What Age Did You Know What Job/Career You Wanted To Persue In Life?

[Guest Waka Flocka Dave]

Why cant you be a pilot dave?

You actually tried before or just cant be bothered to actually try doing it?

aint got the money for it/ competition is too much

if i cnt do the 60k course i could spend like 3k gettin the private pilots licence then try get sponsorship, competition is way too much for that from guys whose entire lives revolve around it

i just dont see a way of getting in atm

[Yuri]

SERIOUS fitness levels involved in that shizznit.

yeah bro

it's all mind over matter with most of the sh*t they put you through though

they're not looking for the guy who can do 5000 push ups, they're looking for the guy who will die trying/never quit

You know what other sort of training routines etc they have to do/pass?

Yeah bro

From what I remember it's a couple of prelimiary interviews where they discuss why you are interested in the Royal Marines, talk about your personal life, generally try to assess whether you are somebody who (a) genuinely wants to do it and has the motivation to finish the training and b. whether you're a suitable person

Then if they're interested in you, they will give you a test in the office on a treadmill to test your basic fitness level (you have to do 2km in 10 mins or something)

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Then a 3 day selection course: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_Royal_Marine_Course

Day 1

On the first day of the PRMC, potential recruits begin their assessments at 6am. They undertake the 3 Mile Run and Gym Test 1.

The three mile run consists of a 1.5 miles out run as a squad followed by 1.5 mile back individual best effort. The 1.5 miles out is done in 12.5 mins followed by a best effort run back in under 10.5 minutes.[1] However, candidates should aim for a return time of around 9 minutes to improve their chances of passing.

* Gym test 1 is conducted in the afternoon of the first day. It incorporates:

* The VO2 Max bleep test (also known as the 'bleep test'.) Maximum level is 13 for maximum points, and candidates should aim for at least level 11 to improve their chance of success.

* Pressups are carried out immediately after the bleep test. A maximum score is achieved for 60 press-ups within the 2 minute time limit, but candidates should complete more if able. These are carried out with arms locked into sides and shoulder width apart. The partner puts his fist on the floor facing away and counts one repetition for every time the chest touches his fist. Instructors observe to make sure the assessment is carried out flawlessly, and any poor form will result in press-ups being deducted from your final score. If you put your knees onto the floor you will be told to stop.

* Situps come straight after the press-ups. 80 for maximum points. time limit is 2 mins. Carried out with partner holding feet, elbows must touch top of knees for a repetition to count. Knees must remain together or else reps will be deducted.

* Pullups follow situps. A minimum of 2 are required to stay on the course, however candidates should aim for 6+ to increase their chance of being selected. Carried out with an over-grasp grip, the candidate is required to pull and hold the position until told to extend the arms; pull-ups are performed to the "bend" and "stretch" commands. The candidates chin must pass over the top of the bar to count. If the chin does not satisfactorily pass above the bar, or candidates cannot keep up with the commands, the candidate will be told to "drop off".

Day 2:

The second day is a test of mental strength, physical endurance, stamina and determination. Both physical assessments are done wearing a combat jacket, combat trousers, a rugby shirt and boots. The first assessment of the day is the high obstacle course, the deathslide and the assault course, followed by the Endurance Course in the afternoon.

After completing the death-slide, a thorough warm-up begins comprising of sprints to obstacles, tuck jumps, burpees, squat thrusts and star jumps, crawling uphill through wet mud on the "take cover" commands and pyramid exercises such as(press-ups, sit ups, and squat thrusts). Candidates then have to demonstrate confidence at height by completing the high-ropes obstacles, before being shown and practicing how to complete obstacles on the bottom field assault course 2 - 3 obstacles at a time. candidates are timed around the obstacle course in a best effort attempt.

Throughout this morning, the expression "You're only as strong as your weakest man" is very much in force, meaning there are consequences for the entire squad if a few candidates do not do as told. Also, anybody lagging in particular will be penalized.

After a grueling morning, the afternoon is spent on the "Endurance Course." The first part of this consists of a 2.5 mile obstacle route across the rough and hilly terrain of Woodbury Common in boots and combat clothing. Obstacles include pools and muddy tunnels, some of which are completely underwater, making clothing heavy and ensuring candidates are cold and wet from the outset. The training team then take the candidates on a run across Woodbury Common that includes frequent hill-sprints, press-ups and tuck jumps. Some 'determination' tests along the way include carrying other candidates up hills and crawling through the streams and mud pools which frequent the area. All that has to be shown here is determination by sticking the course out and not stopping or walking.

