Future/Career Anxiety

[Bigtony]

Hello, I'm 20 years old and I am currently unemployed, I dropped out of school in year 9 because of personal family reasons, I'm extremely stressed about my future work life, because I have had no qualifications I have only worked in jobs like labouring for tradies ect, I want to pursue a good career and not do jobs I don't want to do for the rest of my life that give little wages, I want to pursue a good career and actually achieve something with my life but I'm not sure how to, I think I would have to go to university or something like that and I'm not sure how I would go about it since I didn't complete year 12.

[Summer Rose]

Hi BigTony

Thank you for sharing your story. It's a shame that your secondary school education was interrupted and I can understand why you are stressed.

But I want to assure you that it's never too late to embrace learning and I applaud your willingness to try. I know this takes courage, so good on you.

I think you will likely have a few options available, but it all depends on the type of career you want to pursue. University is not the only path to a "good career". It's possible that a Tafe course, apprenticeship, vocational training and/or traineeships may meet your needs (if you live in Victoria a number of Tafe couses are now being offered for free).

Your first step may be to speak with a career counselor. You can do this privately or look for a government service in your state. The counsellor can help you figure out what career you'd like to pursue and how to get there.

In Victoria, we have something called Victorian Skills Gateway. Have a look at that website because even if you don't live in Victoria it'll give you an idea of the type of government service to look for.

If you want to brainstorm possible career options, I'm happy to listen and try to help.

Kind thoughts to you

[Adrienne87]

Hi Big Tony,

i just want to reassure you that just because you didn’t finish school, doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to succeed.

A lot of people I know, including myself have all had well paying jobs (higher than those with degrees from Uni) and all dropped out of school. It doesn’t define your future.

Dont put too much pressure on yourself to know right now what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life. You are still so young and the world is really at your feet.

Im 31 now and still don’t know what I want to do. At 20 I had no idea so I saved and travelled. (That was my way of dealing with it. Not everyone wants to do that).

A trade is always a good idea if you can find something that interests you and can give you the ability to go almost anywhere in the world to work.

Try not to be too anxious. It’s scary not knowing but everything will fall into place 🙂

[MsPurple]

HI Bigtony and welcome

I know a friend who dropped out of high school and became a butcher through an appreticship. At 20 he decided he couldn't do it long term due to back issues. He went to University and did a bridging pathway year. He then got into nursing. After his bachelor of nursing he decided to do paramedics. Like SummerRose said there are so many ways to get a good career you want.

Have you considered booking into tafe and seeing a career consultant? They would possibly be able to help you future