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Capt Podge

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careers advice
« on: November 23, 2015, 03:46:19 pm »

Thinking back to schooldays, or rather, coming towards end of standard education, did anyone receive careers advice AND follow it through ?
Has your chosen career experience helped with your modelling pursuits ?
 
For me, careers advice was almost non-existent. I have however, always been in work (at least until taking early retirement at 57) but never followed any specific career path.
 
Over to you...... :-)
 
Regards,
 
Ray.
 
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inertia

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2015, 04:53:12 pm »

Nope.
 
At the school I attended it was assumed that you would go to Oxford or Cambridge so you received as much help, advice, encouragement as they could give. On the other hand if you'd decided that you weren't going to Oxbridge then you were dead to them from that day on - which meant you could indulge in a little more mischief than otherwise... %)

My dad worked for the Inland Revenue (it was one of the few clerical jobs going after the war) and he advised me NEVER to do the same.... so I joined Customs and Excise! I'm glad no-one told my mother - she always thought I played piano in a brothel.

DM
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Re: careers advice
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2015, 04:59:06 pm »

Careers advice - from a teacher who went to school, went to Uni and then went to school again in a cushy local authority job with a gold-platred pension and 20 weeks holiday.

This widely experienced person at my school didn't have a clue about the 'real' world.

I've been a STEM ambassador for years (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and I do school careers evenings and science days - it's heartbreaking to be next to the CSI stand - they have queues going out the door and engineering is seen as a dirty worrd - even though it's the 3rd highest paying profession after Medicine & Law.

I spent a career as a rocket scientist and then switched to be a nuclear physicist - retired by 49.  :-))

.
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davidm1945

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2015, 05:22:26 pm »

  I left school at 15 with no qualifications (I was a lazy s*d).
We didn't have any careers advice except to sign on at the "Labour Exchange", so I did.
Told them I wanted a job working outside with animals - they got me a job in an ironmonger's shop.
Good experience I suppose as I ended up managing a superstore for a well-known electrical retailer.
I'm retired now and don't miss retailing one bit.

Dave.
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Colin Bishop

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2015, 05:34:52 pm »

There was a book in the school library which listed most of the possible careers. Teachers weren't qualified to give advice of course, they were only interested in those who were likely to go on to University. If, as Dave says, you were not one of the anointed you were pretty much left to your own devices. There were however plenty of jobs going (South East late 60's) so people tended to try different things before they either found something they liked or simply got stuck. Many jobs also offered day release to study for work related qualifications which was a lot better than today's setup as you could study whilst still earning. You didn't get rich on £500 pa but you didn't build up crippling debts either.

Colin
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mook

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2015, 05:52:13 pm »

The only thing I was told was girls don't do engineering which is what I wanted to do, they only wanted you to get a job in a local factory, was told I couldn't pass an o'level went on to get a degree :-)
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radiojoe

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2015, 06:57:47 pm »

No careers advise when I left school at 15, my father had a friend who was one of the partners in a building firm, and got me a job as an apprentice carpenter with a wage of £1.13s.4d a week I moaned a lot about that at the time, my mates who were labourers were getting three times that, but glad I stuck to it, and that's no doubt learning a craft helps me in model making.  :-))
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Crossie

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2015, 08:45:34 pm »

 In 1959 I missed Grammar school by one 11+ point, so that meant the Sec Mod for me , and like so many similar schools of the period, that given as ''advice'' by some hapless master was mere pidgeon-holing and proportional to the GCE score of the pupil - -lots= university---less=tech college---few=factory floor---none=labouring trades. Well  I'd had quite enough of schooling thank you very much whatever the alleged benefits, so for me it was off to the RAF, and after that continuous and enjoyable self employment (until at 68 I got fed up with the continuous paperwork), in farming, aircraft engineering, own engineering business and Ithink that just about everything has had some input into my modelling activity in one way or another maybe technical knowledge/experience or style/design.


                   Trevor
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Jonty

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2015, 09:40:10 pm »

  Looking back, I think the advice needs to start before choosing A level courses. I would have been much better suited to an arts course, history and languages say, than science and maths. The latter may have seemed logical, especially considering my father's electronics business, but I would have been happier and more employable otherwise.
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thething84

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2015, 01:14:43 am »

can't remember what my school careers advice was. But grew up with engineering as my father is a blacksmith. Used to help him out at weekends. So i went to college and studies Aerospace Engineering. Now work for an aerospace company in cambridge as a CNC and Manual machinist. Help me quite a bit with the hobby having a veriety of machines at my disposal.
 
