What do i do!? i'm leaving school!

zanes · September 2009

Limburger wrote:

Pick a city with good nightlife not some poncy uni. Don't go to bath, they are scum of the earth.

Hope you mean Bath Spa!

zanes · September 2009

Limburger wrote:

Pick a city with good nightlife not some poncy uni. Don't go to bath, they are scum of the earth.

Hope you mean Bath Spa!

jrduquemin · September 2009

Louiis wrote:

Yeah i go to school, what kid would want to Learn in this society?

That's the idea of going to school, correct me if i'm wrong. Maybe things have changed since I was at school. Join the army, that'll give you a trade and will teach you some discipline. Do a few years in the Forces and when you come out, you'll have the skills you need to get on in life...

artaxerxes · September 2009

When I was your age I got on my bike (ok the Metropolitan Line) and went to as many restaurants as possible asking for jobs. This was during the early 90's recessions so there weren't that many jobs going, although it didn't seem as bad as it is now.

Got a job in a restaurant kitchen and in my first week I'd managed to cut every single finger of my hands

Still, I learnt to cook there which turns out to be quite useful in later life. Plus cooking is a very portable skill, you can go and work anywhere in the world.

At that age I didn't really know what I wanted to do either, but I ended up going to uni to do engineering.

NGale · September 2009

in todays world you have to be prepared to do any kind of job, since I was 16 I have worked in supermarkets, as a cleaner, as a security guard, journalist, admin officer in the Prison Service and now in the ambulance service.

I have a GCSE, A-Levels and a Degree, but I have still had to do cr*p jobs and you will have to too.

desweller · September 2009

Louiis wrote:

Yeah i go to school, what kid would want to Learn in this society?

Dude, without learning SOMETHING you're looking at unskilled labour from now until you shuffle off. That's a LONG time.

I take it you haven't left yet? If you like riding, how about working up to sports sciences or something along those lines?

CdrJake · September 2009

Get your GCSEs, get some A-Levels, join the Navy and contribute something to this society rather than expecting it to hand it to you on a plate.

Wallace1492 · September 2009

and there is some great downhill courses in Afghanistan.....

mikeyboy12345 · September 2009

You're posting in the Commuting section and you don't actually want a job to commute TO

When I was 16 I had zero idea of what to do as a line of work. So I did A Levels (and failed them). Which meant I didn't have enough points to go to a proper Uni, so I went to college and got HND in computing and became a software engineer because the money was great. And after a few years of that I realised I hated it so much the money didn't matter any more. So one Friday PM after work I chucked a backpack in the boot of my best mate's car, got on a Ferry at Portsmouth and went travelling and came back broke.

My career now is in a totally different line of work, and it won't be my last career either. I've been a civil servant, software engineer, transport operator, had my own mobile fone-based business, made redundant twice, became an alcoholic, and been to over 35 countries, and did all that before the age of 30.

A school buddy of mine became an engineer, then travelled around the world, joined the RAF and flew fast jets, became a secondary school teacher and is now a volunteer in Africa. And he's only 34.

What I mean is, don't make the mistake of thinking that the next step you take will define you for the rest of your life. The student option prob isn't as appealing now the grant cheques aren't there to boost your alcohol consumption, but you have to learn SOMETHING FFS! The quotes I'm currently getting for a new bathroom make me wish I'd become a plumber or a tiler instead of learning how to program a stupid PC.

But do something, otherwise you'll be like the office tea boy where I work: mid-20s, no driving license, never left England, got his munter GF knocked up a few years back, crap job, council flat, beer gut, criminal record. All because his idea of a good life was bumming around drinking cheap cider and smoking weed with his loser mates when everyone else either joined the forces, got an apprenticeship or went to college.

If you just want to ride a bike, then why not do just that? With some panniers and go as far and for as long as you dare. Travelling the world with nothing more than a daybag will teach you prob all you ever need to know.

What you do now prob won't be the same as in 5 years time, so don't worry about it. As long as you try something. As dear old Dad used to say "You get out of life what you put in", and I never really understood what he was on about. Until I reached 30.

God, I feel old!

always_tyred · September 2009

Don't go to university. Don't speak properly. Be rude to everyone.

Worked for:

Alan Sugar
Duncan Bannatyne
Wayne Rooney

always_tyred · September 2009

Louiis wrote:

Sorry but i'm not amused, just because i'm about 16, doesn't make some asbo'd teenage father with no liability, don't stereotype me as shoot ok?

