Or whatever their parents do for work.
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Whatever happened to when kids (ok boys) wanted to be firemen or baseball players ??
I wanted to be a pilot when I was a little girl but my eyes and ears disagreed. My son wanted to be a train driver until very recently. I guess all the driverless metro trains that he admires crushed his dream. One of my oldest friends wanted to be a ski instructor when she grew up (to the horror of her engineer and architect parents) and thatās exactly how she spends her winters (albeit in snowboarding). She has her own school and loves the littles the most. The world would be a boring place if we were all doctors, engineers and lawyers. The thing that worries me the most is the rise in popularity of āinfluencerā in polls about the younger generationās aspirations. I know Iām old but I just donāt get it! Is it the money? Is it the fame?
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All of a sudden my oldest is working towards becoming a SWAT medic. That wasnāt the plan originally.
I teach middle school, and I too have noticed the real uptick in āinfluencerā and āYouTuberā as favored career choices. Many kids would love nothing more than to spend all day every day watching YouTube - and they hear stories about these content creators making millions in ads - so they think, āWhat a great (and easy) way to make a lot of money!ā Sort of like how kids 20 years ago wanted to be professional basketball players (I can make millions of dollars for playing a game every day!).
It honestly blows my mind how many hours kids will spend online watching someone else play a video game, so on second thought, maybe I should look into a career change.
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I am interested in your dd obtaining her pilotās license. I have a child who is also interested but I am holding on with lessons as she canāt get the license till she is 16. What age did your child start taking lessons. Thanks
My D started at 16 and finished at 17. Your daughter can solo at 16 but cannot test for her license until age 17 (in the U.S.; it may be different in other countries).
The aviation community is amazing and supportive, and she has experienced so much growth and confidence since starting to fly. I donāt think sheāll end up going that route for a career, but itās been life-changing for her for sure.
Let me know if you have questions!
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Neither of my kids had any idea what they wanted to do or even major in when they were sophomores.
ShawD did not love high school though she was/is quite bright. When she was a senior, she said the only two subjects she liked were the human biology part of her biology classes and statistics. She applied to university in Canada (she is a dual US/Canadian citizen) and met someone in the orientation line who was studying nursing and decided to switch. She became a Nurse Practitioner by age 23 and is at age 28 a well-loved primary care provider and may become medical director of her clinic. The job suits her perfectly: She is a sponge for facts/data, is very good at connecting these with scientific studies, but has an effervescent personality and thus patients love her (and switch to her from other providers).
ShawSon was struggling with dyslexia and sleep apnea as a sophomore (we didnāt know about the sleep apnea). He was/is also extraordinarily bright and was so bored with HS: During his freshman year, when he was in honors freshman math and said, āDad, we discussed the idea on Monday. I got it completely on Monday. Weāre still discussing it on Friday.ā The Assistant Superintendent of Schools recommended that we set up a partial homeschooling program in which he could do accelerated math, work on learning to write at a level commensurate with his IQ, and do lab science and art in school. He had no idea what he would major in. Long story short: he went to great LAC, did a triple major, started his first company while in school, ran it for a year after graduating went to grad/business school, and started his second company while in business school. The company has received several rounds of VC funding.
Both kids love what they do, though being the co-founder of a VC-backed startup typical requires a massive amount of work and can be stressful at times.
Interestingly, ShawSon fell in love with behavioral economics as a result of a seminar in the fall of his freshman year to which he was randomly assigned. Iāve known other kids who fell in love with Japanese or art history as a result of random encounters in college.
In contrast, my wife knew she wanted to be an artist well before her sophomore yea. She is now a painter whose work sells in galleries and is in museum collections. Her problem was figuring out a way to be able to make that her career.
Most sophomores have never studied anthropology or economics, have never done real math, would not rally know what civil or mechanical engineers do, etc. How can they be expected to choose majors without basic knowledge of the available choices? I think it is surprising some kids think they know what they want to major in. In some cases, this is really genuine, but in others, the students are just parroting things they think their parents will like or respect, and in others, will think they want to do what their parents do.
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D13 applied and was accepted as a biology major with the intention of going to med school. While applying EA, she was also taking AP Bio & AP Chem - realized she really didnāt like science (what a relief since her collegeās āweed-outā reputation for the sciences is legendary). At the collegeās orientation, she switched to business, with no thought of what she wanted to do or really no specific interest in business. As a sophomore she was accepted into her collegeās T20 business school and now does very well working in corporate finance.
D21 also had/has no clear path. For purposes of the application process, I routed her toward business but gave her the freedom to take her freshman year to explore whatever major options she thought would interest her with the caveat that upon graduation she would be employable in a field that paid well enough to support whatever lifestyle she chooses for herself (aka - not my basement). The business program at her college has done a great job of bringing in speakers to introduce a variety of business careers and also suggesting interesting double major opportunities. Itās given her a lot to consider. So far she is sticking with business and narrowing in on finance. It will be interesting to see where she lands in 4 yearsā time.