Day 3 is formalities

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Then if you do well in the stuff shown above you will be invited to start traiing to becme a marine. 32 weeks of hell.

To pass out, you have to complete the following, on consecutive days:

* A nine mile (14.5 km) speed march, carrying full fighting order, to be completed in 90 minutes; the pace is thus 10 minutes per mile (9.6 KM/h or 6 mph).

* The Endurance course is a six mile (9.65 km) course across rough moorland and woodland terrain at Woodbury Common near Lympstone, which includes tunnels, pipes, wading pools, and an underwater culvert. The course ends with a four mile (6 km) run back to CTCRM. Followed by a marksmanship test, where the recruit must hit 6 out of 10 shots at a 25m target simulating 200 m. To be completed in 73 minutes (71 minutes for Royal Marine officers). Originally 72 minutes, these times were recently increased by one minute as the route of the course was altered.

* The Tarzan Assault Course. This is an assault course combined with an aerial confidence test. It starts with a death slide (now known as The Commando Slide) and ends with a rope climb up a thirty foot near-vertical wall. It must be completed with full fighting order in 13 minutes, 12 minutes for officers. The Potential Officers Course also includes confidence tests from the Tarzan Assault Course, although not with equipment.

* The 30 miler. This is a 30-mile (48-km) march across upland Dartmoor, wearing full fighting order, and additional safety equipment carried by the recruit in a daysack. It must be completed in eight hours for recruits and seven hours for Royal Marine officers, who must also navigate the route themselves, rather than following a DS (a trained Royal Marine) with the rest of a syndicate and carry their own equipment.

[Guest Esquilax]

Really decided late 2010 that I wanted to be a music journalist. Hopefully if it works out I'll have gained enough life experience to start writing fiction, which is where my heart REALLY lies.

[Frank.]

that was aimed at Frank the cheerleader still didnt see the next page

the guys i know the army wasnt their first choice n they aint exactly the fittest guys

wasnt even sayin its a bad thing, bt obv cos of the way i felt n how my boys felt when they joined it was jus in my mind as a last resort

lol cheerleader you know.

i actually gave you advice, but as you were.

[DRC]

I decided by the age of 6 that I wanted to work in IT

Kept teling people I was going to be an IT anaylst.

Did a computing degree at uni then realised i hate programming

lost my way, got a 2:2 (don't judge me) and reading comments from individuals in the academics thread basically made me think any effort I had put in was wasted and I should just start afresh.

Then I saw a job advert went for it and after 4 long-ass interviews I got it.

Its opened a lot of doors/avenues and tbh I have no idea where it will lead but at the moment its IT-related and revolves in an industry I'll never get bored of

[LOST]

At about age 18 wanted to be a Investment banker, now working in HSBC in Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage, ideally want to get into precious metals trading but im young so i will see what doors I can try to open.

when you say "precious metals" do you mean you want to specialize in gold/silver/platinum/palladium or do you mean all non-ferrous metals in general i.e. copper/zinc/ally etc?

why not start trading forex yourself and see if you like it? being a trader is a tough graft mate, especially in the big banks.. they'll only give you one shot and if you flop you wont get another chance. the best route is obviously through a smaller fund but as i'm sure you know getting into one of those is nearly impossible without a connection to a partner or substantial experience.

ideally the first group gold/silver/platinum/palladium, was speaking to some traders they insisted a simulated fx account would be the best bet of understanding the trading experience. FX trading is speculative so im just trying to build a strategy or just notice certain patterns that may occur between some of the simplest currency pairs (USD/ GBP GBP/EUR)

Thinking of staying in my current position for a few years gain that market knowledge and try to take that into applying for a Jr trading/ analyst position. The only benefit I see with doing it with HSBC is they pay for my certification if i should be given the chance.

[Mr Q]

I decided by the age of 6 that I wanted to work in IT

Kept teling people I was going to be an IT anaylst.

Did a computing degree at uni then realised i hate programming

lost my way, got a 2:2 (don't judge me) and reading comments from individuals in the academics thread basically made me think any effort I had put in was wasted and I should just start afresh.

