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A study by LinkedIn found that for a number of professionals the field they chose as a child is the career path they've followed

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What was your childhood dream job? LinkedIn conducted a study which surveyed more than 8,000 business professionals globally. The report found that over 30 per cent of respondents either have their childhood dream job, or work in a career related to their dream job. Professionals who said they don’t have their childhood dream job, which was 43.5 per cent, were most likely to say, “As I got older, I became interested in a different career path,” as the main reason they work in a different job.George Doyle/Getty Images

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For guys in Canada, engineer was the most popular childhood dream job at 7.3 per cent.Stockbyte/Getty Images

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Among females, teacher was the most popular childhood job with 17.3 per cent of those surveyed.Hemera Technologies/Getty Images

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The second most-favourite dream job among men was to be a doctor, nurse or paramedic (EMT), at 6.6 per cent.George Doyle & Ciaran Griffin/Getty Images

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At 10.2 per cent, women’s second most-favourite dream job also was to be a doctor, nurse or paramedic (EMT).Jupiterimages

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For men, 6.3 per cent saw being a professional or Olympic athlete as part of their future. Imagine how many more boys now want their life to resemble that of swimmer Michael Phelps of the U.S., who is shown here kissing his 19th Olympic medal.MICHAEL DALDER/Reuters

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For 9 per cent of little girls, their dream was to become a writer, journalist or novelist. I think J.K. Rowling’s success might boost those numbers for the Harry Potter generation.Comstock

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For boys, 6.3 per cent thought being an astronaut would be cool. Who wouldn’t?Golkin Oleg/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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For girls, they stayed grounded with 6.3 per cent deciding they wanted to be a lawyer.Stockbyte/Getty Images

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Boys liked the idea of getting up high in the sky, with 6.3 per cent dreaming of being an airplane or helicopter pilot. Britain’s Prince Harry, left, in front of an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan in September, 2012, will only make that role more glamorous.John Stillwell/The Associated Press

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For girls, 5.5 per cent saw being a veterinarian in their future. Who can resist those puppy dog eyes?Alexander Raths/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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More than 70 per cent of the global professionals surveyed by LinkedIn said that the most important characteristic of a dream job is “taking pleasure in your work.” In second place was, “helping others,” at 8 per cent, followed by “a high salary,” at 6 per cent.Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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LinkedIn also found there’s a number of people with cool careers in Canada on the online networking tool. For instance, there are nearly 700 filmmakers, 336 choreographers, and more than 25 astronauts.Ganay Mutlu/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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