Monday 18 July 2016

Career path

So what was your career path? Did you decide upon a career, train for it a work on in the same career for years?

Did you, like me, have no definite path and wander from job to job?

I have a relative who decided aged 5 to be a librarian, stuck to it, studied hard, went to uni, got her degree. Got a job in a library, realised once she started that she was expected to deal with the general public. Decided she hated dealing with people and left after 3 weeks, she is now an accountant.

I've done probably every menial and not so menial job going apart from bar work. I have worked as a cleaner, shop assistant, clerical worker, dominatrix, veterinary nurse, telephonist, receptionist, waitress, washer up. I've worked on assembly lines, run an assembly line, soldered pcb boards and cables. Installed cables in huge office blocks singles handed.

When I left school I started as a hairdressing apprentice, 6 month in my parents separated and I was sent to live 50 miles away with my grandparents. That was the end of my hairdressing career, not that I was bothered. It had been my mothers idea, not mine in the first place.

I spent a lot of my working life at a time when you could walk out of a job in you lunch break and walk into another job after lunch. Times are different now.

7 comments:

galant said...

I had no career path. I did get accepted to train as a nurse but then met my husband to be and decided I didn't want to train for 3 years when instead I intended getting married. So I did a secretarial course and became a secretary in the Dept of Social Security, working not only for the manager but the executive officers. I was fortunate, though, I had my own office, as only three people had an office: the manager, the cashier and me. I gave this up when I left to have children, and then, once they were of a certain age I took up part-time work as a secretary in a teachers' centre. They don't have such things now, sadly, where teachers could meet for courses and be supportive of one another. Since giving up the 'day job' I have turned by hand to writing and now write for various magazines, and have my own antiques column in a monthly glossy title. None of this was planned, but it panned out nicely, nonetheless.
Margaret P

Athene said...

And you know the definition of 'career' - to roll rapidly downhill!

I worked in admin/secretarial, then went to uni and then trained for a profession because it was the next thing to do, not because I really wanted to. I loved it but grew to hate the organisation I worked in. Moved sideways to work in financial services and gradually grew to loathe that, too. Last year I gave up my paid job to become self-employed. Hard up but never been happier. But in answer to your question, no I have mainly drifted into things because opportunity arose. Current job is the only one I've ever chosen deliberately.

Joy said...

Never wanted to do anything but teach. However, looking back realise that it was probably a bit of deft brain washing on the part of dear mother, who always wanted to teach but had to leave school at 14 owing to the death of her father and the necessity of earning a living.

Me? I loved teaching but hated school, all the petty rules and regulations and the sheer nightmare of dealing with 45 reception class children who arrived at school straight from home, - no play groups or nurseries in those days unless you were pretty wealthy. No teaching assistants either.

Eventually opened my own zany, wacky school which I and a few other like-minded teachers operated on a wing and a prayer and which, to our surprise, turned out such well educated children that we became the 'go to' school in our area.

Glad I'm not teaching now, I'd be in prison for sure.

That's enough.

Hard up Hester said...

My mother was a teacher, also reception class and no-one believes me when I say 45 - 48 in a class was normal.

Joy said...

It was horribly normal and usually you were all packed into a tiny classroom. Mine was condemned as a classroom in 1947 but still in use in 1970 to my certain knowledge. It slightly resembled feeding time at the orphanage when they were all installed. Still, by some unexplained miracle, they all emerged at the end of the year reading, writing and numerate. All accomplished by a teacher earning slightly less tha an office junior.

I'll shut up now and go home.

Hard up Hester said...

Add to that the toilet training that some had not received, my mum taught in inner London, so there were always a few who spoke no English.

Cherie said...

My career path sprung up in front of me over the years. I have always loved crafting and love to share my skills with anyone who might be interested I now teach all manner of crafts and deliver talks and demonstrations to local schools and WI's.

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