How did you come to do what you do?
Poll: How did you come to do what you do?
Total Members Polled: 238
Discussion
Morning all,
Like I'm sure many others do as they advance through middle age, I sometimes question how I got to where I am, and what might've been different.
I pretty much stumbled into IT sales after Uni, and by the time I'd grown up and realised that there were probably many other things I'd have been better at and/or found more satisfying, I was pretty much trapped in by the money!
This isn't a plea for pity, as I still have a great life with an interesting (if stressful) and varied job, but it did make me wonder how other people have got to where they are now, and if there's anything you'd tell your younger self to do differently if you could?
Like I'm sure many others do as they advance through middle age, I sometimes question how I got to where I am, and what might've been different.
I pretty much stumbled into IT sales after Uni, and by the time I'd grown up and realised that there were probably many other things I'd have been better at and/or found more satisfying, I was pretty much trapped in by the money!
This isn't a plea for pity, as I still have a great life with an interesting (if stressful) and varied job, but it did make me wonder how other people have got to where they are now, and if there's anything you'd tell your younger self to do differently if you could?
I sort of fell into it coupled with an interest in the area. I graduated with an engineering degree into a recession and applied for anything I was qualified for. Got my first graduate job in defence software engineering for GEC Marconi. Managed to move into the civilian sector a few years later and stuck with software ever since.
Got kicked out of uni at the end of the first year, took a temporary job to get the parents off my back, still working for the same company 35 years later.
Been lucky that i've always had decent bosses and colleagues so only the last couple of years have been a a chore. Recently changed to a new role which is making me use my brain for the first time in ages.
Before being made permanent i had a couple of job offers that may have changed where i'd be living/working but i'm happy with my lot.
Been lucky that i've always had decent bosses and colleagues so only the last couple of years have been a a chore. Recently changed to a new role which is making me use my brain for the first time in ages.
Before being made permanent i had a couple of job offers that may have changed where i'd be living/working but i'm happy with my lot.
I became a civil servant after leaving school with 6 O-levels in 1983 when unemployment was really bad. I applied for various jobs via the local job centre including working in a betting office, at an auctioneers (that might have been interesting), at a carpet shop, doing window displays in a department store and working in a garden centre (I love gardening now). The job I got was in an outer London office of a government department for whom I know work in Westminster. I've just started my 24 month countdown to retirement and my "gold plated" pension. 
A fair reward, I think, for 40 years doing a boring job I'm not really that interested in. At one point I did get to visit GCHQ though which has made me think that what I really should have been is some sort of spy. Perhaps I am actually. 
A fair reward, I think, for 40 years doing a boring job I'm not really that interested in. At one point I did get to visit GCHQ though which has made me think that what I really should have been is some sort of spy. Perhaps I am actually. No idea how I ended up in Information Security. i started after college in construction as a deputy site agent and have since worked in petroleum retailing, car sales, commercial catering equipment, retail and engineering for manufacturing in many different sectors. Roles have encompassed most things from driver to Group Operation Director and Group ICT & Cyber Security Director. Now semi-retired and working as a consultant.
The only certainty is that there was never a plan!!
The only certainty is that there was never a plan!!
An interesting question i have posed to colleagues in the past. I work in a fairly niche sector of the oil and gas industry, which in respects to the specific area of work - I certainly fell into it. From posing the question to colleagues, I would say 90%+ are the same.
That said, I did pursue an engineering degree (even though I'm pretty terrible at advance mathematics!) as employment opportunities looked good at the time and things like cars have always interested me. Having realised I was going to be pretty useless "proper engineer", and from doing part time sales work as a student, I did actively pursue a sales career in an engineering company, which has worked out well and led me to where I am now.
I would say I chose the role, but not the sector.
That said, I did pursue an engineering degree (even though I'm pretty terrible at advance mathematics!) as employment opportunities looked good at the time and things like cars have always interested me. Having realised I was going to be pretty useless "proper engineer", and from doing part time sales work as a student, I did actively pursue a sales career in an engineering company, which has worked out well and led me to where I am now.
I would say I chose the role, but not the sector.
Fell into it.
Needed a job, went to the careers office in town. Saw a job that was vaguely related to the one I'd done (short term) when I left school.
Had an interview, still in the game 25 years later.
In a way, I envy those who knew exactly what they wanted to do from a young age. It allowed them to focus on it, take appropriate qualifications and see it through.
Being 18 and having no idea what kind of job you want leads to a plethora of choice, which is good, but also relies on a degree of luck to end up in something you enjoy.
Needed a job, went to the careers office in town. Saw a job that was vaguely related to the one I'd done (short term) when I left school.
