Just interested to see what other members of the forums do daily, if its work,college,school,uni, what do you do? (School is rubbish we all knowbut what subjects have u took etc).

I'm a Nursery Nurse being qualified for just over a year now , iv'e just lost my job because the council cut our funding and we couldn't continue to provide the facilities.

Currently thinking of going to uni to increase my knowledge of childcare.

Michael.

Poll time... Do you miss school?

I personally miss Primary school more and more every year, it sounds daft but i do =(

I am a delivery driver but I am also at Northumbria University reading for a post-graduate degree, due to finish in two-weeks time. I am also associated with various organisations volunteering my time whenever I can.

If the money was good in my current job, I would probably be content with doing it for the rest of my life. It's nice being out on the open road as everyday is slightly different. In contrast to, say, ten years ago, podcasts and the mobile internet go far to alleviate any boredom which might develop. There's sometimes a lot of waiting around involved in my job and it used to irritate the hell out of me. Now I embrace it as I simply get out my netbook, plug my dongle in, and either surf the net (or get on with some Uni work) while listening to something interesting that I've downloaded. It's great!

I probably don't miss school but rather my childhood and all the memories attached to that period. I think it's easy to conflate school with childhood which invariably ends with the old adage 'schooldays are the best days of your life'. In a sense they are but it's not the schooldays you miss, rather the sense of freedom and lack of responsibility you had at the time.

I'm still at school, entering Year 11 in September. I find that, each year, the 'sense of freedom' and 'lack of responsibility' thins out. I used to have a lot more time (during term time) to enjoy my hobbies in Year 7, but now not so much time.
I currently take Maths, English Lit, English Lang, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, ICT, Business Studies, French and Media Studies (dual - being classed as two separate GCSEs).
Would like to do Media, IT and Business at A Level.

From the money aspect, I would like a career in law. I'm not certain that I have all of the qualities required to work in law though. I know I am reasonably well able when it comes to computers, so that is a 'backup career'. For enjoyment, I'd like to pursue a 'dream career' of mine that I've had since being a small child - owning a bus/coach company and undertaking tender work and coach hire around the UK and later, around the world.

I'm entering Year 13 in September. Got my AS-Level exam results this morning. Managed to get 3 A's. Very very happy

I quite like it at Cardinal Hume Sixth Form. Staff are brilliant. Everyone gets on well with most people. I really enjoy it there. Only thing I dislike is the stresses of Sixth Form work.

If I told you what job I did, I would have to shoot you.

I have worked in transport for a significant period though.

To echo AdamY's sentiments, I don't miss school - but the freedom and memories I had when I was a kid. However, I do have some great memories of school.
Like others, I have carried on with my education into both College and Uni, with several qualifications relating to my job.

Edit: Congrats Adam! Great grades!

(15 Aug 2013, 10:45 am)Andreos1 wrote If I told you what job I did, I would have to shoot you.

I have worked in transport for a significant period though.

To echo AdamY's sentiments, I don't miss school - but the freedom and memories I had when I was a kid. However, I do have some great memories of school.
Like others, I have carried on with my education into both College and Uni, with several qualifications relating to my job.

Edit: Congrats Adam! Great grades!

Thank you

I quite enjoyed school, I left at 16 but now I think I should have stayed on and maybe went to Uni. These days I'm an accounts technician, and I have to confess I hate it with a vengence! Choose happiness over money every time, pity it took me 13 years to realise! When the kids are older and we've paid a chunk of the mortgage, I'm still naive enough to want to do what I should have done 10 years ago - be a bus driver!

I once said I wanted to be a bus driver at school and was told that I had no ambition. I probably wouldn't want to be a bus driver now but, in some ways, I wish I had pursued that particular vocation. A well-paying job doesn't necessarily equate to happiness like Chris points out. Some comedian (can't remember who but I think it was either Doug Stanhope or Bill Hicks) once argued that if you wouldn't do your job for free then it probably means you don't enjoy your line of work. I think there is some truth to that. If you would happily drive a bus for free then it is probably something you should look into at a young age. Very few of us have a 'dream job', don't let the fact it may be considered 'menial' by teachers and career advisors put you off.

The bus driver thing is an interesting comment.
Even now, I see drivers (not many) who were working the same routes as they did 20 odd years ago when I was going to school.

