What do you do?

I spent a few decades designing ink jet printers (so I enjoy the regular printer bashing threads). Now design sensors for environmental monitoring.

@stingmered HNB? Careful what you say, I’m in for the NSG engineer job 😆 Or maybe I should be careful, you sound official?

Head of content at a cyber security company. Currently less writing and more cat-herding, but it’s quite fun because there are a lot of really interesting stories, some of which we even get to talk about publicly. I also get to talk to seriously brainy people all day, and live in constant hope that some of it will eventually rub off.

Any jobs going? (-:

What do I do: Herding cats, ringfencing of unicorns, bunching the thousand flowers, horizon scanning, running things up flagpoles to see who salutes, spending inordinate amounts of money on things that people neither want nor appreciate while simultaneously not purchasing things people need, future proofing and occasionally pulling arses out of fires.

Job Title: Currently ‘IT Manager’ / soon to be ‘Principal Engineer’.
Both are ironic titles –
1) I don’t have any background in IT and I don’t manage anyone
2) I’m not an engineer and I don’t have any principles.

I supply steel frames to various scenery companies for major films (and some TV)
Its very interesting most of the time and very satisfying, especially when you see something you built in the film. Most annoying thing is I could have an amazing web site of past work , but NDA’s put paid to that 🙁

What do I do: Herding cats, ringfencing of unicorns, bunching the thousand flowers, horizon scanning, running things up flagpoles to see who salutes, spending inordinate amounts of money on things that people neither want nor appreciate while simultaneously not purchasing things people need, future proofing and occasionally pulling arses out of fires.

Blimey that sounds like a lot! All I do is try to stop spinning plates hitting the floor too frequently. On which note…

@squirrelking About 350 miles out…

@db – have you any idea how the staff feel being regarded as Human Capital?

Director of Public Transport Operations. Specifically making sure it works in my county. Not easy given how little control I have over bus operators in a deregulated market.

@Beagleboy

not Harry’s lab by any chance?

I used to be a ceramic technician (dishwasher in a hotel in a ski resort) and now I manage people who play with sticky back plastic. It’s mostly great when everyone plays nicely.

In theory, I develop and apply mathematical modelling techniques for the analysis of brain scans to help researchers to understand diseases and develop drugs. In practice, I spend 90% of my time in meetings, answering emails, and doing the usual sorts of PowerPoint and Word stuff. Doesn’t stop my.kids from saying “silly old Daddy, looking at brains all day” though!

When I was a teenager I used to clean maggots for £1.50 per hour. That was smellier.

I used to be a ceramic technician (dishwasher in a hotel in a ski resort)

I spent many years as a kitchen porter in the evenings, WEs and holidays whilst at 6th form and Uni – absolutely loved the camaraderie / banter in College kitchens and developed a fastidiousness about washing up which I still have 35 years later. I still really enjoy washing up by hand!

@footflaps. Yes, was a right laugh but depended on chef. Did three winters, main focus was on skiing, drinking and getting work done as quick as possible to allow maximum time for first two.

Project Engineer Building & Civils for Network Rail, so basically ensure that design and build contractors designs and construction meet standards and when they don’t sort that out including writing derogations against standards so things are acceptable.

The absolute best part is I don’t have to manage people, programmes or budgets which I did in my previous role and simply could not stand it.

The best part of being a manager is the people

The worst part of being a manager is the people

@elshalimo, I Can’t disagree with that..

The best part about being a teacher is, at times, the kids
The worst thing about being a teacher is, most of the time, the kids
But the salary is very good and the holidays are awesome…

@revs1972 Penny drops; I’ve seen your work on a certain welding forum!

I’d love to tell you but as I work for one of the most hated companies in the country I’m not going to, which is a shame as we really don’t deserve our reputation and it’s the best company I’ve worked for in a long time.

Yodel?

Or P&O?

I drive a harvester which is the big machines you see in the forest and then sneak up on while they are cutting down trees.

