Jobs - A little bit about what you do and perks

Soldato
Joined
11 Aug 2003
Posts
6,344
Location
Essex
I am actually quite impressed with the amount of people who like their jobs, I keep seeing people saying they hate their jobs/boss etc.

Maybe they just don't want to post?

KaHn

Im guessing that if i hated my job i wouldnt be bothered to post about it lol
 
Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2007
Posts
1,658
Location
Staffordshire
Job

IT Techie

Company

Prefer not to say

Day to day

Normally I get in about 8:15-8:30 and check all the servers are up and running. Then its a case of fixing any problems that may of occurred during the night or on-going faults.

Then around midday, I normally start work on any projects/work that I have going on. I'm currently studying for my CCNA and also attempting to learn ABAP, so I tend the switch between the two.

Overall Job

General IT techie really, looking after 6 servers and around 100-120 users. Servers range from our AD server, mail server and proxy, or our SAP servers.

Also if its got a plug, then everyone expects me to know how to fix it :p

Perks

Experience. I started about a year ago straight out of uni. Plus I had a nice bonus around April time :p

Downsides

Although I only live about 12 miles away from work, I spent around 2 hours each day getting to/from work.

Plus I could do with some more money :p

Education?

9 GCSEs
BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners
HND in Internet Technology

Do you like your job?

Ye, although I do get a little bored at times.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Nov 2003
Posts
14,034
Location
Surrey, by the river
[TW]Fox;12095956 said:
Your job sounds really cool. How did you get into it? I've just graduated from University with a 2:1 in the same subject as you so hopefully it's a viable option.

To be honest I fell into it, when I graduated I went to be a Fraud Analyst for a credit reference agency, but I was so bored after a couple of years that I jsut handed my notice in.

I walked into an agency and they put me forward for a role recording processes for a publishing company because I had experience of writing training manuals. I got the job and suddenly I was a BA.

What I do varies from company to company; sometimes I'm almost a Project Manager (/shudder) and sometimes I'm a Project Analyst, like Krooton, since I'm a Six Sigma Greenbelt as well, but most of the time I'm somewhere in between.

Depending upon where you are the role can either be very loose or very defined, as there isn't really a single definition of what a Business Analyst does.

Your best bet is to look for a perm role as a Business Analyst in a reasonably sized company, this could be either internally or as a consultant visting clients, and then get as much training as possible in things like ISEB, Six Sigma, ITIL, Prince2, bascally anything that's IT, Process Improvement or Project related.

If you want any more info then just drop me a mail.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2004
Posts
4,755
Location
Swansea
JOB
Fitness Instructor/Class Instructor/ Personal Trainer

Company
Have my own business. Also do some classes for the council

Day To Day
Plan classes, read up on the industry, teach classes, plan sessions, train people.

Perks
Work where I want when I want. Get to meet some fantastic people and work is usually a great laugh.

Downfalls
Can be utterly knackering! Burnout is pretty common at some point.

Do you like your job?
Hell yeah! I love it!
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jun 2003
Posts
16,103
Location
Gloucestershire
Job

School IT Technician

Company

Not so much a company, council funded so i guess id say the gloucestershire county council

Day to day

well, the kids are on there project weeks which means schools relativly empty, then starting next week i have 6 weeks of server management, putting in new UPSs, basicly just optimizing the network

Overall Job

easy working environment (when you blank out the screaming children), i look after around 20 servers, some physical some virtual, 150 staff, 1000 students and nigh on 700pcs including laptops

Perks

Free equipment :)p), school holidays are easy as we can take our time with things and the list of jobs goes down!!

Downsides

crap pay and when your trying to do something complicated (like sort out broken AD replication) people wont stop ******* disturbing me

Education?

