What Do You Do?

[Peter Bell]

Served my time at a company who designed and manufactured food machinery such as depositors and injectors etc for ready meal sectors.

Was that Apple by any chance?

[Guest mcramsay]

time for me to add my ten pence worth! my list seems to be less impressive than every one elses though! here we go

 

left school and went straight to college and did my A levels, got 3 a levels in computing, human biology and english litteratue...had a few day jobs while at college, ie morrisons and then working as a cleaner in a fishmongers. i then stuck my fingers up at going to uni and managed to get a mechanical maintenance technician apprentiship on a nuclear powerstation here in somerset. so ive been doing that the last 3.5 years and im just in my last few months of the apprentiship now. its a great job, the scale of the place is amazing, for example 3 bar pressure on a fuel injection sytem seems alot, but then i got to work and the steam pressure is 190 bar and at 570 degrees... also getting to test run 11KV 3 phase motors with 6000BHP is pretty fun.

[spg]

Left school in 82 with not a lot not alot to show for the time spent there to busy with cars, motorbikes and girls to pay much attention education.

Did various odd jobs far the first year then managed to get on a radio and tv repair course at the local tech college mainly due to the course being under subscribed I had no where near the right qualifcations. Passed the first year with a distinction.

In the summer hols I did a bit of work for a friends father who ran a concrete repair , coating and machining company never went back to college and started my own contracting company in the concrete and terazzo industry used to have a 3 liter v4 terrco polisher grinder at one point.

All went well till the early ninteys had a couple of full time employs then a couple of companys went bust bust owning me many ££££ allmost wiping me out.

Changed direction and went to uni and gained a degree in in electrical and electronic engineering as a mature student. The year I qualified Ferranti went bust so finding a decent job in Manchester in electroincs was hard to say the least. So ended up working for a previous competitor in concrete repair industry running a team repairing the Nat West tower absolutley hated it but it payed the mortage. Whislt working on the Nat West I'd hired some 3 phase grinding kit from a manchester plant hire firm that failed to work due to the state of the wiring took it back to complain and walked out as plant manager money was'nt as good but I was back home in the evenings.

Two weeks after my first was born I was laid off and I became a house husband for a year.

Then took a job as an it support trainee for an airline at the age of 31 took to it like a duck to water three monthe later promoted to systems integrator with a 2.5 x pay rise happy days.

Until 9/11 when I was made redunant so started out as an IT contractor, A change in personal circumstances meant I could'nt work away from home anymore so took a job working for a bank I was contrating for as an infrastructure engineer about 4 years ago.

And as allready said we techies don't see much of a bonus just about hanging on to my job at the moment as it's all being off shored, Just waiting for another kick up the backside to start something new.

 

Steve

[st3v3nw]

I'm an aircraft electrician. I work on flight testing for the Eurofighter Typhoon for BAe Systems

[Guest Tweedy]

I left college in 1956 and joined Fairey Aviation working on powerplants for pressure jet helicopters.Left there in 1960 and joined an oil company in London working on the engineering of pipelines,pumping stations and generating plants for the Middle East.Left there in 1968 and worked in the printing industry as a project engineer,expecting to help drag the business into the 20th century.No joy due to union resistance.Left in 1970 and joined the engineering office of a construction company mainly working on oil,chemical and power generating plants .In 1978 I joined a chemical company as engineering manager mainly involved with new liquid storage and pumping systems.Got early retirement in 1994.

This contrasts with so many of the more recent stories here in which people have been made redundant,in many cases more than once.This must surely have serious effects on pensions.Working lives are much tougher now and yet many company directors pay and pensions have increased exponentially over the last 20 years.

Mike

[Guest manglemender]

I left School at 16 and went straight into an apprenticeship with British Rail as an Electrical Fitter.

 

After 5 years at BR I took a job as a maintenance man in a plastics factory but only stuck that for 2 years.

