Esther McVey Quotes

I don't get much career advice at all, and I would like some.

I mean, I knew I wanted to do this kind of thing in school, but to actually have somebody that would bring you into that world, that was really exciting, you know?

You know, no one steered people's careers in those days, I don't think, like they do today.

I'm not great at judging a career. Or planning one.

As a parent, I often wonder what I should be encouraging my kids to do for a career.

Many professors tell you that you'd be good at this or that, but they don't always help you with that career path.

I know so many people who've been through situations where they've gone from one career to another and have had such a tough time because they didn't have any support doing it.

Having a career is a bit like navigating an Atlantic crossing - you have to make sure everything is keeping and is balanced.

I would have benefited a lot from proper training. I could have done with a strong wake-up call about getting jobs.

When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be an architect, because when I was 12 years old I had a guidance counselor that convinced me that that was the best career choice for me.

That was my trick. I interned a lot.

When I was still a bright-eyed McKinsey consultant, I remember hitting a point where I didn't know what to do next, and someone gave me the book, 'How Remarkable Women Lead,' and I read it and scribbled in it, and it felt like a guide in helping me figure out my career.

If someone had told me age 14 to start making serious decisions about my career, I'd have laughed!

I think with anything career-related, there really is no rush.

When I left university with a history degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do, and I was terrified of accidentally ending up in the wrong career.

I have so many friends who have no idea what they want to do. They are out of college and working, but not sure they are doing what they want to do, which is normal.

I was under the assumption that the first job you get out of college is the job you have for the rest of your life. That's how my parents were; my parents have been teachers for as long as I've known 'em. I was worried that I'd gotten into something that I was going to hate.

When I left university, I idled around without focus for much too long.

I've already figured out when I'm going to be No. 2 and No. 1.

I planned on being an English teacher, but I don't know where that went.

At times, I think of my career as a map. The closer you get to the map, the more you know where you are, but the closer I get to my career, the less happy I feel. At the same time, I have carved out the career for myself which I wanted.

What I learned from architectural drafting is that everything has to have a plan to work. You just can't wing it. I can't get all the materials I need for a house and just start building. Whether it's a career, family, life - you have to plan it out.

On Career Day in high school, you don't walk around looking for the cartoon guy.

The first essential in a boy's career is to find out what he's fitted for, what he's most capable of doing and doing with a relish.

The most important thing is to talk to people that have jobs that you might like and to see what they say the job involves.