Mind you the real problems start when you start falling out with yourself!

Mind you the real problems start when you start falling out with yourself!

Is that the same as when bits start falling off of you?

Well let's try to remember ,

I left school the day i was 16 having already secured a job to work in a kitchen of a cafe/restaurant in kingston upon thames which taught me how to cook and although low paid a good life skill teacher.

Leaving that a year and a half later wanting a change wandered into a night kitchen cleaning job working in hotels round london and heathrow as this was a contracted job with good pay left it a year later when the contract changed hands with a pocket full of cash and a idea to buy the Capri i admired every weekend for a few months.

Having bought the capri and watching money dwindle after a month of dossing i had a puncture which led me to motorway tyres and a conversation which landed me within 3 years taking the manager role on and forging a long career in the motor trade.

30 years from the start in a kitchen and no school qualifications i am still a manager in the fast fit industry managing about 30 people , running feltham tyres near heathrow and still enjoying it with various skills from cooking,cleaning,fitting,servicing,diagnostics,aircon,mot,welding,fabricating,managing,breakdowns 24hr service and basically enjoying myself and job no two days are the same.

I have various qualifications now with coarses in and out of work and have a string of nvq's attained in my own time for fun computer technology , c programming etc etc

Thanks for reading

Peter

Fighter Pilot. Air defence of the free western world.

Fighter Pilot. Air defence of the free western world.

Do you fly helicopter's in your spare time? Limited space to land/park, so just drop it on the roof of .....?

Mine is rather dull and 'samey' I'm afraid.

Had a 2 week placement when I was 15(?) on a work experience type thing that was a Skoda garage, really enjoyed it and sold a car within 3 days. I literally had no clue what I was doing but Mr Wharton was an easy chap to deal with, I wonder if he still has his SLX Auto Octavia, I can even remember the reg.

Once the 2 weeks was up the boss asked me if I'd like to work weekends which I duly did, once I'd finished school I went to work there full time, but after a while they lost the franchise. At the same time my parents moved to Horsham so I moved with them and got a job at another Skoda garage for several years which I enjoyed. Got to a point where I felt I needed a change and ended up going to a Vauxhall garage as I thought the 'volume selling' dealership would do me good and teach me a lot of new things, all it taught me was never work for that kind of franchise ever again.

I didn't last too long at the Vauxhall garage as after a few months I really hated it, the cars, the other salesmen, the managers, the site, and luckily I managed to find a job at Allams who had fairly recently taken on the Skoda franchise and 3.5 years later, here I am.

As for my next move, who knows. I'm very reluctant to ever leave Skoda as I like the brand far too much and I think it has a fantastic future ahead. But I'd love to live elsewhere in the world for a while so I have no idea what will happen.

Very interesting thread though, reading about peoples work experiences, makes me wonder what I'll have to say in 20 years time. I hope it is something interesting and worthwhile!

Mine is rather dull and 'samey' I'm afraid.

As for my next move, who knows. I'm very reluctant to ever leave Skoda as I like the brand far too much and I think it has a fantastic future ahead. But I'd love to live elsewhere in the world for a while so I have no idea what will happen.

Very interesting thread though, reading about peoples work experiences, makes me wonder what I'll have to say in 20 years time. I hope it is something interesting and worthwhile!

Nothing wrong with 'samey'.

I often feel that too many people theses days are too mobile and chop/change jobs, professions far too often. If I'm looking at a CV of a potential employee who has had 6 - 8 jobs in 10 years it concerns me as to why.

Do you fly helicopter's in your spare time? Limited space to land/park, so just drop it on the roof of .....?

Good idea. However, it would need to be travelling at about 170 mph when it got flattened. Go Top Gear go.

My career can fit in one line: Electrical Fitter in a coal fired power station for 37 years.

I graduated in 1999 with a bachelor degree in Economics / management and after that tried to work in marketing here in Albania. But after 3 months I was already bored. Luckily I took part in a test to select future air traffic controllers in our National Air Traffic Agency and I won. Since then, I have been working as an assistant/ air traffic controller (area and approach sectors) and since 2 years ago as an On The Job Training Instructor in Tirana, Albania. I travel a lot (which I love) in different countries for training and refresher courses. I really love my job and I hope to enjoy the 20 years I have got till retirement.

I graduated in 1999 with a bachelor degree in Economics / management and after that tried to work in marketing here in Albania. But after 3 months I was already bored. Luckily I took part in a test to select future air traffic controllers in our National Air Traffic Agency and I won. Since then, I have been working as an assistant/ air traffic controller (area and approach sectors) and since 2 years ago as an On The Job Training Instructor in Tirana, Albania. I travel a lot (which I love) in different countries for training and refresher courses. I really love my job and I hope to enjoy the 20 years I have got till retirement.

Hi,

Now that's what I call a high pressure job and I admire anyone who has the capability to do it. Respect

It's scary how half of you have been in jobs for more years than i an old yet i would buy a Yeti without hesitation if i could afford too..

maybe i'm an oldie on the inside or maybe you just all have very good taste but i love the Yeti!

Hi,

Now that's what I call a high pressure job and I admire anyone who has the capability to do it. Respect

Yes it is a high pressure job, (and sometimes scary) but still its exciting working as an air traffic controller. I get to talk everyday to literally hundreds of pilots of different nationalities coming from different parts of the world and scattering all over. Love it!

Yes it is a high pressure job, (and sometimes scary) but still its exciting working as an air traffic controller. I get to talk everyday to literally hundreds of pilots of different nationalities coming from different parts of the world and scattering all over. Love it!

Less of the "scattering all over" if you don't mind; we'd rather the aircraft stay in one piece!

It's scary how half of you have been in jobs for more years than i an old yet i would buy a Yeti without hesitation if i could afford too..

maybe i'm an oldie on the inside or maybe you just all have very good taste but i love the Yeti!

Probably have to wait until you're an oldie on the outside and youngster on the inside like the majority of us! although the price of used ones are bound to decrease over the next couple of years, don't give up

Left school in 1972, worked for McAlpine's as a driver of heavy tipper trucks (all piecework, no licence needed!) building the M62 (later renamed the M60) round south Manchester from Sale to Stockport, earning phenomenal amounts of cash (literally cash) which paid for me to go motor racing. When the job finished I didn't want to go to Saudi to build an airport, so started working for a high street bank whilst I deciding what I wanted to do. I never did decide!

Worked my way up after several long years as a cashier, eventually becoming a branch manager, but took a major step back to a phone clerk when everyone had to re-apply for jobs in the 1990's when they did away with bank managers. (Had run out of cash in the early 1980's, which terminated my motor racing career.)

After 37 years with the same bank I took (very) early retirement when I saw what a dreadful mess the so called experts were making of it (several expletives deleted) and for the first time, bought a new car that was bigger than a Fiesta - yes, you've guessed, it's my snow monster! And apart from a short lived mistake with a Peugeot, it's my first non-Ford for 30+ years.

Thoroughly enjoying retirement - it's amazing how frugal you can be if you need to - though SWMBO will be the first to say that in my role as Chairman of Liverpool Motor Club for 12 years motorsport is taking up far too much of my time. (She may be right)

Isn't life great!

Edited 17 July, 201114 yr by speedsport