What's your Job?

[xenon2000]

Light discussion thread on the outside, maybe, but it has some serious motives behind it.

OK, so I quit college a month ago with an unfinished BTEC advanced level in computing looming over me... I hated it. I've basically been lazing around the house ever since (I have a small weekend job but the weekdays have been dead). Basically I think it's time I started planning for this september coming.

From the advice given by the careers advisor, my ideal choices would be either a straight job or a training course such as a modern apprenticeship. Up until now, computing and IT have been my primary interests, but after visiting a Connexions branch and phoning around asking about IT training possibilities, the chances look pretty dull, especially with no qualifications beyond GCSE (9 C & above). Guess there's not as much demand atm as there was five years ago :/

So, my questions to all of you who work (or are looking to work), are...

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]
   
   (A high salary really isn't that important atm. I'm still living with my parents and will do so until I'm at least halfway to being financially stable and have someone to share with.)
   
   TY in advance to all who can offer help

 

[.cage]

OK, so I quit college a month ago with an unfinished BTEC advanced level in computing

I did that after leaving school, then started as's the next term, fine now.

Thats what i'd recommend, do some a levs. A friend did some part time, a fast track thing where he got both the as and the a2 in one term, whilst in a job too.

 

[Wij]

Computer Programmer (or Senior Systems Developer in today's jargon)

They wanted a degree. I was lazy and did a philosophy one

My job involves programming, support, meetings, increasing amounts of 'electronic-paperwork' and web-browsing

I like the fact that noone questions what I spend my time on

 

[xane]

I'd like to answer your question but unfortunately I got my IT job due to the amount of time I've been in the industry (around 12 years at the start), even though I left school with just a few "O" Levels, by the time you get 10+ years experience it matters bugger all, I'm now heading into my 20th year in IT, most of it spent programming.

However, one thing I was considering was taking a break and trying something vaguely IT related and I considered PC Repair, if you think about it all you do is set yourself up as a mobile "come round my house and fix my PC" bloke, charge something like £100 + parts a visit but only if you fix their problem, you can leech off the repuations of PC World and offer people a better deal.

Not sure if you can make a living wage, but seeing as you are still with parents it may be worth a try.

I'm second-guessing you're a bit techno-savvy and know how to upgrade PC bits, if you aren't then forget this

 

[Pfy]

1. Techy on a helpdesk / Some form of charity work ...
2. Basic quals. GCSEs etc, but more of a techy understanding than bits of paper.
3. Taking shit from complete cunts and abusing colleagues.
4. Colleagues is pretty much it.

Btw, dunno why I'm venturing out of the DAOC forum but um ... hope that answers your questions.

I personally found the techy jobs wanted more of a techy understanding than bits of paper (as said before) but thats possibly just cos this is a bit of a skivs job i'd imagine.

 

[(Shovel)]

I'm not there yet but I'm going to Uni in September to do a degree in Computation (hopefully at UMIST). Everything I've been told up til now though is that to get a job in IT the degree will get me into the interviews but to get the job you really need experience. I'm doing a 3rd year out in industry with this in mind.

If you can find some kind of temp job that gives you experience in techy situations then go for it and leech as much experience out of it as you can. I'd certainly recommend trying to get some sort of "on the job" training qualification.

Or you get £36 /hour for showing old poeple how to use Internet Explorer like FatBusinessman does...

 

[Mr B]

1. Technical Team Leader

2. 5 years experience of VB/C++/ASP/SQL Server with some project management skills as well

3. Managing the pe0ns I have in my team (who are starting to use phrases like "that server is fuxored") - attending budget meetings, project review meetings, keeping my oar in the technical side of things by coding (only when necessary though) - Trying out new bits of kit (IP Phones from Cisco are my latest toy).