GNVQ IT followed by an awful BTEC in IT at college, now been working here 2 years

Do you like your job?

i like it, but wouldnt go as far to say i love it, im always keeping an eye out for other jobs, but not so keen to leave that i activly seek it
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2005
Posts
4,789
Location
Arkham
Job

I'm a Connexions Personal Advisor (Young people's Careers Guidance & Support)

Company

Connexions

Day to day

I struggle with this, my day to day job is to work with 13-19 year olds and assist them by giving information, advice and guidance surrounding careers information. This might be about continuing education, training or employment. On a daily basis I have a mixture of appointments in our office to sit down and interview clients (teenagers) and general admin such as updating their details on our database, typing up 'action plans' for them to follow after interviews.

I also have a caseload of clients in secondary school, so I go to school once day a week and see pupils in school. Trying to hopefully not be a crap careers advisor like I had!

Overall Job

I kind of fell into this position, before this I had worked in retail and for the police as a civilian. Until recently I volunteered with the Samaritans for several years which is what turned me towards working with people more. However, I got a place with Connexions last year on a trainee programme where we got paid for full time training for six months, which was a right laugh. I also met my girlfriend who I now live with!

The problem is that the job doesn't appear to be what it was cracked up to be during this training. There is an awful lot of pressure to reduce the number of young people not doing anything such as work or training and we have to constantly 'track' our clients by calling them up on a montly basis to see what they are up to and offer support. This is fine to a point, but it doesn't feel like what I imagined the role to be.

Plus careers guidance is bloody boring :p thought I was going to be what is known as an Intensive Support advisor who work with people with other sorts of issues.

Perks

Hmm, well the money is more than i've earnt before, just over 20k at the moment with a small rise coming. I pretty much work four days a week as I am currently working towards a level 4 NVQ and so get a 'study' day each week. Ten days paid training per year which is handy and the usual public sector fringe benefits. No discount anywhere though, which sucks!

Downsides

I work in a town which somehow has no shops :p I didn't want to work specifically in careers guidance, more general support - so I'm increasingly finding myself on a career path I didn't intend to be on (THE IRONY!) and naturally, as much as I knew I was going to be working with teenagers and apathetic chavs, having to be professional to those who literally can't be arsed is often very frustrating - although no one in there would dare say so!

Education?

Grammar School until 16, left with 9 GCSEs mostly around C grade.
Went on to further education at college, did an Advanced GNVQ in Information Technology. Would've like to go to uni, but for some reason didn't.

Do you like your job?

Like is a strong word :p It's ok - I'd much rather be in a comfy IT role but no one will employ me near the money i'm on, even though I know i'm capable. :(

I'm also aspiring to be a stand-up comedian, so if all else fails - i'm pinning my hopes on that! :)
 
Man of Honour
Man of Honour
Joined
3 May 2004
Posts
17,696
Location
Kapitalist Republik of Surrey
Good idea for a thread :)

Job

Helpdesk analyst (currently)

Company

Can't say who but it's a well known worldwide financial software house and I work on financial real estate software.

Day to day

Mainly database admin and security on some pretty big SQL databases for large land owners. I'll be trying to work out why their numbers don't add up or advising on what they have set up incorrectly that is causing their problem. It's mainly SQL querying.

Overall Job

It's as dull as **** and I hate it. I'm moving on soon. I'm stuck at my desk every day of the week and we're the lowest paid and least respected in the company.

Perks

Health care and dental care but when I've looked into using it I've found it's actually pretty much useless. We also get an allowance towards gym membership which we begged for initially but now nobody uses it. Good Christmas party every year :D

Downsides

Have to be in the office every day and can't work remotely, unlike everyone else in the company. Building is in the middle of nowhere in particular and there's no feasible public transport route, though the drive in is good. Clients treat us like dirt and talk down to us. Lack of respect from other departments.

Education?

BSc(hons) in Product Design from Brunel.

Do you like your job?

Nope, hate it :(. Moving back to product design soon and happy to take a bit of a paycut to be able to do something interesting.
 
Caporegime
Joined
9 May 2004
Posts
28,618
Location
Leafy outskirts of London
Good idea for a thread :)

Job

Helpdesk analyst (currently)

Company

Can't say who but it's a well known worldwide financial software house and I work on financial real estate software.

Day to day

Mainly database admin and security on some pretty big SQL databases for large land owners. I'll be trying to work out why their numbers don't add up or advising on what they have set up incorrectly that is causing their problem. It's mainly SQL querying.