There are a fair few who have disappeared, but it makes you wonder why they are still doing that job.
They won't get massive loyalty payments/increases to their salary and could probably have moved higher up the ladder into management, but haven't.

(15 Aug 2013, 12:18 pm)AdamY wrote I once said I wanted to be a bus driver at school and was told that I had no ambition. I probably wouldn't want to be a bus driver now but, in some ways, I wish I had pursued that particular vocation. A well-paying job doesn't necessarily equate to happiness like Chris points out. Some comedian (can't remember who but I think it was either Doug Stanhope or Bill Hicks) once argued that if you wouldn't do your job for free then it probably means you don't enjoy your line of work. I think there is some truth to that. If you would happily drive a bus for free then it is probably something you should look into at a young age. Very few of us have a 'dream job', don't let the fact it may be considered 'menial' by teachers and career advisors put you off.

I suspect we had the same careers advisor. Mine went something like this:

"So then Chris, what do you see yourself doing when you leave School?"

Me: "I would like to be a bus driver...."

Advisor: "That's not a career, you don't want to do that"

Me: "A truck driver. Or maybe a train driver."

Advisor: "Hmmm. I can see a pattern here. How about an electrician?"

(15 Aug 2013, 12:55 pm)Chris wrote I suspect we had the same careers advisor. Mine went something like this:

"So then Chris, what do you see yourself doing when you leave School?"

Me: "I would like to be a bus driver...."

Advisor: "That's not a career, you don't want to do that"

Me: "A truck driver. Or maybe a train driver."

Advisor: "Hmmm. I can see a pattern here. How about an electrician?"

I don't think it's right that careers advisors are discouraging teens from pursuing their dreams, if their dream is to be x, y or z job and it doesn't pay amazingly...

I think the bus driver thing came up in a casual class discussion during pastoral. I think the teacher thought I was trying to facetious but I stuck to my guns, despite being mocked, stating that I didn't really care whether or not others thought it was menial.

A careers advisor came to talk to us prior to work experience. I think I put down Town Planning, Route Planning and Journalism as my placement options. What actually materialised was a week-long IT course at a YTS Training Centre in Elswick where there was computer which had a Desktop Publishing programme installed. Needless to say, it was a waste of time. There were two other pupils from my school on the same placement, the first day consisted of a two-hour induction after which we could go home. I think I got to use the DTP on the second day messing around with clip-art. The rest of the week we were left to our own devices and for the rest of the duration we basically went in, signed the register, then went into town for the rest of the day. Amazingly, all three of us got exemplary reports from our placement. I think it was because, unlike the others who were there, we didn't threaten any of the staff or cause any damage.

Re: the bus driving comments. In 2001, I had what I still deem to be my dream job planning delivery vehicle routes for a large distribution company based on the Portobello Trading Estate. It wasn't particularly well paid but it was a job which I found easy and enjoyed greatly. In my department there were only two of us: my supervisor and I. My supervisor was really laid back and easy going so I basically spent most of my time studying maps. About six months into the job, the branch manager took ill. He was eventually replaced by the transport manager and his job was filled by supervisor effectively putting me in charge of my own department. Somebody was recruited to assist me and life went on as normal. However, despite taking on most of the responsibility, I was never awarded the title or the pay increment that went with it. I brought it up with the branch manager (who had since been replaced by someone else after the former transport manager retired) and he basically said 'tough luck'. It was then when I decided to look to see what other jobs were around. I saw an advertisement in the Chronicle for an Assistant Traffic Controller at Van Hee Transport (since closed) in which the salary was almost double what I was being paid at the time. I applied for the position and got the job. However, the job was not what I was expecting. I thought I would be doing something similar to what what I was doing previously, planning routes and what not, but I was basically the office flunky. I was miserable in my new position, my lack of enthusiasm showed and within three months I was relieved of my duties.

In my previous job I had job satisfaction despite my relatively low rate of pay. I went for something which I perceived to be better and learned a bitter lesson because of it. Still, to this very day, I regret my decision to leave that job and often wonder 'what if'. Perhaps the drivers you see driving the same buses everyday have a similar sense of job satisfaction. Of course, you are right, their loyalty probably wont be rewarded or even recognised. But there is something to be said about having a job which is relatively easy and enjoyable. That's probably why they are doing it.