Had an interview, still in the game 25 years later.
In a way, I envy those who knew exactly what they wanted to do from a young age. It allowed them to focus on it, take appropriate qualifications and see it through.
Being 18 and having no idea what kind of job you want leads to a plethora of choice, which is good, but also relies on a degree of luck to end up in something you enjoy.
a mixture of the first 4 options.
very young i wanted to be an architect or furniture designer. teenage me decided he wanted to be an airline pilot but because i was 'gifted' [in reality i had undiagnosed ADD] i was talked into going to uni where i gained an masters in aero engineering.
9/11 happened during my 3rd year, meaning my sandwich placement was to general industry as a mech eng. also meant there were zero prospects of getting a paid flying scholarship from an airline. i had to borrow money to pay my tuition fees in order to graduate, so wasn't flush with cash to do any self funded training.
hence i took the graduate job offer from the company i did my placement with and joined the naval reserve hoping to go in the fleet air arm. ultimately i decided that me and the military were a very poor fit [ADD again] so i scrabbled around for a sniff of an interesting career and [after speaking to dad's mate who was a DI] applied for the police fast track scheme or whatever its called. got through the process and accepted, and then i declined it as i still thought i had a chance of flying for a living.
so, bought a house to renovate and flip and use that profit for training. ended up biting off way more than i could chew and that didn't transpire. at this point i'm 6 years out of uni in an engineering management role, so applied to delft uni to go and do an MSc in offshore engineering. i thought i'd sell the house and if i had enough cash to go flying i would, and if i didn't i'd go back to study something more lucrative.
i was accepted the second year of application, but in the meantime i was made redundant, finished the house, and went to a blind interview setup by a recruiter for a company i've never heard of in the power sector. the company sounded very much white goods but the role and the work locations sounded like a brilliant adventure.
that was 12 yrs ago. i joined them as a design engineer and have worked various project management and engineering roles since. been to 50+ countries, had some great adventures, really enjoyed the work and the challenges involved in physically constructing something in the arse end of nowhere to tight timescales and with not all the right parts. my last role was essentially an engineering fixer, going in to bring problem projects back on track. lots of authority and autonomy but not having to deal with the dull stuff or stick around to do tedious handovers. basically an ADD'ers dream
currently office based after a downturn and internal re-org and i hate it. looking for a new challenge, whether that's on my own or for an employer. i'm just not cut out for pushing spreadsheets around or lame office politics. on the other hand i also like being paid very well, so somethings gotta give.
very young i wanted to be an architect or furniture designer. teenage me decided he wanted to be an airline pilot but because i was 'gifted' [in reality i had undiagnosed ADD] i was talked into going to uni where i gained an masters in aero engineering.
9/11 happened during my 3rd year, meaning my sandwich placement was to general industry as a mech eng. also meant there were zero prospects of getting a paid flying scholarship from an airline. i had to borrow money to pay my tuition fees in order to graduate, so wasn't flush with cash to do any self funded training.
hence i took the graduate job offer from the company i did my placement with and joined the naval reserve hoping to go in the fleet air arm. ultimately i decided that me and the military were a very poor fit [ADD again] so i scrabbled around for a sniff of an interesting career and [after speaking to dad's mate who was a DI] applied for the police fast track scheme or whatever its called. got through the process and accepted, and then i declined it as i still thought i had a chance of flying for a living.
so, bought a house to renovate and flip and use that profit for training. ended up biting off way more than i could chew and that didn't transpire. at this point i'm 6 years out of uni in an engineering management role, so applied to delft uni to go and do an MSc in offshore engineering. i thought i'd sell the house and if i had enough cash to go flying i would, and if i didn't i'd go back to study something more lucrative.
i was accepted the second year of application, but in the meantime i was made redundant, finished the house, and went to a blind interview setup by a recruiter for a company i've never heard of in the power sector. the company sounded very much white goods but the role and the work locations sounded like a brilliant adventure.
that was 12 yrs ago. i joined them as a design engineer and have worked various project management and engineering roles since. been to 50+ countries, had some great adventures, really enjoyed the work and the challenges involved in physically constructing something in the arse end of nowhere to tight timescales and with not all the right parts. my last role was essentially an engineering fixer, going in to bring problem projects back on track. lots of authority and autonomy but not having to deal with the dull stuff or stick around to do tedious handovers. basically an ADD'ers dream
currently office based after a downturn and internal re-org and i hate it. looking for a new challenge, whether that's on my own or for an employer. i'm just not cut out for pushing spreadsheets around or lame office politics. on the other hand i also like being paid very well, so somethings gotta give.
