other point. It isn't a choice for the rest of your life. Most people change stream/careers. Things change.... People qualify for things that disappear as a job and then they do something else.

Betrisher's right, too. Sometimes the things you like are things you like as a hobby. As a job, it might not be the same.

Another approach is to pick something "normal" but with job demand so that you can pick and choose and maybe get more opportunities to do what you like outside work. For example, nursing. You can get a job anywhere, you can travel and get a job anywhere, you can do shifts to work around studying something else, or going riding during the day, or you can do agency nursing and work around the clock and then have a couple of weeks off.

Or teaching, they need teachers, especially in maths or science. If you can do either of those, you'll be in demand so you could go where you want. School hours are pretty good, when you get experience in knocking over your lesson plans and marking and stuff, you can make the most of getting out of work at 4 instead of 6 and then battling your way home on the train....

 

[Freespin]

Thanks for all of the replies so far!
Grooming type work doesn't interest me.
I would be happy to study although the money side of things worries me a bit but if i found something worthwhile i would definitely look into it further.
I enjoy vet type work so vet nursing is an option, the only thing that has put me off is that i have heard the money isn't very good but then again its not something i have explored much so i will have a look into that =D I wanted to be a vet growing up but by the time i got to high school i wasnt enjoying school anywhere near enough.