Trying to figure out what to do as a career

[ToonsJ4]

Trying to think of some career ideas for full time work, but having some trouble.

Not an option
Something physically taxing (Three days back to back was too hard, that includes pushing carts)

Nature (not a nature person)
Going back to school (nothing you have to go back to school for)
Coding (tried it, couldn't get into it, really didn't like it)

Dangerous (you get badly hurt doing things like construction)

Can negatively affect someone (if I screw up financial stuff, fixing a car, or medical records it could have negative affects on a person's life, so I'd prefer to avoid the risk)

Talent (something an untalented person can do, I know what I enjoy doing, but It's not something I can get a stable job in)

Things I did enjoy
story/script writing (making up stories was fun)

Being creative

Simple jobs you could shut your brain off for and do repetitively (like cashier)

Video games

Comic books

Additional Info

Finished with a BA in Cinema

Live in United States

[Kelheor]

What do you mean by talent though? There's probably something you are doing better. Like, getting languages quicker or doing mental calculations.

[Azifri]

I'm blanking as to which job to recommend. Does your country have good social assistance so you can live out of that?

[Freemints30]

Honestly I'll be real here.

Nothing

EVERY job is gonna negatively affect someone if you screw up. You just gotta get over that worry and do your best.

Even basic jobs like data entry is pretty much that. Screw up and someone cleans up your mess. And honestly it's kinda what alotta people in my country who didn't want to go back to school did long term. (Albiet I realized after a year it ain't for me).

From your list of no no. I kinda feel you may be a bit on the young side so I wouldnt worry about a career now.

I'm not saying it sounds lazy. I'm saying it sounds like an Extreme lack confidence. Although some jobs do better with talent. 99% just needs you to be willing to learn.

[DualDragons]

Imma be real and blunt, I cannot think of something for you. A lot of jobs require a paper from college to be qualified. It isn't fun but that's reality. Really the stuff I can think of are side jobs like working at a grocery store or delivering newspaper. And there is nothing wrong with them, but they don't make a lot of money and generally teens take them (though you could opt to become a team leader of a filling crew in said grocery store).

That's how I see it

[darthmongoose]

Something like online marketing or social media management maybe? Or working for a call centre (really emotionally taxing though)? Admin assistant? Video Game QA?

Running a shop is an option because you just have to buy in stock, have a place to keep it, keep records and sell it all on at a markup and then of course market your shop.

It's honestly hard to think of something good if you're not willing to develop skills (talent is a load of rubbish, "talented" people may have had a little leg-up with some natural aptitude, but it's mostly hard work) or get further qualifications. It crosses out a bunch of good options that meet your other criteria like copywriting, editing, coding, UX or visual design.

[igneriss]

It's hard to recommend anything when we don't know your skills, education level, what you like, and where do you live (some jobs will be available only in some areas, also required education level will be different depending on the country).

Just some quick ideas (but you'd have to check if they are available for you; in my country there are companies that'd hire for those positions without higher education, though having it you're usually considered a better candidate)

• call center, customer service or presenting a product to a potential customer via video conference/webinar (this last one is sometimes hidden as 'product manager', but that position name is also used for, well, real product management); looks for banks, online stores, IT companies;

• working in production- I'm not sure how the exact position is called, and also it varies between companies; basically operating machines is any factory or production centre; this might include painting or printing stuff, or just clicking some buttons on a machine, depending on what the factory is doing; look for production companies in your area;

• quality control in a production centre or a factory- some will have labs for QA and there you need a corresponding education, however there are some where you just look at things, count if everything is okay, or use testing machines, which is quite easy and they'll teach you there;

• quality assurance / tester in IT- you don't like coding, but testing doesn't require it as long as you're a manual tester; can be done fully remotely, you learn everything as you go, I highly recommend this one;

• any corporate job that doesn't require qualifications- this might be tricky, because all those big companies have weird-sounding names for job positions which are actually quite simple to learn; find what corporations are there in your area and check their job openings on their websites, there should be some that don't require a higher education (usually a 'junior' or 'assistant' are good keywords to look for, but it might be good to check all other offers as well and just read requirements ; doing a paid internship can also be good if you can find one)

• working in a store/cafe; even better if the store sells something you're interested in and could help customers out- books? art supplies? hiking gear? and so on;

Those might be things you've never tried before, but you can quickly learn it (:

[DiegoPalacios]

Talent (something an untalented person can do)

Talents come in many forms.....everyone is good at something......i recommend you to try different activities to figure out something you enjoy and have potential to do amazingly.

Something to point out is a common misconception about talent. No one becomes an instant expert, but some skills may come to you more naturally as long as you practice. After all, humans are dynamic beings, skills get developed with practice and time.

[rajillustration]

Every single job out there comes with some risk, so the thing of not wanting to ever negatively affecting someone else by messing up your own job--that could happen with every job from landscaping, to finance, to home assistance care. Luckily, you aren't the only one who will be doing your job, and you'll have other people on your team to help you out. So don't be too worried about "but what if I screw up this line of numbers? Or what if I input something wrong into the computer?" When those things happen, we own up to it, we fix it, we move onward, you can't let that particular fear of failure cut you out of a lot of potential jobs (although there are certainly some jobs with more risk than others).

