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Work for the directly for the UK's largest telecoms provider, strangely though the contract I am on at present has me working for Virgin Media as a Data and Voice switch engineer!
Enjoying it at present as I am doing on the job training with 2 briliant guys.
In the past I have worked as an electrician, data engineer, mobile telecoms installer and rigger, don't miss any of these jobs.
Cobraki.
My pension is the only thing keeping me in to be honest. Although the pension has changed over the last few years and not for the best !!
I've got 4.5 years left until my 22 year point.
Kja78, met some brilliant padres. Best was the Colonel para padre at Leconfield back in 1999. He was bat shit crazy but everyone loved him.
Renton that sounds very familiar to me aswell. Left the army for pretty much those reasons.
cobraikai, I remember him! He used to do a daft salute and wore DMS boots with putties?
Police Officer. Joined straight out of the Army (medically discharged)
I spent 5 years on a response team, going to every job in the first instance from Facebook harassments to murder scenes. If the job was carp enough I got to keep the investigation.
Then 5 years on Traffic, which was the best job ever once you got past the ticket quotas we had to hit. We had the M4 between 8/9 and 14, which you could do in about 15 minutes with your foot down. Saw some horrid things but we got good support after the mucky scenes.
Then I was promoted and ran a response team of 10 PCs. Good when there were big critical jobs going on, but too much management interference and post-match analysis and criticism for my liking.
I'm now a Custody Sergeant running a 12 cell custody facility. Pretty interesting role which keeps me interested in the job - quite a lot of responsibility especially when people are in for serious offences of seem like they might peg out at any point. Plus, when it's quiet I can legitimately watch the telly or browse STW for £42k.
I enjoy it overall - I've had an inkling to start a business building oak framed garages and garden rooms but I worry I'd miss the current job. I'd like to go part time when we have children and build oak stuff while childminding. Babys are fine propped up in a workshop, right?
Technical manager at a small, specialised converting company, money good, most of people good, odd a**shole wants bringing down a few pegs, overall enjoy my days
Driving Instructor is my main job, well the busiest at the moment.
Fleet / Corporate Driver Trainer - no work about at the moment.
By the end of this Week, I will be a National Standards Cycle Instructor as well 😀 going to do this on a Freelance basis.
I sell accident repair bills to motor insurance companies. Hate it, work with idiots, deal with idiots, but it pays for shiny bike bits.
That's the one moose! Saluted with his left hand in a fist!
I was on the old 77 pension and they asked us if we wanted the new 03 pension after a briefing on it. We all laughed and walked out.
Hosting architect for a managed services dept of a big web design agency. Spend my time writing code to build/test/automate infrastructure at Amazon with a team of massively talented DevOps engineers for Renault/Nissan, which is full-on and fun. Dealing with ~200 Java developers scattered around the world and the bag of multi-million dollar spanners that is Adobe 'Experience Manager', less so. Enjoying being part of what feels like the cutting edge of the industry...
Cobraki.... 75/05 😉
Police officer is something else I have considered.
Sell parts for agricultural machines, combines, tractors and everything in between really enjoy the customer interaction long hours suck sometimes but it's all part of the fun
IT PM.
Changed employer this year for first time in 16 years. Last employer I hated it and it literally made me mental. New employer absolutely love it. I went from an IT services company to one of the big construction companies. Totally different culture and awesome employer, thoroughly enjoying my job for now.
Do not work for IT services companies.
Sorry, was making a rough guess! Not too far off! I had been accepted to tullyallan for Strathclyde Police but also got accepted for ATC. It was a no brainer!
F1
Childhood dream job with my childhood dream team.
14 hr days are the norm and I'd most likely do it for free. I think that means I like it. The pace is ridiculous but highly addictive.
I always thought my OCDs were barking then I started working with this lot of complete lunatics .
Area Manager for a UK brick manufacturer. A fairly varied job, with my time divided between meetings with architects, contractors, developers and resellers. I also spend a bit if time on site looking at brickwork. I have been lucky to be involved in the design of some great brick buildings over the years. It has it stressful moments at times (last year was one of them!) but on the whole a very enjoyable job.
