*This may Intrest some people* My Life plan!****

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Aaronblackman

Aaronblackman

In the Brooder
9 Years
Aug 22, 2010
40
0
22
So I have just received my GCSE results and got into college
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, this made me really think about how old im getting and if I want to go to university or not, truth is, I don't think I do, and even if i did, I am not sure if I could afford it or not. So my Mum and dad sat me down to talk about what I want to do when i leave college (they weren't pressuring me, just with the economic crisis atm, they think its best if i have something in mind). I have alway said i dont want a 'job' I want a carrer, and If i do have to get a 'job' I want it to be beneficial to my career.

To start with let me just say I want to join the Army.

From people I have spoken to they all have said, dont join when you are 18, get some life experience, so when i leave college, I want to possibly get a job as a fitness trainer in a GYM, or something that would really benefit me in the Military. I am very much a family person, with the income from that, i would rent a flat with a possible partner, which would give me a huge amount of independence. While doing my 'day job' I was thinking about joining the TA (territorial Army) as i have heard that you only train once a week in an evening, one weekend a month, and get paid, but I have also heard that its all voluntary Ps: I think this only applies to people in the UK. And what with training with the TA, seeing my girl friend and having a day job, things should be good. From the one i would like to serve my time in the real Military, and If I know it's what I want to do, go specifically into the Military Police. That can open lots of doors.

Does anyone have any army exp which they could share and let me know of any jobs i could do before the army, which may benefit my chances of getting in I do plan to enter at a Officer training level.

I hope someone has some good information they could lend me

Cheers

Aaron
 
Go to college. You will never be sorry you have a degree in Chemistry or Molecular Biology or Pharmacology.

Avoid majors like History, English, Psychology, or Cultural Anthropology. If the only jobs in that field are people teaching that field.... doom.

University will introduce you to things you never knew would fascinate you, beyond belief, for the rest of your life. Try a particle physics class, or astrophysics. Either or both, will blow your mind!!!! I even thought Statistics was terrific, but I have been called "weird" by others so.... I labeled my text book, with a book cover and wrote "SADISTICS" on it. My father told me "If you torture the numbers long enough, they'll confess to anything." But the fun part was that it made me pay attention to the way others use statistics, in politics and in the newspaper. Almost always wrong!

Particle physics is still a hobby. It will interest me, until I die. I will never stop thinking about how weird wonderful it is and every cool thing, in the modern world was developed by a particle physicist, not an engineer. TV remotes. Microwave TVs. Computer memory. The internet. New metallurgy and catalysts. Things that will change the world!

If you could make a catalyst that would break water molecules into Hydrogen and Oxygen, your worries would be over. Water, from teh tank flows past the catalyst, which breaks apart the water. Into the combustion chamber [spark], engine turns, exhaust is captured in a cooler area allowing the water vapor to condense and flow back over the catalyst.

Lather, rinse repeat. You lose some mass to heat, but in the meantime, you have an engine that runs on the same water, over and over.
 
JetBlack!!!!! Please google careers for people with a history degree!!!! The world is wide open. It is not the square peg in a round hole that most people think. Art is the major to steer clear of.

I did alot of research because my son is a TOTAL history NUT and at 21 he REALLY wants to study history for his own knowledge. When I showed him how many opportunities were open for him with that major, he is no longer cautious of majoring in History.

I agree with Psychology. Unless you plan on going for a Masters and becoming a therapist, stay away from that one too.
 
Don't take this the wrong way: the military is not a good career for almost anyone. Yes, there are a lot of people who tout its benefits, and some benefits do exist (mostly the healthcare), but coming from someone who was married to a military member for six years, it's not all that your recruiter will tell you it is. In fact, you may spend the rest of your life hating your recruiter and anyone who told you to join. The detriments to your sanity and overall health are very real, even if you come out uninjured.

Go to college. Get a degree. It doesn't matter what your degree is in, although of course your pay is largely dependent on it. But don't make the mistake of thinking that what you go to get your degree in will really be the place you spend your life. I have a degree in elementary education and I work as the vice president and lead researcher at a small start-up business consultancy. I've also been a dog trainer and real estate agent. Finding your place in life is tough and a degree doesn't give you direction, but buying that diploma does get your foot in the door of places you couldn't get otherwise. And yes, you're buying a diploma, not usually earning it. It's a credential that can help you earn more. Also don't make the mistake of thinking that it will guarantee you a job or a competitive advantage over other applicants or a good salary. It's the new high school diploma. You are better off with it than you are without it.

