revtothelimit - motorbike forum

1987, 1st year apprentice for British Rail - £72 per week

My first "real job" salary was £25.5k.

I wish that had been in the 1970s

My first job was doing breakfasts in a hotel and giving the residents their early morning tea/coffee. I can't even remember how much I got paid, except that it was a pittance. Things improved when I managed to get a job as a library assistant in about 1971 - as many books as you could eat and a frankly wonderful £17 a week. I stayed there until 1974, mainly because all the other library assistants were young and female. By that time my weekly wage had risen to £25 a week but it wasn't keeping pace with my increased spending, so I applied for an advert in the local paper for 'trainee computer operators' at the dizzying rate of £35 per week and that started a 45 year career in IT...

My mum was very similar...she finished her A levels and then answered a paper add for school leavers looking for a career in a new field.

The job was at IBM's new UK HQ in Portsmouth, where she remained for the next 4 decades.

She still doesn't get how lucky she was to get in somewhere like that at entry level with no relevant qualifications. Try it today

There's no substitute for a good degree.

No-one knows that better than he who doesn't have one.

My first proper job was inputting fax and mail orders for a stationery company before progressing to the phones... anyone remember Neat Ideas?

One day the call centre manager told me I wasn't happy. She asked me if anything else would interest me. I said I'd like a go in IT.

Been doing fuck all in IT ever since... with no degree.

First real job / apprenticeship was at Fisher Controls, must have been around 1989, for about £6 or 7k a year.

Apprentice at PO Telephones. £6-10s-6d pw at age 17, back in 1963.

Isn't this the utterly random picture thread or am I lost?

Yambo wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:24 pm Isn't this the utterly random picture thread or am I lost?

You are not lost but perhaps some of us are.

Cousin Jack wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:26 pm

Yambo wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:24 pm Isn't this the utterly random picture thread or am I lost?

You are not lost but perhaps some of us are.

Here's a random picture to help you out...

Yambo wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:24 pm Isn't this the utterly random picture thread or am I lost?

Yeah but some random pictures stimulate memories and discussion. I think that's rather nice.

(I remember rolling up the rubbery glue on the pay packet flap then pretending it was a giant bogey ).

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 8:39 pm My first "real job" salary was £25.5k.

I wish that had been in the 1970s

My first flat was less than that!

To keep Yambo happy...

I don't have no stinking degree, but you need one to do my job!

Taipan wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:34 am I don't have no stinking degree, but you need one to do my job!

Ditto

If I'd been recruited 'normally' I wouldn't have got beyond the CV filtering stage.

Taipan wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:34 am I don't have no stinking degree, but you need one to do my job!

Likewise. I entered IT as a trainee, without a degree, and never found it an impediment. If I was starting again now I absolutely would require one.

Yes, I always find it odd that I'm not qualified enough to do the job I'm doing and the role that I developed into what it now is?

MyLittleStudPony wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 9:26 pm There's no substitute for a good degree.

No-one knows that better than he who doesn't have one.

Mmmm, what constitutes a good degree and what percentage of graduates can honestly say they have a good degree?

One example of a " good degree " , might be an honours degree , fully accredited by the professional body with whom you intend to create a full career . Eg approved by the IEEE ( Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineering ) if you wished to have any hope of becoming a Chartered Electrical Engineer