I've got no idea what to do.

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I'm 20 years old, living in the UK, Ihave an ok education (up to AS level, plus some side stuff) and I have a part time, minimum wage job in a photolab. All around me I can see no end of part time, minimum wage retail/service position jobs, all of which have no real purpose.

What I want is a job that would give me some kind of opportunity in life- even the slightest chance of promotion after a few years, or enough money to be able to pay to finish my education, or on-the-job qualifications. Just anything that leads anywhere. However, I can't see anything like that, no matter where I look.

As it is, my current job gives me just enough money to scrape by. I fell out with my family a long time ago, so I can't ask them for help, and while I would have an easier life on benefits, I find the idea of signing on when I can work morally repugnant.

So, what do I do?

Does anyone in the UK know any good businesses I could contact that might have vacancies that actually accomplish anything, or a good place to start looking? Or maybe anything I could do to enhance my CV in my spare time?

Long and short, it's just like the subject title says- I have no idea what to do.

Any advice, please?

Ahhhh.... a Bristol chap,

i visit Bristol twice a week....

tell me, what are your interests?,
and what skills do you have at present?
also, what kind of work are you looking for?

i might be able to help...

My interests aren't really anything useful- Martial arts, anime, IT, animals, japanese, politics & psychology.

My skills.. somewhat lacking. I've got a good head for numbers, and learn abstract things fast (I.e concepts, and how to work things out etc, but not quite so quick at learning how to physically do things). I've worked as a personal carer before, and held trading card game tournaments, and I have a good knowledge of most parts of IT work- I've used Access before, can create web pages and generally find anything IT related quite easy.

As for what kind of work im looking for, basically anything that either adds to my skills, or has some kind of potential for progression. I just hate feeling stuck in my current job, especially since I'm fairly sure the business will fail at some point within the next 5 years.

If you can ride a horse and wield a sword then AFTL may hire you as Knight mercenary in his battle against the Sandwichian hords.

Or you could check out the colleges for evening classes. Do you have a Connections or Youth Shop or a Base 21 which usually provide career advice etc for people under 25.

This is the local gov. link for what it`s worth,
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/navigatio ... education/

do you know any Programming?

Not really. I have some experience in html, but it's been ages since I've used it.

what would be your dream job?

My dream job would probably be office related - being able to immerse myself extensively in something and make sure it gets done perfectly, be it keeping information organised, or designing something, or making sure the right people get the right tools/information they need at the right time. Or practically anything, so long as its got a small degree of distance from most people, and an actual point to it, and allows me to get close to the actual work.

what are your exact qualifications?

AS levels:

Politics - C
Business Studies - D
ICT - D

GCSEs:

Maths - B
English - B
English Literature - B
French - B
RS - B
Double Award Science - CC
History - C
Psychology - C
Latin - D

Other:

City & Guilds Web Design (level 2) - Distinction
NCFE Networking - Pass
OCR Level 2 Certificate in Enterprise - Credit

Most of the time when I took tests it just happened to be during or after some family crisis, or suicidal depression, which didn't do much to help my grades. A complete lack of contact with my family seems to have solved those particular issues, though, and since I stopped having anything to do with them I've been more stable and adjusted than ever.

have you throught of taking an Adult access course?


im doing one of those and going to Uni this September...

on a tangent... you might think about doing what i had to do to save some money...

get a roommate.

/ick i know! but

not sure about career choices... as im gonna have to face the music here shortly lol

Hi I am in a similar situation to you in terms of finding meaningful employment beyond the endless pointlessness of retail etc and like you having a good set of qualifications upto A2 level and a year spent at uni which is dropped out from owing to inability to be able to handle not having my own space to go off into when I wanted

I did note that you said you find it morally repugnant but if you are on benefits you can get onto a evening college course for free. I quit my existing rubbish retail job so that I would not have to pay over 500 pounds for my evening course as I felt that it was morally wrong to have to pay of the course when others on the course some with no qualifications what's so ever had employers paying it for them and the reason they get the course for free iand have a job in the field

Also aspie for the lord what exactly is an adult access course that seems interesting

Aftl - An adult access course sounds interesting. I will have to research this.

Sedaka - I already have a roommate. To be more precise, I live with my girlfriend.

Essexcjm201 - If I have no options whatsoever of advancing through life without resorting to the benefits system, then I'll give it a go. But as it is, I haven't yet given up hope on working things out for myself.

it is a college course for anyone over 19 or 21 depending where you take it...

it is a 38 week (one year) fulltime or 76 week (two year) part time

there are verious pathways, whixh will enable you to go directly to Uni afterwards, they are the equivilent to two GCSE's and IT course and three A-Levels... and Uni's love them as they show a mature student thats gonna be more dedicated than the younger crowd going.

mine for example, is ACCESS to Humanities and Social Studies -: i got four modules to fill and about 7 or 8 options to choose from, i chose TWO History Modules and ONE English Literature Module and ONE English Language Module.

if your GCSE's are more than 5 years out of date, you will need to do maths and English ones again.... but easy as anything really....


it works wonders for your confidence, and its an environment where you can meet people and make friends too....or at least aquantencies

Become a journeyman tradesman. Welding is fun, and you get paid a lot of money if you get your certificates. If you change your mind later, you always have that to fall back on.