Pink Poogle Toy Forum

What's had the biggest effect on your career choice?

My poll is a bit longer so I've put it at this website.

http://www.eyeviz.net/chandler/public/s ... EProj_copy

I think that the media does the best job of informing kids about careers.. But what do you think?

For me, my four choices of careers are Psychologist (no specific field), Zoology, Mediation, and Video Game Programming/Production/Design.

I would say that that the VG Design was influenced mostly by the media, because it's mostly media based (and it's hard to want to become that if you haven't been influenced by it in some way). The other three are a mix of many different things.

For psychology, I've taken many Psychology classes and found all of them interesting (I guess that would be mostly influenced by High School and College).

Zoology was most influenced by my Human Physiology class in High School and the fact that I like studying animals (High school and personal interest, not quite sure how the interest was influenced though, probably a mix of countless things).

Mediation was something I just discovered a few months back due to a Career Search class that I did in college. I had to go through a bunch of things and find something that was interesting. I thought this was. I suppose that this is mostly influenced by college.

I would say that classes in high school and college have had the largest influence on me (influence that I can pinpoint).

That's a great break down! What exactly is mediation? Conflict/resolution studies?

Yeah, they can either do business resolution (anything from conflict between unions and a company to two different companies with a conflict) or family-type resolution (divorces and that sort of thing). Unlike an arbitrator (or perhaps conciliator, I forget x_x), the choice is ultimately up to the conflicting parties, and not the mediator. They're basically there to try to keep two parties from taking their argument to court, and instead come up with a way that both parties are comfortable with and keep the more expensive and stress-inducing method from happening.

It's something I've just started looking into, and I hope to somehow delve
into it a bit more my next semester of college (and hopefully zoology as well).

For me it's media. I love looking through magazines and all the cool photo manipulation tricks in adverstisements, so I'm going to be a graphic designer and learn how to do all that.

Media has done a horrid job of informing me about the career I want; which is to teach at a University level. I want to teach Fine arts (mainly sculpture and printmaking) and in the circle of art that I am involved with there is a very low rate of media attention to it. You get the basic stuff, an occasional mention perhaps of some "famous" artist but very little really goes towards them. Especially printmakers (but thats a whole other rant). You don't see television glorifying artists or art professors, nor radio, nor movies. It's just not done. Sure there's the occasional movie, perhaps a documentary, but the majority of the people who watch such things are other artists.

I found out about the particular college I'm going to via a Careers Expo part way through the year, and that was a large part in making my decision.

The questions about the major were hard, as my course doesn't actually require one.

Also, while my school doesn't offer an internship...thing, it actually offers Hospitality as a 2 year course as a Year 12 subject. So it's kinda the same.

The biggest effect on my career choice is my field of study, physics. There are a limited amount jobs that we physicists can directly go into, but indirectly we have a lot more options. I would love to get into some sort of research field, preferably for the government (not being to picky on which government either ). My top two choices for employer are: NASA or the US Air Force. I would seriously settle for whatever job I can get once I graduate, but still look for something more up my field.

What influenced this choice?! Simple, I am great at math and science and love Star Wars/Trek/Gate and sci-fi in general. No other factors really. I see a phaser, lightsaber, or Stargate and say 'why not?' I want to make the world a better place through the vast possiblities of science

Although you didn't ask, my dream job would to be a NASA flight controller or US Navy admiral (mostly for the title). Another thing you didn't ask but I will share, if I ever have enough money and/or influence some time in the future, I would love to run for US Congress and become the first scientist to enter Congress. I was influence by my love of poltics, the show West Wing, the new media, specifically Keith Olbermann, and political activists like Al Franken.

I hope this helps.

Well, the media actually almost drew me away from my chosen career. I want to be a pilot. (And write novels, but that's not nearly as interesting.) While you'd think that movies about how glamorous it is would interest me, they showcased a side of it that I find unattractive. There is a lot of sexism in aviation; having that constantly pointed out in the movies didn’t exactly make me want to go out and become a pilot. Most of the information I got from the media was incredibly inaccurate, too.

