It still amazes me what people manage to turn their hand to when the chips are down. I have come across a number of people in Sheffield who have had an interesting 'career path' ;)

How odd has yours been?

Over the past few years, most of my jobs have involved managing call centres, however I've also worked in retail, and before that was a qualified fork lift truck driver!

Can you imagine me driving a fork lift? :o I wasn't very good at it. I got sacked when I accidentally drove the blooming thing through a roller shutter door. Oops :D

In this order:

Printing Apprentice

Machine setter in printed packaging factory

Postman (Better than walking the streets) :roll:

On trade counter at undertakers suppliers (dead end job) :hihi:

Teaching Silkscreen printing at 'community arts' centre through Workers education Assn/Adult Education

Landscaping and 'helping' to drystone wall.

Self Employed jobs:

T-shirt/ Sweatshirt/Leisurewear printer

Also used to sell my framed screen prints to agencies suplying offices in london ( Probably got ripped off at the time) :frown:

Ice cream vendor (briefly - was desperate) :blush:

'Catering' - Continental style crepes trailer. Hot chestnuts at Xmas fairs.

Waste services - for the last six years - still self employed, still doing it.

More chequered than a chess board! Nice thread by the way, Strix :smile:

My jobs have been pretty typical for a stoodent really... A bit mis-match and not what I wanted to do really...

I started off doing work experience when I was 15 in Claire's Accessories. They then took me on when I was 16 on a Weekend contract. I stayed there 6 months and severely disliked ear-piercing and cliquey full time staff.

After that, I went to ANT marketing... Didnt think much to that, it was worse than claire's... I'm not confident enough to take knock backs every 5/5 calls and get shouted at by understandably irate people who are trying to eat their tea/watch corrie lol!

I then went to Index, but that was short lived as they took on too many people and had to sack some as they had no hours for them (VERY poor management...)

Then onto the cafe where I work currently... This is a lot better, I get proper 8 hour shifts and the people are lovely (Not the customers I might add lol) I am very happy there at present!

Hopefully I shall stay there until I finish my LPC, after that, my next job and only job for there on after, will be as a solicitor.

:clap:

My first degree was in Biochemistry, my Masters was an MBA and I've used neither of them!

Left Uni, then worked for an organisation called the MEP developing sofwtare for disabled kids.

Then went as a freelance IT Consultant between 1983 and 1997.

Contract IT developer from 1997 to 2000.

2000 - did the requisite spell in a dot.com.

2000 to today, contract developer again.

However, I'm also a writer, film maker, shareware author. I also have the disturbing habit of trying to make money out of my hobbies!

:)

Lab Technician
Fork truck driver
Heat treatment operative
Foundry manager
Technical sales
IT Manager
IT Contatractor

Oh nothing glorious..

Worked in bars whilst studying.. The joined the Civil Service :gag:

1998-2002 - Immigration Caseworker
2002-2003 - Team Leader
2003-2005 - IT Helpdesk Support (2nd & 3rd line)
2005-Pres - (happy to answer in private, but not really on open forum)

Originally posted by Kristian
Can you imagine me driving a fork lift? :o I wasn't very good at it. I got sacked when I accidentally drove the blooming thing through a roller shutter door. Oops :D

I did the same thing a few years but through a brick wall!

Another chap was driving into a building quite fast with the forks quite high and took out the roller shutter door.

We were belting it back into shape with hammers and everyone at the other factories were stood outisde looking at us with anger and disgust. It's only when we went back in that we were doing it during the two minute silence of Princess Diana's funeral!

I once nearly hit someone with the fork truck once! :blush: The lady concerned jumped out of the way, slipped in some milk that had been spilled, and hit her head on some racking. How I didn't get the push for that I don't know....

I once had to 'fill in' for the fork lift driver who was off work. Anyway, at some point the fork lift became 'sluggish' and would not accelerate. The boss (working director) came over and started to give us a push. After a couple of Minuit's of this I realised I had the handbrake partly in the 'on' position :hihi:

I just let it out slowly so he thought his pushing had 'cleared' the problem :D

Secretary, highly paid, ended up with a pig of a boss so I left.

Security guard, promoted to supervisor, every day was different loved every minute. Got threatened after giving evidence in court against a gang so my husband made me pack it in.

Stockhandler, regular hours, good pay, bit boring but I retire in November.

I went from a manual job digging holes and repairing water leaks n stuff to working in the IT industry quite a leap. From there moved to the telephony industry not much of a leap that one.

Errrr mine's a bit varied too:

* Sprout picker (whilst still at school) cold hands like i've never known!