This time last week, I was wandering around Tirana in Albania taking photos of litter and bins. I am often found asking myself how did I end up doing that!
Art was one of a small number of things I was truly good at at school. Graphic Design seemed the obvious path and got a job as Studio Junior, confirmed before I'd even taken my O levels. Set up on my own at 19 then merged with a London Ad agency. Started to study for a Diploma in Marketing and ended up as Marketing Manager at Barnardo's for a few years. Spent a year heading up Marketing for an industrial coatings company - which was literally like watching pain dry! - then joined an old boss who's started a new agency. Took a 25% stake. Sold that and I joined a provincial Marketing Communications firm to head up their Ad Agency.
In 2003, we won a major campaign for a local authority to help them launch their new recycling service. Did a blinding job and started getting calls from other local authorities to do the same. We looked a bit deeper and found the government had pumped £40m into councils for them to run campaigns supporting new recycling services. We'd done about 5 campaigns by this point and were beginning to be recognised as one of the market leaders.
I sunk myself into the subject - attending every conference going, reading all the journals and quickly becoming an expert in Behaviour Change Communications. In 2007, UK Trade and Investment invited me to Bulgaria and Romania to provide technical assistance on national campaigns for recycling as part of their transition to EU membership.
160 UK local authorities and 30 middle income nations later ... and here I am, taking photos of s
t for a campaign in Albania to stop the st! 
Art was one of a small number of things I was truly good at at school. Graphic Design seemed the obvious path and got a job as Studio Junior, confirmed before I'd even taken my O levels. Set up on my own at 19 then merged with a London Ad agency. Started to study for a Diploma in Marketing and ended up as Marketing Manager at Barnardo's for a few years. Spent a year heading up Marketing for an industrial coatings company - which was literally like watching pain dry! - then joined an old boss who's started a new agency. Took a 25% stake. Sold that and I joined a provincial Marketing Communications firm to head up their Ad Agency.
In 2003, we won a major campaign for a local authority to help them launch their new recycling service. Did a blinding job and started getting calls from other local authorities to do the same. We looked a bit deeper and found the government had pumped £40m into councils for them to run campaigns supporting new recycling services. We'd done about 5 campaigns by this point and were beginning to be recognised as one of the market leaders.
I sunk myself into the subject - attending every conference going, reading all the journals and quickly becoming an expert in Behaviour Change Communications. In 2007, UK Trade and Investment invited me to Bulgaria and Romania to provide technical assistance on national campaigns for recycling as part of their transition to EU membership.
160 UK local authorities and 30 middle income nations later ... and here I am, taking photos of s
t for a campaign in Albania to stop the st! My father had a construction company. I was therefore going to do something in construction and blew out being an architect on account of the fact I couldn't draw & had no artistic flair by the age of 17.
I then found a degree in construction & decided that would work. I was given 10yrs post graduation to decide if I wanted to go work for my father.
On graduation decided I needed to earn money fast so sought out a company that worked in the Gulf. It happened to be a rather large American outfit, that had bit of a reputation & did a lot of heavy civil & oil&gas stuff. Roll on the 10yrs & having done 3 years in the Gulf, a year in the states & heading to India, decided I preferred doing what i was doing working the largest projects in the world than running a small construction company in a Berkshire town.
And now all them years later only one company change under my belt I'm still really doing the same... working in the engineering/construction business mainly supporting oil&gas.
I then found a degree in construction & decided that would work. I was given 10yrs post graduation to decide if I wanted to go work for my father.
On graduation decided I needed to earn money fast so sought out a company that worked in the Gulf. It happened to be a rather large American outfit, that had bit of a reputation & did a lot of heavy civil & oil&gas stuff. Roll on the 10yrs & having done 3 years in the Gulf, a year in the states & heading to India, decided I preferred doing what i was doing working the largest projects in the world than running a small construction company in a Berkshire town.
And now all them years later only one company change under my belt I'm still really doing the same... working in the engineering/construction business mainly supporting oil&gas.
Because Findus (them of the crispy pancake fame) pulled out of UK operations.
It's a long story but really demonstrates how much chance and chaos plays a part in how your life turns out, as much as planning and ambition. Anyway, about the same time I was binning Uni (picked the wrong course, never mind), my brother was offered an engineering apprenticeship with Findus. The week before he was due to start they pulled out of UK operations. He instead went to work at sea, which then set my mind thinking in a similar direction. I ended up following suit, and 20+ years later it led me to my current position in the Superyacht industry. It is strange to think where I would be if the board of Findus hadn't made that decision. My brother would have started, not gone to sea, I would have taken another path, married someone else, had different children, be in a different home. Life is odd. A group of strangers I have never met influenced my entire life's path. And how many others have also influenced it, without me even knowing?