Spent 10 years before this in the police with 5 as a firearms officer and definitely happier now. Lucky if I see another person all week at work now.

PhD in Marine / computational biology, transitioned to bioinformatics and algorithm development in industry. Lived the life abroad and loved it but coding and working with complex data is more fulfilling for me.

I’m someone some developers love to hate, a Scrum Master.

I also like the term Agile coach as there’s more to life than Scrum.

In reality I’ve worked with 3 companies over the last 2 years, in AI, DNA analysis and now robotics. It’s been really interesting and regulations around medical work really challenge the ideal view of Agile, so it’s about trying to adapt within the context.

Mostly though, I talk to people about how to know we are doing what we should be, and how we can do things better.

Is it just me but there’s little point to these threads after the first few responses as no one readers through – other than putting your occupation on line for all to see…..

Anyway don’t reply to this post as I doubt I’d look at the thread again 😄

No not either of those, what we do, we do well and treat our staff well, we provide an important service often not appreciated by the users.

Is it just me but there’s little point to these threads after the first few responses as no one readers through

Read every one of them and replied to several….

I’m just a boring multitrade builder , I work for myself which is great because I can’t pick and choose what I want to do….plus my van is big enough to take my bikes..yeah boooy

@Poah

Floor above Harry, I’m part of Richard. McCulloch’s lab.

Craig

@revs1972 Penny drops; I’ve seen your work on a certain welding forum!

That’s me , though can only post the less interesting bits on there ( i did have an interesting one on there, but had to remove 🙁 )

@Beagleboy

Did you ever work in the basement of the JBB or was that before your time?

Project engineer in offshore wind. Focussed on the concrete part of turbine/sub station installations for wind farms all over the place.
Occasionally we do oil platforms too, but thats few and far between these days. More often decommissioning based than new install on the oil side.

@Poah

Nah, I started working with the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology in 2004, based in the Anderson college, then we moved to the Sir Graham Davies building a couple of years later. Been there ever since.

When I’m not in the lab, I spend most of my time at my desk in the office, gazing out the window at the front door of Tennents….

Mechanical BIM manager/3D modeller/CAD designer in Energy industry. Oil & Gas / Nuclear.

Essentially do all the drawings for whizzkids half my age.

Used to be a professional person scarer, letter writer, box ticker and admirer of spreadsheets.

Currently training others to do the above.

Also bike riding, bouldering and a dad.

Run a specialist Occupational Health and Safety consultancy, I’ve covered everything from fume incidents forcing passenger jets to emergency land, arsenic contamination in taxidermy from the victorian era, all the usual dust, fume, noise and vibration in manufacturing, through to being a specialist in clinical waste testing and I’m currently lead in a working group writing best practice guidance.

If its niche, in a potentially dangerous environment or a combination of the both, we are usually in the thick of it trying to keep folks safe.

we are also expanding the team so if there are any LFOH qualified occupational hygienists out there drop me a message 🙂

I’m a profesional Teams meeting attendee. At least that’s what its felt like for the last two years.

I’m a (chartered) MEP Engineer, but very rarely do any design myself these days, doesn’t stop me picking holes in and criticising others though 😬

Currently trying to move my way more into the Net Zero side of things in some capacity or other. Handed in a sort of RIBA stage 2 Interim NZPSBS Report the other day… 🙏

If anyone’s interested, come and see for yourself.

https://www.npl.co.uk/open-day

I’m by trade a lift engineer having started as an apprecntice with OTIS in 1980.

At present I am an operations and sales manager for a lift company in the North West.

I love these threads, so many talented people in here. I’m manager/technical bod for a brazing/heat treatment shop. We help design and braze/treat parts in their thousands every day. Most of them are humdrum automotive, aerospace and industrial parts but we also do satellites, fusion reactors, hadron collider and even Reynolds tubing for bikes. I love my job but most of all I love bringing through young talent, although I’m not sure they are ever as passionate about brazing as I am.