My background is in civil engineering so a slight change from that.
Official title at the day job is something along the lines of "Multi-skilled vehicle technician" for a large fleet company. It's often more along the lines of ****-up fixer (typically half my week is sorting out things that should never of needed sorting if the previous person had done the job right the first time), expected miracle worker (usually after some idiot has just replaced bits that weren't the problem, and I'm somehow expected to fix the bit that is broken without spending any more money), or external repairer avoidance (aka nobody else in the place has a clue and if you can't fix it, it's going to cost us lots of money).
It's an interesting and varied job that pays reasonably well for the hours, but I really do get fed up with the muppets who just can't do the job right and/or replace things just because it's not their money, and the generally inept management. It did get a lot more tolerable when I learnt to not care about anything other than covering my own arse, which seems to annoy management for some reason.
Also got my own engineering/manufacturing business, doing a mix of agri/horticulture machinery repairs, and making bike related bits and pieces.
And on top of that, I do some event timing, which I probably enjoy the most, as it's interesting seeing peoples reactions when they find out how well/badly they've done.
I design power electronics and their control systems, both for power conversion and motor control. Now I know what you are thinking... how is it possible to stand the excitement!?!
But actually, because we design and build bespoke products for rather specialised applications, it's actually pretty good, although I would like my current project to finally get finished, I've only been working on it pretty much exclusively for the last 4 years!
Thankfully, I'm a massive geek, and love what I do, it just a bonus that the folks I work with are some of the nicest people I have met, and that it seems about loads of people here, and about half of the management, enjoy riding bikes!!
Now if only I could get this darned project finished then I'd actually have some time to ride mine!
@cobrakai,I'm not convinced I'm quite bonkers enough. Mind you, I did hear a few chuckles the other day when I went crashing into the back of the det commander on a full regimental parade.
Reward Consultant.
I tell companies how, how much, when and why they should reward their employees with cash, bonuses, benefits, etc.
Do you ever find they're already over paid and recommend a cut?
Great post! Currently working shifts and have been for 10 years. 12 weekends off a year and lots of evenings and night work. Has got to me recently, especially after questions like " do you want to go biking on Thursday night?" It's a bit pants to say no I am at work, again! Every club assumes people work 9-5 ish. There are no mountain bike races or enduros on
Good variety of work, but lots of political nonsense. If I had my time again I would be a dentist.
Oil industry, Subsea Engineer (self employed). Basically i maintain, run and inspect well control equipment.
Jumped ship from a very comfortable salaried position directly before the arse fell out the oil industry. Which means i've worked around 90 days since September.
But it pays me well enough while i'm there for me to not worry too much. Ive never ridden my bikes so much in years!!!
I do actually quite enjoy the work now, bit more hands on as a contractor, i was dept head in my last job so was pretty much desk bound, Lots more fun stripping and rebuilding everything.
Kja78, I've never met a padre that can do drill! 😀
Currently working as a carpenter which at this time of year is a breeze , fell into it by accident was in process of joining police, stuck up for a mate who was always getting picked on , got reported and application shredded
Kja78, do all the young nozzers in training still come for a biscuit and a skive?
Seriously though, the padres i met (RN rather than RAF) were genuinely some of the most interesting and entertaining guys i met in the mob.
Self employed software developer. Keeps my brain active, pays the mortgage, can't complain. No need to climb the greasy pole, which is good at the moment.
I'd much rather be drumming for a living but frankly I'm not good enough
Relief Signaller, I basically work at a variety of local signalboxes within a set radius of my home box. Been signalling for 6½ years and started this relief job in March.
Job is as steady as they come, 12hr shifts but you have loads of time to yourself in most of the boxes and can earn a fortune especially as a relief.
All the spare time I have though tends to lead to a lot of online spur of the moment purchases....
jonm81 - Member
Northernerindevon are you freelance? Pending some R&D trials I am running over winter I may have some interesting hydro survey work coming up in the 2016 season that would be based from shore.
