What career/degree should I choose?

The first question should be “What do I enjoy doing?”

You’re thinking about it in the right way. Most kids just pick something without thinking about the long-term. You need to be honest about what you enjoy, are good at and then pick something along those lines that will give you gainfull employment. Take the time to figure this out, no need to rush.

Go with the statistics.

Are these people you are talking to employed in their chosen profession? If so, that would seem to outweigh what they are saying.

@ragingloli has the right answer. Basing this sort of major decision on statistics or on uninformed opinion is asking for trouble. The answer has to be internal to you, based on your feelings.

Take the situation where you go into one career because of some numbers on a page. And you hate it, completely abhor it from the first minute. All because you didn’t think about the consequences for yourself.

The bottom line – in my opinion – is that YOU make the decision based on YOUR persoanlity and likes, not on anyone else’s.

I would do a few things now that I wished I had done when I was in your shoes. First, contact a few HR departments of places of your desired profession and inquire as to the availability of opportunities. This will give you a better perspective of the real opportunities out there. Also ask them about the qualifications that they expect new hires to have and then tailor your education to them. Most important is to ask them if there is a specific school they like to hire from.

I studied Radio TV and Film at a State University and when I graduated I came to find out that pretty much all of the film and TV stations only hired from technical schools and the best job I could find was working the night shift at a Spanish TV Station that paid minimum wage.

Choose the one you like and screw what others think of it. Personally I’d recommand law because well that’s what I’m studying and I like it. :P

To add to this, remember that your education is an investment in yourself and your future. What kind of future life do you want?

Once you know that, start exploring areas that interest you and that will help you meet your goals for your life. Don’t get too bogged down in the comments of, “I wish I had chosen a different career.” These people may have chosen wrong and, instead of changing careers, they let themselves remain stuck in an unhappy situation. There can be many reasons for this, so I am not trying to judge those people.

As for doing something that you like, I will throw a counter-argument out there. I worked with a guy who enjoyed working in the printing industry, but he loved working on cars. He could have easily worked as a mechanic. However, he chose to continue working in printing and kept cars as a hobby. His reasoning for this was that he didn’t want to have his passion for cars become drudgery. Would it have happened? Hard to know. He retired from the printing business and still loves tinkering with cars. So, think carefully before you choose a career based solely on what you like to do. It should be one question of many.