# What would I do after high school?



## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

I'm 17 years old, living in Finland and very lost with what I want to do after this phase of school. I'm currently attending school that is quite at the same level as upper secondary / high school and after it has been finished comes university. And I have no idea what I'm going to do there or especially after that for living. I know it's still quite a long way to go but I'd really need a plan, or at least clear possibilities and choices, because it is quite stressful for me not knowing what I'll do. Before last year I've always had a plan, but since then I have had nothing. So I thought maybe someone here could help me by providing some ideas.

These might help with determining what kind of career might be good for me:
- My favourite subject currently is probably music, but I don't know if I want my occupation to be linked with music. After music comes psychology and biology then science, history and philosophy. (I liked English before, but it started to be very tedious and too simple after 7th grade.)
It'd probably be more easy to say what I don't like, because my spectrum of interests is quite wide; I hate PE as a school subject, I don't like crafts, geography or social studies either. 
EDIT// Psychology and biology would also be the subjects I'm best at along with physics I'd say. Everything else I said I like I'm quite equally good at. I really suck at sports and crafts also. Geography and social studies I simply find boring.

- I like writing essays and debating if the subject is interesting, I also like writing stories and "articles" no one will ever see.

- My hobbies are photography, drawing, video gaming, horse riding (and learning stuff...)

- I like animals from bugs to horses

- I'm independent, sarcastic, skeptical, socially awkward, detail- and future-oriented, perfectionist and punctual

EDIT// - My weaknesses would be my poor social skills, and I deal quite badly with very spontaneous situations. Anything that involves lots of physical movement I'd probably be bad at. I get stressed quite easily and I do not work well under it. I'm not good with tight schedules and "small quick projects" (I always get job done on time, but I don't like it). I prefer to work with one thing for longer amount of time.

Then strengths; I'm fairly good at organizing stuff. (but I don't like organizing people) I can absorb lots of information well and quickly. I'm good at analyzing stuff and I can look at things from various point of views at the same time easily. I can maintain objectivity in difficult situations. (which isn't always a strength... I can concentrate and remain calm for extremely long amounts of time, but for that I require complete silence. I get very easily annoyed with background noises and can't work if there's lots of it.

I'd prefer a job, that:
• Doesn't involve too much interaction with (living) people
• Gives room for independent thinking
• Has fairly okay income
• Is challenging 
• Is "meaningful"

These requirements don't all have to fit, but the more, the better. I'm interested what someone (if someone) comes up with something, if someone even ever manages to read through all this stuff.


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## RocketSurgeon (Mar 22, 2017)

Mangofruit said:


> I'd prefer a job, that:
> • Doesn't involve too much interaction with (living) people
> • Gives room for independent thinking
> • Has fairly okay income
> ...


Have you ever been interested in math/computer science? You really owe it to yourself to learn a little bit of programming (maybe spend a weekend learning Python) to see if it's something you could get into.

I was very unsure of my goals in college and was undecided the first year. Then, after taking the introductory-level computer science class, having fun, and doing well in it, I found that it was a great fit for me. I hadn't really considered it that closely before, but it just worked out. Maybe you'll have a similar experience.

I admittedly don't know much about the Finnish economy, but I do know the Finns have a huge impact on open-source software. Linus Torvalds, the main inventor of the Linux operating system, is from Finland and has changed the entire field of computation in many ways. Maybe it's something you could contribute to someday, and the work you would do would be incredibly meaningful. Finland certainly has a very strong community for creating software, which would benefit your studies.

INTJs tend to be quite good at programming, because it requires a unique mix of creativity, design, and fine-grained implementation that is very rare to have all at once. You may have a serious gift for it and not even realize it. It's a challenge at first and will take a lot of dedication, but it's also quite fun for some people. Even when you write something that doesn't work properly, it can sometimes be fun to find the problem and fix it (if you're not under a deadline).

Just a thought!


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## JayDubs (Sep 1, 2009)

You wrote a lot about the things you like and don't like. I'd ask a different question. 

What are you good at? What are you bad at? 

Make a list of all of your strengths and weaknesses. Figure out what jobs you could perform well. And then from that, pull out the ones that you think you'd enjoy. 

To put it another way. It's all well and good if a person loves basketball. But if they're 4 feet tall, uncoordinated, and out of shape, they're never going to be able to make a living as a basketball player.


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

RocketSurgeon said:


> Have you ever been interested in math/computer science? You really owe it to yourself to learn a little bit of programming (maybe spend a weekend learning Python) to see if it's something you could get into.
> 
> Just a thought!


I appreciate this thought. Programming has always interested me, but I haven't really actually tried anything. I also haven't ever thought about anything like this as an career option... But this would definitely be something worth considering about. After my exam week, I'll probably look further into Python too.


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

JayDubs said:


> You wrote a lot about the things you like and don't like. I'd ask a different question.
> 
> What are you good at? What are you bad at?
> 
> ...