Hi, no I'm not freelance - I work for a large consultancy & am (overall) pretty happy with things currently. If I was freelance I'd have been interested, depending on where abouts shore based would have been. Good luck with it either way. 😀
jam bo - Member
ah right, what company's that then? always interested to know what other oceanographic related work may be available in the region!
Partrac. although the devon office isnt mentioned on the website by the looks of it. I know they have at least 4-5 guys based in the SW.
I wondered if this might have been Valeport... I was wrong 🙄
aleonardwilliams - Member
small world is the oceanography one!
It certainly is! 😀
Duffer – started on a grad scheme for one company, rotational business type, then moved to the current company after 5ish years (and a lot of hard work). Have been here for about 6 months. If you want to know anymore, drop me a mail: t0mwh1tt4k3r AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk (replace numbers with letters)
Edit: drop me a mail: t0mwh1tt4k3r (then the number 1) AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk (replace numbers with
Soft furnisher here, mostly making Roman blinds,curtains and cushions.
Also have a little sideline making kiddies bunting, pump bags, aprons and handbags. emmyjane-design.blogspot.com
Quite a few stwers have bought stuff and nothing has been sent back in disgust 🙂
I just graduated Uni last year. Took 3 months off going on holiday, relaxing etc, then I started applying for jobs after I got a bit bored. Started as a business analyst at an industrial gas company in January and the past 8 months has flown by!
I never thought I'd say it but I do enjoy my job, considering it's the first job I've had in my whole life. Company is great, as are the people. Pays well. I guess it can only get worse from here? 😉
Northerntom - thank you very much. I'll drop you a line in a bit.
renton - Member
Cobraki.... 75/05
Police officer is something else I have considered
Be aware that we have to do daily vehicle checks, you know, tyres and so on 😉
Academic.
No but don't know what else I could do!
Senior Brand Manager. Always busy, always got large projects in hand and actually really enjoy it.
Just had a great few days at Eurobike to give a wee drop of extra enthusiasm too. It's a great industry to work in, you will work hard to find assholes.
Production manager/lighting designer. Basically, I design and manage the stages and technology for a variety of events.
Some are fun, some are dull, the hours can be brutal and I spend far too many nights away from home but at least once a month (and often more regularly) I get to do something or work with somebody the vast majority of people would consider a once in a lifetime.
Tough job with none of the glamour people expect but I love it.
software engineer / developer / tester. Done that for last 30+ years. Bit of college lecturer duties (in same subject, didn't enjoy it) and about a year of unemployed (which wasn't bad, after being made redundant, hm twice).
Yes, I enjoy it. Too old to really keep up with new stuff and all the rest of my duties as family person and running a house and having a life, but hey..
Self employed plasterer . I'm lucky enough to work for a small group of builder's , developer's joiners , kitchen and bathroom fitters who just book me in when they need a plasterer. Most of the time I'm happy but sometimes I wish I'd done better at school 🙁
Paramedic, and enjoy it, although I don't envy my colleagues in big cities. Rural suits me!
Automotive production supervisor, our main customer is Jag Landrover, so work is busy at the moment! Not enjoying it though, politics and bs from other departments getting to me now.
An opportunity has arisen in our engineering department which I want to grab with both hands.
. Most of the time I'm happy but sometimes I wish I'd done better at school
Don't. There are plenty that did do better at school, but are only earning low £20k (if they have a job at all) and saddled with eye-watering amounts of debt.
You have a trade, one in demand, you're doing just fine! 🙂
Manger in an engineering company. Liking the challenge after being a drone at the last place.
Head of a Materials Engineering Team for a large aerospace company. More firefighting than materials most days but still pretty good. Used to be an academic!
Ride bikes.
Yes. 
Tennis coach for an all girls school.
I teach the 6th formers ages 16plus
Gardener, southern France...........quite enjoy it
Sales and Project Eng oil n gas industry. Specialise in choke n kill, mud manifolds and Surface test trees. Hate it with a passion as find it boring and unchallenging. Just like any other job suppose, as I find it repetitive yawn. Pays handsomely though which keeps one motivated.
everyone is a business to keep family and a lifestyle, probably not everyone's cuppa but the hey ho
Reading the fore mentioned posts I'm jealous
Live on n enjoy whatever you all do or seek in life as an old friend once said "you only pass this way once"
see below
Director of multi service business in south west. Been doing it for 30 years, I'm pretty good at it too as I get work sent from all over the planet.
