Over half of UK adults find themselves in careers they never dreamt of as children

Over half of adults are now working in a field that bears no relation to their childhood aspirations, largely due to a lack of awareness about the opportunities available to them in their youth. A survey of 2,000 adults revealed that a staggering 68 per cent were oblivious to the existence of their current job when they were at school.

Four in ten wished they had known about more varied career options. Nearly half of the respondents rated their school career advice as poor or non-existent, with only a quarter considering it good or excellent. They are now concerned that their children are not receiving sufficient career and job information.

The study was commissioned by Inspiring the Future, a national initiative run by the charity Education and Employers. The programme encourages people from different professions to volunteer to visit schools and chat with children and young people about their careers.

Nick Chambers, CEO of the charity said "When children are asked what they want to do when they grow up most focus on jobs like teacher, doctor, vet, pilot, actor or footballer. But the research shows very few will actually go on to do this job as an adult, with many working in fields they didn't even know existed when they were starting to think about their future careers.

"It's important we give young people as much information as possible about the careers and opportunities available to them to allow them to make informed decisions."

The charity tested the children's knowledge of careers by asking the youngsters what their parents do for a living.

One little boy described his dad's role as 'telling people how to build a house', but in reality, he is a mechanical engineer. Another said his mum 'bosses teachers around', but she is fact a payroll officer for a school trust.

Nick added: "Introducing children to more varied types of jobs and career routes help tackle the limited and ingrained stereotypical views children often have about the jobs people do based on their gender, ethnicity or socio-economic background.

"It allows them to start thinking about a wider - more exciting - range of options including many jobs where there is huge demand and where employers struggling to find people, often having to rely on recruiting from overseas."

The research discovered that the most popular childhood dream jobs were being a doctor or nurse, a teacher, or a footballer. Some aspired to be scientists or pilots, while six per cent fancied becoming an artist or archaeologist, according to the figures from OnePoll.com.

Among those who did not end up in these professions, 12 per cent realised there weren't enough opportunities to pursue them.

Nick Chambers further added: "Introducing children to more varied types of jobs and career routes help tackle the limited and ingrained stereotypical views children often have about the jobs people do based on their gender, ethnicity or socio-economic background.

"It allows them to start thinking about a wider - more exciting - range of options including many jobs where there is huge demand and where employers struggling to find people, often having to rely on recruiting from overseas."