Meh / 10
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Strikingly similar story to @coco here. First documented instance of me taking something apart to find out how it worked was at 18 months when I made a start with the switch on my bedside lamp. That didn’t go well, as it was still plugged in! Didn’t deter me, though, and I’ve now reached the stage where I can sometimes even put it back together and make it work again. It’s also less common for me to send myself flying across the room.
Tinkering with home computers, audio stuff, an amateur radio licence and a kit car followed, along with the collection of anything electronic that’s surplus to requirements. I recall my Mum’s delight when I returned from school one day with a Tektronix 546 Oscilloscope balanced on her wheelbarrow. I still have that scope (as part of a larger collection, natch) and it still works.
Did a degree in Electronics and learnt to fly gliders while at university.
Got a job as a software engineer, again, in telecoms and have been working in those circles since, although now starting to feel a change of scene is required.
I also wonder what a career in aviation might have been like, had I made that choice. I still do as much gliding as domestic harmony will permit, and it’s the perfect aviation hobby, but I do wonder about life as a test pilot (as if!).
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Bright student in public (i.e. private) single sex schools to 18.
Applied for a place at university studying civil engineering because that had the shortest queue at the careers fair. Got into a good university.
Discovered that
- I didn’t like civil engineering
- I liked beer
- I liked gurls
Father threatened to disinherit me if I quit, so I stayed on.
Got 2% in my second year soil mechanics exam (I swear they were being generous) and got kicked out.
Decided that I’d actually enjoyed the computing bit of civ eng. Applied for YA place doing computer science, this time in Scotland.
4 year degree there. Also met the wifelet.
5 years working for DEC maintaining the VMS file system (assembler - “VAX macro”, and a nutty language called BLISS)
Got poached by mates for their start up. 5 years writing a desktop app in C. The first two founders sold out and got around £12m each. My mates got around £1.5m each. I got £4.5k. Not that I’m bitter.
Joined dot-com boom startup with same mates. Java, when it was new. 4 years before it folded (redundancy #1, on my birthday).
Utterly failed to find a job in Edinburgh in the wake of the dot-com bust.
Eventually applied for a job with a large consultancy in London, got it, moved to London (also works a lot better for the extended families).
First project with these jokers was a hideous death march. I basically walked out and onto another project effectively as a contractor at a Large Swiss Investment Bank. Did this for 4 years, with consultancy taking a very large cut of my day rate.
Left, went to a telephony start-up that shut down within about 3 months (redundancy #2, due diligence fail on my part).
Mate from Large Swiss Investment Bank asked me if I fancied a job where he was, at a Large Scottish Investment Bank.
This was offered as a contract, so I took it as a contract.
Fast forward 8 years and I’m still there, but got quite ill. Took a year to recover.
Went back to the same job but as a permie (contractors were briefly out of fashion), at a roughly 45% discount to my previous take-home, unsure of whether I could still cut the mustard. Turns out I could.
2 years of that and redundancies hit. I applied, didn’t get it. Left anyway. As I predicted at the time, the entire team is now gone.
Walked into current death march at Large American Financial Service Firm. Turned down a renewal last month, I finish in 13.5 days time.
That’s how to waste 33 years.
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I studied engineering and somehow managed to complete the course, never understood a word of it. I marvel at the technical gurus on here.
Still married to wifelet ?
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Life as it is. Well said.
Yup.
Forgot to mention (since we’re baring all on here) that we can’t / couldn’t have kids.
This has been a significant influence in various “career” decisions in that together we have very few responsibilities and very little in the way of non-discretionary outgoings.
Hence it’s a lot easier to stick two fingers up at abusive employers, or say “no” to obvious dog’s-dick jobs.
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It’s been frankly fucking terrifying to discover that me in my twenties seems to have been even worse at holding down a job than Sodders!
Mind, some IT companies can be absolute shits to work for.
Relax. You have an absolutely normal Millennial’s work ethic, perseverance and immunity to setbacks 
I’m sure The University of Meat Disc Overturning will be hiring again soon…
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Left Brighton Poly in '83 having studied production engineering. No jobs going in engineering so joined the Meat Disc Overturners Clan. Thinking it would do until a got a real job.
Did reasonably well, did 27 years, designing kitchens and equipment. Finished up putting the bean to cup coffee machines in. Left as the corporate bollox was becoming extreme, it wasn’t there in the early years.
The package was good so retired at 50, bit of consultancy work, a bit of designing for Audionote. Mustn’t grumble worked out pretty well.
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managed a year at poly before the shag and hassle of working 3 jobs to fund myself (long story) led to popping into the RAF showroom - 2 months later I am square bashing and on a 2 year avionics engineering and planning to finish the degree via the open uni
10 years later I had done most of the degree and had a good old time playing a range of sport at RAF level (averaged 1 day per week on the actual job). anyhoo the gov at the time wanted to downsize the forces so I applied and waited a year then thankfully was paid a nice little sum to bugger off
back home and not used to the real world I got offered two jobs (no change I was doing engineering or avionics as I was shit at it and didnt enjoy) I ended up at the council in revs and bens
fast forward 20 years and I end up as a solutions architect (process not IT) and have a good job where I sit and think about stuff and how we could do it better - recently given responsibility for IT so learning how to switch stuff on and off now, which is fun
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Interesting thread.
Left uni and drifted into Market Research, agency side and by chance started working for big City financial institutions. In the 80s this was mainly about mergers and acquisitions but was interesting and paid OK. Managed to do reasonably well, mainly because I had ideas and could sell. Ironically, having hated maths at school I found I was actually quite good at stats - it all came clear to me when it was linked to real things (i.e. me earning money).
Then worked for a few years at a couple of financial institutions but hated it - slow, political and I was just a small cog who couldn’t have any impact.
In the early 90’s, out of the blue, I was offered a job to run an agency that was in a bit of trouble. It was owned by a Norwegian billionaire who became my business mentor for 8 years - very tough but fair I’d say and he taught me about how to run a real business. We jointly sold the agency in 1998 and after a short and miserable spell doing an earn-out in a large agency I started my own research consultancy, which I’m still running today and which has become quite successful.
It’s been a rollercoaster financially and quite terrifying at times but I wouldn’t have missed doing it for the world - the risk is part of the fun for me…and the fact that I live or die my ideas. Oh and the best thing…no cunts to tell me what to do apart from the odd client, but I can always walk away from them. The business is growing and I’ve managed to recruit a great team of (young) people who quite frankly do most of the work.
Looking back I could have earned more and probably been retired by now if I’d stayed working for the bank* but I would have hated every second of it. With this job I can carry on working on interesting things which are quite lucrative for a long time to come, which will help to feed my hi fi and camera gear habit and maybe even to stave off dementia.
*or hadn’t got divorced
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The saving off of dementia is an important factor for me too. 
Right then can’t believe this but it is true all the same. Cape wearing pagans need to apply.
HM Prison service is advertising for two pagan chaplains to service the needs of Pagan inmates. Fucking unreal, but there you go, knock your socks out.
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Pagan chaplain
Went to school with his brother Charlie
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Quite surprised that a hirsute person like you has not applied 
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Among a very, very long list of other things you’ll need to
Have formal endorsement by the candidate’s faith community – through the Prison Service Pagan Faith Adviser (Evidence required before appointment)
I guess the inmates here might be organised to provide that endorsement although to be honest I don’t know how it’s ever going to be possible to describe it as ‘formal’.
VB
Just drop him/her a monkey and all is good. 
I did know someone who would change faith quite regularly in prison in the 80s due to better deals in the coffee/tea/hot chocolate sugar/food stakes