* Ice cream vendor (whilst still at school)

* Warehouse assistant - Empire Stores

* evening bar work

* Making pork pies, sausage rolls, cornish pasties in a food factory supplying Asda (yuk)

* Taxi receptionist - to date THE hardest job i've ever done!

* (studied at the Wakefield School of Commerce - Typing, Shorthand etc)

* Telephone order clerk

* Credit Control Officer/Sales Administration

* Placement Officer - Y training services

* Benefit Office - Castleford and Wakefield

* ES Head Office - Project Administration and Budget Officer

* Part time waitress/bar staff (whilst also working full time)

* Work Permit Caseworker

* (studied part time at University)

* Trade Union Official - national negotiator

* Training Officer (equal opportunities)

* Personnel Officer/supervisor

* HR team manager/TUPE Transfer team manager

* Directorate support - IiP, Business Excellence etc

* Policy Officer - Connexions Service (crappiest job i've ever done)!

* Undertook an end-to-end review of careers education & guidance, arranged a brilliant event at Windsor Castle

Phew - and finally - Domestic Goddess!!!! and dog walker!!!

MILKMAN.
BAKER.
BRICKLAYER.

FIGURE THAT :huh::D

Worked as a butcher for a well-known supermarket chain while I was in college.
Then got a work placement from college building and reapiring DJ equipment.
Then another placement wiring high voltage control panels and load centres for the mining and petrochemical industry.
Finished college, did some work labouring on various building sites.
Had a phone call from the switchgear wiring firm offering me a job, took it.
Stayed for 10 years, left to work for the NHS, processing prescription payments for pharmacists.
Stuck with that for a year, then got a phone call from the switchgear wiring firm asking me to come back for better money, so I did. Been there ever since.

Before receiving my peerage, I earned a crust via the following:
1) Paper Round (sacked for continually turning up so late the newspapers were out of date)
2) Butcher's Lad (sacked for being rubbish at serving posh people)
3) Barman (left due to overwhelming sense of purposelessness)
4) Glass Collector (left due to embarrassment at being unable to repair the club owner's crap Russian camera, which for some reason he expected me to be able to repair - I was young, you see)
5) Postman (the best job ever - sadly now ruined)
6) Security Guard (sacked due to lack of security - see Are You Accident Prone?)
7) Printmaking Technician (left coz it woz poo)
8) 'Lecturer' in Spesher College (left to train to be a 'proper' teacher). (Relax, Lecturers, it was the old days)
9) Teacher in Hell Hole Comprehensive - (not it's real name, but should have been) - (escaped before committing suicide)
10) Teacher in Rural Idyll - (it was grate)
11) Wrapper-upper of lumps of metal in er, metal factory (left for obvious reasons)
12) Supply Teacher in Hell Hole Spesher School (see above)
13) Phew! Teacher in Nice Spesher School (Wot a relief - been there 8 years)
14) Getting £100,000 a year for loafing around at home to no great effect (my dream job)..........

Er...why have I got one of those smiley face things instead of an 8)? Oh bugger, it's there again - it should say EIGHT

Originally posted by LordSnooty
Er...why have I got one of those smiley face things instead of an 8)? Oh bugger, it's there again - it should say EIGHT

Coz you didn't do this?
[list=1]
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
[/list=1]

There's a 'list' function, similar to 'quote' :thumbsup:

So come on Lord snooty - what do you do now???

Originally posted by Hels
Work Permit Caseworker

:gag: me too!

I've had a variety of jobs but the strangest had to be when I worked for a building company and they gave me the drainage plans of a new building site and then sent me to several fields with waist high grass and I had to wander around looking for the man holes which had lost their covers. Some of the holes were very deep and I think I should of had danger pay.

Left secondary school at 15, (no qualifications).

Got my first job 4 days before leaving school, as a dispatch
clerk in a firm manufacturing railway lines. Survived somehow, despite once sending 10 railway wagons to Newcastle instead of Swindon.

Next job was as a clerical officer in a firm manufacturing flexible metallic tubing. ('Nuff said).

Then moved onto a shop-floor clerical job. First day at work, the company announced closure and I was made redundant six months later!

Then I worked for the electricity board (as was) reading meters, and disconnecting supplies.

Then I did general manual work, labouring on a building site.

Then I worked in an industrial laundry. (Let's not go down this memory lane - but details have been posted on a previous thread!). Accidently burnt the laundry down though.

Then I did 3 x shift system, operating a machine and driving a fork lift. That job didn't last too long, after I took a corner too fast - resulting in a serious chemical spillage, and the temporary closure of the factory for a whole production run.

During all of this time (6 years), I went to night-school, and obtained sufficient qualifications to enter teacher training college. However, I failed the second year course!

