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One question that children are often asked is, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This really means, what employment they would like. This question needs an answer, definitely by the time one must look for work, so at the end of college, or high school, or when one stops high school and starts working, as some 16 year-olds do in the US.

But to have the answer at those points, one must have been working on it before then, to get the necessary experiences and schooling. So at what age should a kid be able to give a firm answer as to their chosen employment goal? Of course we are all expected to have several 'careers' in our long lifetimes now, so the answer does not need to be set and unchangeable, but it has to be there in time to get the ball rolling. As the old joke goes, "Until you make up your mind, you can't change it." I have heard of many people idling around in college with no path forward. This is a disaster. They need to be desirous of something long before that. Age thirteen? Ten? When?

user5272
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  • I was vacillating between closing for off-topic and purely opinion-based, but off-topic won out. How is this related to CS Ed? – Ben I. May 21 '18 at 17:11
  • @BenI. If anything, it seems more like a question for [parenting.se]. Thought it's need some help there as well (I think). – Gypsy Spellweaver May 21 '18 at 17:17
  • @GypsySpellweaver It wouldn't be accepted there, either. It's still POB – Ben I. May 21 '18 at 17:19
  • Asking kids these sort of questions do much harm. Yes we need direction, but we also need to be flexible. Watch this video on mindset. https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve – ctrl-alt-delor May 21 '18 at 21:08
  • My favorite way to answer this question is: "Older". I've been a successful code monkey for decades in many different fields and I still don't know what I want to be. And of course many people would debate whether I've grown up. – candied_orange Jun 10 '18 at 14:31

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Actually, there is no such age for everyone, and it certainly isn't a disaster for many to be undecided. Many people just want to be educated so they study things, formally and informally with no clear "career" goal in mind. I changed my mind pretty often, but in a narrow range.

Other people change careers many times throughout their lives. I think it is a mistake for people to push others to choose a path, especially if it would be difficult for them to change paths. Too many people go into daddy's business when they would be happier as poets or firemen.

And early on, every boy wants (or did in my generation) to be a fireman.

Let your life play out. Keep your options open. Learn many things, a few deeply but many others shallowly.

As they say, you only live once.

Buffy
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