 

Next I took a job as a commissioning engineer for machine builder in Bedford. This job took me all over the world (mostly China) including a spell living in Singapore. I progressed into writing software for the machines as well before moving into a more managerial roll.

 

4 Years ago I took a Job in Blackburn as a Design Engineer. Designing control systems for machinery - it's definately the best job to date. I spend lots of time writing software but do the electrical design too.

 

Nick

[paul_r]

I'm a chartered Aerospace Design Engineer working in Cambridge Airport

[Graham B]

After 10 years with ICL as a Computer mainframe engineer, I joined one of my customers running as a bureau --remember those days when a computer was so expensive only the big boys could afford them? That went belly up so I started in the field again with Nixdorf Computers, taken over by Siemens, became national support, they then merged with Fujitsu ( who, in the meantime had bought ICL) called Fujitsu Siemens --- and then after 27 years Notebook Technical Specialist for the UK, made redundant.

 

Now doing a local Laptop fix and repair service around home.

Graham Laptop Services. -- keeps me occupied.

 

Graham B

[Jamiep]

Was that Apple by any chance?

 

yes! small world and all that.

[tendoshingan]

I'll bore you all with my details..

after school I went to Salford Uni in 89 to do Mechanical Engineering, dropped out due to injury in 92.

 

went to Manchester Met Uni in 93 to carry on with Manufacturing Engineering, got bored so dropped out

 

went to Liverpool John Moores Uni in 95 to study sport science, dropped out due to having lots of time off when I got stabbed 15 times.

 

during all these attempts at Uni, I became a martial arts instructor had a few clubs and also worked security for nightclubs, music venues, boxing venues and personal security for music bands etc.

 

to get some more money started work doing purchase ledger and credit control accounts work, then due to some qualifications I managed to get, I got a job as an IT Technician.

 

Started doing an Open University degree in maths and IT.

 

Bought a share in a bar in New Zealand, went there for 3 months or so, came back to finish my degree exams and sold the bar.

 

Got my degree, became a lecturer in IT in Bracknell College.

Went to another uni, University Of Greenwich to qualify as a teacher.

Currently still at Bracknell College but working part-time as I'm now a part-time house husband.

 

In the evenings, part-time wise, still teaching martial arts, and fitness, also work doing odd jobs in IT for people and also work as a carer for someone with learning difficulties.

Looking at trying to earn some more money during the year as a skydiving cameraman, when I get my jump numbers up a bit more.

 

Probably going back full time as a lecturer as my wife is being made redundant at the end of this month.

Taff

[Big Jim]

Apprenticeship at Leyland Motors (the proper Leyland, not the namby-pamby strike ridden car side!) as a Skilled HGV Engineering fitter. went onto Engine testing at Leyland. Promoted to Foreman at 26, worked in various depts as foreman, over all aspects of engineering manufacturing (Great for "foreigners!") After 37 years I started with heart problems in 2004, and after being taken out of work 3 times in an ambulance the doctor wouldn't let me go back.

As I still had to live, I needed another less physical job, and have now got the best job in the world.

I sit at a desk and play with the biggest Scaletrix set in England!

 

I'm a Traffic Officer (offroad) and now work for the Highways Agency in the North West Regional Control Centre, we look after 14 motorways, from J16 on the M6 right up to the Scottish border, and from the pond at Liverpool, right up to the top of the Pennines. The job is great, you never know what's going to happen next, (The Civil Service on the other-hand wouldn't last 6 months as a private business!) I've been with them for 5 years from the start of the Traffic officer service in the Northwest, and have another 6½ years left before I retire. (Then I'll be bored!!)

 

The shifts are "unsocial" and the money isn't great, but I actually look forward to going into work each day.

[Guest zoomzoom]

Baxter is just coming to the end of a 6 month contract as an oil boy for the Hawaiian Tropic Girls, poor chap he's worn out after following the girls on a world tour.

 

 

Spencer works for NASA. I don't know what he does but I suspect he makes the tea.

[Guest gdc]

mmmmmmm

 

tropic

 

 

mmmmm