Overall Job

It's as dull as **** and I hate it. I'm moving on soon. I'm stuck at my desk every day of the week and we're the lowest paid and least respected in the company.

Perks

Health care and dental care but when I've looked into using it I've found it's actually pretty much useless. We also get an allowance towards gym membership which we begged for initially but now nobody uses it. Good Christmas party every year :D

Downsides

Have to be in the office every day and can't work remotely, unlike everyone else in the company. Building is in the middle of nowhere in particular and there's no feasible public transport route, though the drive in is good. Clients treat us like dirt and talk down to us. Lack of respect from other departments.

Education?

BSc(hons) in Product Design from Brunel.

Do you like your job?

Nope, hate it :(. Moving back to product design soon and happy to take a bit of a paycut to be able to do something interesting.

I was actually looking at doing an OU course, and product design is one of the few that looked interesting to me.

How did you find it?
 
Associate
Joined
7 Mar 2007
Posts
2,248
Location
Kent
Thought I would add mine:

Job:
Was an Investment and Merger Guru now the same thing but more Investment and work on my own.

Company:
Cannot give out the details of my previous employer for legal reasons and now I work for myself, and due to advertising cannot give the name.

Day to Day:
It varies greatly, when I was employed I could be in meetings all day every day, or sitting on a plane, stuck in traffic or reviewing emails and preparing reports from home/office/hotel room.

Now, I get into my office and check my emails, read the news and then check my diary for the week. I only have select clients now so depending on what the demand for my services are I can sometimes be "technically finished" by 10am if I have no bookings for the day, however I rarely leave the office until 5 or sometimes later as there are other things I have to do, and often enquiries made.

If I am in the middle of a deal I could be travelling to meet a client, speaking to them on the phone/email constantly all day, liasing with clients, investors whatever. Can rack up one hell of a phone bill.

Perks:
When I was employed the pay was ridiculously good, but the cons that come with it were high. I was able to pay off my mortgage and own a second home whilst working there, I drive a nice car, as does the wife.

Now I get paid a lot less but was my decision to change paths and I am planning on stopping what I am doing altogether to completely change career path and do something that I have always wanted to do.

Downsides:
I was constantly away from my family and didnt see a lot of my daughters 1st year. I would sometime spend 18 hours a day in the office, then travelling, or be on the plane to the States then come back and within 12 hours be off somewhere else.

Education:
Degree now, although not essential as I landed in the role by chance (friends in high places)

Do You Like It:
No - I have grown bored of it and finally realised that a well paid job cannot buy you happiness. I have been fortunate to get all I want from my job, and it will allow me to live comfortably going forward.
 
Joined
20 Oct 2005
Posts
5,940
Job

Monitoring Officer
Company

Civil Service
.

Day to day

Doing audits on EU grant schemes in food processing sector.

Overall Job

Get to travel aroung the country a bit so beats 9-5 at a desk.

Perks

Flexi time / pension and travel

Downsides

Can be a bit repetitive.

Education?

HNC Level.

Do you like your job?

Dont hate it but dont love it either.
 
Associate
Joined
21 Dec 2004
Posts
580
Location
London
Job
Capability Manager (international supply chain analysis)

Company
Tesco

Overall Job
Further analytical understanding of ordering and supply chain, upskill the countries on analysis and help to develop and implement our ordering system. Travelling takes up 1/4 of my time.

Perks
First class flights. 5* hotels. Company pension. 10% Tesco privilege card.

Downsides
Commute to work can take up to 1:30min on some days.

Education?
4 As at A levels. 2:1 in Economic History from LSE.

Do you like your job?
I love it.
 
Associate
Joined
11 Jun 2008
Posts
1,276
Location
Stuck on the A406
Job

Access Network Planner

Company

Virgin Media

Day to day

Surveying network and customer sites, planning network augmentations/upgrades, working out costings, drawing up plans and creating instructions for contractors to follow (AutoCAD and Excel).

Dealing with contractors that cant follow instructions.

