At junior school the world is the mollusc of your choice when it comes to jobs. You could be an astronaut, train driver, fireman etc. Infact anything your little heart desires. At secondary school your choices are trimmed a little as you choose which subjects to do. 6th form, yet again, choices trimmed a little more after choosing just a couple of subjects. Being an astronaut is definately out if you just chose A level art and french. Go to University and you've now really narrowed your choices down to maybe one of two professions. Finish Uni and realise you're now qualified in a subject you don't enjoy anymore and don't have anything else remotely useful to offer and you're properly screwed.
Or be like me, graduate in Fine Arts, do a graduate Diploma in Art History, then a Masters Degree in Art History .......... end up in the film and television game as a Property Master and never really have to work again.
The thing is sometimes you can change, tho can be difficult/ expensive to retrain, or be able to get a job in another area that you’re already working. I’ve worked on an army camp in the stores, been a fork lift driver, worked in warehouses, worked in local govt writing and auditing quality management systems, am a qualified business studies teacher and now working as a plumber/gas heating engineer
You just need to be flexible, never stop dreaming, and not be too much of a slave to the wage. (Or an Idealistic lefty liberal as I get called more often ) Started off doing maths and biology and chemistry and thinking I’d be an ecological warrior saving the world by studying ecosystems and how the world worked naturally. Got sidetracked by photography, and somehow ended up as a film and television sound recordist after a stint in art college. Didn’t like the London life so worked with old people in a care home; and now have vaguely come back to my first love of the outdoors and nature and ecology by growing trees for a living. The choices we make in school shouldn’t necessarily set in stone the rest of our lives, but I agree we do tend to squeeze and squeeze variety out of the younger generation, until they are dumped out into the adult world of work following a very narrow path.
I wanted to be 'this/that', I've worked in a large variety of jobs...after spending over 6months around Nepal, Laos, Thailand I realised I could be happy with much less, less stress, less stuff, less striving for more...since then I work ..just enough for what I need 3days a week seems to do it... I m happy which is what is most important.
That's pretty impressive really I'm sure lots of people would like the variety of jobs you have had, fortunately I have had my share of career changes and enjoyed all of them to a point. It does give me a bit of a life story and I have learned to deal with all sorts of people on different levels.
I like my present job, four days a week going from farm to mill sleeping in an all mod cons truck in peaceful settings three nights a week and having zero responsibility other than doing my job properly. I was asked very recently to do the same job for another company £1000 for a 5.5 day week sleeping out for 5 nights and I just thought - 'No. why would I want to do that at my age?' I also get called a lefty idealist, but I care not one jot.