start afresh? opinions please

gucci_girl_gg

gucci_girl_gg

serial 'moaner'
Jan 12, 2006
1,294
0
#1
.warning! maybe a little long...

hi! so im a little confused on what to do in my life right now. First i wanted to be a sports psychologist as i am very interested in sports, then i changed my mind and wanted to become a primary school teacher (ages 9-11ish) but now ive been thinking alot and i dont think i want to go to university and become a teacher.

Today ive been discussing the issue with my mum and she doesnt believe uni is the best option for me either. I think i want to move down to london (im from near liverpool, up north) and get a job for a while. However i dont know which type of job to look for. I suppose for a while it would be a job to pay the bills and cover my rent etc... id be interested in retail work such as selfridges or harrods with maybe the view of stayin on for a long time and working my way up to managerial positions if possible.

I dont know whether im making the wrong choices though, im only 18 and very confused and i suppose london and the lure of big shops seems hard to turn away. Obviously i would like a career with a decent pay and i know its difficult to achieve not going to uni but its not impossible at all. My mum has said to go an do it while i can and while im young. I dont have any commitements up here such as a boyfriend or school (any more) so i could literally pack up and move!

Do you wonderful girls and guys have any opinions on my situation? could you offer me any advice or share any experiences you have gone through? it'd sure help me alot!

Ive looked into working at Harrods and Selfridges and it doesnt look too bad, Harrods seems like a good job to start off in but its getting in there and convincing them to give an 18 year old with little retail experience (i work at tesco as a cashier) a chance to shine! i know i would be enthusiastic especially in the fashion departments and i feel it'd be a job i would love to do, christmas would be so magical being able to work in such a wonderful place.!

anyways, sorry for the long post! i hope you didnt get bored, id really love to hear what you all think!

hannah xxxx
 
#2
Well your biggest hurdle of coming down here will be the cost of living compared to what you will earn. I believe Selfridges, Harvey Nicks and Harrods pay around £7.50-£8.00 an hour possibly a little more.

I'm assuming that you'd be looking to get a flat share which depending on area would set you back around £400-£500 plus your cost of travel.

You need to figure out how and if you could survive financially before making any leaps.

Why don't you try and get a job in Cricket, Open or Vivienne Westwood to get some more experience if you think fashion might be your calling
 
#3
My advice is go to uni and get your degree. in the meanwhile, you can learn more about the different areas you're interested in. few ppl can know what they want to do at 18!

i'm not saying you can't accomplish what you want without a degree but a) you don't know what you want to do and b) it's going to be much more difficult in this day and age where degrees are so common and it's a requirement for getting your foot int the door at entry level positions. other than being a sales assistant etc.


Think about when you are much older, 40 and 50s. how much job progress u will be able to make without a degree? do you want to be a senior sales associate then or do you want to be a manager working with buyers and planners on the clothing the store brings in and what items should be heavily promoted? if the latter type of role/responsibility, i really suggest you get a degree.

don't just think about now, think ahead.

I loved school and the debt was well worth it and i'd take on debt again to be able to go back to school. really. but then again it's just me =) some people hate studying and hate school....
 
#4
thing is though, i dont want to go to university, i just want the student lifestyle!

if i could go and do a degree in retail management or fashion buying i might look at that for an option but its too late for this year, ive applied for education studies and dont want to become a teacher any more, plus i dont think my grades will get me in this year.

thats where the move to london has come in. take a year or so out and work for a little, maybe just go to university as a mature student.

mooks - open has now closed and id be on better pay in my own job anyway! its turninig into a huge primark!
cricket is still only a small boutique and just like a job with no possibilities to progress. and vivienne westwood is a very small shop, id get easily bored whereas with the big dept. stores in london or anywhere there are hundereds of employees and many different departments.

sigh* ahhhh im confused ! :sad:

thanks for the replies though :smile:
 
#5
When did Open close? I went to the opening of that store

Have you looked at The London College Of Fashion? Once my debt is paid I'm thinking of doing a degree there, I'll be a very mature student (34!!) but it's something I've always regretted not doing
 
#6
It took me a while to find out what I wanted to study myself....I think that it is a good idea to take some time out and work in the field that your interested in.....

You are still young and time is on your side, its better that you take some time off to explore your options and interest rather than take the plunge and just get a degree without much research and regret it....

Keep looking and researching untill you feel that your good and ready....
 
#7
what about working at a retail/fashion place for a year and going to uni and take a business course? it's broad enough that it would be relevant to fashion jobs.