You need A-levels. Everyone from moron up has A-levels. Singling yourself out to employers by not having A-levels is not a good thing.

Being a student - at school or uni - is comparatively an absolute doddle. As soon as you go to the supposedly greener grass of the working world, its a bag of pants and about a million times harder than merely having to remain semi-awake for 5 hours a day. On top of that, its less interesting. If you have even a tiny amount of curiosity, stay in school.

Uni - okay I guess, but no sense pi$$ing away 4 years learning hotel management, or media studies. No one knows what these subjects are, or gives a monkeys. All an employer will do is assume you were not sufficiently smart to chose, get in to, or cope with a proper subject, or that you made a lifestyle choise and thus have early stage liver damage.

Oh, and don't get a Geoff (first), unless you are charming and witty enough to persuade the universe that you achieved it through sheer tallent and not through being a boring ba5tard studying when your mates were on the lash.

Don't get a Desmond (2:2) because employers will assume that oyu were always out on the lash with your mates.

Don't get a Douglas (3rd) because employers will assume you are really thick. They will mostly be correct.

Dropping out is a viable option. Some employers won't be impressed, but others will see this as a sign of intelligence.

ride_whenever · September 2009

If you're only interested in cycling try sports management of sports physiology,

suzyb · September 2009

Basically your going to have to learn to live with the fact your going to be miserable for, if not your entire adult life then vast periods of it. If your really lucky you'll only be miserable with your professional life, if not then your personal life will suck as well.

So best try and put off joining the miserable for as long as possible because I wouldn't be surprised if you had to keep working till at least 70.

Or you could try and scrounge off the government for the rest of your life. Feign a disability perhaps or somehow manage to never get a job but remain on job seekers allowance (or whatever it is now).

CdrJake · September 2009

Always Tyred wrote:

Louiis wrote:

Sorry but i'm not amused, just because i'm about 16, doesn't make some asbo'd teenage father with no liability, don't stereotype me as shoot ok?

You need A-levels. Everyone from moron up has A-levels. Singling yourself out to employers by not having A-levels is not a good thing.

Being a student - at school or uni - is comparatively an absolute doddle. As soon as you go to the supposedly greener grass of the working world, its a bag of pants and about a million times harder than merely having to remain semi-awake for 5 hours a day. On top of that, its less interesting. If you have even a tiny amount of curiosity, stay in school.

Uni - okay I guess, but no sense pi$$ing away 4 years learning hotel management, or media studies. No one knows what these subjects are, or gives a monkeys. All an employer will do is assume you were not sufficiently smart to chose, get in to, or cope with a proper subject, or that you made a lifestyle choise and thus have early stage liver damage.

Oh, and don't get a Geoff (first), unless you are charming and witty enough to persuade the universe that you achieved it through sheer tallent and not through being a boring ba5tard studying when your mates were on the lash.

Don't get a Desmond (2:2) because employers will assume that oyu were always out on the lash with your mates.

Don't get a Douglas (3rd) because employers will assume you are really thick. They will mostly be correct.

Dropping out is a viable option. Some employers won't be impressed, but others will see this as a sign of intelligence.

Damn I knew I shouldn't have got that double first from Keeble!

biondino · September 2009

CdrJake wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Louiis wrote:

Sorry but i'm not amused, just because i'm about 16, doesn't make some asbo'd teenage father with no liability, don't stereotype me as shoot ok?

You need A-levels. Everyone from moron up has A-levels. Singling yourself out to employers by not having A-levels is not a good thing.

Being a student - at school or uni - is comparatively an absolute doddle. As soon as you go to the supposedly greener grass of the working world, its a bag of pants and about a million times harder than merely having to remain semi-awake for 5 hours a day. On top of that, its less interesting. If you have even a tiny amount of curiosity, stay in school.

Uni - okay I guess, but no sense pi$$ing away 4 years learning hotel management, or media studies. No one knows what these subjects are, or gives a monkeys. All an employer will do is assume you were not sufficiently smart to chose, get in to, or cope with a proper subject, or that you made a lifestyle choise and thus have early stage liver damage.

Oh, and don't get a Geoff (first), unless you are charming and witty enough to persuade the universe that you achieved it through sheer tallent and not through being a boring ba5tard studying when your mates were on the lash.

