What Do You Do?

[Guest bugsy]

QUOTE 

Style, simplicity and total reliability are the two key factors in a Home Cinema system

 

isn’t that three?

 

Like i said Qualifications optional

 

QUOTE 

AV HIRE TECHNICIANS

 

Available at various locations throughout the UK. 

 

 

 

there’s a couple of centres in York and one in hull which would is good

what kind of money is a cr*ppy wage?

 

Our head office is in York, Hull is a nice office but stinks of Fish

 

I believe that the starting wage for hire is around 10k based on experience and age. But with overtime that could double, hard work though.

 

I am in the Installation Dept, the wages are better and they pay for your Hotels, Food and Beer etc which is nice, and the hours aren’t as bad as Hire, as long as the job gets done in the time allowed nobody really questions what time you start or finish.

(I hope my boss doesn’t read this)

 

If you sent your CV to our head office you would probably get an interview as the they are always on the look out for staff, especially Manchester where i am based.

Bugsy

[Guest bunnyman]

ex raf airframe mechanic . im now an engine tester for a large diesel engine company in peterborough .

[Guest micky bigthumbs]

Started with an apprentiship with ford as a mechanic...went into the family buisness in the late 70's.. Became one of Maggies Boys and started my own company Plastering and Partitioning..built up a good size firm of 150 men..but as with most of Maggies Boys the boom of the 80's came down with a crash i was one of the unfortunate one's lost everything.. cars.. house..plane...now i still work for myself i have three lads work for me. we have worked all over europe like aufederseine pet all over britain to ..although i prefer to work local now i still have the choice and love every job that i do. if you find a job you like you will do well but i think you should always try to improve your education even when you start work as Cap Daz said anyone can acieve anything with determination.so dont be put off keep trying

[Grim]

ex raf airframe mechanic . im now an engine tester for a large diesel engine company in peterborough .

My uncle used to work for perkin, but retired a few years ago i think.

[Guest Handlebars]

I finished on Thursday 6th Jan. working for Arvin Meritor Exhausts (in the Warehouse). From 1987 till 2003 I worked in a Toolmaking/mould polishing firm, Emsworth Mould Polishers (Near Portsmouth). I jacked that in and moved to Blackpool to live with my fiancee. I'm starting a new job on Monday for WRT. They do the small business ads you get in superstores. On Monday I will be driving to Kent. A fairly long drive! I'm looking forward to a change in jobs.

[Guest olly]

and im a gas service engineer and plumber on my 15th year now

 

olly

[Guest Bob Rowell]

The only things Lotus knew about me when I started was that I would move into any job in the factory, wherever they were short-handed. Within two years I could do virtually any job on the cars. I was head hunted by the Quality department because I had a reputation for being conscientious, and always looking for ways to do the job better.

Once I had joined Quality Control they did a lot of checking into my background and as a result I was offered a Road Testers job. Another year at college (always in my own time) another qualification, and I took over as Senior Inspector.

Then came redundancy - 419 of us in one day. I was totally gutted, so much so that when asked to return a year later, I declined the offer.

We still keep Lotus in the family - my youngest brother and both my sons still work there

[ibrooks]

Well - I work in computers (I'm a desktop analyst dontcha know). Basically we do anything and everything at desktop/customer level - I also look after the phones at our site coz it's an old exchange and no-one else knows anything about it apart from the local BT engineer (he's building a Cobra copy). I also end up looking after most of the older kit because I know how it works (mainframe terminals, mainframe printers, VAX, Netware servers etc). Bizarrely enough I'm the youngest person from our company on our site (29).

 

Pay - crap for what we have to do. There are too many of these adverts saying that "you too can re-train for a career in computing - no previous experience necessary" and unfortunately too many managers who don't realise that the product of those courses is rubbish. I've been told off for making contractors, who're being paid £30+ per hour, move boxes - until I demonstrated that the guy in question didn't know how to do much else (but he's still working for us ). Unfortunately these people have driven the pay down because if I demand more money they can replace me in hours - it would make the lives of the people I work with hell as a new guy wouldn't be able to do what I can but unfortunately the managers who make the decisions don't see that until it happens and then they blame everyone else.

 

So - I'm studying at college doing an Institute of Motor Industry diploma in private and light commercial vehicles. I'm looking at making an exit to Australia and I get more points for the entry requirements as a mechanic than as a computer engineer. I'll have a qualification but no official experience (I have worked in a garage but not on a being payed to do so basis) so I'm expecting to have to start at the bottom again but hopefully I can work my way up fairly rapidly once I get my foot in the door.

 

Previously I did just about everything at the local Asda (whilst I was at college). I was then a security guard with Group 4 and then Rentokil Security Services. Asda was rubbish as they expected you to jump for zero recognition (again you were too easy to replace).

 

Security is great if you're part of a team of decent people but a nightmare if you're stuck with a set of lazy/difficult gits. You get loads of free time if you're on 12 hour shifts but your free when the shift pattern says so not necessarily when you want to be. Again if you're part of a decent team you can usually swap shifts to get the time you want off. The downside again is that the pay is rubbish (although I did see a security guards job advertised locally this week for pretty much the same as I get paid).