I T numpty though
Landscape architect and urban designer. 21st anniversary at my company this month and still loving it
Corporate banking in that there London. Great job.
Environmental scientist working part time in consultancy. Suits me.
Teacher, was at an expensive day school in Edinburgh now at a school in the borders that gets the lowest ranking on the poverty indices. Teaching some classes where behaviour and ability mean learning is about life skills not certificates.
Love the job could live without the paperwork.
Previous was in camouflage concealment and deception for land vehicles, then aircraft survivability for mod fun but was never home and hants is not my kinda place.
monkeysfeet - Member
Tennis coach for an all girls school.I teach the 6th formers ages 16plus
If this is true, you win.
Vet, genuinely love my job. As I have got into management as well now there are more hassles but still get time on the front line. Work with a great team and enjoy the client and animal contact most.
Long hours, late nights and work a lot of weekends too though. Money to treat patients can be a constant battle though and trying to get a bunch of vets to agree on things can be like herding cats.
GIS Analyst/Cartographer. Re-trained in my mid 30s and the best thing I ever did! For the last 3 years I've worked at a Local Authority, but my job is more IT focused, so I don't get to do much cartography or actual spatial analysis and I don't enjoy it as much. Currently looking around and I've seen an interesting job in a great location, but the salary is a lot less (~£6k)....
*Saturday night after a couple of beers thread revival*
This was an excellent thread and one that I now find really interesting (looking for career inspiration). Anyone else got any honest career experience to add?
I'm semi retired and work part-time in a bike shop...love it.
I'm a Emergency Planning Manager for a large local authority in London. Its good fun and is a very broad job area - looking after different teams, responding to incidents, briefing directors, writing plans, attending exercises, providing training, running debriefs. Live a km outside the london border, with fields and forests between the house and London, so technically in the countryside (although still inside the m25), with riding only 150m from the door.
Previous was doing a similar job for the underground which was fun as well - lots of fun days but many repetitive plan writing days! Used to get a lot of back stage / Access all areas passes for London events which was a bonus (to work of course).
I do that - not exclusively in the oil industry though. Thinking of moving into poisoning; any tips ?Specialise in choke n kill
Since this thread originaly started I've changed jobs and I now pursue paedophiles, online, grooming, contact, etc and pretty much anywhere south of Manchester and occasionaly overseas. Quite challenging, going into families and carting one of the parents off whilst ensuring there is a child protection strategy in place is a bit messy and there is a fair amount of exceptionally unpeasant material about. More rewarding than I expected it to be, learnig how t'internet and computers work and a bit more sense of achievement scarfing up some fairly horrible people. The worst so far has been a mother though I suspect my current target(s) will outdo her. Good bunch of people at work and when you're out working never had a job where people are so keen to help.
Anyone else got any honest career experience to add?
You only realise how lucky you were when you leave.
Freedom is liberating a variable pay cheque isn't.
If you want to spice it up get into a niche area being over specialised and under qualified then move continent.
Think before jumping (some good some bad)
And to counter the nobody ever wished they had worked harder on their death bed, be smart work out when to work harder and get into the position to enjoy the rest when you can.
Today (well, not 'today' because it's Sunday, I'm watching the F1 on catchup, procrastinating on here and getting ready for this today's ride) I run the telecoms and video services for a FTSE100 company. On Wednesday we have a 'restructuring' announcement, so on Thursday, well, I have no idea
I'm a sort of freelance everything for publishing. Currently main client is a local newspaper group but I have a fair bit of writing for US based clients and have rebooted my photography side via old contacts. But more often than not it is just ad design for assorted businesses.
I like it and get to ride my bike enough. Win.
The only job I've ever enjoyed was freelance and part-time.
I don't enjoy working full-time basically, irrespective of the job.
