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OMITN works in telecoms
What maccruiskeen said
To be honest I preferred working for them as a contractor.
yup. I work for a large organisation in a head office.
It's pretty good, they have great benefits. I had compressed working granted several years ago so I get thursdays off which is great. We get 30 days holiday a year and we can take it whenever we want. If I want to leave an hour early to go riding I just email the manager and leave, no questions. We're not micromanaged and left alone to get on with the job as long as we meet deadlines and requirements. There's a good social aspect if you want it and the people I work with are mostly a great set of folks. Could be worse!
It's funny isn't it, the old (FTSE 100 insurance) company I worked at had shorter hours, flex time (had to be there 10-3:30, outside that anything went), 37 days leave (including accrued 'flex days') etc; on paper it was great, but I much prefer where I am now.
NHS so - most people love the NHS and see it as one of the jewels in this country's crown. I love being part of that. I love that there there are times when I do work beyond what I'm paid to but help introduce new systems or processes that provide better health care and save money (sometimes). I think it's great that when I turn up at A&E, I'm on first names terms with some of the staff, and that you can get a bit more attention when they know you're staff.
I don't like to hear when it goes wrong, because it does and when it does, we don't just lose some money, people get hurt. I can **** it up enough to create a situation where someone dies and that's a bit stressful. Most of the managers are ok, but once the next round of politics come in and the cuts start to bite, it can be hard. For example, we used to run 3 patients (and they're caled [b]patients[/b] not "service users" or "clients") through each of our ultrasound scanners per hour. We upped that to 4 an hour by shaving 5 minutes off the appointment time. That 5 minutes makes a big difference to an elderly, confused patient and I believe treating people with respect and dignity does actually help them get better and away home. Treating them like cattle doesn't.
Anyway, overall, yes, most of the time
Yes- I joined by accident really a headhunter called me and I ended up here. Totally new industry for me but the same role I've always done in business development. People are lovely, what we do is interesting and makes people's lives a bit better at work. It's very odd, almost the complete opposite of any role I've ever had in terms of values, workload, flexibility and expectations and yet we do pretty well without any imposed pressure. We all work like it's our business and we trust each other. First time in 30 years that I can hand on heart say I'm very happy at work.
The company? No. The job? Sort of.
The company is poorly thought of, badly managed at almost every level and would have gone down the drain ages ago if the competition weren't even worse! The upside is the wages are decent and most of the customers are good fun to work with.
Saying that I'm planning to get out before I'm 40, only 4 years and 4 months to go.
Currently working for an agency picking up and delivering cars for a major car auction business, and I'm loving it. There's little stress involved, I spend all my working day either driving or being driven to the next pick-up, all the stress and hassle is taken by others.
Compared to my previous job that I was 'let go' from, which had become one continual stress-fest, it was making me ill, to the point I went to the doctor concerned about my physical and mental health, and had a panic attack in front of my supervisor.
After eleven years in that job, I never thought things could possibly get that bad, but an increasing obsession with nitpicking, box-ticking micromanagement had taken every last bit of enjoyment from the job: it was such a relief to go.
Love the company (it's a LBS) but not so sure I like working there- it's much easier to be a punter in a bike shop than someone trying to earn a living. I also wonder what it is like to not work with your hobby...
Love the company and the job. Pays well, week off every fifth week, 6 weeks annual leave and I get to tear around at 125mph all day.
Employee benefits are nice too. Healthshield, loads of corporate discounts, cycle to work and a cycle to work-esque scheme for salary sacrifice home technology.
I work for myself and the company secretary is my dog , our meetings are a bit one sided but we get on very well.. I make peoples houses pretty and more habitable for them...
Best thing I did was to work for myself, in all seriousness, I just ended up resenting the companies I worked for, basically for being pretty cr@p at motivating and investing in you...
"Everyone", I'm a materials engineer too. Good luck for the search.
Fyi There's a major software/ data company in Cambridge near the station who are hiring.
The company I work for has it's faults but is in general ok. I however have never got on with working for someone. Been here only a year and already feel stale and trapped.
Well I am a customer, which I think is a good test. Also I have worked there 20 years..., but they are generally maligned in the press and to some extent on here. Among our competitors we are leading innovation in the industry. We are perceived as expensive though, our main complaint... and I have just been put in charge of pricing 😯
yes third sector not for profit charity largely staffed by bleeding heart do gooders trying to make the world a better place
Pay and job security are shit but it does mean you "change jobs" frequently
Yep. I contract for a small company. The director is a mate and an mtber, the work is interesting if hard work (rope access) but the hours and pay make up for the physicality.
I enjoy being outside and using my hands as well as my brain, this job lets me do that.
Yes. I am able to conduct exciting scientific and medical research, fulfil a vocation, play with data and do hard sums, travel, influence and ride my bike to work (and get paid to do so). On top of that I am well rewarded and get to experiment on humans for a living. Three molecules I've worked on are now new medicines.
I was an academic before and never expected to work in the field I do for a multinational company. This is the only company I have worked for and I've been here 16 years. On top of that I'm proud of the position the company takes on many issues, including funding research that will never make profit and sharing all data publicly.
Of course all organisations come with frustrations, management layers, IT and infrastructure, process and seemingly poor decision making. But don't think it is always better elsewhere. I'll probably end up consulting to smaller companies eventually, but probably not until retirement !
mattbee - Member
Yep. I contract for a small company. The director is a mate and an mtber, the work is interesting if hard work (rope access) but the hours and pay make up for the physicality.
I enjoy being outside and using my hands as well as my brain, this job lets me do that.
