What do you want to be when you grow up?

Its a question I’ve asked myself for many years. I may be knocking on the door of 40 *weeps* but I still feel I haven’t settled on my true vocation. Even though I have stopped work for now to look after Baby T (and am completely loving it by the way!), it doesn’t stop me from thinking about what career choices lie in front of me. Its fair to say I’ve had some crappy jobs (Assistant Manager at a well known burger chain anyone?) so I know what I don’t want to do but I can’t say I’m 100% decided on any one profession.

I sort of ended up working with food but it has certainly opened doors up for me. I get involved with some brilliant projects, get to eat my work and am never short of something new to try. I may one day go back to cake-making but probably not to the extent that I was prior to having T. I will still have 3 young children for a number of years and when the time comes to look to go back to work, I want something that will be interesting, challenging but won’t occupy my brain 24 hours every day. Food technology sounds really interesting to me with a view to maybe going on to teach the subject (strictly adult learning only for me though!)
I know that my girls have got a number of years yet before they need to start thinking about what they want to be but I do know that I want to be able to offer them as much choice as possible and have as much information available to them. It must be easier in some ways if you know what you want to be when you grow up and can work towards it. Then again, if you have your heart set on a particular career path but don’t achieve the grades, the disappointment must be terrible.

What about you? Did you always know what you wanted to be? I think about Juju, a friend from Derby who is setting up her cake company and wonder if it is what she always wanted to do. Or Janine, who is embarking on a very exciting time opening up her own coffee shop. I’m really interested how people end up being in their particular career. For some, like my friend Wendy, it has been a life long ambition to become a doctor but how do others with less defined roles, end up in their jobs?