My bones tell me life is too short to spend most of it working.
Neuro rehab coach.
Basically, a care worker for people with acquired brain injuries.
Love it to bits, but I'm permanently exhausted.
It's starting to take it's toll physically too, so time for a change.
Hopefully switching to the training and assessing side later this year once I've passed a couple more exams.
Worked in insurance complaints/compliance for years, hated it, but the money was OK.
An inch or so taller and I'd have gone for the Police or Fire Service, but they didn't accept shortarses back then.
🙂
Nominally I'm the ops manager for a cycle holiday company. I get to do everything. IT, meet and greet the customers, bike fettling, delivering the luggage, attending breakdowns, booking rooms, checking the bills, managing the team members during the season (drivers herd as well as cats). The bit between September and April drags as it's all planning and analysis. Booking season starts in November and runs through to June. Meeting people who are going out to have a good time is great.
We're just about to get going with people coming to us for holidays. Down side is I get to work weekends all summer. Upsides empty mid-week trails and roads on my days off. Pay is just about enough but that's not too important nowadays as the kids are self supporting.
Build missile guidance systems, not nice when you think about it in depth. Waiting for retirement.
Rusty Spanner - Member
Neuro rehab coach.
Basically, a care worker for people with acquired brain injuries.
Love it to bits, but I'm permanently exhausted.
An aside really but..... I've been doing a bit of work with [url= http://www.playlistforlife.org.uk ]Playlists for Life[/url] - its about very nuanced use of music in dementia care. (I don't work in the care sector I'm making a film about it). Seeing it in action is pretty amazing for something thats so simple (although theres more to it than first meets the eye). Might be of interest to you as they're hoping to role it out into the field of brain injury too.
recently gone back into site engineering for a construction firm in W yorks.Its a beautiful day out and im sat on site supervising N gas networks fit mains to new building. 😡 I[u] will[/u] go for a ride later Enjoying the variety But Architects FFS!!!
OriginalLy Energy consultant ( buying it for big companies) moved now to procurement with a focus on energy saving. Recently changed to work for a retailer and loving it. No day the same, and work atmosphere is great.
Head of Ops for a growing boutique broker and fintech company. Everything from compliance, risk, legal through to trading oversight and IT development and infrastructure.
Hours are mad but people are all top of their respective game and we're doing some really interesting stuff with growing client-base. Once things level out and work-life balance is better then it's a 10/10
I'm a steel fabricator, who up until a couple of years ago had a wonderful workshop full of some lovely tools and have produced some cracking work. Overheads, a desire to keep hands on / work force small, means that has now gone.
I now specialise in on site remedial work on large steel frames, mostly positional coded welding.
I now work less, but longer days (5-6am starts in order to be on site for 7.30)
Less Overheads, less stress, more family (bike) time.
I do still miss my workshop though 🙁
Chocolatier for a small company in Galloway (cocoa bean co), if i didn't need the very few £ that it pays i wouldn't bother working - given the choice of work or going out on bike/farting around with whatever interests me i'd much rather be doing the latter. Work is a total inconvenience to my life.
An aside really but..... I've been doing a bit of work with Playlists for Life - its about very nuanced use of music in dementia care.
That looks amazing. I'm going to investigate that further.
After a 3 year hiatus into being a pub landlord (which went very well), I decided it would be nice to see my wife and daughter occasionally. So now I'm back in the travel industry, working as a product manager for a luxury holiday company. Essentially investigating cool new places to go and stay, exciting things to do there and negotiating rates and contracts. Really enjoying it. Mauritius Next month, Antigua after that - interspersed with some London time which is nice as well.
All in, I think it's great.
That looks amazing. I'm going to investigate that further.
I'll post a link to our film when its finished - I'll encourage everyone to rummage their old iPods and speakers out of their bottom drawers and donate them too
Essentially investigating cool new places to go and stay, exciting things to do there and negotiating rates and contracts. Really enjoying it. Mauritius Next month, Antigua after that - interspersed with some London time which is nice as well.All in, I think it's great.
I hate you
🙂