Career Choices: What Will You Be When You Grow Up? [Infographic]

When we are little kids, it seems like we are asked over and over by adults, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As kids, it’s a question that doesn’t require much thought, and we usually blurt out whatever we think would be the perfect job (like being a superhero). Unfortunately, as we get older, too many of us end up with a job of convenience instead of something that makes our hearts sing. It’s the nature of the job market these days, and the average person will change jobs 7 times in his or her lifetime.

But what if you knew then what you know now? Would you answer the question “What do you want to be when you grow up” differently? If you could do it all over again, what would you be? After you answer that question, think about this…We are never too old to “do it all over again.” We are never too old to follow our dreams. Settling for second or third best can be a hard pill to swallow. As Steve Jobs said, the only way to truly be happy is to love what you do every day, and since we only live once, that should be a priority.

I love what I do now, and I am grateful for it every day, but in my early years, my own career path was one of convenience also. For a long time I wanted to be a meteorologist since I love weather, but since math has always been easy for me, I settled on a math-related University degree instead. I did that because it required less studying. Sometimes the decisions we make are so silly when we look back.

According to this infographic called What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? by howdoibecomea.net (design by NowSourcing), in the United States, by year 2020, there are projected to be 163.9 million jobs for the 22.2 million children that are ages 6 – 11 now (the sources for these stats are listed at the bottom of the infographic). They go on to list some of the most popular careers that kids dream about being when they grow up. I thought it was interesting to read that the average model makes $20 per hour, the average actor makes $17 per hour, and the demand for veterinarians is growing 36% faster than the average career. We never truly get old if we stay young in our hearts, right? So, what will you be when you grow up?