Tamara Said:

Career advice - career change before even starting one?

We Answered:

It sounds like your going to need more schooling to get your dream job. You should think about the possibility of taking a job you do not care for and going to school at the same time.
This site may help you with the questions your having. You could look-up your degree that your getting and what you want to find a career that could use both of your talents.

Caroline Said:

Career Change Advice?

We Answered:

First of all, nothing can tell you what the best career is for you other than you. You may well do better in something you're interested in and don't have as much natural potential for than something you have a lot of potential for but aren't interested in. I say this because if you're interested in what you're doing, then you're more likely to work hard and passionately at it.

The Myers-Briggs is also a flawed system for the reasons you already said. It doesn't take interests and talents into account, and it's only so reliable as a measurement of personality. If you want a career test that might give you better results, I found a list of them with reviews on how useful they are here: http://www.quintcareers.com/online_asses…

That said, I will attempt to answer your questions.

1. Unfortunately not. Different people function differently. Some people know exactly what they want to do with their lives from the time they're six years old, and others stay lost for decades. The best advice I can give you is to pay attention to what you enjoy and are good at, and then figure out what career uses those skills.

2. Sometimes you have to be creative. If you're inclined toward art, there may be something for you in some kind of design. If you're inclined toward travel, it might be best to go into a business that will have you make business trips frequently. There may not be a market for your exact hobby, but they might be jobs that include elements of them and would be things you might enjoy doing because of that.

3. I can point to myself here. It's not the same situation, but similar enough. I majored in East Asian Studies, and while I really enjoy studying those cultures and histories, there aren't many jobs that use that background that actually interest me. I took a career test a while back and it was better for direction that the Myers-Briggs, but still really only succeeded in telling me things I already knew. I've had a hobby of doing various kinds of art for a while, and I enjoy playing around in Photoshop, so now I'm looking at a career in graphic design.

If you decide you're interested in something technical (graphic design included), this is a website that offers online skill training classes that could help you with the transition to whatever you want to learn. http://nefuniversity.org I've started on some of the classes in the web design package and they're pretty good, and considerably more affordable than many online classes.

I hope this is helpful. The best advice I can give is to pay attention to your own talents and interests. The tests can help highlight something that you might not have thought of on your own, but they shouldn't dictate what you do with your life.

Francis Said:

Web design - career change. Advice please.?

We Answered:

Depends on what you were doing before - what background in computers or software do you have. If you are a beginner and have no formal education in related subjects, you may find it tough to break in as the space is very crowded and remunerations can be low. If you are lucky to get a full-time job it would be 40hrs a week. Lot of people do freelance work from home - you may find that difficult without experience in that field.