Best career option in terms of time, demand and money?

[MathsWizard]

Hi everyone,

I’m a student in Ireland and I’m still in high school and the teachers were saying that its finally time for us to choose what paths we should take in terms of choosing subjects for our final high school years. Now my main question is that should I become an astrophysicist, physicist, doctor, accountant, actuary, economist or an engineer.

Now, in terms of what I’m good at, it would be maths(mostly), physics, chemistry and accounting. I like modern technology and computers and know how to do python programming and stuff but there are just so many options to choose from and I don’t want to regret my choices in the future.

I did look into astrophysics because I considered becoming one and saw how risky it was so now, I’m here looking for what to become and maybe reconsider becoming an astrophysicist.

what would be the best choice to have a good job, with good income and not take too long to get the job. I’d like to start my job by at most 30 years old(preferably like 25 though if that's being reasonable) and not stay in college for half my life and work at McDonald's for money!

Thanks a million!

 

[tnich]

There are several things to consider. You can search the web for salary information for various professional careers. A quick search found this site. Keep in mind though that fields that pay well encourage specialization in those fields, resulting in an increased supply of qualified applicants and subsequent reduction in pay rates. Boom/bust cycles seem to me to be particularly common in engineering careers, perhaps because that is what I am familiar with. Data scientists and data engineers are in great demand right now and command high wages, but that demand may be gone by the time you are ready to apply for a job.

Pay rates tend to increase with the responsibility associated with the job, so managers often make more money than purely technical workers. That is something you should consider if the growth path in your chosen field inevitably leads to management, as it does in many careers. Highly skilled technical workers do command higher wages, but, sadly, demand for technical expertise tends to decrease with applicant age.

Doing work that you like and doing it well are rewarding in terms of job satisfaction and career growth. If your management notices that you do particular types of task well, they are likely to give you more of that kind of work, so make sure that any extra work, study and time that you put into a job are applied to tasks that you like to do. Otherwise, you risk being pigeon-holed in an area that you don't enjoy. However, most people entering the job market nowadays change jobs at least once over their first few years, so if you find you don't like the work you are doing, there is no particular stigma associated with changing jobs.

Try to keep your options open. If you can eliminate the fields you are sure you don't want to make a career in, try to find the common thread among the remaining ones and specialize in that. That will probably be the work that you most like doing, anyway.

At this point you may not know for sure what kind of work you would like, but you probably have some inklings. Getting an internship in a field that interests you is a good way find out what the work is like (though you may learn more from talking to the career employees about it than you do from the work you are given as an intern).

 

[berkeman]

I’m a student in Ireland and I’m still in high school and the teachers were saying that its finally time for us to choose what paths we should take in terms of choosing subjects for our final high school years.

Back when I was in High School, probably in about my junior year, they gave us a career assessment survey. The questions seemed unrelated to a specific career, but the purpose of the test/survey was to correlate the results for each individual with the "best" career paths for them.

I think my results were something like Engineer, Teacher, Law Enforcement, which matched pretty closely what my interests actually were. Here is a link to some more modern versions of such tests:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=career+interest+tests
Maybe if you take a few of those, you will get some more ideas of possible careers to pursue.

doctor

Do you say that because you have an interest in medicine and treating patients, or just because it is a profession with prestige? If you do have a genuine interest in medicine, have you had some patient contacts (volunteer work, etc.) that have helped to get you interested in medicine as a career?

 

[symbolipoint]

MathsWizard,

What you choose is a very individual choice. Identify what interests you very much and which would likely allow you a good or comfortable salary. Nobody can tell you what these best choices are; only you can make this or these choices. Have you pondered the choice of Engineering?