jobs,what do you do and do

[Auralis - Paul]

Cool thread.

I am a classic story of someone who buggerred about at school and college. I scraped through GCSE's and performed miserably against expected grades that should of had me in the top 5 percentile. I then went to College where I buggerred about even more (girls and motorbikes ) and got kicked out after 3 months.

I got a job working for a huge multi national bakery as a simple operative, and through hard graft and a fair bit of luck - I have stayed in Food Manufacture ever since, and have been quite succesful. I now manage the largest High Risk Cream Cake manufacturing environment in the country...

I only wished I had realised in my teens that my parents were serious, and correct. There are no second chances and, messing it up now would affect the rest of my life.... I was studying Electronics engineering when I was kicked out. The friends I made there are now working in good firms with 6 figure salaries.

My god I wished I had applied myself when it really matterred.

There is no way I am letting my kids be lazy and mess up in school

[Ben Purnell]

I'm a nerd, geek what ever you want to call a software developer, have been since I left school.

I am now working as a contractor and have been for the last 4 years, sometimes I look back and wonder why I left Santander 5 years ago which was 10 minutes from home, but then I wouldn't be where I am now without doing it.
I do wish I had done something more skilled with my hands as I love doing all things round the house and on the cars, but hey it wouldn't pay as well as the job I do. Might think about taking a permie job again as the market isn't great at the mo, and not many opportunities working close to home, so if I carry on I may have to work away from home during the week again, as much as it was fun I missed the misses and kids and it did put a strain on all of us, but needs must to ensure we have a good life

[rsnissan]

Good post if a little heavy for a Tuesday
I did a degree in engineering but now work at stockbrokers in the city..........don't know how that worked really

I sometimes wish I did something practical for a living as that's me really but to be honest I wouldn't have half the stuff I have now and it means I enjoy working on the car house etc

[Chopper1981]

I'm a store manager for co-op, Started working for them when I was 16 as a general assistant just a part-time job while I was at college (3yr sport course). When I turned 18 I was made supervisor then at 19 assistant manager, I had just left college and didn't know what I wanted to do so went with it. I left when I was nearly 21 to work in Falaraki for a summer but then needed a job when I came back-so gave them a call and they offered me a managers job. Been there ever since and I am now manager of the biggest store in our society (34 stores) and also the highest paid .

It's not what I saw myself doing with my life but it's not a bad job, Always fancied getting into doing bodywork and painting of cars but never took the plunge-think it was the thought of starting at the bottom again and being on less money .

[sixaxles]

i did three years at college doing a Btec national diploma in motor vehicle engineering(it was a two year course), my first official job was a kerb/town weed sprayer! - some people may have seen them, you look like a ghostbuster spraying the kerbs etc on foot! got sacked from that job for moonying other campers on the camp site we stayed at near lingfield whilst pissed on white lightning! pretty much for the next four or so years i had loads of labouring jobs, anything to pay for beer and if it involved being away from home even better!!
Passed my class 2 when i was 22(after i got my license back) and became a removal man for just over a year, then went to work for my uncle on the farm doing mobile seed dressing, passed my class 1 and met my now wife at 23/24. Uncle also was a grain merchant but refused to buy a truck instead of paying others to haul his stuff, so i bought my own, couldnt get insured until i was 25 and even then the premium cost twice as much as my truck!!.....
been an owner driver now for just over 8 years, at my peak i had 4 trucks - which was a bad move,
had plenty of money before buying the others, now i've had to borrow 30k to clear my overdraft!!
i could have took the easy route and gone bankrupt but theres no pride in that if you can avoid it imo.
i really wanted to be an accident investigator but as i signed up to the uni course in glasgow it got cancelled - it was the only one in the uk at the time, if i could turn back time i would still have took my hgv licenses but i would have drank less, travelled more and made sure i'd become an accident investigator.

[The Radman]

i've been self employed for the last 20yrs running a small business as a burglar




alarm installer, but yeah i do sometimes wish i had a more exciting job, i've often thought i should have joined the fire service or armed forces but i suppose i've been my own boss for most of my working life so there's something to be said for that, if i could go back in time tho i reckon i would do something different

i wondered what you were going to say then,it did make me laugh im a plumber,hence the user name,and feel ready for retirement with knackered elbows and hands and back

[Auralis - Paul]

feel ready for retirement with knackered elbows and hands and back

Nothing to do with the car though eh Nick? Bloody job that causes all the pain

[Rippers]

I'm trying to change careers at the moment. I left school with four high grade GCSE's but needed five to do A-levels in my School.. didn't know what to do at college so did a NVQ in business studies and lasted 6 weeks as I hated it. Got my first job at a new Sony Center as a salesman until someone came in and shop lifted a Cam Corder and my 'colleague' blamed me and the manager sacked me
I then worked at my dads estate agents for a couple of months, I was into cars and found a job in a VW/Audi parts department which I quite enjoyed but the money was beyond crap think I was getting £650 a month at the time I asked for a pay rise and they said no so I walked and went back to my dad's office .. fast forward 13/14 years and I'm still working in the same bloody office.