 

Try to find something you enjoy. OK so when you HAVE to do something it can take a lot of the enjoyment out of it but would you rather be forced to do something you can enjoy or something you definitely hate. I know there are days when I don't want to go and start a job in the garage but every time I force myself to go and do it I then find myself being dragged in for my meals and then being told off for starting a power tool up after midnight. Left to my own devices I'd be out there until I started dropping off or I'd finished the job.

 

What I'd really like to do is be part of the team on something like Salvage Squad or the yankee one (Overhaulin') or similar. Call me a softy but when they give the projects back and the owners fill up I think any amount of hard-work would have been worth it.

 

Iain

[Guest docter fox]

bugsy,

quite a bit of hull stinks of fish

i looked on the job page and saw the hire techs wanted bit, but it doesnt say anything about the installation department?

think i might send them an email and ask them what sort of jobs would be open after A levels

 

olly,

do you work for a company or in your own name?

do you do project type things or just emergency call outs?

[Guest Kieran]

Im a engineering technician/ fabricator/ service engineer.

 

My firm sell chemicals to paper mills, and I design, build, install and commision all of the dosing equipment that we supply on "free issue".

 

Its a great job, cos in the workshop I've got a lathe, milling machine, bandsaw, mig set, tig set etc. The local fabricators is run by a great bloke with a workshop full of stainless and ali. My manager is a great bloke and doesnt mind any of the projects that I undertake, (GSXr400 go kart, robin hood, various bikes and currently a 1965 landrover!)

 

I get to travel all over the country, so a change of scenery is nice. (In my previous job, I was a service engineer for a filling machine manufacturer. Got to travel all over world with that, states, singapore, europe etc).

 

Im 26 and left school at 16, apprentice engineer in a glassbottle factory. Did day release at college, (apprentice of the year!!) and ended up with a HNC in mechanical engineering.

 

Good eh?

 

Kieran

[Guest Stuart Ainslie]

Site Engineer for various train / underground maintenance contracts - presently Northern and Jubilee Lines of the London Underground (Until August 2006) - then who knows where....

Worked in the Rail industry (Rolling Stock) for 17 years now - Maintainer, Maintenance Manager and now taking it easy in Engineering.....

 

It's a good life, money is good but the commuting is a P.I.T.A.

[Guest John Walton]

I'm a brickie painter & decorator, started with HM Forces in 73, Royal Navy, Marines then Army (5 Airborne) MOD then into construction.

 

So, if you want someone to parachute onto a ship and build and paint a house on it...........I'm yer man

[Swan Jnr]

Doctor fox,

 

as for pay, heres some idea about salaries in University libraries.

 

Senior staff £42,436+

 

Second Tier Staff

For example, Deputy Librarian, Sub-Librarian, Head of Special Collections £35,010 - £42,436

 

 

Third Tier Staff

For example, Subject Librarian, Acquisitions Librarian £23,340 – £37,132

 

 

Other Qualified Staff

For example, Assistant Librarian, Senior Library Assistant £15,914 - £26,523

(£18,000 at Charter)

 

People working in Government libraries can earn between £18k & £63k

 

Legal specialists can earn as much if not more than this.

 

So there must be more to it than just re-shelving books!

 

Paul

 

(ps i got all these figures from the proffesional organisation for information professionals (www.cilip.org)

[Guest paul thompson]

Doter Fox,

Sorry but there are not that many steering suppiers in the world let alone the UK. There's us (ZF) TRW, Pailtons, Jack Knight (crap at hydraulics ace at manual) and that's about your lot, otherwise there are a few in Europe and a couple in USA.

Selling froma catalogue? how do you do that then? It really depends on the application. Trucks and busses use fairly standard steering boxes so we just configure them to suit the vehicle. Sports cars can't afford tooling or development work so we look for something that might fit physically and then modify if necessary and the customer has deep enough pockets. We sell resevoirs and steering shafts, and drp arms and steering columns and PAS pumps as well. There are many suppliers to the Automotive industry though, so if sales is what you are interested in then start talking to soem of them. Every part of a car has to be made by someone, People like ford make nearly bugger all themselves, they buy it all in. One of my freinds was working for Triplex drawing car glass fo all sorts. Another works for an exhaust manufacturer. I've even worked for Recaro for a bit designing seat components. If you want to do Sales take a business degree, you'll get on faster than the route I took. I went engineering before I discovered I had a head for business and had more fun figuringh out how to make moneyshame I can't be assed to do it for myself... too comfy getting paid to do it for someone else with no risk I guess.

Oh And I won't be retireing any time soon, but one of my colleagues is and I'll be taking ove rhis job. ZF are based In Nottingham, talk to Graham Truckel there, he's sales director, he can advise you what to do if you are interested. Say you got his name from the web site www.zf-group.co.uk.

[Guest jsillars]

jsillars,

what type of stuff are you doing at uni? (course related btw  )

what type of jobs are available for civil engineers? 

 

 

Answers,

Analysis (maths)

Mechanics

Materials engineering

Environmental engineering

CAD

Concrete lab

 

Thats just the first term start some new modulus on monday.

 

Millions, civil engineers have a hand in all aspects of engineering, from

infrastructure to manufacture. Everything that has been designed and built

would have had a civil engineers approval.

 

hope this answers your questions

 

james