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Iām almost 40 and I still donāt really know what I want to be when I grow up. Iām on my 3rd or 4th career at my same company since I graduated and one class shy of finishing my masters degree. I am very lucky to work at a place where I can bounce around when something gets stale or I want to try something new. Iāve collected a ton of vastly different experiences over the years. For the most part, I actually really really enjoy my current job, but I donāt think itās a long term job. I think in a year or two from now itāll probably be time for something new. I have x, y and z bits and pieces of all of my jobs that I absolutely love, and a, b and c bits and pieces that i have dislikedā¦ we probably all have that. I guess what I want to be when I grow up is some sort of dream where I get to do z, y and z and donāt have to do a, b or c. 
My director actually asked me yesterday where I see myself in a few years and I just scratched my head. I told her it would be great to get to a point in a few years where I can say I want to do x,y,and z long term and have someone create me a position in my department doing thatā¦ because currently that role isnāt there. A sort of similar one is, and that person is mentoring me right now, so maybe I can play my cards right and have them create me that dream role. 
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As the famous column said:
āDonāt feel guilty if you donāt know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didnāt know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still donāt.ā
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Your kids look up to you and admire what you do. So donāt be hesitant to tell them about your personal goals. That doesnāt imply you should force them to do things you enjoy. However, you might be astonished to learn that they appreciate the same things as you do!
This may be as simple as inviting them to join you on your morning run. Alternatively, give them one of your favorite murder-mystery books and see whether they become as engrossed as you are. Sharing your own interests with your children is not only a terrific way to encourage them to pursue their passions, but it can also help you build lasting memories.
Hi,
I also took this assessment when I was in highschool . Currently, I am a college freshman and still struggle
in finding the best major and career path for myself.
Why do I say āstrugglingā ? As I feel confused about my aptitude and performance on classes. YouScience gave me the results which are opposite
to the fact that I did really bad in the classes that I am supposed to thrive and succeed. Now, I am really
doubtful about the validaty and reliable of YouScience aptitude assessment. (I got Numerical reasoning as the dominant category over all other categories, and then Sequential Reasoning, and was suggested some Computer Science-related jobs, engineering jobs, Management and Finance-related jobs,ā¦, but still failed in CS class and Calc class
I have exactly the same problem
Much of the world has this problem. Explore.
Eventually - youāll find a job and youāll discover aptitudes you didnāt know you had. Really!!!
The key is to be open minded - and focus hard on getting internships - and if not that, summer or part time jobs so you can experience things.
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Neither my husband nor I had any clue what we wanted to do in hs or we thought we knew. I wanted to be a lawyer, my husband either wanted to major in german or be a chemist. So I ended up majoring in Electrical engineering with a specialization in biomedical engineering because a school said Iād be good at it, but still considered law school. My husband majored in chemistry and minored in german. I ended up working in the oil industry because I decided law school was not for me and getting an MBA but hated the company and environment. My husband realized in an internship he really wanted to be a chemical engineer not a chemist so went to grad school getting a chemical engineering masters with a specialization in petroleum engineering. He ended up going to work for the same oil company I did. Fast forward a few years and I ended up in aerospace working mission control and operations for the last many years and love it. Husband ended up going to law school and has been a civil trial lawyer for years!
Daughter who is 25 has never gone to college and has not clear path. She has a 2 year old, lives at home and works at a day care. We will see. Son who is 23 has known what he wanted to do since high school. He wanted to be an equine veterinarian. Now in his 3rd year of vet school he still wants to be a veterinarian but want to be a veterinary radiologist. Interests have grown and changed as he was exposed to new areas. His financee started out wanting to be a doctor but then decided that four years of med school, internships and residencies were not for her so is very happy in physician assistant school.
So key to all this is it is ok to not know what you want to do. Kids will grow into it and find their area eventually. Just find some path where they can make enough to live on while they continue to explore (unlike my daughter!). I still have other things Iād like to do. Iāve taught math at a junior college part time, worked at a needlework store, tutored, etc. and enjoyed those things too. In retirement Iām going to pursue other passions. Let the kids explore
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My sister has a similar issue with her son. He is very good with numbers, but seems far too chilled about the need to get a job soon and support himself. She thinks about finding him at last a part time job that he could do from a PC, since many people his age do so in their spare time. This is just so he develops a better grasp of what means to be employed and strive for a better livingā¦ Perhaps simply raising up the subject will incite your DS to think harder on who he wants to become?
Everyone is different, so some kids will know sooner what they want to do than others. Iām for letting kids explore, but shouldnāt parents also help their kids āfigure outā sooner rather than later, because it may take too long for some kids to āfigure outā on their own?
I agree, parents should be a bit direct when helping their kids (well, they are not kids anymore) build a good future for themselves. Thereās no real substitute for experience in that regard, though parents should also be open to new ideas since the job market keeps on changingā¦
In theory yes, but sometimes the parentsā idea of ātoo longā may not actually be too long if the adult kid can be self supporting while still exploring. Some parents may also have ideas about what should be desirable college and career directions that may not match the kidās abilities and interests (e.g. parents push going to HYP ā investment banking ā top 0.1% income and wealth, but the kid has much more modest financial goals and interests in other directions).
Of course, parent advice may not match the kid in the other direction as well, where a kid with high ability and interest is pushed in a direction that wastes the ability and interest.
Also, some parents may not know enough about the fields of the kidās interest to give much help.