(15 Aug 2013, 1:44 pm)AdamY wrote I think the bus driver thing came up in a casual class discussion during pastoral. I think the teacher thought I was trying to facetious but I stuck to my guns, despite being mocked, stating that I didn't really care whether or not others thought it was menial.

A careers advisor came to talk to us prior to work experience. I think I put down Town Planning, Route Planning and Journalism as my placement options. What actually materialised was a week-long IT course at a YTS Training Centre in Elswick where there was computer which had a Desktop Publishing programme installed. Needless to say, it was a waste of time. There were two other pupils from my school on the same placement, the first day consisted of a two-hour induction after which we could go home. I think I got to use the DTP on the second day messing around with clip-art. The rest of the week we were left to our own devices and for the rest of the duration we basically went in, signed the register, then went into town for the rest of the day. Amazingly, all three of us got exemplary reports from our placement. I think it was because, unlike the others who were there, we didn't threaten any of the staff or cause any damage.

Re: the bus driving comments. In 2001, I had what I still deem to be my dream job planning delivery vehicle routes for a large distribution company based on the Portobello Trading Estate. It wasn't particularly well paid but it was a job which I found easy and enjoyed greatly. In my department there were only two of us: my supervisor and I. My supervisor was really laid back and easy going so I basically spent most of my time studying maps. About six months into the job, the branch manager took ill. He was eventually replaced by the transport manager and his job was filled by supervisor effectively putting me in charge of my own department. Somebody was recruited to assist me and life went on as normal. However, despite taking on most of the responsibility, I was never awarded the title or the pay increment that went with it. I brought it up with the branch manager (who had since been replaced by someone else after the former transport manager retired) and he basically said 'tough luck'. It was then when I decided to look to see what other jobs were around. I saw an advertisement in the Chronicle for an Assistant Traffic Controller at Van Hee Transport (since closed) in which the salary was almost double what I was being paid at the time. I applied for the position and got the job. However, the job was not what I was expecting. I thought I would be doing something similar to what what I was doing previously, planning routes and what not, but I was basically the office flunky. I was miserable in my new position, my lack of enthusiasm showed and within three months I was relieved of my duties.

In my previous job I had job satisfaction despite my relatively low rate of pay. I went for something which I perceived to be better and learned a bitter lesson because of it. Still, to this very day, I regret my decision to leave that job and often wonder 'what if'. Perhaps the drivers you see driving the same buses everyday have a similar sense of job satisfaction. Of course, you are right, their loyalty probably wont be rewarded or even recognised. But there is something to be said about having a job which is relatively easy and enjoyable. That's probably why they are doing it.

Van Hee?! Theres a place that had some interesting people.

I've just spotted this video on my Facebook News Feed. It's relevant to previous posts in this thread, and I thought I'd share it with you all.
Hopefully it will work when embedded but I highly doubt it will... If it doesn't - click here instead.

(09 Sep 2013, 6:38 pm)Daniel wrote I've just spotted this video on my Facebook News Feed. It's relevant to previous posts in this thread, and I thought I'd share it with you all.
Hopefully it will work when embedded but I highly doubt it will... If it doesn't - click here instead.

I'm sure I've seen something similar before, perhaps by the same guy. I recognised the style of it straight away.

I am unemployed at the moment, done bits and bobs sinceI left school, but I have been in quite a dark place since I was 14 so I feel employers have not employed me because of the baggage I carry.

You could not pay me a kings ransom to go back to school, I hated it, I consider myself to be very intelligent, but I have no GCSEs, tbe other kids at school were horrible little bastards, and the only friends I had at that point was 4 girls in my class, 2 GNE drivers and 3 Arriva Drivers who I would always talk to as they were always nice to me. If anything, I would rather go back to College, I had a conditional offer from Ulster Uni in Jordanstown in 2007 to do Youth Work, but had to turn it down as I was having a rough time.

As for a career, I was one of these that lacked ambition, I wanted to be a bus driver, and a teacher openly mocked me in front of the class, he was my head of year and he was not amused when I said to him 'If I ever drive a bus and you put your hand out, I will drive right past you or if I see a puddle and your on the pavement, guess what, you'll get a bath you fucking old fool' got kicked out his class and a 15 minute dressing down from him, far as he was concerned I had no ambition, even though I would argue that although I would be happy to drive a bus, I would have liked to have got promotion through a bus company and that I aspired to be management one day, but he would not have it, as far as he was concerned, I was ambitionless.

