Firefighter, left school, at 16 with below average GCSE results and got an apprenticeship as a butcher, didn't see that going anywhere long term after 3 years so i got myself fit and joined the army. Did that for 6 years and decided to leave whilst i was still young enough to start another career and joined the fire service where i've been for the last 12 years.
Final year sport and exercise science undergrad at one of the top two unis for my subject (picked some easy A levels so got good grades). Along the way I picked up 12 months experience as a sports scientist in Vancouver (did some biking and skiing out there too). Currently scouring STW as well as other sites for a job.
Any openings in applied exercise physiology that don't require a masters (definitely ready to leave education) would be welcome, preferably in Canada...
Paper rounds
School GCSE's
A-levels
Carer in place for people with epilepsy
Assessment specialist for people with epilepsy (spotting non epileptic seizures)
Merchandiser for Coca-cola
Sales rep for Coca-Cola
Business Development Manager for Coca-Cola
Recruitment Consultant (sorry)
Residential Care Officer (kids home)
Phase Manager (social work MIS System)
Project Manager (IT)
Service Development Manger (designing new ways of looking after older people)
Pretty random huh?
Trainee Tax Inspector.
Graduated from Uni with a Cell Biology Degree and couldn't see myself working in a lab for the rest of my life. Moved in with my girlfriend after uni and needed a job ASAP. Applied to work for HMRC and ended up working in one of the contact centres for 3 years! Just as I was getting to the end of my tether I applied for the fast track scheme and managed to get through.
Can't say I grew up wanting to work as a tax inspector, however my
unit is about as interesting as it gets, as we deal with wealthy internationally mobile individuals.
Who knows where I will be in 5 years time.
Heavy plant operator/mechanic
Started as a labourer at 17, turned 18 and started operating 30ton dumptrucks,then moved on to bulldozers and excavators,I have also managed to get dragged in to the plant fitter side of things and often end up twirling a spanner, Tried other things but love this job so much.
At 24 I joined the TA Royal Signals and trained as generator technician, now im aiming to get mtb instructor qualifications through the army and see what comes from that in the future.
Like a few of the scientists here that have posted. Degree -> PhD (in genetics) -> postdocs.
Did two postdocs and decided that although I liked academia, I wasn't going to make it to team leader/prof. So moved out to Biotech. Worked for a basket case biotech (3yrs) and a good company (18months). Then moved to a biotech start up 7yrs ago, in which I started up some new businesses that went very well and it got aquired in Sept for a serious amount.
Now running a small lab group with labs in 7 countries / 4 continents. Lots of challenges but lots of fun. Still a science nerd!
First year to do GCSEs, someone screwed up and I didn't get any science grades for ages. Got bumped from A levels to OND engineering because of this.
Chose Telecoms engineering for degree because it had a nice picture in the brochure.
Started in support, moved to training, training management, pre-sales, product management, then marketing. Well worn path...
Now European Marketing Manager for a Telecoms/IT company.
Law enforcement.
Was brightish but lazy hated school and had no desire to go to Uni which was pretty much all my school cared about. Left school after a levels and about six months later got a job as clerical bod in the DHSS, good laugh lots of similar aged people working there. Got promoted and transferred to HMCE and became a gentleman of the excise, a job only slightly more taxing than being in a coma. Three years of that and joined the HMCE Investigation Division, loved it!! Within a year had done my HMCE equivalent of the CID course, advanced driving and surveillance course, spent the next six years doing op's (lots and lots of surveillance and long hours ) work on high level fraudsters. Great fun when you're young; "We want you to spend 30 hrs in an empty office waiting for a lorry to drive past you then give us a call when it does" "Cool, that sounds great, who needs sleep" good team, working away or overseas, lots of nights on the booze and managed to get my advanced motorcyclist ticket for surveillance as well as a few technical surveillance courses. After about six years of that off to a heroin branch, even more surveillance but now with kebabs in north London, good quality targets and got to run some very long term op's, with reasonably massive drugs and cash seizures(my personal bests being; 120kgs of coke, or for the scabbier crowd 85 kgs of heroin packed with 100 kgs of weed or for the financial classes £126,000 in cash being handed over in a carrier bag in the street). Eventually after about 16 years I got really, really bored of the surveillance side, so have now drifted over to being an intelligence manager (sort of like a D.S / Field Intel Officer) developing jobs for teams, got some interesting stuff on the go, work with some good quality resources, am still learning things and I still get out on the ground when I fancy it.
Did an engineering apprenticeship, metalwork ,woodwork, plastics and foundry work,got made redundant,
Worked on a market as a self employed trader,
worked as an instructor in a large mental health hospital, and mental disability hospital, OT depts, working with mentally ill, physical disabilities, and mental handicap,
worked for a charity, realised there was fiddling going on, tried to raise it and got told to leave, same day as i resigned strangely,
Drove a van for an NHS DEPT, doing multiple drop deliveries to GP, surgers,
Worked self employed, doing maintenance work on care homes,and making radiator cabinets,
self employed as a joiner, working in customers homes and work places.
Looking for a new challenge, and a new job.
Project manager building and refurbishing pubs! Did can degree in psychology, thinking I wanted to be a clinical psychologist, did a summer job in a secure hospital as a nurse and hated it!
Bummed about with various jobs for a couple of years, recruitment, teaching rugby, barman, then noticed the pub company I was working for had a grad scheme. Figured I could do a better job of designing pubs than I'd seen so applied for the building department.
8 years later, I've done a post grad in construction management, i'm a chartered builder, and I've just started managing the contract and supply chain for the department.
Retired at 51, now 54.
Wasn't particularly bright at school but left with some 'O' levels and CSE's and joined the British Railways HQ Finance team. Liked running / orienteering and didn't want a job where I would have to work weekends!