Don't get a Desmond (2:2) because employers will assume that oyu were always out on the lash with your mates.

Don't get a Douglas (3rd) because employers will assume you are really thick. They will mostly be correct.

Dropping out is a viable option. Some employers won't be impressed, but others will see this as a sign of intelligence.

Damn I knew I shouldn't have got that double first from Keeble!

Boring bastard AND a show-off

Thank god my 2:1 from Warwick qualifies me for greatness! Not even a stuffy old-fashioned university, but a thrusting, red-brick example of modernity and awesomeness!

CdrJake · September 2009

biondino wrote:

CdrJake wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Louiis wrote:

Sorry but i'm not amused, just because i'm about 16, doesn't make some asbo'd teenage father with no liability, don't stereotype me as shoot ok?

You need A-levels. Everyone from moron up has A-levels. Singling yourself out to employers by not having A-levels is not a good thing.

Being a student - at school or uni - is comparatively an absolute doddle. As soon as you go to the supposedly greener grass of the working world, its a bag of pants and about a million times harder than merely having to remain semi-awake for 5 hours a day. On top of that, its less interesting. If you have even a tiny amount of curiosity, stay in school.

Uni - okay I guess, but no sense pi$$ing away 4 years learning hotel management, or media studies. No one knows what these subjects are, or gives a monkeys. All an employer will do is assume you were not sufficiently smart to chose, get in to, or cope with a proper subject, or that you made a lifestyle choise and thus have early stage liver damage.

Oh, and don't get a Geoff (first), unless you are charming and witty enough to persuade the universe that you achieved it through sheer tallent and not through being a boring ba5tard studying when your mates were on the lash.

Don't get a Desmond (2:2) because employers will assume that oyu were always out on the lash with your mates.

Don't get a Douglas (3rd) because employers will assume you are really thick. They will mostly be correct.

Dropping out is a viable option. Some employers won't be impressed, but others will see this as a sign of intelligence.

Damn I knew I shouldn't have got that double first from Keeble!

Boring bastard AND a show-off

Thank god my 2:1 from Warwick qualifies me for greatness! Not even a stuffy old-fashioned university, but a thrusting, red-brick example of modernity and awesomeness!

University choices in my family were limited...Oxford or Cambridge!

Ahhh Warwick, like Exeter, the universities for those who didn't quite make the grade for Oxford

Cabin boy indeed.

always_tyred · October 2009

CdrJake wrote:

Damn I knew I shouldn't have got that double first from Keeble!

Ah, a double first... that designation for certain subjects merely meaning "a first" in other, helpful, subjects, and only available for subjects so arcane as to be of no relevance to modern society, such as classics.

Bummer.

d21dga · October 2009

CdrJake wrote:

University choices in my family were limited...Oxford or Cambridge!

Ahhh Warwick, like Exeter, the universities for those who didn't quite make the grade for Oxford

Cabin boy indeed.

Along with Durham where I went. Although I can categorically say that I didn't even want to apply to Oxbridge so therefore technically not an Oxbridge reject

woodford2barbican · October 2009

Have not read to see if anyone else has suggested this - but ride London to Bangkok. You will have some adventures doing that.

always_tyred · October 2009

woodford2barbican wrote:

Have not read to see if anyone else has suggested this - but ride London to Bangkok. You will have some adventures doing that.

Is there a lot to bang in London then?

Kiblams · October 2009

I say whatever you do; continue to ride your bikes, that way at least you won't contribute to the obesity drain on the NHS and thus our paid taxes

All that you can do if you intend on staying in this country is make sacfrifices (debt from Uni or volunteer work in a feild you enjoy) to obtain a job that you will enjoy, or do what most of the population do; work your way up in any job that interests you slightly and pays well so that you can spend your money on your hobbies.

Afterall the reason we work is to make our spare time as painless and enjoyable as possible.

Dgh · October 2009

Go to uni. It'll be fun, give you a few more years to think about what you wanna do, and if you study a course with a modern language you'll get to study abroad too.

If you keep riding, chances are you're gonna want an expenseive steed at some point in the future, so a decently paid job might be a good idea.

Paulie W · October 2009

Dont take advice from anyone who post on here!!!

always_tyred · October 2009

Paulie W wrote:

Dont take advice from anyone who post on here!!!