I will drive a bus one day, once I pass my driving test, but right now I am the last guy you want on the roads lol

Just remember you're never too old to learn mate. If something takes your fancy, get yourself applied on a course to do it. Now is the ideal time for courses adult starting in October.

h

(10 Sep 2013, 8:18 am)aureolin wrote Just remember you're never too old to learn mate. If something takes your fancy, get yourself applied on a course to do it. Now is the ideal time for courses adult starting in October.

Which colleges is that mate, I wouldnt mind doing a couple of qualifications, I fancy getting a qualification or two in History and Media(to go with my BTEC Performing Arts Diploma)

(10 Sep 2013, 8:25 am)fozzovmurton wrote h
Which colleges is that mate, I wouldnt mind doing a couple of qualifications, I fancy getting a qualification or two in History and Media(to go with my BTEC Performing Arts Diploma)

All of the local ones should be offering a range of qualifications and courses.
Funding from the Government has been cut, but don't let that put you off.

Us working class are entitled to learn as much as our cousins at Eton :p

(10 Sep 2013, 8:25 am)fozzovmurton wrote h
Which colleges is that mate, I wouldnt mind doing a couple of qualifications, I fancy getting a qualification or two in History and Media(to go with my BTEC Performing Arts Diploma)

Sunderland College: http://www.sunderlandcollege.ac.uk/adult/part-time/

New Durham College: http://www.newcollegedurham.ac.uk/ADULT/...fault.aspx

Gateshead: http://www.gateshead.ac.uk/courses/part-time/

South Tyneside: http://www.stc.ac.uk/content/part-time/part-time

Newcastle College: http://www.ncl-coll.ac.uk/adultparttime

East Durham College: http://www.eastdurham.ac.uk/adult/

Enrollment this Friday, it looks official im on the course, iv'e changed the course i wanna do, anyone interested this is the course...

HND Advanced Practice in Work with Children and Families


http://www.sunderlandcollege.ac.uk/cours...-families/

If anyone is looking for courses or setting some goals/targets - this website is really useful.

https://www.nationalcareersservice.direc...fault.aspx.

It not only tells you the steps and quals to take to get into a role, it also signposts you towards a certain specialism or direction.

(10 Sep 2013, 8:47 am)aureolin wrote Sunderland College: http://www.sunderlandcollege.ac.uk/adult/part-time/

New Durham College: http://www.newcollegedurham.ac.uk/ADULT/...fault.aspx

Gateshead: http://www.gateshead.ac.uk/courses/part-time/

South Tyneside: http://www.stc.ac.uk/content/part-time/part-time

Newcastle College: http://www.ncl-coll.ac.uk/adultparttime

East Durham College: http://www.eastdurham.ac.uk/adult/

Will have a butchers when I get back in and able to get on the laptop thanks

Part Time - Virgin Trains East Coast

(01 Apr 2015, 6:20 am)leestransportphotos wrote Part Time - Virgin Trains East Coast

In which position, may I ask? Or is the appeal the company/industry itself rather than a specific position within that company?

Customer Services role

(01 Apr 2015, 6:25 am)leestransportphotos wrote Customer Services role

Interesting.

I admire those in a Customer Services role (in or out of an office), as they have to have a great deal of patience, especially when things are going wrong!

Even bus drivers have to have good customer service skills, as they have to communicate with their passengers every day. If the bus in front hasn't turned up, drove straight past, or there has been another problem, you will get the blame and you have to deal with it in a calm manner.

Think I'd struggle!

A friend on mine Dave Barraclough works in Customer Services for VTEC on the 'information' desk. He started there when it was GNER and has been through NXEC, EC and now VTEC. He said the only time he haven't loved it is when NXEC were in charge as they were scared for there jobs

I think I'd quite like to be a bus driver for a day, just to see if I could keep to time and not lose my temper with certain passengers!

Don't think I could do it long term though, I'd end up losing it  

Well as you know I'm anoynomous! But I work in the wedding market...