When I was 15

#1

So on LinkedIn there’s this hashtag #WhenIWas15 for people to say what their career goals/ambitions were when they were 15.

So what did you want to be/do at that age? Did you get anywhere towards it? Are you happy or sad about that?

I guess 15 was around the age you are make A Level decisions (at least for most of us), and that was a point where you were selecting subjects you felt would get you towards something you were interested in.

At that age I wanted to do sound engineering/technology so selected maths, music and physics as three of my A Levels but wasn’t particularly great at any of those subjects. My other A Level was economics which I enjoyed the most and have gone on to have an MSc and PhD in economics and work as a professional economist. Completely sacked off music and that which is a bit of a shame.

Over to you…

#2

didn’t have any ambition at 15 years old :confused:

#3

i wanted to make films so i went to college and did film and media productiona and then uni for tv and film production. 18 years later and i still haven’t made a film.

ambivalent about it.

#4

Think I wanted to be a research scientist. Took me a few years and a PhD to realise that’s a mug’s game.

#5

Probably to get as far away from my parents as possible because, like all 15 years olds, I was a dickhead.

#6

(in organic chemistry in this country, anyway)

#7

Probably just wanted to get laid which I have achieved!

#8

I’d already realised I wasn’t cool enough to play in bands for the rest of my life.

#9

Formula One driver

Can’t drive

Happy. Formula One is rubbish.

#10

Massive rock star / Journalist / Drowning in hot puss #WhenIWas15

#11

the company I work is mainly comprised of former research scientists who’ve realise that it’s a mug’s game. Such a horrendously hard, underfunded and competitive area to develop a career in.

#12

I’d decided that I wanted to be an architect by then, and now I am still an architect.

I’d picked my GCSEs already with that in mind, but also because I enjoyed the subjects. It was the same with A-levels, where I took Maths, Physics and Geography. These days, most universities require art a-level as well, but GCSE was sufficient back when I was applying.

#13

#longtermlifegoals

#14

It’s such a waste of talent. And it’s actually a viable career choice in e.g. Germany, if you go down the industry route. But not here.

#15

I’m slightly envious of people who, from a young age, had a perfectly distilled idea of what they wanted to do. There’s so many things swirling around your head and so many factors trying to pull you in different directions at that age.

#16

Didn’t have a clue at 15, put no thought into a-levels, wish I had stuck with the subjects I was good at, landed on my feet eventually but floundered for a longtime

#17

I learnt that love was meant for beauty queens

doesn’t work

#18

100% the same

#19

i keep threatening to make a film, i have scripts and everything, but i probably wont.

#20

Don’t think I had any idea what I wanted to do at 15. Liked music and science, so ended up getting into acoustics/audio tech. Still trying to be a research scientist in this area, but as @Epimer says it’s a mug’s game. Probably going to give it another 12 months before binning it off and getting a grown up job (take it to the existential crisis thread, etc.)