h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1. Because there's nowhere else to go. DNA preprograms you for it.

2. Because parents/guardians rarely enjoy having you as a dependent past your early twenties. A few don't enjoy having you as a dependent at all, but societies have their rules....

3. Because the known ways of getting to Neverland require the use of pixie dust, a substance that doesn't trade on the world's markets.

I'd forgotten how out-of-context this place can be. Forgive my light-hearted general response to an earlier post.

It seemed broadly in context to me.... anyhow.... not growing up is a state o fmind... as much as anything else... you can still kinda do it, even wehn having to do all the grown-up nonsense we have to do in order to have somewhere to live, etc...

" am almost embarrassed to say I have spent most of my adult life doing enjoyable socailly useful work in my choosen field, it has taken a lot of determination and sacrifice, and having to put up with people constantly telling me how lucky I am - luck had nothing to do with it"

With respect though tucuxii, you are still missing my original point entirely.. You state that you had a 'chosen field'; I and those like me have never found a suitable or appropriate field to choose. As somone who has demonstrably been able to focus on a particular career path, I can imagine that it may be hard for you to empathise with people who cannot apply any 'determination and sacrifice' because they don't know where to apply it. The luck of which people accredit you with is, in my opinion the luck of knowing what you wanted to do with your life.

That said; my wife and I sacrificed 4 years and struggled financially so I could gain a degree as a mature student, only for me to find that without professional, formal (not voluntary) work experience in the subject i studied it seems to be virtually impossible to gain a foothold from the qualification alone. I'm still trying, but hold out little hope.

"are you having a mid-life crisis? your post reminds me of conversations I've been having with a lot of my friends over the last few years and often they have come back later and identified it as part of, or pointing to or a symptom of a mid-life crisis type event"

Quite possibly Sho, though I tend to look upon it as a whole life crisis! In my teens I assumed I'd have come up with a plan by my 20's. As my 20's evaporated I assumed I'd have a plan by my 30's. Now in my 40's I'm just starting to doubt that in my remaining 25 or so working years I'll ever actually find any focus or ever formulate that plan

Like you though, I have had good jobs where I have felt useful and that am making some small difference (all I really ask, and that I don't 'clock-watch' through the day). I lament the loss of these jobs and am frustrated that I haven't followed the job evolution to incrementally better jobs that some lucky sods achieve .

Instead, everytime I try to find a new direction I fall down to the bottom rung of the career ladder in that sector, climb up a rung or two, then when I discover my unsuitability/disinterest in the role I end up on the bottom rung of the next ladder... transferable skills I have a plenty, but when one changes sector you usually have to start at the bottom again.

"driving country roads at night,"....truck driver

That in fact highlights my dilema. There are ELEMENTS of many jobs that I would love, but the majority of the job I know i'd hate. Taking your above example; I would hate the job of truck driver, because although I do indeed enjoy driving empty roads at night, I hate sitting on my erse all day and consequently walk many 10's of miles per week in my leisure and I use a standing desk at work. Ideally I would have an outdoors job- which is the type of job my degree favours. I also know I would dislike the 'mans man' culture of truck driving. I like to eat and live reasonably healthily; everything about truck driving, from the food to the air breathed is unhealthy.

Sorry to pick apart what was I'm sure intended as a helpful suggestion, but it does illustrate my issue somewhat. I could give many more examples of jobs/careers where there are individual elements I would enjoy, but most of the job I wouldn't. I know every job has bits you don't like in it, but my (not unreasonable I don't think) criteria is that I should enjoy at least 50% of a job..

<>

Well that sounds like you aspired to something - I was it that position without the necessary degree and experience and all the advice I was given was I had no chance of pursuing my dream I rose to the top of my profession got made redundant and have spent four years getting back in at a lower level using up the greater part of my reduncancy money and travelling more than 24, 000 miles just going to interviews.

What was your degree in?

>>transferable skills I have a plenty, but when one changes sector you usually have to start at the bottom again.<<

I'm not so sure about that - in my place we have a few people who come in at manager level based on what they have done previously. That means they are applying for jobs at that level - are you doing that?

Unless it is a complete change of direction? transferrable skills are the thing to have these days and by accident I've found I have them, plus being a quick learner and pretty self confident (some say bossy, I correct them to assertive) has meant that I don't dawdle right at the bottom for long (but as a I have other things probably holding me back)

it has taken me a very long time and a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth to get this far but I've decided the greasy pole can go and do one (and I say this from the dizzying heights of Manager, accounting team )

I guess I'm lucky in that the career I entered 'cos someone suggested it & it seemed a good idea, turned out to suit me well. Since having children, I've only worked part time which also gives me the opportunity to pursue other interests.