Tim Urban illustrated it well:
It's a long story but really demonstrates how much chance and chaos plays a part in how your life turns out, as much as planning and ambition. Anyway, about the same time I was binning Uni (picked the wrong course, never mind), my brother was offered an engineering apprenticeship with Findus. The week before he was due to start they pulled out of UK operations. He instead went to work at sea, which then set my mind thinking in a similar direction. I ended up following suit, and 20+ years later it led me to my current position in the Superyacht industry. It is strange to think where I would be if the board of Findus hadn't made that decision. My brother would have started, not gone to sea, I would have taken another path, married someone else, had different children, be in a different home. Life is odd. A group of strangers I have never met influenced my entire life's path. And how many others have also influenced it, without me even knowing?
Tim Urban illustrated it well:
LimaDelta said:
Because Findus (them of the crispy pancake fame) pulled out of UK operations.
It's a long story but really demonstrates how much chance and chaos plays a part in how your life turns out, as much as planning and ambition. Anyway, about the same time I was binning Uni (picked the wrong course, never mind), my brother was offered an engineering apprenticeship with Findus. The week before he was due to start they pulled out of UK operations. He instead went to work at sea, which then set my mind thinking in a similar direction. I ended up following suit, and 20+ years later it led me to my current position in the Superyacht industry. It is strange to think where I would be if the board of Findus hadn't made that decision. My brother would have started, not gone to sea, I would have taken another path, married someone else, had different children, be in a different home. Life is odd. A group of strangers I have never met influenced my entire life's path. And how many others have also influenced it, without me even knowing?
I think it was Fred Ponton, who founded the Ponton's holiday camps, who was being interviewed. He applied for the job with his council as a toilet cleaner, but was rejected as he couldn't read and write. So realising he wasn't likely to get any job at all, he had to do his own thing, so rented some land, bought some tents and a caravan, and let them out for holidays. Went on to become very rich.It's a long story but really demonstrates how much chance and chaos plays a part in how your life turns out, as much as planning and ambition. Anyway, about the same time I was binning Uni (picked the wrong course, never mind), my brother was offered an engineering apprenticeship with Findus. The week before he was due to start they pulled out of UK operations. He instead went to work at sea, which then set my mind thinking in a similar direction. I ended up following suit, and 20+ years later it led me to my current position in the Superyacht industry. It is strange to think where I would be if the board of Findus hadn't made that decision. My brother would have started, not gone to sea, I would have taken another path, married someone else, had different children, be in a different home. Life is odd. A group of strangers I have never met influenced my entire life's path. And how many others have also influenced it, without me even knowing?
The interviewer said "you achieved all this whilst being illiterate. What could you have achieved if you could read and write?" And he replied "I would have been a toilet cleaner."
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I think it was Fred Ponton, who founded the Ponton's holiday camps, who was being interviewed. He applied for the job with his council as a toilet cleaner, but was rejected as he couldn't read and write. So realising he wasn't likely to get any job at all, he had to do his own thing, so rented some land, bought some tents and a caravan, and let them out for holidays. Went on to become very rich.
The interviewer said "you achieved all this whilst being illiterate. What could you have achieved if you could read and write?" And he replied "I would have been a toilet cleaner."
That's right up there with Peter Crouch being asked in an interview what he thought he would've been had he not made it as a professional footballer, and replying "Probably a virgin for starters!" The interviewer said "you achieved all this whilst being illiterate. What could you have achieved if you could read and write?" And he replied "I would have been a toilet cleaner."
I spent the first half of my life (from the age of 11) working towards IT ending up in an enviable position that became intolerable so dropped out and retrained at 35-odd as a chef. Then through various twists have ended up at the management end of clinical hospitality where I still have to get stuck-in and I am quite happy.
Edited by 21TonyK on Monday 6th February 11:26
Didn't get into uni to do Geography so did a college IT support course because people kept telling me I was "good with computers." Ended up getting a job through a friend of my course tutor. Got bored of that after 11 years so decided to try to become a car salesman. Found out I wasn't very good at selling cars so went back to IT Support. I'm now onsite rather than in a contact centre so it's less boring.
I started as a builders labourer for my dad at 15/16, went to college to study carpentry and a good friend of mine was telling me how this flooring company he was working for was so good and I asked if they were hiring but didn't think anything more of it. A few months later a get a call asking if I was still interested and to pop in the office for a chat/interview and 15 years later I'm still there.
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