When I turned 30 I honestly thought there must be more to life then the same four walls I look at every day. Plus Estate Agency wasn't looking too rosey last year (it still isn't great now) I looked into mechanics as I enjoy that but the money is very poor and I'd worry I get stuck doing Fast Fitting etc I then got talking to a mate of mine who was doing well as a plumber and asked him and he told me about a training center local. I spoke to the center and I got a mature student funding and did a NVQ2 in plumbing which cost me fuck all. Picked it up pretty quick and was the first to finish the course, there where loads of students dicking around so I just finsihed the pratical then self taught myself what was in the book and went in to do the exams. When the course finished I was doing a day a week on site with my mate which was pretty good and a 'kin hard days work compared to my office job, problem was.. it was very very repetitive and wasn't the area of plumbing I was interested in as I wanted to do domestic and gas boilers. The NVQ2 doesn't touch on gas at all so I went back to the training center and I've been doing a CCN1 Gas Core course. I did my theory exams last week and 100% 4 of them and got one wrong on each of the other two which was me knowing the answer but ticking the wrong boxes (my brain was fried at the end of the day) I have my practical exams tomorrow. Once passed would need the elements on gas (more money!) etc
So hopefully once I have gas under my belt I might stand a chance of getting a half decent job in the industry.. but i won't lie to you, I'm shitting myself as leaving the well paid job I do now to do which would be probably an apprenticeship at my age (31) could be the worst or the best thing I ever do. Hope I have the bottle to see it through

ps sorry for the long winded post

[DaveEsccos]

Worked at a car accessory place for a few years after college (with Neil / Bullet funnily enough!), then went to work for a tuning company (learning the trade so to speak) for 6 years whilst doing my Uni course.

Came out of uni thirsty for money to fund my car habit and ended up in a high pressure sell your soul sales job. Made the dosh but missed my soul and everyone around me could see I wasnt happy so worked my nuts off for 3 months, saved up the pay packets and sunk everything I had into Performance Engine Components.

4 years later and we have never been busier and ive never been happier in my self

Neil mate, knowing you personally.... it seems to me that your a bit down in the dumps down to your immediate circumstances with your EscCos, job situation etc. My advice is chin up and keep soldiering on, things will get better. If you want pointers or advice on doing something on your own im only a phone call away chap.

[FletchCossie]

Good luck tomorrow Paul

[Darren]

My jobs shite and I hate it!

PMSL Jason

Interesting thread

Im a Quantity Surveyor for a national PLC company that does basically building work - refurbishments, alterations etc. Been doing this since leaving school all those years ago 17 years now

If i could have my time again or could afford to change things now, i wouldnt of listended to my uncle who said that QSing is where the moneys at and id work for my mate who's got his own bodyshop.
When i look back its wierd to think that after leaving school, i then spent 7 years to become a qualified QS (and that's not even chartered ) and if i could do what i really wanted now, id be up to my arse in sockets, welding sparks, filler and the lovelly smell of 2 pack

Maybe one day eh !

[tommi]

Find a job you like and you will never woek a day in your life I myself am a postman and have been for the past 10 years before that I worked in a polyurethane timing belt factory for 10 years before that did an engineering course for a year before that and my first proper full time job was in a garage working on lorries mainly Hino and Isuzu heavy work for a 16 year old. being a post man is alot harder than people think early mornings on your legs nearly all day but I actually enjoy it cos Im getting plenty of exercise the only thing I really hate about my work is the manager we have now he is sly,sneaky and kniving!! but I don't see him all day so there is an upside

[Darren]

Plumbing's not a bad shout Paul. My mate has his own plumbering firm and although you cant measure happiness on material things i suppose, he's got a smart house that he lives in, several others that he rents out to the great unwashed that are students and has a lovelly (if not battered ) mk2 Escort grp4 rally car

To top it all off, he's always got a hell of a story to tell about jobs that he's done and working on sites etc and always seems dead happy

Good luck on the practical tomorrow and mind you dont sniff too much flux !