What about the equivalent of the NY fashion institute or the parsons sch of design where you can take some technical fashion classes and business classes as well ?

and lastly, what is bhind your aversion to uni? do you hate studying? is it the debt? or do you just not want to do anything that doesn't interest you?


i have found the last point to be the attitude of alot of the young adults/teen group. a couple of points to keep in mind, just because you study X doesn't mean that you have to do something in that area. secondly, unfortunately , it is rarely possible to do only things you like. sometimes you need to do things you don't like to get where you want to go in the long run. in your case, this may mean that you might have to get a degree in psychology even though you don't have a passion for it because that is the area you're most interested in and one that you can get into based on your grades.



And by the way, if you work in a big store, you're probably not going to be jumping from shoes to clothes. you're going to be in the same small area everyday working with a limited number of products. and you're not going to be meeting all the other hundred employees or get to learn about all the departments. the draw is there no doubt, more cool and exciting to work at harrods than small store X but the nature of your day to day work may not be that different.


sometimes you get to learn more in a small store. you'll see the inner workings of the store and how it's run. you'll never see that working in a big store. all pros and cons.
 
#8
I don't think you'll ever know what you really want to study until you take the class! I fell in love with English Lit and Art History. I suggest you go to university. Moving to London because of the "lure of big shops" is NOT a good reason.
 
#9
How about taking a summer job in retail in one of the bigger shops in Liverpool or Manchester, seeing if you really like retail first, it's not for everyone not alot of money for long hours and very little if any thanks. Keep your Uni place, still plan to go in Sep therefore keep all options open. Why not take a short term let in Manchester see how you feel about living and working on your own.
 
#10
see im not going to get the grades to get into university, i dont want to study and im scared of all the debt i could heap up and end up failing my course aswell so i could be left with £40k worth of debts, 3 years down the line and still no degree! im NOT the studying type.

intlset, i didnt mean it like the lure of big shops, i meant it more like a chance to go be depedent and the big huge shops pose exciting opportunities! i know i wouldnt have alot of money working down in london because of the cost of living however the career i DID want to go into doesnt actually offer that much more money than full time in harrods.

i understand you wont be swappin departments etc... and will be confined to the same section day in day out but as long as i was situated in a section im interesed in eg. fashion... then im very enthusiastic about my work. Right now i work in a shop too and i do enjoy the environment you have in a shop. dont get me wrong (no offence) i dont want to be a regular sales assistant for the whole of my life, i DO want to do something productive and earn decent money however im talking of this as a stop gap while i try and figure out what i want to do and how im going to do it.

i think even if i dont go to uni this sept or move to london im still going to move away a little bit, maybe just to liverpool city centre or even manchester but im still going to have to get a job and i dont want a regular office job, i did it the other summer after i finished my gcse's and got really bored every day, i couldn't hack it day in day out at all.! im much more of an interactive girl so sales would be interesting because you speak to people all the time and meet new people day in day out. yes im aware you have awkward customers who look down on you and are mean and nasty but i deal with it week in week out now in work and its no difference really. theyre just spending a little more on clothes than what they do at my shop haha!

and btw, open shut a while ago... last autumn! it wasnt open for THAT long really only a few years!
 
#11
I would personally go to university and get that degree because then no matter what, you will always have that degree to fall back on. Then I would go from there. Good luck!
 
#12
... thats the thing i dont WANT that degree, even to fall back on! the debt i would occur just to have a plan B is ridiculous! i mays well go and do something i want.

ive been talking to advisers tonight and they think i should possibly go into fashion. i might try and do another year alevels and go do fashion buying or fashion management, at least that way i will have better opportunities than a sales assistant.
 
#13
Good luck with everything! I'm 18 as well and I definitely know what it's like to not know what I really want to do in life... I hope everythign works out for you and if you're only taking a year off you could always go back to school if you change your mind! We're still young! :smile: Just don't rule out school COMPLETELY! If you happen to go to a school for fashion, you'll be studying something that you enjoy so it won't even be like real studying because you'll be doing something you enjoy!

And sometimes you just gotta suck it up to enjoy the finer things in life later! Good luck!
 
#14
Why don't you find out about a fashion internship at a design house? Contact some of the London fashion agencies and alot now have branches in the North too
 
#15
ahh Gucci Girl, its awful isnt it to be stuck as to what you want to do. Its such a big decision, but you are so young, that I really believe it is the perfect time for you to "find" out what it is that pushes your buttons, but it is very very hard to do this without the relevant qualifications. London is a hard city, especially if you do not know anybody there. Going out is really really expensive, but ofcourse if a job is good, and you meet some good friends, it would be worthwhile.

Have a look on Monster.com for fashion opportunities in and around London to give you an idea of what you could earn to begin with, and I am guessing renting a room or a house/flat share would be the way to go to enable you to afford to cover your rental costs.

Take your time and really really think about what would make YOU happy.
 
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