4. I manage my own time, and if I am good ie. don't let projects get behind, I can have a LOT of free time for doing important research, ie chatting on IRC and surfing. I'm a fairly relaxed manager, quite like a bit of banter in the office, and if everything is done on time then I'm happy - I have a nice environment to work in (looking both up and down the chain of command), the pay and benefits are excellent and I get to go to the Grosvenor house and sexually harass the slutty women from the Swindon office at the summer ball.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

1) Sound Engineer
2) Willingness to learn, spend stupidly long hours, and getting things right the first time
3) Generally, sitting in a control room yelling at a bunch of punk kids to turn their guitar amps down. Seriously tho, it's generally ensuring that everything goes well in a recording session, miking instruments up, getting the producer the right size and type of coffee, etc...
4) Working music is enough for me, been my dream job since I was little (plus the wages and perks aren't bad at all heh)

 

[Summo]

1. What job do you have/want?
System Administrator (or Infrastructure Specialist, if you like)

2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
I have a selection of A levels which only proved I was a bright lad. Previously I'd spent two years in an entry level job (Pensions Fucking Administrator ) which was an incredibly dull job but it was a small office and they appreciated my ability to tweak and upgrade their Windows 95 PCs. I exaggerated this aspect (lied) and got a job doing desktop support. Progressed through the ranks and now four years later I'm solely responsible for the 45+ servers, 35 sites and the WAN. I have a small team of two who do the jobs I don't like. Since working I got my MCSE and next year will be upgrading this and starting on a couple of other qualifications.

3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
Making sure everything works, and improving things where I have time. Its the improvements that give me the satisfaction. We're establishing new sites quite regularly and seeing them all running and neatly done gives me a perverse kick as well.

4. What do you like about it?
Management trust me and don't question what I do, how I do it, or what I ask money for. The rest of the IT staff (developers and desktop support) think I'm invaluable because I make things happen. The fools. The users remember me as the young fella who used to fix their PCs and wonder where I've got to these days.

Most importantly I have a career and a few years ago I never thought I'd ever have one o' them. I never even thought of doing IT five years ago. Next year I'll hopefully have the opportunity to work abroad which I'm looking forward to. Maybe Amsterdam, Australia or the Asian market. Dunno.

It's true that the IT industry is pretty saturated at the moment and my freedom to walk into another job isn't what it was even two years ago.

 

[Recoil101]

>What job do you have?

Information Analyst

>What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?

They didnt I kinda fell into it. I started as a temp doing data input, they asked me to do some work on Business Objects (hooooge database interregation type program, considering we have one of the largest databases in the world ) and sat me in a corner for 6 months, gave me a manual and said please learn it and write these reports. It went on from there.

>What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?

Erm various, basically creating stats/figures from our databases on request, I am the central source of information for our nationwide company (Transco). I am now also running a project that involves us replacing our intranet with a document management based lotus notes system to go hand in hand with our information service.

>What do you like about it?

Its varied, it can be pressure, it can be calm. The benefits are great. Its a bit techy, its a bit people based. The people are great. no one thing really. The pay isnt great but I think I may reap my rewards later....

 

[throdgrain]

In case its not been mentioned before, im a motorcycle shop manager. Once upon a time it would have been my dream job, still is to a point after 11 years of doing it.
good points, the moneys reasonable, you get to play with endless R1's and Fireblades, bad points are , the general public, and ...well the general public really.
I left school with 5 O levels, monged about mostly till i was about 24/25, then went into sales. (I was in sales before , but that was a different thing ). The qualifications you need for sales are.... well fuck all basically, the rewards are very good. BUT, in that job, if you dont get the results you dont get paid.
Much better nowadays!

 

[L_Plates]

Hmmm my job is just a standard umperlumper job thats all im saying as you all have high flying jobs


I feel dumb

 

[mank!]

Please bear in mind I'm only 16 before reading this!

OK, so I dropped out of school six months before my GCSE's (this January) for reasons I won't go into, and it was probably the worst move I made, however I did find a full-time job pretty soon after (two weeks-ish to be precise).

So it's not glamorous, full of money and I have to deal with stupid cunts who want something for nothing. I work in a Textiles shop, for a large chain of Department stores owned by the Co-Op (Westgate). Feel free to take the piss, I've heard it all before

It's not that bad, really. The people at work are all nice, it can be really good fun, but somedays it can be awful. Customers are the worst people in the world, and I strongly feel we ought to have somebody stood at the doors to shoot anyone who walks in through the head. Many of them deserve little less.

I have just done my GCSE's, and probably done piss-poor in them because I've spent 6 months working and barely studying, and am looking at going to college next year. The past few months has given me time to earn some money, buy some stuff I've wanted for a long time and got me socializing a bit more. Most of all, it's given me space to think and decide what I want to do with my life. I hated school, every last minute of it and I hope college will be different (most people say it is, but I'm not so sure).