[warrenpenalver]

Started out in Safeways working on the deli and bakery counters. Also made the pizzas
then worked in the NHS in Hospital Sterilisation and Disinfection Unit. As grim as it sounds!

Then joined the navy a lot of good experiences early on (like jim), but things got a bit fucked up in the end and i went nuts and got medically discharged after 10 years with PTSD and depression
Did security for a bit.
Now im a student studying psychology and abuse studies combined honours with the idea of using in healthcare to pick up the pieces or use it in the police to prosecute and hopefully help prevent some people getting fucked up.

I also do security for events occasionally as well as my Royal navy reserves commitment which is a bit lame as i dont do much. All ive done is cover the odd training officer in the URNU boats, which isnt really worth my hassle. Ideally id do a full TO role at an URNU or similar but i need to have issues surrounding rank sorted out as they are usually SLt rank and im Lt and the way it works with commissioned officers is you cant be demoted and they wont pay me Lt wage even though i will do it for SLt's money but stupid fucking MoD admin makes it hard to sort out . Im the one with all the navigation experience and they need me more than i need them so how hard can it be to sort paperwork, reallly!!??!!??!!

I've also done a bit with the Army Cadets as they want uniformed adult volunteers and despite being navy, ive done some infantry training before so im useful to them. Would need to work on fitness a bit though.

Oh and i also volunteer for a local mental health charity.

So i guess i am busy at the moment, just wish i got paid for it Stuff i do with navy isnt regular enough to be useful and the cadets and charity is unpaid work. So the cossie fund is suffering

And im still looking for a "normal" part time job!

Hopefully when i finish uni i can work towards getting into the police, so a bit of effort needed to loose weight (the fitness test is piece of piss even for a fat cunt like me, but id fail medical on BMI for entry, yet once in you can be a fat knacker ) and i may need to pretend im or change my name to muhammed to get round the positive discrimination (im a typical white Brit Born Male so the police dont want people like me ). would probably end up in specials or as PCSO to get experience and knowledge to get in that way.

My backup is using the degree in healthcare, do a counselling top up etc and specialise. Good money but it wont satisfy me totally so id probably wiggle my way into doing more RNR stuff.

I find it hard to pin down doing just one thing as your chosen "career". Im sure Jim will know what i mean in saying that in the forces you dont just do one job but several. Especially as an officer you are a jack of all trades, but all people in the navy will have thier core job, be a trained fire fighter, weapons training, admin roles, HR roles. Its not so diverse for the young ratings, but for the experienced NCO's and more so for a commissioned officer, you can mould your career to do many different jobs and roles. So its hard when you leave to just say "i only want to do this".

[F12NCO]

Started off pretty much like Auralis-Paul, fooking around and underachieving! Went to 6th form for one day and realised I hated school and wanted to stay in bed all day!

Mum wasn't having any of that, so started getting involved with my uncles in the building trade, plastering, scaffolding (but wouldn't go higher the the first floor! ) and ended up taking a fancy to painting and decorating…………………….. For 5 minutes!

So reverted to telling my uncle he was a dick and spending a few weeks in bed!

Again, momma Franco was having none of it, so got my an interview as an export packer in the removals game. Actually enjoyed the first few years, different places every week and the best laugh ever!!!! Then got older, wiser and realised our boss was making a mint out of us……..and not passing it down the food chain! We were contracting at the time for a fine art company, so I approached them direct and got a job working for Christies/Sotherbys etc packing high value antiques…………. Again, what a crack that was, going round to some posh twats house, packing his shit, getting £100 tips each and turning up at work to clock off pissed as crickets! Happy days……….

But got older, discovered I wanted a car & bike, and maybe a long term relationship………. My best mate worked for a company we'd contracted before years ago, got me more money AND we shared a van, so it was a no brainer!

Have worked at the same comp for 12 years now, started off on the vans, then my mate moved into the office as ops Manager, got married and I was asked to cover his duties while he was on leave. The GM at the time told me I wouldn't be going back on the road and gave me a job selling freight to other removal companies, learnt loads, then got bored and was interested in the shipping/operational side of things than selling, so bagged the assistant shipping managers job and soon after booted her (the shipping manager) out of that, and now the group shipping manager for our 3 branches.

I negotiate freight rates with the big shipping lines, destination rates with all our global agents, and give the sales guys and gals the tools they need to sell…………..Keen rates!

And I'm bored and fcuking hate it! I wanna be in bed all day!