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How do I know what job is right for me?

So I'm 16, just starting 5th year in school, everything's going fine except, like many others my age, I can't decide what to do once I've finished school. Obviously choosing the right job is very important. I am quite demanding about what I want in return from my job as well, because I feel if I put a lot of work and effort into someting I should get a lot back out from it. Of course like everyone else I would like a good salary. I would like a job that is respected, so people would be quite impressed and know that I am a smart person (yes I have a rather large ego), and I would like to enjoy my job. Right now there's three paths I would like to follow but can't decide between them. #1-Medicine-I'm going to throw modesty out the window here but I'm a very intelligent guy. I always get top marks in school and even study random things that interest me at home, and because of this my ifrst path choice is medicine. You need very high grades when you leave school and then have to do 5 years in uni. I've already started out of school things to help me get into medicine because it's so difficult to get into, and I've talked about it with my guidance teacher who is a careers expert. I love the idea of being a surgeon and getting to save somebody's life or change their life through surgery and I am veyr interested in the way the body works. I have watched 2 live interactive operations where I could watch the surgery and ask the surgeon questions which have got me more interested. advantages-I'd would be using myself to my full potential, good pay, doctors are respected people disadvantages-lots of work, lots of stress, I'm not as interested in medicine as I am in the other choices #2-Science-Out of all my school subjects the science ones are my favourite. I can get the best marks in my class without revising at all. I find it simple and always want to learn more. I have learned quite alot about science from home just by searching online when I get the urge to find something out. I love knowing how things work. the periodic table I find especially interesting, it is very logical and mathematical like me, and also I'm very interested in space physics, and what is beyond our planet, and past the edge of the universe. advantages-again I would be working and using my brain to its full potential, I would be working in something I am interested in disadvantages-You can't simply train as a 'scientist' there are many different specialities to choose form (all are completely different and different areas and jobs will have different amounts of pay. I don't know where I would start to look in order to train in science or where to go after training. #3-computer hardware-This is something I only recently got into. I spent months researching computers when I was going to buy one to make sure I got what i was paying for and that it would last. As a result I got very interested in computer hardware and recently I opened up my desktop and ripped out (well I guess I should say 'caefully removed') my old power supply and connected up and installed a new one and then popped in a new graphics card. I now love opening up my computer and just looking around inside and I'm very interested in computer hardware technology and knowing all about it. Again the speeds and data transfer rates in computers are mathematically oriented and maths is no problem for me. advantages-I would love this work, very interested in it, it's actually very simple compared to the others, it's very hands on work which i like, people will pay alot for you to fix a computer or build them one because people are simply too afraid to open their computers up because they think it might explode. Computers are very much the future so learning about them is very important. disadvantages-I don't know how i would train proffessionally in this area or where I would look for a job. this is more of a lazy option where I don' have to do as much work and it isn't too difficult either. So I know that this is a monster of a question but if you read it all I would love to hear your opinions and experiences. To sum up medicine is more respected and means I would be working to my full potential and have a stable job with good pay, but would make me a bit of a workaholic. computers is something I would enjoy most and is easy and simple for me to do but means I wouldnt be using my brain to its full potential, and science is in the middle somewhere. thanks! Thanks everyone so far. and Helena I did put in somehting in the medicine about helping people and this is definately an advantage of wokring in this field because the skills I would gain from it can really help me and others in life. Misha I really don't appreciate your answer, you obviously didn't understand the context of what I was saying and frankly you are being patronising and rude yourself. I said working with computers is the 'lazy option' in my situation. If I chose to be a doctor I would have to be on call 24/7, and I personally find working wiht computer hardware very simple. working with computers would also mean less working hours than medicine which is why I called it the lazy option. I really think It's ridiculous that you called that constructive feedback.

Public Comments

1. I just read all that quickly but I'd say go for science seeing as you seem to enjoy it the most. Having a job you enjoy will make your life SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more fun, believe me I've done jobs I hate and it really drags you down. Obviously you'll have to pick and area you like best which also provides a decent amount of job opportunities and a good wage and then specialise. You're already committed to the GCSEs you're taking which will affect the A levels you can take. But if you decide you've done the wrong ones you can always take extra at college later. The important thing is to be sure you're doing the right thing when you choose a university course (which you'll have to do for a science-based career) because they are very very expensive and take a long time. It would be better to put this off a few years if you're not 100% sure after your A Levels. Do a boring job a year or two and that'll definitely help you make up your mind! Of course you can change course while at uni, if you do one year and realise something else is better you can change especially if it's to something similar but that might add a year to your studies (and bills!).
2. Medicine: You've said a lot about your intelligence and you ability to get good grades, but you never mentioned anything about wanting to help people. If you were meant to be in medicine, this would've been at the top of the list. For a career in medicine, you have to care, or you'll end up hating your job. I'd strike off medicine, it's a lot of hard work, 24 hrs on call as a junior doctor, I don't think you'd enjoy it at all. Science: You say that you're not sure what area of science you'd want to go into. If you were to take science subjects at A Level, this would let you get a more in depth idea of what you r options are, and what you might like to do. You would need to go to university, but you can search for courses in the years leading up to going to university, rather than last minute, so you know where you want to go and what you want to do. Trust me, it's a bit hectic trying to decide this last minute! Go to university websites, and you can order/ download free prospectuses, which will tell you about every course offered by each uni, and give you an idea of what the unis are like. You'll probably end up barricaded in your room by them, but it's worth it to really be able to explore your options. Computer hardware: I don't know much about this as a career, but it's unlikely to prove as challenging and engaging as the other careers you suggested, there's only so far you can go. I would suggest you look into an engineering discipline. These include the aspects of computer hardware you enjoy (seeing how things work, building/ adapting things etc), and includes aspects of science such as thermodynamics, fluid behaviour, and of course a lot of maths and physics. There are many different courses available, depending on what you're interested in. I suggest you look into it, you may find something you really enjoy!
3. Here's my opinion, there is somecriticismm but ive tried to be constructive. You are only 16!! I mean you might be Intelligent but you are basically sh*ting all over some peoples career!, you describe computer hardware as a "lazy option" - that is sooo rude! Theres nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet but quite frankly you are being ignorant. you state that jobs involving computer hardware arnt too difficult. hmm have you been employed in this industry?? I wish you the best of luck but i think you need to work on your attitude, as far as your career options I would go with the medicine idea as you seem to have a passion for it, this was more clear than any of the other options. You could also travel the world as a doctor or a pharmasist. pharmacist