Yep, I definitely get that. I kind of left that stuff out on purpose.  I really don't like thinking about what I'm good at, but you're right, I'll edit my original post because that information is quite essential. Though that stuff goes quite well along the line with what I like (equals I'm at least fairly okay at doing that) and what I don't like (equals I probably suck at it).


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## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

If you like psych and biology, I would suggest looking into neuroscience. It's really fascinating, and fun. You could certainly work some with animals and you could use your skill/enjoyment in writing. I think it would also jive well with your preference for quiet and longer range projects. I know Finland has some excellent Psych educational programs and believe you would do very well as long as you don't mind committing yourself to schooling for a while longer.


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## Penny (Mar 24, 2016)

SpaceVulpes said:


> I'm 17 years old, living in Finland and very lost with what I want to do after this phase of school. I'm currently attending school that is quite at the same level as upper secondary / high school and after it has been finished comes university. And I have no idea what I'm going to do there or especially after that for living. I know it's still quite a long way to go but I'd really need a plan, or at least clear possibilities and choices, because it is quite stressful for me not knowing what I'll do. Before last year I've always had a plan, but since then I have had nothing. So I thought maybe someone here could help me by providing some ideas.
> 
> These might help with determining what kind of career might be good for me:
> - My favourite subject currently is probably music, but I don't know if I want my occupation to be linked with music. After music comes psychology and biology then science, history and philosophy. (I liked English before, but it started to be very tedious and too simple after 7th grade.)
> ...


Why not veterinary?


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

SpaceVulpes said:


> Yep, I definitely get that. I kind of left that stuff out on purpose.  I really don't like thinking about what I'm good at, but you're right, I'll edit my original post because that information is quite essential. Though that stuff goes quite well along the line with what I like (equals I'm at least fairly okay at doing that) and what I don't like (equals I probably suck at it).


That's actually something I have thought about. But I'm a bit concerned about the fact that as far as I know many animals they use in research end up being without brains... And maybe them ending up dead isn't necessarily the biggest problem and concern, but the conditions they have to live in, which I know very little about for sure. I don't really know the policies they have with the lab animals. 
But otherwise, it's and interesting field. I also really don't mind about long education time, because with the career options I've ever had, I have already accepted my faith with staying in school for very long time to be.


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

starfairy said:


> Why not veterinary?


Well, for me it would probably be to much interaction with the costumers. And I myself couldn't bare treating and watching animals (especially dogs) whose conditions are solely caused by breeding.


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## Penny (Mar 24, 2016)

SpaceVulpes said:


> Well, for me it would probably be to much interaction with the costumers. And I myself couldn't bare treating and watching animals (especially dogs) whose conditions are solely caused by breeding.


well, i haven't had much experience with the vet but whenever i did it was always the techs who dealt with the customers.
if not veterinary and you don't like working with the public how about like a lab worker? i don't know what kind of degree you would need.


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## PNemo (Mar 4, 2017)

move to College Park, GA, and go full hood rat.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar (Apr 9, 2015)

SpaceVulpes said:


> I appreciate this thought. Programming has always interested me, but I haven't really actually tried anything. I also haven't ever thought about anything like this as an career option... But this would definitely be something worth considering about. After my exam week, I'll probably look further into Python too.


This free online course is a great way to learn the basics and see if programming is good for you:
https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:HarvardX+CS50+X/


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

starfairy said:


> well, i haven't had much experience with the vet but whenever i did it was always the techs who dealt with the customers.
> if not veterinary and you don't like working with the public how about like a lab worker? i don't know what kind of degree you would need.


I probably just have visited at such small clinics that there hasn't been many workers there...  So the vets have also dealt with the customers. And some kind of lab worker at some place (there's quite a lot of different jobs for lab workers) but I still don't think an animal clinic would be the place...


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## Penny (Mar 24, 2016)

SpaceVulpes said:


> I probably just have visited at such small clinics that there hasn't been many workers there...  So the vets have also dealt with the customers. And some kind of lab worker at some place (there's quite a lot of different jobs for lab workers) but I still don't think an animal clinic would be the place...


https://www.indeed.com/q-Associate-Lab-l-Finland,-PA-jobs.html i found this page that lists some of the different types of lab workers and what you'd need for a degree. just click on the one your interested in and it goes to a full page about it.


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## Penny (Mar 24, 2016)

oops that page is for Finland, Pennsylvania USA sorry


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## SpaceVulpes (May 26, 2015)

PNemo said:


> move to College Park, GA, and go full hood rat.


Yeah, sure thing. Best advice. 5/5


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## bigstupidgrin (Sep 26, 2014)

My advice would be to not rule out things because of the social skills aspect. You have many years to grow into that; even introverts can survive it . I hated social situations at 17 and I'm a school teacher now.

You're really young: just go explore things. Email potential future employers asking what skills/attitudes are needed in specific jobs. Volunteer at places you might want to work at. Even if you think it's a shot in the dark (is that an idiom in Finland?) you aren't losing too much other a day or week.


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