The pay's pretty shit, and selling curtains isn't the most exciting job in the world, but at 16 it's this or Tescos/Sainsburys

Advice wise, go as far as you can with your education. Shit, as a 16 year old my advice is probably worthless to you, but you really will get an easier deal in life with some education behind you. My opinion, anyway

 

[Damini]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]

1. 
   
   1) I work in a supermarket
   
   2) The ability to breath unaided. Toilet trained.
   
   3) Pondering the banality of my existence, hiding in the toilets, walking very slowly from a to b, weighing fruit, putting things in alphabetical order (almost), hiding in the toilets.
   
   4) The sandwiches in the canteen are cheap.
   
   But they taste of decay.

 

[~Lazarus~]

What job do you have/want?
Business Process Developer / re-engineer

What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
Didnt so much apply as fall into the job. Background from Systems Operator, Cognos developer, MANMAN developer, FORTRAN/COBOL developer and Support Desk work

What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
Everything.
Coordinating up to 8 ppl. Meetings. More Meetings. Follow up sessions and review sessions. Once these are out of the way I can move on and do :
SAP configuration.
EDI Development
EDI Mapping requirements.
Document generation.
Liason with outside parties.
Development requirements (ABAP within SAP)
Test planning
Test DOING


What do you like about it?
NOTHING !!!! Apart from the odd occasion that I get to travel to Houston/Holland and drink "free" beer.

 

[Hashmonster]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]

1. 
   
   1) Production Co-ordinator, but 80% of my job is graphic design.
   
   2) Basically that i could do the job, i got lucky as i wasn't really on top of my college work and came in one morning and my tutor showed me this advert for the job and rang em up for a interview for me. went for interview that afternoon, 2 weeks later job was mine That was 3years ago. totally a case of being luckily in the right place at the right time.
   
   3) Originally worked as a CAD technician, just drawing fire plans and stuff. Then they offered me the chance to manage production and graphic design. So now day to day stuff involves keeping stock levels in order and designing safety signage, posters and stuff! oh and surfing the net
   
   4) i like the fact that i've got a job that i can get better at and hopefully refine. Also designing stuff is what i've always wanted to do and i do it. Money ain't bad at all, but i've just turned 21 and as i've been there for 3 years, gained a bit of experience i'm thinking of moving on soon for more cash

 

[bids]

1) IT Security Specialist / Auditor

2) Experience, technical quallies (CCNA, MCP, etc).

3) Penetration testing, vulnerability testing, system auditing.

4) When someone says 'Our systems are totally secure', and then getting in in a few minutes.

 

[Ono]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]

1. 
   
   1. I am a qualified accountant working as a business analyst in the City.
   
   2. A-levels, good degree, Professional accountancy qualification, analytical mind.
   
   3. Producing reports for senior bods and other boring shit that I really can't be arsed to get into at home.
   
   4. Like? Well, fuck-all is the expression. I am looking for another job.

 

[Xtro]

1. Equal Opportunities Law Consultant and Social Policy Advisor for the Department of Work and Pensions (ie. the govt eek!).

2. Degree in English/Social Policy, Masters in Law and Social Policy, accredited Equal Opps expert.

3. I specialise in Equal Opps policy for disabled people - my jobs involved but basically if anyone wants to know anything about the law regarding disabled people or if anyone is being a bit naughty regarding disabled rights we come down on em like a ton of bricks.

4. I like telling junior ministers to sort their fucking act out and I like visiting bosses of high profile companies who think they are a bit special...and then cutting strips off them for breaking laws regarding equal opps and disabled rights. This included telling the boss of a well known high street chain to make sure he had lifts in for disabled customers blah blah blah to which he turned round and said "those kind of customers do not fall into our target area so we do not want to waste funds on catering to their needs". To which I quoted Section 22a of the Equal Opps act and said tell it to the tribunal

On the other hand a LOT of my job is chasing paperwork and is piss poor

edit: btw I didnt do any A levels they matter jack shit - I did O levels (yes I'm old) then fucked off round Europe for 6 years. Came back and found Universities BEG for "mature students" and walked into a degree. The work I did abroad mattered FAR more to the Uni than a bunch of A level shite. Anyone over 21 is considered mature student and A's dont matter then IMO. Get a foundation course, access course or something under your belt - all one year rather than 2 doing A's. I loved going to Uni later than most as I actually gave a fuck about what I was doing - unlike the teens I lived with who did it cos daddy said and got a 3rd (I got a 1st ;P).