James
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raflaunches

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2015, 04:41:28 am »

Being one of the younger members I did have career advice lessons but I disappointed my 6th Form teachers and headmaster by saying I was joining the RAF. The final two weeks before I went to Halton were the worst, I was called into the headmasters office and told that it was the schools policy not endorse students joining up and would prefer to see me go to university. When I said that I was still joining up he told me that I couldn't because I needed the schools permission to which I replied that I was 18 and a half and I didn't need my parents permission why would I need the schools?!!
I found out from a friend three months later that the school thought I was more promising than I thought I was but the biggest clincher- for every student who went to university the school received £3000 extra funding!
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Klunk

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2015, 06:48:59 am »

I wanted to be in print. The school said no way as it was a closed shop in the 70s and 80s. I had family in print but was bludgeoned into the YTS. What a waste of my time. I got paid more for delivering newspapers. But I got some qualifications. I then worked in McDonald's while putting myself through print college ( apprenticeships had gone by then).  Wapping happened and I finished college to a broken trade. The unions were "bottom"'s in them days. No to progress! Fully qualified and no jobs! Spent a year working in London in warehousing then got a job in print.  Was happy till June 2014 when the firm got bought out and I was one of 30 made redundant out of 769! Why??? Cos our part of the firm were paid too much but made 55% of group profits. So they closed us expecting to reopen  with cheaper staffing. They then found out that we were all highly qualified and couldn't replace us with cheaper staff.
I now work in a wind tunnel doing archetectural models and really enjoying myself
Careers advice from school? Absolute waste of anyone's time. Most career advisors, even now have not got a clue.
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sparkey

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2015, 07:28:02 am »

Careers officers were a complete and utter waste of time,I told mine I wanted to be a electrician and needed an apprenticeship his reply was you have no chance and should settle for a job in the docks like everyone round here,I went home and wrote to all the big employers in London,I received a reply from a lot of them but I picked the CEGB which provided the best apprenticeship and went for some tests,spent 17years in the electricity supply industry,worked in maintenance in a bank in the city for many years and ended up in the Prison service where I worked till retirement ending up as the electrical manager in Wandsworth Prison,careers advice ignore and do it yourself........Ray.
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roycv

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2015, 09:48:17 am »

Hi all, a very interesting thread.  I also had very poor advice from school on careers.  Grammar schoolboys went on to fill the desks in Insurance companies and Banks.  I did the former but I had absolutely no idea what happened when you went to work.
I thought I might do something about it one day.

When my nephew was about 10 I took him into work with me one Saturday morning, ( I was a computer engineer in the City) I was called in on a simple system fault.  I showed him what to do, I told him to go into the operaters room and say he had fixed it while I vanished into my car.  You can't do that now of course!
When he got older about 14, I would take him in to computer sites (at the weekend) mainly for when we moved peripherals around, he was very slim and could crawl under the false floors with a cable and saved us hours of work!  (I got the idea from send small boys up chimnies!!!!).  Anyway he has an MA in engineering from Cambridge.

I later took my own son in on appropriate weekend jobs.

This also became an opening for parents with children in 6th. form and Uni for summer jobs at work.

The last summer job I got for my son  was computer programming.  I do not exagerate when I say he wrote the initial software VM's that saved the Bar code system in the U.K. from collapsing.

Life being what it is he had this on his C.V.  He never got a job in the U.K. as he already had more experience than the interviewers, got head hunted and left for a job in Germany.

He has a Lego Master builder certificate, of which he is very proud, just qualified as a Yachtmaster and a Phd in comp science.

I also took a great interest in my daughter's work prospects.  After she left uni, work was not easy to find and she had more than a few disappointments, I took her to several job interviews. eventually she applied for a job in HR at Rolls Royce in Leavesden (Watford).  She got to a final interview but did not get the job. 

I had been reading a paperback on getting a job and I followed up on a suggestion that she write and thank them for the interview add a few things that did not come out in the interview and send the letter off quickly.
She did so and a week later a thick package arrived with a job offer of assistant to the job she had applied for.

Another nephew, the despair of his father as he was not "Technical" was about to leave school and did not know what to do.  We all sat down to talk and what he liked best was his Saturday job in the local market.  He got an interview with John Lewis and eventually was a Manager in the carpet department in the Midlands.

There is a strange connection here as if you order carpet from John Lewis stores the store rep will visit and have a computer and can put measurements in to give you a direct quote. 
The system was tried out at the store where my nephew was Carpet dept manager and the software for assessing how much carpet was required was written by my son.

