This is a career based question; I am currently working in an accounting position and have the opportunity to apply to university.

I would like to go to university as I feel I need to, especially if I want to have decent career prospects. But again I find myself in the position of not knowing what I want to study or do afterwards. I feel this is the same problem I have had in previous education which ultimately led to me not enjoying the courses and getting lower than expected grades. I believe that was because I did not have an end goal and my heart was not in it.

I enjoy the work I do now and I see huge opportunities if I get the correct qualifications and work hard; going from accounting into other aspects of business. But I also enjoy tinkering with cars and bikes, which draws me to engineering. I have always enjoyed researching but do not enjoy institutionalised education; if I want to know something I will research it myself. I think this nature draws me towards something new.

Finally I do not have the best A level grades, but have continued to do courses. I am currently partaking in a CMS management course and a degree level engineering maths course. But if I do apply it may not be to the best university which I feel may hinder me later. I also wonder if it is worth trying to continue with full time employment and doing an Open University course as well, but I know this will take a lot of time and dedication.

I would also like time to train and race as this is my passion. The university life style looks fun but I feel after living by myself and working in a full time job I am a little to mature for the ‘freshers’. I have done that Stamford Tests and spoken to careers advisers but they are all very useless.

Thank you for reading my ramble, any sensible advice is welcome.

Without being rude, how old are you?

You're right to seek help, I'm currently going through issues at the moment at the age of 29, where every job I'm applying for (I'm being made redundant again!) I come up against barriers, either lack of experience, or not enough professional qualifications. I have a degree, various professional qualifications, 5 years professional experience since uni and a whole heap of willingness to learn new skills too. Still, this is not enough for most employers right now, they want the moon on a stick… And the problem is they can afford to be choosy, now UK unemplyment is near enough 2.5million people.

So I'm currently summing up my options too…

FWIW, I went to uni full time at 19, had a great time, loved every minute of it despite being a bit more mature than your average fresher (ie. I had some idea of managing money, realised I'd need to work part time, wasn't getting drunk all day every day). But almost without exception, everybody that I know that worked full time, and studied part time on the side, has done better for themselves in the short-mid term. It seems though at 29, whilst if I were a professional sportsman I'd be 2/3 the way through my career, I'm still regarded as young, rash and inexperienced! AND IT SUCKS!!!

My only real advice is do what you think will be right for you, as if you won't enjoy it and are only doing something to get a qualification, you'll not succeed. You have to enjoy what you're doing IMO to succeed at any level.

I'm 19 going on 35. My immediate thought is that my current internship ends at the end of this academic year, there may be a possibility that I could stay on as I feel I am a valid member of the team and I think my current boss feels the same way. If I did apply for a lower level job I think my experience would stand me in good stead, especially above college leavers and maybe some degree students, but I'm left climbing the ladder which is meant to be hard with no degree. On the other hand the current climate suggests that hiding in university for four year is possibly the right thing to do.

Funding is not a huge issue, I have worked and saved since I turned 13 and reckon I have just enough money to fund university with an extra few grand borrowed from my parents, which I will have to pay back. I think that my current life style means I could happily do my own studying and complete a university course with a good grade at the end, as long as I chose one that I find it interesting.

To be perfectly honest I would love to be a sports man, which is where my passion lies. But I don’t have the balls or possibly the encouragement to quit everything and give it 100%, I’m sure many people here know that feeling.

From what you say, I'd reccomend finding an interesting degree and going to uni then. All IMO of course though.

Don't for one minute though think that just cos you'll have a degree it makes things a lot easier once you enter the corporate world. A good degree is often only a door opener, sometimes not even that. You still have to put in the time and effort and build your way to the top, regardless of your ability and your qualifications!

If I start Uni I will stick to it, I'm not one to drop out or give up.

Yes I know that, I am currently working in a very corporate company and I know just how hard it is to get in and stay in. I had 3 interviews as an intern.

How do I choose which degree to do? I studied maths, physics and economics. Out of those I didn’t enjoy maths, but I am giving it another go and hopefully will enjoy it this time. I am even doing it on weekends. Physics I found interesting but it is something I like to read up about myself and not necessarily do as a degree, I think the fact I didn't enjoy maths also meant I didn't end up enjoying physics as much as I should have. Economics I did enjoy and it is linked to accounting and finance, but I am not sure whether I would like to do any of them for four years.

By the sounds of what you're good at and what you enjoy, choose a combined discipline degree. Something like Business & Economics for instance, where you don't spend your entire time on one subject. And preferably choose a modular degree, made up of several different modules, this tends to break up the content a fair bit more.

With regards to your current company, have a word with your boss, and possibly the HR department. Ask them for some advice, and also ask if there is any possibility of keeping a position open for you… You don't ask, you don't get! If they like you already, they're likely to like you even more with a degree in 4 years time. Also, it may well leave you a rock solid fall back as a summer job, which as every student knows, a good summer job is worth its weight in gold when it comes to managing to scrimp a few quid together for the next term!

