Thats a good question! I wanna know too. I'm always confused waht i wanna do.. there is so much to out ther how do you know something is right for you?

I did not know. I ended up with a few different careers. However, with that said, I enjoyed all the different experiences I had.

I pretty much knew in high school, by about 10th or 11th grade. Of course, part of that came from the encouragement of my teachers and parents who saw my talent, but it was my own decision.

I've been trying to figure out a path for 3 years now. I am still so confused and scared to take a step in a certain direction.

I'm a psychology major and I would say that in one sense this particular field has always interested me and perhaps that's why I chose it in the end...but it was also a decision that was combined with advice from several people who knew me very well and experiences with other people in the field, and the amount of respect I had for them.

IMO ... for the most part a college degree is a college degree. Some fields do require a specific degree -- medicine, engineering, for example -- but generally liberal arts degrees are pretty interchangable.

My undergrad is in psych and English and I went to law school -- there were people in law school from many backgrounds.. mainly government, poly sci, English, but others as well.

My advice to those in undergrad: pick something you like and major in that. It's unlikely your career will follow it exactly anyhow !

When I was in high school, I did well in every subject, so all the so-called career counselors told me that I could "do anything you want to". So I decided to study what I liked, which was science. I also loved Spanish in high school, so I majored in biochemistry and Spanish. I think I had a little bit of a push from my parents, though...they always told me they wanted me to be a doctor or a vet or some career where I'd make tons of money to support them in their old age.

honestly I think that everyone knows what they want to do. Some collect buttons, some try on shoes, and some just want to get married. The sad thing is that most aren't nearly brave enough to open a button store, and to be quite honest it's not too realistic either. Those are the people who have trouble finding there path. How you figure this out often happens before high school from influence or experience. I knew since 7th grade that I wanted to be a fashion Journalist. I decided to settle for journalism, until i told my dad in 10th grade. Even though its cheesy he said that i could do anything I wanted to. He- always worried about money, serious, shunner of all things material and fabulous- Told me that If i wanted to run a magazine thats what I should do. Now I'm an assistant editor at vogue, graduate from NYU and happy as a clam.
*keep in mind I'm talking about what people want to do not what they will or are going to do

I don't think anyone ever helped me. My parents/teachers encouraged whatever I was interested in, but they were pretty hands off. The school counselors were worthless. On the one hand, there are so many jobs you don't even know exist. On the other, its difficult to know what a job is *really* like, the day to day and the lifestyle you adopt.

Of course I was told that if you got a degree then you would definitely get a good job. We all know how that's worked out. People love saying that you can be anything you want, but not many can tell you how.

Up until I was about 14, I wanted to be an actress. Finally I realized that I sucked. I was also really into web design, and I actually liked that better than acting and stuff and I was actually good at it. Eventually I started programming and I don't know exactly when I decided I would major in CS, but I knew quite a long while before college.

My mom did help me. We didn't have much money to college so she said that I better go to vocational school for 3 years to learn accounting/administration. Luckily after that I got job & until now although not like it 100% but still can pay my bill. I thank her for that

I probably always knew that I would be in "business", and I majored in Business, eventually specializing in two different areas. I actually work in those exact areas, too, but I would have rather gone the Finance or Accounting route. However, I did have a short stint where I majored in Psychology and then Communications, and my dad steered me away from that.

wow..Thanks runningesq... my dear I wish I had read that a few years back.

I never knew what I wanted to do- it seemed like everyone else did! So I certainly didn't want to just pick something random and go tens of thousands of dollars into debt to do it. So I never went to college. I ended up moving to a booming city and scoring a wicked job with an excellent company- no college experience required. I make $56K a year and am so happy that I never wasted my time & money on college. There is so much more out there than you ever know in high school, and life experience will help you find these things. I'm not dissing post secondary education at all, but I want girls to know it's not the end of the world if you don't know what you want to do or can't afford college/university.

Thanks Ziggy for another perspective.

That's great Zigggy but for the most part, people need to go to college to get ahead in life. Either that or most people hit the ceiling pay wise. But no, no one actually helped me figure out a career. My parents/teachers weren't even encouraging at all. I've never known what I actually wanted to do.

Right now I'm just trying to get through college, while working at my student job. As for a career wise. I'm not sure if a job is supposed to be fulfilling. People talk about careers and how great they are. But I've never liked any job that I've had. For me all a career/job is, is a way to pay my bills, save for the future, and support my various hobbies and interests like traveling.

I hear Ziggy. My brother doesn't even have a high school diploma, he's a black jack dealer and makes like 150K. I on the other hand work at a museum making like 20K with an undergraduate degree. It all depends on what you want to do with your life. The field I'm in doesn't pay much unless you make it to the top as a director. The median pay for a curator is like 50K. I'm fine with that. I love what I do. Nobody helped me pick this career out or helped me decide what to major in college. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer. My mom wanted me to be an engineer. Growing up I wanted to be a waitress or candy stripper. And then as life went on, I just wanted to get a high school diploma and be alive.