That's very good advice.

biondino · October 2009

CdrJake wrote:

University choices in my family were limited...Oxford or Cambridge!

Ahhh Warwick, like Exeter, the universities for those who didn't quite make the grade for Oxford

Cabin boy indeed.

I didn't even come close to making the grade for Oxford! But, that was a conscious decision - I applied (to Pembroke College) as a matter of course but it became very clear it wasn't the right choice for me (for a start I'd have had to do French as half my degree, and I had zero interest in that). So I didn't prepare for the interview, did badly, and got a letter back to my school asking why they had suggested I apply

Warwick was the dogs, though. Advice to kids thinking about university - if you come from a city, go to a campus university. I can't stress this enough - the enclosed, familial nature of a campus uni is brilliant, everything is designed to cater for your needs. And you get to enjoy city life during the holidays.

daviesee · October 2009

-null- wrote:

Basically your going to have to learn to live with the fact your going to be miserable for, if not your entire adult life then vast periods of it. If your really lucky you'll only be miserable with your professional life, if not then your personal life will suck as well.

So best try and put off joining the miserable for as long as possible because I wouldn't be surprised if you had to keep working till at least 70.

Or you could try and scrounge off the government for the rest of your life. Feign a disability perhaps or somehow manage to never get a job but remain on job seekers allowance (or whatever it is now).

This is the harsh reality of adult life. Get used to it.
The only other alternative is the lottery and that ain't going to happen.

You will get out of life what you put in and no-one owes you any favours.

Sorry to be harsh but it's a bad big world out there.
The best thing you can do is figure out a way of earning cash doing something you enjoy.
If that's not possible, earn cash doing something you don't hate.

Being a courier may be your best option around now. The Post Office seems to be messing things up quite nicely :evil:

soy_sauce · October 2009

just apply for any jobs. yup, i mean ANY... even those its cleaner jobs.

welcome to the real world. don't wanna sound harsh but any job is better than no job and you might start with a job which you totally dislike it to start with but as the time go by your interest with that job might grow or it might lead to some better paths.

good luck

DonDaddyD · October 2009

Wow, at a glance this reads like:

i) Armed forces recruitment

ii) Some boasting how good their education has been

iii) Some expressing frustration about their choices.

Louiis, whatever you do make sure you make the right choice for you. Just make sure you have fun and enjoy doing it and that whatever you do it isn't a harm to yourself or at the expense of others.

Don't shirk from challenge, they make life worth living.

My bro is 15, he is going to go to college. After that maybe Uni, maybe work.

davmaggs · October 2009

I would say that if you are signing up to a course (Uni or otherwise), training, or the army then do some basic research to see where it gets you after a few years and not just the first job. The money or coolness can seem greate for a while, but once you've been doing it for a bit you start to realise that many 'fun' jobs aren't that interesting after a couple of years, or the career is limited and to get the pay rises you have to move on.

That's not to say take some time (as mentioned by others) doing fun stuff, but instead I am saying that before commiting to something that is going to take years or lots of money spend time talking to people who've been there and look at the options they have open to them now that they are in it or have that certificate.

All of those institutions have people that are trying to sell to you. They may not be an obvious salesmen like someone in Dixons, but they have places and quotas to fill. They'll make it sound like their course is just for you and you'll make X amount afterwards.

The fact is that many people spend thousands on Degrees only to be 'surprised' when they can't get a job because they didn't look up what it was actually useful for or how respected their institution was. Read the graduate recruitment papers before you sign up to the course and not at the end when it's too late (you can see what firms are asking for). The same for vocational training (a lot of those training companies exagerate big time).

If you go to Uni, training or the army (as suggested by others) go for the prestigious units/firms and get qualifications along the way that are valued outside of that organisation so that you can move.

ride_whenever · October 2009

biondino wrote:

I didn't even come close to making the grade for Oxford! But, that was a conscious decision - I applied (to Pembroke College) as a matter of course but it became very clear it wasn't the right choice for me (for a start I'd have had to do French as half my degree, and I had zero interest in that). So I didn't prepare for the interview, did badly, and got a letter back to my school asking why they had suggested I apply

to be fair, that does smack of poor prep, why did you apply if you hated half the course?

Your oxford college really effects you experience, so it is very important to visit a few of them whilst the students are up. And choose a course you're passionate.

What do i do!? i'm leaving school!

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