Paleontology is the career I’ve wanted to do since I was younger but I now want to consider other options as back

Question: Paleontology is the career I’ve wanted to do since I was younger but I now want to consider other options as back ups. I’m interested in mechanical engineering, information technology and I also love gaming but it’s not very easy to make a job out of. I need to choose my A Level subjects soon, what advice do you have for me in choosing A Levels to keep my options open?
- Keywords:
  career,
  education,
  engineering,
  paleontology
Asked by anon-263541 on 8 Oct 2020.
- Katie Bickerton answered on 8 Oct 2020:
  
  My advice would be to look at university courses you’re interested in and see what subjects they require for entry. I’d strongly recommend taking maths as it’s helpful in all fields and probably the A level I use most in my day to day work as an ecologist (especially statistics).
  
  If you have the option to take a geology A level (I know not many places offer it), that might be a good and help you to decide if you want to go down the earth sciences paleontology route.
  
  Another key skill is coding, the more languages the better! It will come in handy almost regardless of the direction you choose.
  
  Finally, stick to your strengths and the subjects you enjoy, everyone learns better when they’re interested in what they’re doing (I learnt that the hard way)!
- Holly Duns answered on 8 Oct 2020:
  
  Its a great idea to have some back up options. If you asked me at school there was no way i would be working with technology and computers.
  
  Engineering is a great discipline and there are a wealth of careers in that area. With your love of gaming you could look at something like digital forensics, cyber security, software/programming or even something like game design. There are a number of companies based in the UK such as Rock Star who are always looking for employees who love to game! The tech industry is huge and you can really design your own path.
  
  I think the best subjects to chose to keep your options open would be Maths and English as these are always desirable. Then the choice is kind of open, you could take a science or computing, or a subject that you really enjoy. If going to university is your goal a lot of degrees will state their requirements, others just request that you get X amount of A/Bs/Cs.
- James Smallcombe answered on 8 Oct 2020:
  
  A quick look at a Paleontology course at Bristol (I dont know Paleontology so I trusted google to recommend a good example uni) says their standard offer is “three core science/mathematics subjects”. Maths & Science A levels certainly keep your options open for engineering and maths is a good starting point for computing. If you are interested in IT and game development I’d recommend learning some beginners programming in your spare time and looking into coding focused vocational college courses for after your A-levels rather than just looking at university bachelors degrees.
- Stephen Clarke answered on 20 Oct 2020:
  
  I’d recommend that everyone gets qualifications in Maths and English, no matter what they want to do. In addition to that its just about taking subjects similar to what you hope to do in the future, it sounds like Physics and Computing would be obvious subjects for your interest?