How did you decide what job you wanted to do/have?

[Danny_Boy 10]

I also wanted to be a commercial pilot but went off the rails slightly at the wrong time 15-18 and didn't do as well in school & 6th form as I should have and left education at 17 with reasonable GCSE's but not much else. Worked in admin for a steelworks which was okay but got sacked for not taking it seriously. Then went into customer service in a call centre which I hated to the point of wanted to crash my car on the way to work so I wouldn't have to go in.

 

The a stroke of luck a friend of mine at the call centre got an interview with what used to be Whitbreads and when she got the job she text me as they were looking for someone else who had customer services experiance, long story short I got the job and spent 7 happy years there until I was made redundant in 2008. It genuinely was a great place to work with some lovely people! I used my redundancy money to start my diploma in financial planning with the chartered insurance institute and have been mainly arranging mortgages and protection since. I like the job and earn a good living but I still dream of going back to Uni to do maths and or physics and get behind the wheel of a commercial airliner!

[GLASGOWOODS 10]

I also wanted to be a commercial pilot but went off the rails slightly at the wrong time 15-18 and didn't do as well in school & 6th form as I should have and left education at 17 with reasonable GCSE's but not much else. Worked in admin for a steelworks which was okay but got sacked for not taking it seriously. Then went into customer service in a call centre which I hated to the point of wanted to crash my car on the way to work so I wouldn't have to go in.

 

The a stroke of luck a friend of mine at the call centre got an interview with what used to be Whitbreads and when she got the job she text me as they were looking for someone else who had customer services experiance, long story short I got the job and spent 7 happy years there until I was made redundant in 2008. It genuinely was a great place to work with some lovely people! I used my redundancy money to start my diploma in financial planning with the chartered insurance institute and have been mainly arranging mortgages and protection since. I like the job and earn a good living but I still dream of going back to Uni to do maths and or physics and get behind the wheel of a commercial airliner!

 

Well I hope if you do ever become a pilot you don't hate it as much as the call centre.

[Danny_Boy 10]

Well I hope if you do ever become a pilot you don't hate it as much as the call centre.

 

Hahaha good point and to clarify I meant a minor accident I didn't have a death wish or anything.

[Vaati 11]

I liked computers and so I went to college and did a Diploma in Office Administration. I did enjoy my job up until we were being made redundant. Found another job in the Civil Service, I am not keen on it to say the least.

[GLASGOWOODS 10]

Hahaha good point and to clarify I meant a minor accident I didn't have a death wish or anything.

 

We get a lot of commercial pilot training a few days a week over where I live, such as Ryanair. I often look up and think 'yeh, I'd like a go at it.'

[Danny_Boy 10]

We get a lot of commercial pilot training a few days a week over where I live, such as Ryanair. I often look up and think 'yeh, I'd like a go at it.'

 

Yes it's definitely on my list as a dream job. I'm tempted to really start looking into it as a serious consideration but with a partner and two children to support it will be a struggle as can't take my eye off the ball in my current job.

 

I also didn't give the job at the brewery enough credit in my OP it was the best job ever! Table tennis & pool tables subsidised canteen and a shed load of free beer.

[Cyclone 10]

There is too much emphasis placed on qualifications, many jobs just need a person to do ordinary stuff.

 

Those are the jobs that pay minimum wage.

 

---------- Post added 18-10-2015 at 10:42 ----------

 

I had an interest in computers and programming and did very well at my GSCEs and A Levels, along with all my friends I was obviously going to Uni, the question was to study what, and where.

I looked at Physics degrees and Chemistry degrees (that would have been a mistake, that was easily my worst A-level), but I fancied computer science. My Mum didn't think there'd be any work in that, so she convinced me to make it combined honours with Business Administration.

I've worked in IT ever since, as a developer/architect and have been self employed for the last 8 years, which is working out well so far. Never used anything from my business admin degree, not even for running my own business. That said, I don't honestly use much from my computer science degree either.

[mc55 10]

during my O levels I dreamt of being a pilot, but i didn't transition very well to A levels ... I went to art school, wanting to do something in textile design / fashion, but just didn't know how to make it happen, so went to secretarial college and was PA to an MD for a number of years. Travelled the world (Europe / US / India / China), attended high level meetings, did all the management college training with the directors, had a blast basically. Then the MD role was transitioned to the US, so I was offered a development role in marketing - that took me into a strategic marketing role, looking at competitors, predicting future market growth rates and diesel turbo adoption rates, market share, future product requirements (15+ years) etc. That was an awesome role, but woefully under resourced with dozens of stakeholders so very very stressful. Then I got a promotion and now I manage the 0-5 year demand forecast for a part of the business... it is not particularly exciting and doesn't really stretch me - thinking next about Programme Management as I have a lot of transferable skills. The major downside of my employment is the daily commute ... 64 miles

 

In the ideal world I would work for myself ... but I think I would need a major event, such as redundancy to move me from my comfort zone. We do have a rental home and the income from that would be the cushion to help with the above transition ... but I really don't know what I would want to do ... something happy ...selling wedding dresses maybe !

 

Having done a few night classes in various things I really do wish I'd stuck to the artistic route when I was younger (I did a furniture making course at Castle college that was fabulously rewarding - I still swell with pride when I look at what I made )

Edited October 18, 2015 by mc55

[Starlc 11]

I have had more jobs than hot dinners and can do most things manual from building walls and plastering to rebuilding engines, door security etc etc.

 

I would really set my stall out for somthing you enjoy doing rather than the money as if you hate your job the money doesnt matter. I am currently doing nothing as i have had a hard time of late having had some sort of mental breakdown of some sort, i thought about becoming a porn star as i thought i would enjoy that but my mrs sat mr down and calmly said that i wasnt suited to it because i wasnt any good among other things ......

Edited October 18, 2015 by Starlc

[999tigger 10]

What surprises me is how many people have managed to leave school with hardly any qualifications.No doubts they were the ones sat at the back in class and staring out of the window instead of learning something.

 

Why should it surprise you? This is Sheffield forum. Lots of the poster are older, which mean they come from a time when aspirations were lower and they went out and got available full time jobs straight from school. Higher education was much rarer.

[spilldig 190]

What surprises me is how many people have managed to leave school with hardly any qualifications.No doubts they were the ones sat at the back in class and staring out of the window instead of learning something.

 

I suppose it depends when you went to school. In my ,case it was the 50s and 60s. Almost all the pupils at our massive school left at age 15 and went straight to a job to help fill the family coffers. The money we gave to our famalies was generally half our take home pay. The choice for boys was the pit the council or the armed forces, for girls usually the shop. Only about 1% from the better off families stayed on until the age of 16 to get GCE,s I never heard of anybody that went to university.

Edited October 19, 2015 by spilldig

[mikeG 16]

Hadn't a clue what I wanted as a career so I joined Barclays Bank in Hillsborough. After 5 years, I became restless so I was an assistant lock-keeper on the Thames for the summer of '65. Then a milkman in Twyford, Berks and for the summer of '66, a barman in Beer. I delivered milk in Axminster, meat in Branscombe and bread in Tavistock. After a failed attempt to sell unit trust/insurance policies, I returned to Sheffield and worked for EDP in Solly St. as a computer operator. I then settled for a career as a computer programmer and Systems Analyst. The reason I finally opted for a computing career was that the son of one of my old milk round customers said 'you're good with figures; try computer programming as its going to be the next big thing'.