Small world is'nt it?
regards Roy


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gingyer

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2015, 10:11:59 am »

The careers officers in our school was a waste of oxygen
When I informed them of my intention to join the RAF as a airframes tech.
Her response was to question if I would be better joining something like loganair
As they need pilots too. I explained what I wanted to do and that civilian apprentiships
Were very few and hard to find so joining up would be much better and more importantly what I wanted to do. I was then sent away to return and explain myself to the head of my year, my guidance teacher and the careers officer, apparently the correct answer was not
"Someone has to stand up and be willing to give their life defending  >>:-( >>:-( >>:-( like you"
That gets you a 3 day suspension which I used wisely... I went to the careers office and booked my aptitude tests which I passed but due to a slight health issue failed to get in to the RAF at that time.i hand now left school but as I was still under 18 I was entitled to go to the careers advice office for help, who sent me to the job centre, who sent me back to the careers office who then....yeah sent me back to the job centre.
 I gave up went home and made some calls and sent out letters and nearly 18years later
I have my own electrical contracting company.
The sad thing is the career advisors are still the same, to save money I would look to get rid of them!
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roycv

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2015, 11:11:26 am »

Hi all, I have to say that joining the RAF was the best thing I did for myself.  I went from being an insurance clerk to an Air radar technician, learning electronics, working on aircraft (what a lovely smell) and understanding maintenance.  It was not a bed of roses and you have to learn to fit in, but all things that are useful later.
When I applied for jobs after 4 years service I found I was in demand ,got offers from all of them.
Then spent 31 years in computers right from valves and mechanics to the integrated systems we have now.
regards Roy
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html

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2015, 09:46:54 pm »

My career advice went along the lines of "Lodge you will only be good for one thing and that is a dustbin man, you are lazy and stupid" Great motivational speaker my head master.

Up the road from where I lived was Fuller Electric, turned into Hawker Siddley Power Transformers. I missed my final woodwork exam and had an interview there for an apprenticeship. I got into the scheme, and finished. Have got a City and Guild in engineering, this included turning and milling. Welding qualification including TIG to food grade. Qualification in pneumatics and hydraulic engineering

I have worked as a pipefitter/welder, worked in the test shop of a company that made hydraulic test equipment for aircraft/ Worked for various food companies, I am now an engineering planner and facilities manager, for the company I work for now.

My only advice would be go with your heart in what you want to do

Brian
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roycv

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2015, 11:31:57 pm »

Hi html, good advice, most of the advice I received and acted on was duff.
regards Roy
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thething84

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #18 on: November 26, 2015, 01:08:34 am »

at the end of the day. if you can find a job your happy it thats the most important thing.
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Grumpy Dave

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #19 on: November 26, 2015, 11:14:51 pm »

I have had many different jobs and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. Even now that I am retired.
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Capt Podge

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #20 on: November 26, 2015, 11:31:02 pm »

I have had many different jobs and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. Even now that I am retired.

 {-) {-) {-) .....well said Dave, we seem to have much in common. :-))
 
Regards,
 
Ray.
 
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Captain Flack

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #21 on: November 27, 2015, 08:51:20 am »

I hated school evry day, from Nursery through to Grammar School.  I am not exagerating this.  I left and applied for a job in the Fire Service, no Careers input at all.  Loved it from day one and stayed for` 32 years, retiring at 50.
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Jerry C

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #22 on: November 27, 2015, 05:37:05 pm »

Never used career advisor. When I was six I told teachers I was going to sea. Local education authority could not supply education required so gave me a grant to attend HMS Worcester. My grammar school adopted a Blue Funnel ship Helenus. A school visit was organised and we were wined and dined by Blue Flue. At Worcester when asked which company we would join of course I said Blue Flue. A three year apprenticeship then Second mates exam followed a few years later by mates. Made redundant in 84. Worked for many companies and trades, even went ashore and built Tritons for a few years before returning to sea on tugs supply boats etc. Finished my career as Master delivering tugs and supply boats worldwide. The last job was a 73 day trip in a new Panama Canal tug from China via Honolulu to Panama.
Jerry.

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Re: careers advice
« Reply #23 on: November 27, 2015, 06:13:11 pm »

I have been reading this thread with interest, as careers advice when I was a school boy was none existent.

One went into the same sort of job/career that you father had, unless you were very clever, grammar school quality and rich parents , in which case a white collar career followed, and the ladies were confined to home to help mother with the daily chores until a man came onto the horizon.

Thank god times have changed, but some teachers and head teachers still live in the dark ages where the females are concerned.

A friend has been telling me about his daughter and her experience with the Head at her school and documented it in a thread whilst talking to another member on the forum, and thought that you might like to read the thread as I found both girls absolutely inspiring in their fortitude to overcome what was a rocky start to their futures in life.

And instead of taking the usual route as mentioned above of school-University- debt and more school as is often the case, they went against the inappropriate "advice" that heads and teachers gave them, and have forged their own careers with fortitude and persistence.

Well done to them both and "children" like them who have the courage to know what they want and get on and do it especially when it is something diferent to the norm.

http://www.thercmodelboatforum.com/t1221-proud-of-my-daughter

Jim
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