Overall Job

Pretty decent Planning position, looking to move into Project Management in the future.

Perks

Nothing really, some transport costs covered. Flexible hours.

Downsides

Have to deal with disgruntled customers sometimes.
Job can be quite stressful at times.

Education?

BE (Information Engineering)

Do you like your job?

Yes I like it, enjoy the job and I work in a fantastic office environment as well
 
Associate
Joined
14 Apr 2006
Posts
2,184
JOB
Complaint resolution advisor

Company
Vehicle leasing company

Day To Day
Dealing with general queries and complaints from clients, speaking to garages and third party suppliers (acciman, tyres, glass etc)

Perks
Healthcare.
Pension.
Cheap lease car replaced every 6 months (currently got a Golf ED30 which is being replaced by a Golf Pirelli in December)
Discounts from loads of places.
2 Christmas parties fully paid for every year (department and company) free bar!!!!!!!!!!

Downfalls
Dealing with clients who think they are more mechanically savvy than they actually are, or read something on the internet :rolleyes:

Education
Alevels

Do You Like Your Job
Yep I've quit jobs in the past because I didn't like the role. Work is a big part of your life so you should really do something you enjoy.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2007
Posts
2,760
Location
Gibraltar
Job

Systems Analyst / Server Admin

Company

Gib Government - IT & Logistics

Day to day

Summer hours at the moment (8am-3pm) but usually the normal 9 - 5.30 shindig. Case of checking email correspondence, checking event logs etc. Prepare patching/maintenance schedule on servers, around 40 servers (windows/linux/as400) serving 1200 PC's (including a local hospital) Basically, think of all the normal UK style Government departments, the usual social insurance, tax, dvla, police, hospital, etc, and they are all hooked up to us via fibre-op lines. Keep an eye on bandwidth usage, check firewall logs. It's basically an observe and maintain role on a day to day basis.


Overall Job

Any new products, projects, I usually have a hand in, or will keeps tabs as to whats going on. Can be as simple as replacing 20 old PC's in a department, setting up the IT system for an election year. Work setting up and maintaining Windows 2008 AD, PHP, MySQL, SQL Server, MOM, Exch2007, SMS, Cisco systems - but im expected to know the grittier side of things such as printer setups, basic word/excel user help, etc. The lot really.

Perks

Pay is great. Staff is beyond great, considering we have so few (13). Im out of the office quite often, get to know the whole of the government staff after 7 years. IT office is literally 1min 30secs from my home. Attended quite a few EU IT meetings in Spain/France/Portugual past 2 years. PLENTY of scope for overtime after-hours - no questions asked.

Downsides

Heat in summer - Working in the office with no air con...30 degrees at the moment. "Drop everything you're doing" attitude if a minister wants the most miniscule thing looked at.


Education?

10 GCSEs
3 A levels
2:2 Comp Sci (Cardiff Uni)
Various as400/Microsoft/Landesk courses.

Do you like your job?

Very much so, especially as my role is quickly moving into a management role.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
11 Nov 2007
Posts
194
I am a Trainee Air Traffic Controller
I want this job!

JOB
Placement student doing Offline Robotic Programming

Company
Northern Ireland Technology Centre, but I've spent the year 'consulting' (working for) BE Aerospace

Day To Day
I'm either on the shop floor with BE in Kilkeel or in the office in Belfast programming

Perks
Sod all! Uhhh I do get to play with robots though and nobody worries overmuch if I smash things up a bit, I set my own learning curve. I feel I have a real advantage over students who haven't taken a placement year and who aren't aware of the absolute hell that day-to-day production firefighting on a manic shop floor is.

Downfalls
Travelling 4 hours a day when out at BE.
Retarded operators wrecking the robot and changing my programs 'to speed them up, they were going too slowly' *cue noise of screaming metal in the background*
Crap money (11k a year!)

Education
Completed 3 years of a MEng in Aeronautical

Do You Like Your Job
No. I can't hack being at a desk 8 hours a day. But I am glad I took the placement and would advise any students out there to do an industrial placement. It's the only way to find out what you want to do!
 
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