Then I saw a job advert went for it and after 4 long-ass interviews I got it.

Its opened a lot of doors/avenues and tbh I have no idea where it will lead but at the moment its IT-related and revolves in an industry I'll never get bored of

People shouldn't let any dream killers in here (or in general) allow them to put stuff off, until they have decided they themselves don't want to do it.

Good that you never gave up.

[Em Dott]

About 22 years old. Better late than never.

[TALLWAH]

Go RAF dave, they pay ur training and everything.

[Davicious X]

22 isn't late IMO it just happens when it happens.

I knew when I was watching a video of Michael Jordan abusing John Starks when I was 7 that I wanted to have some kind of connection to basketball.

I am since then a qualified basketball coach and have coached kids and adults alike but I don't like coaching kids and adults seem not to have an interest in learning from someone younger than them... I've been qualified since I was 23 so those qualifications are just sitting there now.

Sigh!

[Kompressor]

Still dont know... all i know is a 9 to 5 is scary

agreed, i refuse to be stuck in one for long term

lol Army, thas when u know everything else has failed

Not really, I had a friend who always wanted to do it, learnt a lot of good skills and now he has finished he has a very well paid job in telecoms engineering.

this is the thing, the ammount of people who go into the Army and come out with a wide range of skills they otherwise wouldnt have................

not sure if i've decided definitly yet, was taking the youth work apprach and looking to get into Youth offeneding or mentoring, but the way things are going i'm steering away from that right now.

March will probably be when i decide what to do next.

i've got a few ideas in the pipeline though which i've looked into and that are a lot more feasible than i even imagined,

so i may be self employed by the end of the year.

[Dubby]

20 old and still unsure

[spiderman]

I've never had a strong decision on what i want to do.

i have an idea of the kinds of things im capable of doing and will be qualified for. have no strong bias as to what i end up doing, other then the salary, prospects and the pay i get for the effort i put in.

a 9-5 aint fun, its a chore. its just sumin you do, sometimes out of neccessity to eat and have shelter, other times to make yourself more financially secure and reach higher standards of living in the pursuit of luxury. we are economic slaves really. either just put up and shut up in the hopes that working will get you the other things in life you desire, or get out of the rat race and accept not being able to see anything more than the doll for the rest of your civilised life or just go back to the wilderness and live off the land.

[HangTheDJ]

21, half way through my second year of university and i've still no idea

i don't intend to get a career any time soon anyway, i have many boxes that need ticking before then.

[Mr Q]

Thought you had plans on being a sports journo, JJ? Remember you saying in the Academic thread.

[HangTheDJ]

yeah i did a bit of freelance writing a few years back and had a few things printed on my course, but didn't pursue it.

my mate did sports journalism at staffordshire and works for sky sports online now.

comes from a shithole like me, kind of makes me wish i'd have pursued it more, but meh

/

the standard of my english has decreased massively since i've been at uni, i'm not particularly sure what conclusion to draw from that

[Guest Esquilax]

That's pretty sick that he's working at Sky Sports, even the lower end media websites are really picky about who they get to write

Do you know if it's an internship or full time?

[HangTheDJ]

Dunno, he does the live update things on Saturday's.. For Prem games sometimes too. Gets to sit in a studio with loads of different screens with all the games on.

He got it through work experience though.

[Guest Esquilax]

Sounds ideal for someone with an interest in journalism and sports tbh

Your English levels are recoupable, maybe you shouldn't give up? Not for me to say really but stillios

[Guest Waka Flocka Dave]

id love to just write random things on them ticker things

just like.... Arsenal 1 - 0 Liverpool Gary Smells Manchester United 3 - 0 Aston Villa

[Yuri]

I've never had a strong decision on what i want to do.

i have an idea of the kinds of things im capable of doing and will be qualified for. have no strong bias as to what i end up doing, other then the salary, prospects and the pay i get for the effort i put in.

a 9-5 aint fun, its a chore. its just sumin you do, sometimes out of neccessity to eat and have shelter, other times to make yourself more financially secure and reach higher standards of living in the pursuit of luxury. we are economic slaves really. either just put up and shut up in the hopes that working will get you the other things in life you desire, or get out of the rat race and accept not being able to see anything more than the doll for the rest of your civilised life or just go back to the wilderness and live off the land.