I have had in previous education which ultimately led to me not enjoying the courses and getting lower than expected grades

I think your problem is in that statement. I'm not trying to be funny, or take the urine, but years ago we had a choice, work hard at school, get excepted for uni, then work darn hard to get yourself a chance at a decent job.
That or except that you would have to work very hard for peanuts to get yourself it to a decent paying job after years of working your way up.

I think all I'm saying is you have to work hard at whatever you do, not many people like their jobs, or expect to get on without putting in the effort, is there a reason you think differently?

e-mail me ….. I am a Careers adviser

I'd suggest going for it myself. You can always fall back on accounting if you have problems and you'll regret not doing it later on if engineering is something you really want to get into professionally.

If you get to 30, have a big mortgage, wife and kids, I'll be a whole lot harder to pursue your dream.

And as I say, it's not like you're giving anything up to follow a career in football or pop singing, there's a good chance you'll achieve what you want to and you already have a sound occupation to fall back on.

Yes, I realise that now. But when I was at college I worked 20 hours a week, trained a minimum of 10 hours a week and studied. They may not have helped me with my grades but taught me other things which I believe have been far more valuable to me than anything I could have learnt at college.
Those two other activities also meant that I got a job in a corporate company on the other side of the country. I was competing against people who had done 2 years of degree and others who had straight As at A level. So surly that must have meant something to someone or I wouldn’t be where I am now. Another idea would be to pay for a crash A level course and get my grades to a higher level, but that means again delaying everything by another year.

You never know if it goes really well then one day I might be able to get that ’88 911 turbo 😉

alwyn, as I said, I was never taking the p1ss, I left school with a few GSE's, I regret that, if I had bothered to work harder maybe I would be in a better situation now, I guess I will never know.
Work hard whilst you can, and make the best of your life for tomorrow, I didn't.

Junkyard e-mail sent. Sorry about the time. Don't worry 2unfit2ride I wont take it personally 🙂

You seem to be doing a very good job anyway; do you own the Porsche garage? Just goes to prove exam grades aren't everything.

Accountancy – You can theoretically do it all home study. Your current company may well encourage you to do so. Unfortunately a lot of job specs these days specify a minimum degree. This is when you can get trapped in a firm, earning a lot less than you are worth.

There may be some snobbery with regard to the actual University you have been to, but grades are the most important thing. If you get into Uni and roll out the other side with a solid 2.1 or 1st, employers will not care what you did at A Level. Some courses offer more exemptions than others when it comes to professional qualifications so bear that in mind when picking a uni. It might not seem important, but when you have an extra 3 exams to sit whilst working full time you will kick yourself for it. You will need to work in a "proper" accountancy job for 3 or 4 years minimum before the wages really start to kick up.

I fitted a LOT of messing around into my qualification – 3 years at uni playing a lot of sport and travelling in the breaks, a year home studying to finish all the professional exams, then 3 years working winters as an accountant in a ski resort and travelling in the summers. Whilst you are unlikely to be a professional sportsman it is still possible to train nearly as much as one.

Engineering – Interesting job. A lot of mates at uni did it. Hard work at times getting qualified and you can end up becoming specialized and having to move around for work.

With both you can branch out on your own once you have a bit of experience.

Where would you like to be in five years time?

Decisions as to whether or not to do whatever course and so on are kinda hard if you don't know what you are aiming for. Set yourself a 5 year goal and then work out how to get there.

It's not really important where you actually end up after five years. It's the journey that's the fun bit.

Hope this helps. It works for me

Scoobys that is a good idea, I will get on it this weekend. I guess that is one of the things that has helped me really stick my Triathlon training. I want to complete my first Ironman in two years time, everytime I don't want to train I just think of that. I also hope to race elite this year.

I'm off to bed, I've got work in the morning but please keep the advice coming. It is all really useful. I will reply to all of you tomorrow.

do you own the Porsche garage?

I wished, I'm a car salesman that used to be the cleaner.

If you really want to know what I earn then ask via email & I'll tell you, I'm not bothered. I don't want to shout about my income, it's not great, but it gets me by, not to my wifes liking though you understand.

Cheers.

At the end of the day it's not all about the income. It's about whether you can live at the standard you want, enjoy what you do and can ride at the weekends. Anything else is a bonus, which is why before committing I am trying to find something I really enjoy.

I bet there are people I work with earning £100k+ who really don't enjoy their work and end up miserable because of it.

alwyn, I love my job, I used to clean cars there before I left school just so I could be around them, it is the only job I have ever had (I left school in 86), my job is driving cars, fast, & selling people their dream, I love it.

Enjoy whatever you choose to do.

'88 911? hardly worth all that effort, there's plenty of real cars for a lot less money.

You/we all, spend an inordinate amount of time working to live whatever you do, you will not enjoy 100% of it, but you must enjoy your work most of the time.
How about a sports degree? I've coached Kids, young adults and special needs kids, all of which is fun and fulfilling while sharing my passion.