Next job was spot-welding and stacking metal rods. After only 6 weeks of this mind-numbing work, I realised I was going insane. I escaped one Friday lunchtime, by jumping into the canal at the rear of the factory, and swimming away to.......

.....getting a job a few weeks later as a residential social worker in a children's home. Loved it. Went on to complete professional training, and became a social worker.

Then worked as a juvenile court liaison officer, did fostering and adoption, mental health assessments, and crisis intervention work. Then after a couple of years of long-term casework, I joined a newly formed out-of-hours emergency social work team, rising to the position of team manager. The best job in the world - working nights, weekends and most bank holidays for 25 years, until ill health struck, and I had to stop work.

But what are you doing now, redrobbo - I know you post about serious walking and four pints of stella ...
:)

I have been everything (well, okay…not everything) from an engineering assistant to a barmaid. Currently, I’m a writer and the managing editor of a monthly trade magazine.

Erm....
Joiner (whilest in school)
DJ equipment production and maintenance (still in school)
Paper Rounds (in school :) still)
Builder (collage)
Grpahic Designer (collage)

and now i am:
Graphic/Web Designer, Web/Software Developer, Software Specialist, Digital Printing/Finishing, oh and a sexy Barman on weekends ;)

so far so good :D

Originally posted by Draggletail
But what are you doing now, redrobbo - I know you post about serious walking and four pints of stella ...
:)

I'm a city councillor Draggletail.

Originally posted by adaline
Builder (collage)

How do you make buildings out of little squares of paper? :confused:

i started out painting and decorating/ gardening

in the early 90s i started taking loads of computer courses/office qualifications/pc building and repair cos this is what im trying to move into
the past part time job and my new current full time job are as painter/cleaner/caretaker/working on a production line creating pcbs

but hopefully ill get back into the computer work :)

Sales Assistant
Groundsman
Croupier
Furniture Seller/Antique Restorer/White Van Driver
Waiter
Beer Warehouseperson
IT Helpdesk bod
Print Ad Telesales slavery
Community Artworker
CBT developer
Technical Author
Multimedia/internet designer/developer

1 - shoe shop assistant
2 - packing toys
3 - toy tester
4 - Paper mill
5 - army training to be a nurse
6 - married, mum
7 - youth club worker
8 - party planner for ann summers
9 - area manager for ann summers
10- remarried and and became mum again
11 - Sales assistant
12- Assistant

Note I put in mum as a job, believe me its full time, all the time and you are learning all the time.

1. Catering assistant
2. Care worker ( old peoples home)
3. Catering assistant
4. Mum
5. Catering manager
6. Mum
7. Student (Mature Student at Sheffield Hallam)
8. Part time at Abbey National shares dept
9. Self Employed Pawn Broker 2 yrs
10. Civil Servant ( work permits )
11. Finance Officer (head office Employment Service)
12. Civil Servant Caseworker

Originally posted by rosie
Note I put in mum as a job, believe me its full time, all the time and you are learning all the time.
How true :thumbsup:
Some of the skills involved are so undervalued when applying for jobs.

If you were to claim you were a domestic manager and list the negotiation, selfmotivation, planning, organising and motivational skills involved, an employer wouldn't recognise the role as being 'mum' :(

While I was at Uni I did the following jobs:

1)Manager of town hall/ theatre bar.

2)Sales Assistant at very small video shop. ( I loved that job, basically just got paid for watching two or three films a night as there were hardly and customers)

3)Lots of pub work, again really enjoyed it.

4)Homework tutor for little uns. Lovely

And now I am a teacher and Head of Year at a wonderful school.

Worked for the NHS from leaving college, for about 3 years but the money was rubbish. Went to work for a high street bank for the next 2 1/2 years (customer services.. would you like a balance? blah blah blah!). Now at university ..so I can go back and work for the NHS for better money! (er if its still there when I qualify).

We all seem to have had varied working lives, mine going from ironfoundryworker to steelworker to security guard, insurance agent, self employed newsagent and warehouse stockhandler. Plus other diversions on the way. It must be the wealth of experiences of our forum members which gives us such valued observations on everyday life.

Originally posted by Nimrod
We all seem to have had varied working lives. It must be the wealth of experiences of our forum members which gives us such valued observations on everyday life.

Excellent observation Nimrod. :thumbsup:

Wow, what a multi-skilled and talented lot we are! Seems to be quite a lot of overlap though too - fork lift truck drivers; Workpermit Caseworkers; IT people.

Customer Service for catalogue company (call centre)

Royal Navy (Marine/weapons engineering)

Treasury assistant for Insurance company

Customer Service for Phone betting company (extremely interesting)

Telesales for credit card company (I will sell my soul before working in telesales again)

Engineering at Uni

Electron Microscopist in materials research.