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Stars and government ministers reveal childhood dream jobs

Comic legend Ricky Gervais didn’t always plan to make people laugh for a living. When the star of TV hits The Office and Extras was young he actually dreamed of being a scientist.

Fawlty Towers and West End stage star Prunella Scales, on the other hand, had a childhood dream job closer to her current profession. Instead of treading the boards as an actress, until the age of eight, she dreamed of being a ballet dancer.

Celebrities have been sharing their childhood dream jobs with workplace learning charity, the Campaign for Learning, to help them promote its National Learning at Work Day competition.

The charity hopes that, by hearing what the stars dreamed of doing as children, individuals will enter a competition to win a day in their own childhood dream job as well as inspiring them to think about their own current careers and what they may need to achieve them.

TV favorite Tamzin Outhwaite has been lucky enough to get close to living both her childhood dreams professions of being a dancer or a stewardess. Speaking to the Campaign the actress known for her staring roles in Eastenders, Hotel Babylon and Red Cap said, "I have danced professionally and am now playing a stewardess in Boeing Boeing so it seems my dreams have come true!"

Like Ricky Gervais, there are other stars who have not always dreamed of stardom. This Morning star, Fern Britton, always wanted to be a dolphin trainer and Olympic medal winner Darren Campbell had another dream along with sporting glory and that was to be lawyer.

TV Chef Sophie Grigson still doesn’t feel she has found her dream career despite having a profession many would envy. She explains, "I don’t think I’ve ever really worked out what my dream job would be and I’m still looking." Her fellow TV Chef Gino D’Acampo on the other hand always knew he wanted to be a chef and make people happy with his food.

Journalists seemed to be the most likely to have achieved their childhood dream careers. The Sun’s business editor Ian King always wanted to be a journalist from the age of seven while Dawn Neesom, editor of the Daily Star dreamed of being a journalist from the age of five when she used to write and draw her own newspapers and magazines for her family, which they still have today!

In the political world the schools minister had ambitions similar to Prunella Scales, as Jim Knight dreamed of being a dancer like Fred Astaire or an actor like Laurence Olivier, and Caroline Flint, the minister for public health also wanted to be a ballerina. And when Bill Rammell, minster for lifelong learning, was a child he dreamed of being an astronaut.

Prunella Scales jokingly touches on some of the reasons people don’t end up pursuing the career they desired when young. The actress said, "When I was seven, my parents took me to the ballet and I dreamed of becoming a dancer. But we lived in the deep countryside and there were no classes. By the age of eight I realised my feet weren’t turned out enough, so I said, oh all right then, I’ll just be an actress."

Whilst Prunella was lucky enough that her second choice career turned out to be so successful, many people’s current jobs and career choices may not be as satisfying. Like Sophie Grigson, the Campaign for Learning believes that it is never too late to think about your career.

Linda Siegle, joint chief executive at the Campaign for Learning (who wanted to be a dress designer and did fulfill that dream for a brief period) explains, "As children we all dream about the job we want to do when we grow up but a lack of confidence, support, qualifications or opportunities can hold us back. It is never too late to break down these barriers.

"We are running the Childhood Dream Job Competition to promote the difference learning and development can have on job prospects and working lives, as well as to inspire individuals to follow their career dreams, whether that’s a promotion, a whole new direction or simply learning how to make current jobs more satisfying."

The Childhood Dream Job Competition runs until 21st May 2007 at www.learningatworkday.com. Three winners will be selected at random for Learning at Work Day, Thursday 24 May 2007.

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