If you could go back in time and choose a different career path, what career would you have chosen and why?

I probably would've chosen to be either a lawyer or an auto mechanic. Besides making good money on the job, both of those professions are very practical in the real world. I mean, how many times in your life when something seriously went wrong with your car did you say, "Ah, I don't want to get ripped off by going to a mechanic but this problem is way too complex and I don't have the expensive tools to do the job! I wish I was a mechanic!" And how many times did you get taken advantage financially by a business or have a problem with the law and say, "I wish I knew the law so I didn't have to hire an attorney!" Think of how much money you could save in life if you went into either of these professions.
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I agree with you completely. If I could choose again, I would have been a private practice accountant, because it is well-paid and allows you to be self employed.

When I was at school we were given no career advice whatsoever. I think children should learn about the possible problems they may encounter in the workplace and make their choice accordingly. They need to be taught about racial and sexual discrimination and how it can destroy careers, and how in many companies, progress is determined by who are related to or drink with, rather than your actions.

For example, I work in IT, and a few years ago there was a survey which aimed to pinpoint why there were many Indian / Pakistani IT workers, but they did not get promoted as easily as white colleagues. It came to the conclusion that one of the main reasons was because they didn't go out drinking with their colleagues as much, and managers tended to promote their drinking buddies! I think inequalities like this should be highlighted and schoolchildren warned, so they do not use their talents to prop up companies and industries that will not reward them.

No-one tells you any of this at school! I'm female and at school I honestly believed that sexual discrimination was very rare. Basically, if you're female, a member of an ethnic minority, or even a white male who doesn't like brown-nosing, you should avoid any career that will only work within the context of a large organisation, and instead opt for professions (such as a lawyer or auto mechanic) that will easily allow you to be self-employed or start your own company.

(Don't ask me to explain what brown-nosing means.)