Didn't try hard enough at ICMA (now CIMA) accountancy quals (preferred running) and only passed first 3 years but eventually got AAT qualification. Moved around a bit Derby/Nottingham/London/York/Newcastle and managed to survive privatisation and interminable re-organisations. Was going to retire after 34 years in early 2010 but before I could get my letter in they made me redundant. Massive result as I have final salary pension and managed to buy a buy-to-let property some years ago. Not rich,but I don't have to work.
I buggered up my A levels courtesy of John smiths at a pound a pint one lunchtime followed by A level exams a couple hours later.
That put paid to going to Uni to train as a teacher.
Worked in retail for a bit then got a job in a call centre made redundant 5 years later went to work in pubs then went back to a similar call centre to the one I had been made redundant from.
Left that job and went to college with the aim of going to Uni to train as a social worker decided it wasn't for me so tried to find some care work but it was all with the older people unless I had experience.which I didn't.
So ended up being out of work and education so when the kids went back to school after the summer I found another job in a call centre who count the company I used to work for as a client which makes things interesting, now have more responsibility and scope and have already gained promotion the company are also a new start up so it's good to be building something.
Goes something like this
Psychologist for BT in their Human Factors department (user centred design and evaluation)
Business development manager at BT Cellnet responsible for smart phones (pre-wap so was involved in developing those standards)
Head of Music and Games at Genie Internet (mobile portal owned by BT Cellnet)
Business development manager at a small mobile games company
Gap year aged 34
Internet casino manager for William Hill (inc. 2 years in Gibraltar)
MSc in Holistic Science (economics, ecology and complexity theory)
Since graduating in 2010 I have not been in employment, but just doing a little freelance work while developing contacts in Brazil. I now have a work visa so things are beginning to look up this year. I generally say I am a teacher and consultant in chaos and complexity theory, sustainability and creativity. My blog is doing quite well too which I started writing on in 2010.
Company director for biomass boiler distributor....
So, gcses, a levels, started degree in mech eng, switched to automotive design which I passed fine but found it impossible to get job, learnt web design, got job in that. 3 years later was a bit sick and went off to china to teach English.
Came back and managed to get job as multi media guy in a school, enjoyed that but started doing my own stuff on the side, helping to run club nights, doing graphics etc, set up a business with a mate and few years later had got to the level where we were touring the world doing big audio visual gigs (10k audiences), big building projections etc. was great for about 4 years then the travelling, late nights, drinking and everything took its toll.
Was looking for new challenge, got speaking to some people about renewables and ended up taking on a company doing biomass boilers, it's been a bloody tough year but starting to get everything in place now. First little one on the way in may so have to get it all working by then
I sometimes wonder how the hell I got where I did, but probably wonder more about what's next!
spaceship engineer (no, really)
Worked with aircraft electronics while at uni, then ship electronics afterwards (for a bit), turned down an offer to design TV SFX electronics (T+C were worse than ****, actually no, worse than that!), then ended up testing then operating spacecraft (which is what I actually did at uni in the first place).
I work advising on sustainable forest plantations for a big paper company.
Left school with 2 A levels - a D and an E - went to farming college for a year - spent another year faffing.....walked out of 2 good college courses and then did gardening, bar and farm work.
Got a place on a Environmental Studies degree course at a local tech college. In my final year got a job on an American summer camp and only came back to UK when my visa ran out, went back to working in the bar, and had decided i would go back to the States for another season and then head to central america.....
Got offered a 12 week part time countryside rangering job with the local council, which became 6 months full time and then a year. Then went to work for Welsh Water as a ranger and got involved in forestry.
After 3.5 years went to work for a private forestry management company as a "graduate trainee"..... worked hard and got involved with the early days of Llandegla.... after 7 years moved to Scotland and started working in compliance and environmental management for the same firm.... after 4 years of that i needed a complete change and would have done anything !!
Was offered current job but told i could be based anywhere in the world - said ok - 2 years later i dont think i have ever slept for more than 2 weeks in the same bed. Love it - been to India, West Africa, Korea and South America lots and go to Finland most months.... private life is a disaster but i'm living the dream - well the forester's dream 😀
COO of a domains/SaaS company.
Went to Uni to do computer science. In the 16 years since I left I've had 6 other jobs, all in technology (but a variety of sectors) getting more senior as I went along. So really just fairly traditional in terms of career growth in technology with "promotions" coming from moving jobs rather than within the job.
Was working in electronic trading for various financial institutions. Had various roles around the City and originally got into this though business analysis and picked it up pretty quickly from there.
Self-employed web designer. Currently really a paid hobby as clients almost non-existent. Basically waiting until April 2014 to get pension.
Degree in zoology and geology, MSc in Rock Mechanics and Engineering Geology. First job for copper mining company in Zambia as Rock Mechanics Engineer (3 years). Returned to UK, job in Construction industry as Engineering geologist for a contractor. Eventually estimating and tendering for geotechnical contracts. After 13 years for one company moved to a small contractor as Contracts Manager then director. Company closed and made redundant. Self employed as site contracts engineer for a couple of years, then senior geotech. engineer for another contractor. Made redundant at 51 during downturn in construction industry.
Decided had had enough of construction industry. Decided to try web design but also worked as trail leader for long distance horse trails in Wales and Scotland. Still did a bit of freelance estimating.
Met wife on a trail ride. Took 5 months for round the world trip and decided to move to Scotland where we could afford property with land to keep a couple of horses. Wife could only get a job as home carer and web design not really working so finances stretched. Began fostering, which wife had always wanted to do, providing small income. Wife's work down-graded in restructuring so income falling.
Currently struggling along, waiting for April 2014 when I get my pension which hopefully will make things more comfortable.