I went to aviation camp on a lark the summer before 8th grade. I was the only girl there and it was all kinds of weird, but I loved it. I'm kind of naturally inclined to take the path of most resistance with the biggest payoff, and this definitely fits the bill. I love flying. It's the most amazing feeling in the world.

High school never really taught me much about aviation. A little history, a little physics, but it was mostly stuff I already knew. I’ve recently gone back to being homeschooled, and I get quite a bit more information about aviation from my family and courses now than I did in public school.

So, I'd say that first-hand experience has had the biggest effect on my career choice. That would be closely followed by independent research and my family. (This would be true of the writing, too.) Career fairs and the media haven't been terribly helpful.

I tend not to let outside factors influence me. I will be a lawyer, and it's my mom that talks to me about being a lawyer. Media is especially not an influence to me because most of the time, you're not getting all the facts. My mom is not like that. Anything I want to know, she tells me and if she doesn't know, she finds out.

My highschool doesn't really seem to care one way or another what I do when I'm older. There are only Law classes for grade 11 and 12, and I think if they really cared, they would have the same wide range of subjects for ALL their students to take.

Neither.

Always been interested in Dinosaurs, and no amount of Jurassic park films shall ever make me belive that was a T-rex.
Or a Verlociraptor. ¬_¬

The media gave me ideas about what careers could be like, but they're hardly truthful. I started off as a Physics major, which the media (other than educational programming) had practically no parting in helping me to choose. Then I switched to Art History and I've finally ended up with Anthropology and I'm probably going to minor in Biology. The media has a very innaccurate portrayal of anthropologists. We're nothing like Lara Croft, Indiana Jones and whoever that person is on Bones. What affected me most was the subject themselves (how interested I am) and my professors in university. A good or bad professor can make or break your interest.

I don't really know the difference (if there is any) between college and university. I also don't know how the whole "freshman", "senior" things work either so I can't really answer your poll. Anyways, here's a few things I threw together.

To be completely honest I don't have the vaguest idea what influenced the subjects I study the most and hence the career directions I'm heading in. Perhaps my desire for flexibility and keeping my options open for as long as possible. Not only that but my decision was a last minute decision made about three days before the offers were made.

It certainly wasn't the media, in fact, I get annoyed with people who want to study what I'm studying simply because they've watched xyz or seen abc. Generally, it is those that want to study rather than those that already do as well.

My high school career councillors I didn't and don't have much appreciation for because I had very little contact with them, they seemed to have no interest in contacting me and the contact that I did have was like pulling teeth trying to get ideas or help out of them.

Some of the best people would probably have had to have been my high school teachers (many of them I got ideas and advice from based on degrees and careers that were similar to subjects they taught - the subject itself only gave me access to these teachers though and appreciation for one or two career paths), the people from the Universities I spoke to before putting in my preferences and whatever information booklets (do you consider this media?) I'd managed to grab at various career and University open days.

In addition to that, although I may be studying what I'm studying I still have no specfic desire to go one way or another at the moment.

If its any help as well, I have worked in a store, restaurant and supermarket and all those jobs have taught me is that I'm certain I don't want to be doing them for the rest of my life.

I currently do two degrees. In high school I took relevant subjects for one of the degrees but the other I didn't take even one of the recommended high school subjects.

(In North America) A college specialises in one type of learning. A unversity is made up of colleges. For example, I go to Binghamton University. Within Binghamton, I belong to Harpur College of Science and Art. I know people who are in the Watson School of Engineering, the School of Management, and Decker Nursing School (all colleges within the larger university).

For those of you outside of North America:

Freshman - 1st year
Sophomore - 2nd year
Junior - 3rd year
Senior - 4th and final year

Actually thats an "american" thing not a north american thing.

Colleges in Canada are not able to supply full degrees (unless they are a specialized school such as ACAD (which would be Alberta College of Art and Design). The vast majority of colleges however offer the first, second or third year of schooling towards ones degree at a decreased cost. Classes are quite a bit smaller, there is more one on one time available, and the colleges are generally smaller in size then any university.
Very few colleges here offer full degrees, but they're trying to change that (and I do believe a few colleges in alberta are starting to offer full degrees, but as of yet, only the big ones).