Instead, focus on what you did enjoy about jobs you've done in the past, and focus on what you do well. Right now that is what we don't see on this list. Like do you enjoy helping other people? Do you enjoy selling things? Do you enjoy making marketing strategies? Do you like researching things? This can help narrow in on a job you could potentially do or a long time, and don't worry about getting glued to what you decide to do either, it's very normal for people to switch jobs many times in their lifetime.

[MartaTod]

You kind of excluded a big chunk of jobs with this list. As someone already said, no matter what job you chose, you will have some responsibility.

I can suggest making and managing WordPress websites or another CMS system/Webshop with WYSIWYG editors (like Elementor for WordPress). You don't really have to know how to write a lot of code for this, as you mainly just install themes, and edit the colors for them, then just edit pages pretty similar to how you'd write text in MS Word.

Retail often needs someone to manage the webshops and do data entry for products if they have a lot of them. For that you don't even need to know how to make a website/webshop, just how to enter data in a pretty way.

[ToonsJ4]

An artist can draw a decent circle, a programmer understands what they are doing (at least a little), and an actor can be convincing. Hope that clears it up.

[ToonsJ4]

Not against something like cashier, just been told not to go for it because you can't really live off of it.

[ToonsJ4]

Trying not to stress about careers is how a lot of people ended up where I'm at. I've been out of college for a few months now and during my time in there I kept searching for something, but ended up with nothing.

[DiegoPalacios]

those are all skills that can be developed with practice

[ToonsJ4]

Practicing a skill can take years (I have tried practicing many things, years later still practicing, but have learned practically nothing).

Don't really have the time to practice. If I was still in high school or something sure I would agree with it, but I need to get something I can do this year.

Yes I know practice makes perfect, but something people tend to forget is some people pick up the skill while others take their whole lives to. I would like to emphasis they didn't quit they just took longer to get it.

[Freemints30]

Well with your lists of no's it's not surprising you havent found one. I think you gotta comprise.

Every job would have at least one of your list of no's.

Factory work even to this day an age is still has danger.

Retail still has an emotional task.

Other jobs require you to be willing to sit down and learn

I'll say data entry but as said learning and risk. I say be willing to compromise and take a job regardless. And see if you like it.

You are kinda limiting your self

[DiegoPalacios]

every skill requires practice to master it, some skills may come more easily for some people, but if you are unwilling to work on it, you won't find what you are seeking for.

If you really want a career you gotta work on a skill......or do physical work.......that's how is reality.

[thecrystalrook]

If I was still in high school or something sure I would agree with it, but I need to get something I can do this year.

You are severely limiting yourself to non-career options by doing this.

a programmer understands what they are doing

Yea, and that comes with time and experience. I'm a software engineer with 10+ years experience. I didn't come out of college a master programmer, and I'm still not. For a long-term career, you need to be willing to devote time to your trade.

If all of the above things you listed are truly dealbreakers, then pick a field you like, learn it in and out and work towards a management career for that field.

[TAMAnnoying]

You really need to understand that you are going to have to learn while on the job. No one walks in knowing how they're job works 100% day one.

I've been working with glasses companies for years and I wasn't comfortable doing any of the trouble shooting for broken machines by myself till year 2. This is why business have trainers.

What you should do is find a job that's willing to let you have a trainer for as long as you feel comfortable for. You're also just gonna have to learn to deal with failure- everyone fucks up at they're day job, it just depends on how often and how big of a fuck up it is.

Everyone has already listed some decent ideas from call centers to doing inventory for companies but ultimately this sounds like the usual out of collage problem where your trying to find your perfect job the first time rather then get something to hold you over while you work towards your perfect job.

"Talent" isn't important for most managers. Most managers just need you to have initiative and the knowledge to know when you need to ask questions- and also get to work on time.

Most of the important skills for that job you are going to learn while having that job.

[U.F.O]

Like others have said, you're really limiting yourself here.

Every job can negatively affect someone because everything you do will affect others; colleagues, customers or the company you work at. I would therefore suggest you to do your best, learn and improve.

If you can't decide on what to do right now you could always work as a cashier or something similar until you know (since I saw that on your enjoy list). It's better to have some income than none.

shut your brain off

I wouldn't say that you could shut your brain off for any job. Even if the job is repetitive you must pay attention to the details. For example, being a cashier would probably go under the customer service category which needs you to switch on your social and sympathetic side, unless you're okay with negatively affect the customers. But I see your point, different jobs can be more or less intense in that aspect.

To be honest, talent is pretty much irrelevant. Nobody would ask you if you have a talent for, let's say writing, at a job interview. They would be much more interested in seeing proof of your skills.

I'm a software engineer with 10+ years experience.

Haha I'm a junior software engineer and the assignment I'm on now doesn't involve much programming so my skills are getting really rusty. But yes, since the IT sector is changing so quickly you have to learn new things to stay up to date. I imagine that there are changes in all fields of work which forces you to learn new things although the pace of the changes might differ