GET BACK TO WORK!!!! 
My company was great and has made a real difference to virtually every bodies lives in the UK, but with cuts and some really inept management it is a bit of a chore at the moment.
Will it improve, will it even exist in a few years time we will have to wait and see.
My boss is lazy, forgetful, unreliable and incompetent. Oh the joys of being self employed.
HansRey, do they want an InfoSec Program Manager?
Kind of - folk are nice i work with but management are a bunch of muppets. The pay is poor & it is expected to work late to get work done but they never look at why it takes longer. No overtime or time off for extra hours so where is the incentive to crack on and help out? Only done it this once and never again.
Looking to move on and things are in the pipeline for that.
Have a tea lady pop round twice a day so that is a perk
Kinda. I am fantastically well-paid and have great benefits, tea-lady, massive corner office etc. Because of the way in which I am managed, I am not required to take any responsibility for anything, initiative is frowned on and appreciation of effort is in such short supply generally that making any seems almost senseless.
This will start to grate eventually, but at present I just look at my pay-cheque and s**** inwardly.
willard - There isn't anything advertised for information security. That doesn't meant that there isn't a need for it.
Yes, but its more about the ppl I work with, rather than the company itself, as they* screwed over one of the senior engineers in the team when they re-structured.
*Admittedly this company are the black sheep of the 'group', managing to make more money than any other part.. yet overall management still feel they need to **** with it.
Largely, yes.
I'm a QS for a large consultancy and generally they're pretty good to work for. Certainly at a team level it's quite flexible as long as you get the job done. There's an unwritten rule in our team that if you can get an early finish after a meeting, take it because there will be times you need to work late - I finished early yesterday and managed a few hours out on the big bike and still got home at a sensible time. I can work from home when it suits.
There are things that frustrate the hell out of me - the HR is useless (the appraisal system is dire, lots of fire fighting for resource but not many long term solutions), the IT is shite....really, really bad. I think I'm reasonably well rewarded for what I do and I can see a path to promotion etc. The car list isn't great but has got a lot better. It can't be that bad - I've been here for nine years now and have no great desire to leave. The team I work in is really good which helps too.
No. Sucks big time, money is very good but I never achieve anything. Take last week, night job planned for months, done on OT, installed green labelled part that wouldn't work, managed to get it working with parts from original bit, 12 hrs later it's promptly failed again. No working spares in the country but don't worry it's only the back up power supply for a safety critical system.
This sort of thing happens regularly.
I like them cos they found me and employed me when my life was at it's lowest ebb. Apart from that .. meh.
Mine was great - is now woeful but i'm about to hand my notice in so i'm in limbo. I dont know much about where i'm going but i'm prepared to take the chance (and bigger salary)!
Pros
Work with good people
I'm obscenely well paid for what I do
We serve our customers well and our products are market leading
Cons
Our organisational goals are massively unrealistic
Management structure and ethos is changed far too frequently
It's frustratingly difficult to get things done
I'm lacking enthusiasm at the moment as the endless change cycles have taken their toll
In summary, I'm not sure!
No. The prison service has been Fubared by the government & now employs more imbecilic managers than ever, most of them could'nt run a piss up in a brewery with a raffle chucked in for extra fun.
Morale is through the floor throughout the service.
I went part time last Sunday, my mental state could'nt take any more full time crap.
I don't like or dislike my job. I just do what is expected of me and take the money at the end of the month.
<stilted
Yes, I love the company I work for
/stilted>
Pros
Cycling to work pretty much every day - 15 minutes & its a nice route
Salary rise every year without having to ask - typically 3-5%
Only ever work my core hours - no expectation of overtime - leave the house at 8:30am & I can easily be home by 6pm
Fairly relaxed working environment - I get on with everyone I directly work with
Cons
No pension (or other benefits)
Limited training availability
Not really much room for promotion to other roles
Pay seems to be a bit below the market average
Job can be a bit samey on a day to day basis
Cashflow is generally a problem most of the time - got paid late earlier this year
Few people who I don't directly work with that I don't get on with (they are best avoided)
It ok. I rarely find myself challenged, but occasionally get to design something interesting.
Company is American, and well known there - so that means we have a lot of corporate BS to deal with.
The people I work with are good people, and I'm well rewarded for what I do + the pension is pretty good.
Increasingly less and less on a daily basis to the point where I have to make some decisions about whether I want to start again in pastures new 👿 🙁
Not today as I had to sack someone, he was a nice bloke but out of his depth in the role & had committed 3 serious H&S breaches.
But I was the one who didn't want to employ him in the first place as he was possibly the worst person I have ever interviewed but I was overruled by my boss who had worked with him before. 5 years of poor performance by him has worn me out & the total lack of support from the firm (pushing it back to me) has left a bad taste,
dunno, basically just going through a take over, after a period with a cull of 90% staff over the last 5/7 years, so dunno yet, completely different story, could turn out positive, so i'm optimistic.
I'm pretty keen on the company I work for. The boss is sound, a really smart cool guy. The admin guy's epic and the man on the tools too. Not sure about the accountant... But I basically get to make my own decisions and am 100? unsackable
Yes,
Pros
We do good work; although next to banking, most people have an 'opnion' about the sector.
The people I work with are genuinely good people
I'm always busy and it's varied
My staff are pretty switched on and self starting
the pay is good
Cons
We are largely at the behest of the Public Sector and some of those organisations are shockingly bad
The organisations are underfunded, and peoples lives are affected by that, and it's frustrating as the result is often pushed our way to be blamed or ignored.
Mostly the pros outweigh the cons
I think Glasgowdan and I might have something in common.