 

[Sar]

Well as you'll probably remember I quit BT in March, and for a long time was wondering wtf I was wanting to do.

I eventually decided to go back to school, because I left halfway through my A-Levels (back then there were no AS and A2 levels, they were introduced about 3 years after I left), and have no decent qualifications (7 GCSEs at C and above - 2 Bs, 5 Cs & 2 Ds).

So my course of action for the forseeable future is this:

1 year doing a University Access course
3 years doing a BSc Hons degree in Psychology
3 years doing a Ph.D in Psychology

Because eventually I would like to be a Psychologist working in either Psychometrics (the study of intelligence) or a Cognitive Psychologist (the study of how the human cognitive processes work, such as memory and behaviour etc).

 

[Xtro]

and Mr Sar that sounds great cos IMO you'll literally WALK into a job - employers love psychometric testing (I frigging hate it ).

G/l with it. Going back to study was the best move I ever made.

 

[Sar]

Cheers m8, hope so, cos after spending 7 years as a student (I should gain my Ph.D if all goes well a few months before my 34th birthday! I'm 27 this September :uhoh: ), I think I'll be in severe debt and in need of the money

 

[Durzel]

1. Im "Lead Developer / Technical Consultant" for an ISP

2. They wanted me to be degree qualified, but as it happened I joined before I had finished my degree - so I only had a BTEC and several GCSEs.

3. I effectively co-run the ISP - day-to-day things vary from the intense and challenging (configuring network equipment, meeting development deadlines) to the mundane (domain transfers, server patching, etc). This unfortunately also has its downsides - being the first point of contact when things go wrong, pretty much 24/7/365.

4. The breath of experience it affords me - I'm CCNA qualified now, looking to go onto ultimate CCIE'ship, I also do the "security stuff" for the company, PIXs, software firewalls, etc. I basically took the job because I knew it would mean I would learn a lot about various Internet technologies instead of being pidgeon-holed as a developer.

Best part of it is that I am the authority on how long projects will take, how hardware is used, etc.

 

[Sar]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]

1. 
   
   Anyway, to answer Xenons questions (I'll answer as if I were still in BT):
   1. Worked in BT, wanna be a Psychologist
   2. BT = 5 GCSEs at C or above, including the standard English & Maths. Psychologist = Ph.D and be a registered/chartered member of the British Psychological Society. The BSc Hons degree in Psychology is approved as conferring eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society and provides the Graduate Basis for Registration, which is the first step towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist.
   3. BT= Depends fully on the department you end up in. Can range from fitting & fixing phones to office admin work (which I did).
   4. Not a lot tbh, which is why I quit. The only reason I stayed so long was the people in the office, they were great, and I was there so long they were like a 2nd family to me. But the work itself was unfulfilling, even though it was great pay. One thing about me is that I don't care about money as such, as long as I'm enjoying myself and am regularly challenged on an intellectual level I'm happy to work anywhere, for any amount of money.
      [/list=1]

 

[Sawtooth]

Evil scientist

Planning ultimate destruction of all life on this planet

Skills

Evil planning and gardening

 

[wolfeeh]

oh MAN is this gonna be a long post

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?

i'll do this for my last job as i'm a student now.

1. Technical clerk / specialist. for Visteon Corp. - Swansea.

2. general office skills, IT experience, excel skills, imaging technology, problem solving, shit like that.

3. initially? system development of a document management system, that WAS meant to integrate with some commercial jobby, but never did, so got developed more to be entirely standalone..... THEN tho - LARGE scale data input. i mean day in, day out for a year and a half. drove me INSANE, nearly commited suicide, and DID just call my boss a wanker, almost got twatted, and resigned. went back to college

4. Money. but i've learnt that money isn't all that important any more... if you don't enjoy your job it can destroy your life. oh. there was an added bonus.... it changed me. gave me self confidence, the ability to deal with people.... /me used to be uber quiet geeky type etc....

