After highschool (I actually dropped out) I worked a ton of dead end jobs. Cooking mostly, but there was roofing, painting, digging holes, lots of manual labour.

Eventually I moved to Vancouver and had an opportunity to become a card dealer. It was… How do I put it so you can fully understand… The worst experience by far, ever. It was toxic abusive, exhausting, and just all around the worst.

My partner at the time got pregnant and she actually gave me an out, said I didn’t have to be there at all. I thought my options over and decided I was going to be apart of this kids life and enrolled in college for IT. It was a bit of cheating really, I was already good at it so why not. 18 years later, I’m a consultant, doing well and my daughter is starting grade 12 next year.

College is a great place to start. Unfortunately college is ridiculously expensive these days, but community college is still pretty affordable. There are so many things you don’t even know exist in the world right after highschool. The world also works a lot differently than you’ve seen so far, so a college level education is really beneficial. Go to community college, knock out some Gen Ed courses, and take some interesting classes for your electives. You’ll learn about stuff that you didn’t know existed and you may find that you’re passionate about some of those things.

There is no such thing anymore as a job for life anymore that ended in the 80s. I don’t honestly think that’s there’s a career for life anymore either, that ended in the early years of this century.

Asking someone to choose something to do for 50 years (if they’re lucky) at 16 or 18 is folly.

Build yourself a portfolio of skills which you are proficient in and enjoy doing. I would include (1) languages in that and (2) the technique of communication over and above any technical skills you possess.

I say languages because a second language awakens a different mode of thought, maybe not too much if the languages are closely related.

I’m Gen X and was probably never conventionally employable. Company Roles I’ve had seemed to seek me rather than me them. I wish I had been much more aggressive about a second language much earlier on.

It’s not the language itself. It seems to assist in fluidity of communication. I’m not sure that I can explain what I mean by that: the structure of French sentences differs wildly from English sentences sometimes, but about 30% of English words are French in origin. It seems to encourage me to thing about how I am conveying my idea in words without me being cognisance of that happening.

I always liked the idea of going to a college that had a program with a work term so you can see if you like it and also get some experience. I would say talk to some people in areas that you are interested in and see if you find any jobs you may look doing.

You need to figure out:

• What you like
• What you’re good at (or can become good at with training/a degree)
• What people will pay you to do

If you like something, you’re good at it, and people will pay you to do it, that’s a career. Stick with it your entire life.

If you’re good at something and people will pay you to do it but you don’t like it, that’s a job. Work it to pay the bills, but don’t be afraid to jump ship as soon as something better comes along.

If you like something and are good at it but no one will pay you to do it, that’s a hobby. You’ll need to supplement that with a job to get by.

If you like something and people will pay you for it but you’re not good at it, fake it ‘till you make it and hope no one notices.

If you only like something, you can git gud or find something else. If you are good at something but don’t like it and it doesn’t pay, stop doing it. If you can get paid but you don’t like it and can’t do it, don’t waste your time pursuing it.

Obviously, if something is no to all 3 then it’s not for you.