there's no such thing as a 9-5 anymore (for the coroporate jobs i know you're after - academic thread, no stalker)

probs 9-6.30 is the best you could hope for, 9 or later when it's busy

one geezer i know in his first year at an investment bank, guy gets in at 8am and hasn't left before 8pm yet

guy was telling me how he's got acquaintances out in hong kong who are pulling mad hours, not leaving the office til 1/2am then going straight to the clubs and back in the office for 8am lol.....i couldnt' do it

[spiderman]

I've never had a strong decision on what i want to do.

i have an idea of the kinds of things im capable of doing and will be qualified for. have no strong bias as to what i end up doing, other then the salary, prospects and the pay i get for the effort i put in.

a 9-5 aint fun, its a chore. its just sumin you do, sometimes out of neccessity to eat and have shelter, other times to make yourself more financially secure and reach higher standards of living in the pursuit of luxury. we are economic slaves really. either just put up and shut up in the hopes that working will get you the other things in life you desire, or get out of the rat race and accept not being able to see anything more than the doll for the rest of your civilised life or just go back to the wilderness and live off the land.

there's no such thing as a 9-5 anymore (for the coroporate jobs i know you're after - academic thread, no stalker)

probs 9-6.30 is the best you could hope for, 9 or later when it's busy

one geezer i know in his first year at an investment bank, guy gets in at 8am and hasn't left before 8pm yet

guy was telling me how he's got acquaintances out in hong kong who are pulling mad hours, not leaving the office til 1/2am then going straight to the clubs and back in the office for 8am lol.....i couldnt' do it

i said "9-5" because its just an expression to describe work in general. of course i know the jobs im trying to get might involve working mad hours.

if you work in an investment bank you could expect to be there until 12-2am and will probably need to go back for 9am. you dont get much sleep which is what im not sure if i could hack. but my friend who did an internship said that your not constantly working during your time at the office, there isnt a strict rule always about what time you need to get in as long as your there when you need to be. you will have work set at a certain time and a deadline to meet, so you may get something at the very end of the day which is probably why you have to stay until night time working.

its not easy work at all, but the pay is sick if you can hack that life.

i do hear that they try to squeeze in a night life aswell; finishing at like 10pm is early for them, so they would go to a club for a bit and maybe get a couple hours rest before going back to work. i dunno if i could hack that either, if i went out and didnt get enough rest then the next day id be sh*t in the office lol.

[FANTA]

Knew since I was 15 but never applied myself.

Taking the steps this year to correct all that as I don't really like what I'm doing at the moment.

[Guillermo Rigondeaux]

At about age 18 wanted to be a Investment banker, now working in HSBC in Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage, ideally want to get into precious metals trading but im young so i will see what doors I can try to open.

when you say "precious metals" do you mean you want to specialize in gold/silver/platinum/palladium or do you mean all non-ferrous metals in general i.e. copper/zinc/ally etc?

why not start trading forex yourself and see if you like it? being a trader is a tough graft mate, especially in the big banks.. they'll only give you one shot and if you flop you wont get another chance. the best route is obviously through a smaller fund but as i'm sure you know getting into one of those is nearly impossible without a connection to a partner or substantial experience.

ideally the first group gold/silver/platinum/palladium, was speaking to some traders they insisted a simulated fx account would be the best bet of understanding the trading experience. FX trading is speculative so im just trying to build a strategy or just notice certain patterns that may occur between some of the simplest currency pairs (USD/ GBP GBP/EUR)

Thinking of staying in my current position for a few years gain that market knowledge and try to take that into applying for a Jr trading/ analyst position. The only benefit I see with doing it with HSBC is they pay for my certification if i should be given the chance.

my advice to you is do not limit yourself

have a good knowledge of all of the metals especially copper as it drives all of the other prices

better to aim to be a commodity trader and be able to trade everything

a simulated fx account is good but it wont help you that much with commodities - unless you have a large long term book all trading is speculative unfortunately you cannot gain experience trading commodities without an lme select account which will set you back a cool couple of million at least.

if u have any questions about trading metals feel free to ask me i do it as a full time job.

[Guest Lemons]

I still haven't got a clue TBH