I went and did a GNVQA in IT after i left school, on the advice of the careers adviser <fucking idiot>. absolutely hated it, and shit happened, so i just left. did some city and guilds, and some nvq2's and nvq3's, and got a work placement as a draughtsman. THAT rocked... but sadly the factory closed down... so then long term unemployment and then visteon.

what would i say to you now?

go back to college, A levels, degree... whatever you like.... but you'll appreciate it SOOOO much more now, as whoever above said... you'll be doing it for yourself, not because it's expected of you...

you'll have drive, and determination... u may have bad times... but you'll succeed cos it's what you want to do.

 

[djpringle]

Ok

1. I'm a control room technician on the Lan Tay gas platform working for BP Vietnam.

2. They wanted a maintenance background as opposed to a purely process one, so dropping out of sixth form and doing a control / instrumentation apprenticeship was one of the best moves I've done.

3. At the moment it involves writing / reviewing procedures blah blah but in the end it will be running the process and trying to stay awake on nightshifts

4. It's 6000 miles away from the UK and I get my flights paid for (plan to do a bit of travelling on my months off).

 

[old.Jas]

1. Company Director, Jason Cartwright Ltd (IT Contractor basically)
2. Probably a degree, but I don't even have A-Levels. I get by on industry experience
3. Codin', Designin', Makin' things workin', Suing companies for late payment
4. Working from home whenever I want, no boss, the money

 

[kanonfodda]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]
   

1. 
   
   Application Support Technician
   
   GCSE's and high knowledge of computing (mainly in MS Office )
   
   Supporting any one of 45 applications and 80+ Access databases. Supporting All Microshaft office products. Developing new applications in VB with SQL back ends and teaching trainees how to do the above.
   
   I like the fact that I can get my projects ompleted in about a quarter of the time they give me for them, leaving me plenty of time to smurf. Good salary, Boss is great, really understanding, and I can get on any training course I want by saying "Can I do that one please" (reminds me, must get my MCSD sorted).

 

[granny]

Originally posted by xenon2000

1. What job do you have/want?
2. What qualifications/skills did the employers look for when you applied?
3. What does it briefly involve on a day to day basis?
4. What do you like about it?
   [/list=1]

1. 
   
   OK here goes
   
   1. I'm a senior laboratory technician, running a small university molecular & cellular biology lab based in a general hospital, researching various aspects of type 2 diabetes (the one you get from being old and/or fat). In a lot of ways it's a great job but in a lot of other ways it sucks wet farts out of dead pigeons which is why I'm currently halfway through a 2 yr part time MSc course in Computing (multimedia).
   
   2. Degree (mine was in genetics) and at least 5 years post-graduate experience. Skills required are pretty broad - obviously a high level of skill in molecular biology but also the usual time management, self-motivation, teamwork blah blah. I run the entire lab so there's a fair amount of paper-pushing as well as the getting-yer-hands-dirty lab work too.
   
   3. Well the bulk of my work is culturing human cells, treating them with various things (usually glucose +/- assorted drugs etc), extracting RNA from them and measuring the expression of a range of genes and seeing how they're affected by the glucose/drugs etc. But like I said, I run the entire lab so I also have to order all the reagents, consumables & equipment we need, keep the place clean and tidy (no small job), maintain the equipment (including the large collection of computers we have here since no other fucker in the place knows the first thing about them), manage the lab budget and I'm also the departmental health & safety rep.
   
   4. I like the freedom - to a large extent I'm my own boss on a day-to-day level. I also like the mentally stimulating side of the job - research is, by definition, an attempt to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and that's challenging and interesting. It's also pretty handy being on a JANET connection without a firewall (the benefit of being a remote site hehe) I also get sent to international conferences (sometimes) to present the work I do and that's pretty cool too - been sent to San Antonio & Philadelphia in previous years.
   
   On the flipside there's a lot of things I don't like about it too. The pay is pretty pants really considering the level of education & training required, the work, on a day-to-day basis, can get pretty repetetive and boring but then after 12 years I suppose that's true of almost any job. My boss is a tosser (again, par for the course I suppose) and I hate the fact that I have to work with clinicians all the time - I'm sure they're great if you're one of their patients but in general they are arrogant bastards and a real pain in the arse to work with. It's also very easy to get trapped - my skills and qualifications are generally so specialised that without a lot of retraining it's hard for me to get out of science if I want, not that I'm not going to try of course