If you do decide to join the military, go ROTC so that they'll put you through school first. I'd advise against the Army. Former grunts I know have awful stories, worse than my husband's experience by far. Join the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard...anything but the Army and Marines. Get the college fund instead of a sign-on bonus. Don't waste your pay on fancy cars, and don't get suckered into re-enlistment bonuses. Calculate how much those bonuses really are worth over the amount of time you'd reenlist for. Another reason not to join the army is that the pay is really crappy and you gain rank a LOT slower than you do in other branches.

Truly, the best thing about joining the military is the free universal healthcare you get while in, which doesn't really help you if you get killed. You can get similar healthcare if you go to college with a plan to get yourself a nice government job when you graduate.

Join a branch where you're less likely to die, and take a job that involves the highest amount of training that your ASVAB scores will let you get into. Score well on that test and it'll take you far in life.

Better yet, if your motivation for joining is the discipline they offer and the chance to make a difference in the world, join the Peace Corps instead and don't go to any countries where malaria is common (i.e. Africa).

I think the best thing to do is go to college however you manage to pay for it and take classes that will give you some practical skills. Study sciences, math, accounting/finance, and entrepreneurship/business management. Those skills will help you make lots of major life decisions. Try to get into healthcare for the job security or government work for the security and benefits.

I think that's worth more than 2 cents, but that's my 2 cents.
 
You are eighteen? You are not too old to go to college.

Being an athletic trainer in a gym does not pay well, and it is not a career that will keep paying as you get older or if you get injured and can't be that active. The benefits stink and you just don't get the money.

In the US, the military is not something people who have any chance of getting into college deliberately seek out. The computer training MOST people get in the army is either so specific to the army it doesn't help one get a civilian job, or routine tasks on outmoded, outdated equipment and software that hasn't been seen in the business or scientific community in 30 years.

Pick a practical college degree. if you don't have an interest in technical subjects, develop one. I did. My income has been three times what my friends income is who did not.

History majors are not being sought in the job market in quite the way electrical engineer or network administrators are. It can sometimes serve as a platform for other degrees such as law or diplomacy.

A pure math or pure physics major isn't as sought after as someone with some practical technical skills that can be marketed all over the business community.

Jobs in the scientific community are less numerous and harder to break into than in the business community.

In the US, young folks graduating with a general law degree are a dime a dozen, and are no longer guaranteed that big cash or even a job when they get out in the world. They usually graduate with big student loans to pay off, and get into a job that doesn't have that top salary. Only a handful of kids from the top law schools with the best grades, fall into those big corporate law jobs, and they don't get a lot of time off to see their girlfriend.

There is no dream job and no easy route to success. Hard work, read the market, get the skills the market wants.
 
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My younger brother is a former (is that the right word?) Marine. Every week, it's something with his VA stuff - he was in the Iraq war, and had a medical discharge. He has PSTD, both ankles are shot, and no hearing in one ear. He is going to college now, and every semester, his VA stuff/GI Bill is screwed up. His insurance isn't that great, and all the other stuff that is touted for military, meh. Of course, I'm proud of him, and what he went through, but those few months in Iraq have caused lifetime issues for him...and a bit of school money he has to fight for isn't really worth it.

One of my ex boyfriend's was in the Army as MP, he went to Korea for a year. He now works in the mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I think JetBlack is right on. I have a degree in Molecular Biotechnology, and a few credits shy of one in Microbiology. I worked in that field for 7 years - pay is pretty darn good. Now, because the job market is tanked, and I took a year off to be home with our daughter, I now work in the insurance/annuity field. How does my degree help me? I learned how to use computers and various program systems to run lab equipment and analyze results. Today, I use computers and various programs to review paperwork and analyze errors. I used to work on new projects involving new EPA testing procedures, I now work on new projects involving NAIC forms and system testing procedures. I used to update SOP's for tests and equipment programs, now I update SOP's for evaluating and understanding insurance and annuity paperwork. The skills I learned in the lab have helped me immensely in the financial field, and it's showing in my paycheck. I like it too
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Besides, it's amusing when I tell folks what my degree is, and they go goggle eyed and ask what I'm doing there
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It opens a lot of doors.
 
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Exactly - nice in a state that has had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for a few years now.

I'm also close to making what I made when I left the lab industry....hopefully will be hearing soon if I landed a position within the company that will double my salary as well....
 

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