Sometimes I wonder what other job I might have enjoyed & whether some people can find satisfaction in almost any job. Good if you do really enjoy your job, but sometimes I guess you have to accept it's a means of making money in order to pay the bills & enjoy yourself when not working.

I don't think it's essential to have a career - if you prefer to go off in different directions & have plenty of variety, why not? Although I suppose salary is more likely to increase if you keep going on a particular path rather than chop & change.

I'm like Mol

- I knew what I didn't want to do.

- the careers tutor did suggest a career that suited me on paper, and I did do some voluntary work in that field, but it turned out that in fact I wouldn't be able to get a paid job in that field within a 50 mile (or more) radius, and my moving that far wasn't an option.

- I did then get a job that I enjoyed, and I didn't know such a job existed either!

When I lost my job, I didn't have a focus on where to go next, as it was specialist role, but the variety of 'transferable skills' I had gained enabled me to apply for a variety of different jobs. The skills didn't help me to actually get said jobs, but I have now got a job which, although a slight step down, hopefully offers future potential and is also quite enjoyable too.

Well I was quite good at explaining things to my classmates in school and I was a bit bossy and a swot so they as a group suggested I should become a teacher..

Suited me down to the ground..

However I think that the career advice in schools is pants..Especially when the adviser crushes the dreams of those using the service.

I do remember one child saying to me that she was going to be in entertainment of some sort and that she didn't need maths just drama.I proceeded to give her a reason for each subject as to why she needed every subject on the time table to achieve her goals and that she should study maths if only to be able to check her agent wasn't cheating her..but I never once suggested she was aiming too high.

Frankly if one has been employed at a job of some sort most of one's life then one is a success.It doesn't matter what the job as long as you give of your best and you have earned your salary/wage then you should not regard yourself as a failure.

Aiming for a job that is fulfilling may be asking too much. If you're n a field that's highly competitive, the competition for the plum jobs may be too great anyway. And the payoffs may be skewed. Would you take a high salary for something that's just plain grubby -- collecting garbage, doing autopsies? Would you want to have the respect and admiration of thousands even if the pay wasn't all that great? I knew a janitor in a local high school who was probably the most respected man in the town -- he had been a positive influence for generations of students.

Or would you like a job where you worked quietly and alone in an office that was arranged to suit you? If your passion was music and you had an encyclopedic memory, would you enjoy being the guy who managed the catalog?

....or would you take a high wage for job that is morally grubby like a tabloid journalist, a dodgy sales person or selling your soul to an immoral corporation that exploited the poor or sold arms to dictators

I as soon as I posted that a recruitment ad. for BP popped up at the bottom of the screen, is the server developing a sense of humour?

Sometimes, if you deliberately take an interest in something entirely contrary to your normal preference, you can gain a new perspective.

I think Incognitas makes an excellent point. It sounds like you have been pretty successful in job hunting, even persuading people to take you on in a new field on a regular basis, despite no longer being in your twenties. That's pretty impressive in and of itself, especially currently.

I found my profession by doing the one thing I swore I would never do on the grounds that I would both hate it and be bad at it. I have moved around a bit within that profession though, and I suspect part of that is because I get bored easily. Plus, like Mol, there are definitely bits of it that I hate and am not good at, but that's true about everything, and to a certain extent I belive getting better at things you are not suited to is good for the soul. I do consider myself lucky overall though, because I do enjoy being at work.

I don't particularly enjoy being a full time mother, which is mosty what I do currently. And the pay is dredful, which, I find, makes a difference too. So I do see that it is difficult to stay in a job that you truly hate if you don't have to.

But then see point 1. Do you really mind about switching around if at the beginning at least you do get job satisfaction in learning something new? I very much admire your willingness to keep looking, or if it is more about the necessity of earning, you ability to keep adapting.

"would you take a high wage for job that is morally grubby like a tabloid journalist, a dodgy sales person or selling your soul to an immoral corporation that exploited the poor or sold arms to dictators" [Tucuxii]

The second and third choices I would never make, but working for a tabloid would mean that I at least got to meet Elvis and some extraterrestrials .

Fair cop - I was thinking of Murdock scandal sheets like the Sun rather than harmless fiction like the National Enquirer - gosh I can see the face of a bearded man in my toast who could that be, damn its Charles Darwin don't think they'll run with that...

"Daily News, daily blues,
Pick up a copy any time you choose.
Seven little pennies in a newsboy's hand,
And take a trip to Never Neverland."

--Tom Rush

[I wanted to enclose a link to a Youtube version of that, but couldn't find one]

Correction: I did, however, find a Youtube entry where the song was sung by Tom Paxton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDJD520yo30&list=ALBTKoXRg38BDyGWiPtVr34E95rpFCud2t