Job: (1) Acting as a consultant and relief staff (this comes included in my salary and I don't have a real job title with it being so bloody niche) (2) Commercial/HGV Fleet Management (3) Chef of varying grades Pay: (1) x (2) x (3) ✓ Is it worth it: (1) For obvious reasons^ no, however in the past the pay has been relatively good for the work carried out, as once it's done it's done. Just picture the last episode of kitchen nightmares you happened to catch, I can tell you now Gordon isn't acting up for the camera, it's frustrating as hell to see people make flailing attempts at a business in a sector which unfortunately these days is just considered a given for school drop outs and not much more. I don't want to ruffle any feathers here but I'm currently employed in this capacity by a christian couple, they are turning down potential employees based on political opinion, religious belief, tattoos, even in one instance the fact that someone used a swear word on Facebook and I can't get it to stop. I always feel looked down upon around their friends simply due to not subscribing to their faith. Every single time I come to their premises something else has been reverted to what they originally had been doing, rather incorrectly. Without going into details, I have had to explain very slowly the dangers of particular chemicals and where they are used in relation to food, then repeat myself several times. I have however chosen to step away from this case, as despite my detailed projections they would rather continue on a downward slope of sales, whilst complaining that they can't afford to hire more staff whilst paying me. I made the mistake of doing an interview for a news feature and now feel the need to contact the journalist and ask nicely for that to be lost. (2) When it's good it's really good, it was always a step down for me but it was something I wanted to learn, when I'm left to my own devices or chatting to a driver that's come back happy from his last visit but I'd always rather be on my own, radio on, scuttling around under the trucks. I do it less and less now and it's another one that's being temped now, I have been warned about the health risks involved and I don't know if I can benefit enough from this career path or enjoy it enough to warrant it, I've had days stacking super single truck tyres that have left me in agony for the next week or even the odd puncture repair, the vulcanizing glue will give me unimaginable headaches, the "man-up, lad culture" in this industry tends to keep a lid on the health risks being openly spoken about. Back is as bad as I need it to be... these things aren't light. Spoiler (3) It's amazing how much a head chef deep in the **** during a busy season will pay for someone that can walk in and follow his menu at a moments notice, and it's the most satisfying thing out there, sometimes hot, sometimes painful, always crazy hours but it pays well, especially with a national shortage of staff. Managers of local restaurants that think they have the capacity to also run a kitchen will also pay ££££ for someone to come and fix a menu or step in when all of their staff have walked I can see myself going back behind a desk and using the education I paid for rather than the result of winging it massively for the last few years soon, for a change of scenery more than a lack of well paid employment or enjoyment.
Job: Al Capone's shadier Cousin (a.k.a. selling Corporate Software Licenses at an outsourcing specialist for that kind of thing) Pay: Slightly above min wage + bonus and commission that are big enough to justify abandoning the concept of morals (and give HMRC an orgasm) Worth it? I'm dumb, ugly, have a messed up knee and zero education, short of becoming a drug dealer or fleecing audiophiles it was the easiest way out of poverty, so yes.
Oh I have no interest in ever returning to the UK... the 10 years will be at my current job. I just wish I had moved to this country sooner.
A bump! Just over two years since I updated... Job Title: Data Engineer* Salary: £much more than it used to be Worth it? ...Well, that's hard to say. On the whole, probably yes. *Strictly speaking a data engineer is more than just "database dev with a fancy title", but right now I'm just a database dev with a fancy title. This place is... disorganised, to say the least. It's definitely been a positive experience since throwing off the shackles of That Massive Bank With The Animal-based Logo; the freedom I've experienced here would never happen at... that place. Before we decided to go fully-cloud based, I spent about two weeks designing and prototyping a PostgreSQL multi-node cluster with failover, replication, node recovery, and point-in-time backups - back at that place I struggled to even get access to a SQL box at some points. Lots of uncertainty right now though; project I was working on for over a year is now officially dead in the water, some restructuring happening, and the future for my team is unclear. No jobs - at least at our level - are at risk, but what we're going to be doing and what we're going to be working on is not clear at all. There have been many many stressful moments this year on the project I was working on, and to see all that thrown away is disheartening to say the least. On the other hand, I work with some great people (some of the most talented people I've ever worked with) and I've worked with some great tech over the last 17 months. The office environment itself is pretty damn neat too, they've not long finished building a massive chillout area with: 65" TV, Xbox One, Wii U, table tennis, pool table, and dart board. Plus there's a fairly well stocked free beer fridge that gets opened every Friday afternoon (which would be great if I didn't have to drive ). Oh yeah, and there's the small matter of the £4k pay rise I had just to carry on doing the same job.
I was hearing just yesterday that data engineering and data science are The Next Big Thing (TM) in financial services.
Yeah it's been that way for a few years now... My job title might be Data Engineer, but I'm basically a jumped-up DB dev
Job title: Published Author/Primitive skills expert/Seminole warrior (not all it's cracked up to be) What that means: I can live like the Native I am, off the land and survive to write about it. And I make a lot of stuff to preserve old techniques. Pay: This gig is costing me money. Is it worth it? You have no idea. Don't recommend earning the warrior title if you like living in society but nearly 20 years ago rules were different but the preservation of history is utterly fulfilling.
Electronics Engineering.....84%, I'm engineering the end of my engineering career....Ooops, I've not thought this through.
1st & 2nd line IT Support Tech. Money is good for the area/job, work for a nice medium/large sized business. Good working environment and benefits. Could do with being a bit more active though, don't like sitting on my arse.
Job: Computer Support Technician (24/7 roster) Wage: 40% TAX is a B***** Is it worth it? The day to day jobs are totally cr@p, but the new projects coming online over the next year or so is what makes the job worth while (that and the money of course)
Ooh it's two years since I posted here. I've since graduated and have been working part-time for a local game development studio, and I'll be starting full time in January. Job: Concept Artist (currently contract) Salary: Lit Is it worth it? Yarp - I get paid to sit and draw pictures all day. It's an amazing job and I love it, even though there are times I wonder if I'm able to produce the goods (it can be really challenging work).
Well I'm starting a new job on Monday so feel I should update this. Job: Software Design Engineer Salary: More than I've been on in the past Is it worth it?: Hopefully I'll find out soon Still got the PhD to finish but needed something else both for money but also to give direction and structure back, also don't want this PhD stopping the rest of my life
