Not the slightest clue on what I want to do after school..

Seanf999

It's not that I have zero ideas but more so I have so many that yet I still haven't the slightest clue on what i want to do after school and my over thinking on the topic is affecting my current work!

It's a catch 22 where I don't do well in school because I am constantly thinking of possible careers and chances are I cant get those careers because I don't do well in school..

My teachers would simply describe me as an under achiever.. I get Bs and Cs when I should be getting As and Bs..
I have considered every career under the sun, there is no one area that interests me..

I'm far too preoccupied with what I could do that I end up ping nothing at all!

How do o fix this vicious cycle of uselessness?..

Frigating

I'm in the same boat as you mate. My advice is just to forget about careers for now, focus on college. Find a list of courses, or get a prospectus, cross off anything that doesn't appeal to you, and have a look at the rest. Even look at courses you wouldn't have considered (eg philosophy). Few courses are vocational. A lot of employers just want to see that you had the maturity to study on your own for 4 years. If you have a related degree, and a good cv, they'll take you on.

Are you in 5th or 6th year now? It's not the end of the world either way, but if you're in 5th you still have ages. Go to open days, sit in on talks about the different courses. If you're in 6th, you still have until the end of June to change your mind. You'll be fine. If you really can't pick, go for an undenominated course (arts, science etc) and pick something properly at the end of your first year. I'd guess that you wouldn't need more than 450 points for many of them.

If it makes you feel better, I decided two days ago not to do the course that was plastered all over my cao. I'm going to change it completely when I can. Good luck.

pourquoi

Forget about careers and college for the moment. Focus on doing the best LC you can.

There's absolutely nothing wrong about taking a gap year after the LC. It might seem like sacrilege right now, but it can give you the head space to decide what you want to do and mature as a person. There's obviously a reluctance to do so because all your friends will be going off on a new chapter, but honestly, in a two or years' time, it won't matter in the slightest that you took a year off from education. Through various decisions, I am only finishing First Year of a five-year degree while my friends are starting PhDs and getting their feet on a career ladder. But it doesn't matter because I did what I needed to do and am perfectly happy where I am, and you can be too!

There's no point doing a college course "because you have to do something after the Leaving Cert", finding out you hate it, drop out and have to pay full fees the year after as well as absorb the loss of the cost of rent, living expenses, etc. (which amounts to approx €8,000-10,000)

Having taken a year off between changing college courses, I can thoroughly recommend a gap year. Hit the pause button on Life and take some time to discover more about yourself (sounds cheesy, but it's true) and what you want from life.

spurious

Do the Leaving, take a year off and volunteer somewhere for a year.

Currently hundreds of opportunities on VSI. I don't mean the ones you fundraise among your mates and essentially have a holiday. I mean the ones that actually do something.
Some possibilities for this summer:

• Carrot and seed cultivation in Iceland
• Working with disabled people in a residential centre in Belgium
• Stonework to build an art showroom in France
• Practising English language with children in Ukraine
• Preparing, helping run and cleaning up after a music festival in Russia

There's also the EVS, funded by the EU:
The European Voluntary Service Programme (EVS) is an EU funded programme for 18-30 year olds. The programme funds travel, accommodation, food and pocket money as well as preparation, on-arrival training and personal support during the project. Volunteering opportunities are available from 2 to 12 months (shorter periods and extra financial support are available for those with extra support needs e.g. those who have a disability and unemployed people).

Gives perspective on life, opportunities, what's important. Plus it's good for the CV.

djpbarry

Seanf999 wrote: »

I have considered every career under the sun, there is no one area that interests me..

The same is true of most people. In fact, I would say most people never really figure out exactly what it is they want to do. Well, the more interesting people anyway…

Look it at this way – how could you possibly know what you want to do career-wise at this stage of your life? So stop worrying about “careers” and focus instead on getting a good LC – the rest will take care of itself.

There’s some good advice above regarding making selections on the CAO, whether you apply for third-level this year, next year, or whenever. When I was completing my CAO application, I went through the entire list and crossed off everything I knew I definitely wasn’t interested in. I wasn’t thinking of careers at this point, just purely focused on what I wanted to do at Uni. Then, I did some research into the shortlist that remained and ranked my choices. I ended up doing engineering at UCD and things have worked out pretty well for me since.

Oh and all my grades in the LC were Bs and Cs, so stop worrying about that too.

djpbarry

spurious wrote: »

Do the Leaving, take a year off and volunteer somewhere for a year.
…
Gives perspective on life, opportunities, what's important. Plus it's good for the CV.

Also expensive, no?

Hon the Dubs

Have you not posted numerous threads before about how you desperately wanted to do medicine and you couldn't see yourself doing anything else?

spurious

djpbarry wrote: »

Also expensive, no?

No, the ones I linked to are funded from the EU.
One or two of them have a two or three hundred euro fee towards your keep, but most of them are free. In fact you get an allowance while on them (not loads, but still..).

They're not the 'raise five grand and have a holiday in Africa' volunteering.

djpbarry

spurious wrote: »

No, the ones I linked to are funded from the EU.
One or two of them have a two or three hundred euro fee towards your keep, but most of them are free. In fact you get an allowance while on them (not loads, but still..).

Cool - I'd no idea such schemes existed.

spurious

It's a really good scheme - they need better advertising.

Santa Cruz

spurious wrote: »

It's a really good scheme - they need better advertising.

Especially the ones that are a complete rip off

spurious

Santa Cruz wrote: »

Especially the ones that are a complete rip off

Which of the EVS ones would you describe as a rip-off? I'm at a loss as to how one that pays you EU money while you do it and requires nothing from you only your time, can be described as a rip-off.

**edit. Ah I see, I see your posting history now. Thanks for the attempt. 3/10