What Are You Doing In Life?

[bikeperson45]

I'm trying to decide what I want to do in the future education/ work/ fun wise, so give me some inspiration.

University? What are you studying? Job? Other hobbies? What d'you want to be doing soon/ later? Discuss.

I'll go first, I'm in sixth form about to do my a-level exams in English, Psychology and History. Doing a gap year so am going to America for undetermined amount of time because I'm a US citizen and have a lot of family I can stay with. After that I'm pretty sure on university, and that's were ideas end...

Edited May 22, 2012 by bikeperson45

[Luke Dunstan]

I'm working in a small call centre.

I really recommend it if you like listening to people complain all day.

Should have listened in school.

[weirdoku]

Graduated uni last august and still can't find a job. Now on JSA, I hate going to that place but I really do need the money.

Pretty sure on uni? Do you know what you want to do after uni and whether what you're doing requires a degree of some kind?

I wished I did an apprenticeship instead, now I most likely would be in a steady job and moved out of my parents house already and maybe living with the girlfriend.

EDIT: Maybe won't be living with the gf, met her at uni so if I didn't go I wouldn't have met her.

Edited May 22, 2012 by weirdoku

[eddbmxdude]

I went to college straight from school studying mechanical engineering, then after 2 years at college started an apprenticeship. Met a girl at college and moved in with her after we'd both finished studying and I was working full time. Broke up with her a few years ago. I've lived in my own place with friends but Im getting sick of the 9-5.

Recently moved back with my parents to save a bit of money so I can go back to college. Im going pro with my unicycling and going to be studying media full time. The idea is hopefully I can apply my new media skills to the unicycling demo team I run in order to be able to market ourselves better. Can't wait to hand my notice in at this job (Work in a design office for a company that makes railway signals), I hate being stuck at a desk all day. The moneys alright but its boring and I'd rather have a fun life than one I'll look back on with regrets.

EDIT: All of my friends that went to uni are either pulling pints or on JSA. Just saying.

Edited May 22, 2012 by eddbmxdude

[Greetings]

Got a masters degree in economics and logistics last year, can't say it has influenced what I'm doing since I've been running a business since I was on my 1st year. Could have done it without proper education. Would definitely recommend taking some sort of course though. Despite hating mine and being really bored with it and all the nonsesnse I was being pumped full of, it did give me a broad understanding of the world we live in.

[onza pro series guy]

I'm at 6th form as well just got one more AS level exam to do and then I'm done for this year. Hopefully I will get the grades I need to get back in where I am next year, but I am pretty shit at being intelligent. The plan is to get in next year; keep English Lit, ICT and RE and drop history like its hot. Then hopefully off to Uni I wanna go Shefield ideally but probably end up somewhere less... well, good I 'spose and more local. I'm planning on doing either a Journalism course or an English Lit. course that will be less specialist but get me into journalism as well as other carrer paths if need be. Then hopefully off to the working world, probably end up as the coffee boy for a few years, but eventually I will hopefully be able to earn my crust writing about cars and/or bikes with no or very small seats. That's the plan at least, if I don't get back into 6th form next year I have no idea what I'll do; probably go to college two days a week and pull cars apart or something.

[Wrayvon]

Finished 6th form in 2007, went straight to uni. Studied web systems development, finished uni in May 2010, got a job a week later at a big company in Manchester. Worked there ever since as a web developer. Also moved in with the GF this year, so now we rent a flat together. Costs a lot but saves me driving 4-500 miles every week...

[weirdoku]

I went to college straight from school studying mechanical engineering, then after 2 years at college started an apprenticeship. Met a girl at college and moved in with her after we'd both finished studying and I was working full time. Broke up with her a few years ago. I've lived in my own place with friends but Im getting sick of the 9-5.

Recently moved back with my parents to save a bit of money so I can go back to college. Im going pro with my unicycling and going to be studying media full time. The idea is hopefully I can apply my new media skills to the unicycling demo team I run in order to be able to market ourselves better. Can't wait to hand my notice in at this job (Work in a design office for a company that makes railway signals), I hate being stuck at a desk all day. The moneys alright but its boring and I'd rather have a fun life than one I'll look back on with regrets.

EDIT: All of my friends that went to uni are either pulling pints or on JSA. Just saying.

Gimme your job if you really don't like it! I can make signs!

[Skoze]

Just finishing up my foundation art + design course (now my third year at college) and am off to Brighton in september to study graphic design. Not too sure where i wanna put myself in the world after that but i'm sure i'll find where i fit

[N.Wood]

Did 6 th form, went to Plymouth uni, to study applied geology, got a job 2 months after my final exam, have been with this company as a geotechnical engineer for 3 years now.

[forteh]

Did a BTEC in mech eng at college, went onto a degree in mech eng at uni, graduated and got my current job; this was back in september 2001 so will be 11 years soon; learnt a huge amount there already and learning new stuff every day, next in line for head of technical design.

Bought my house in 2002 and not moved since, currently living with my gf and her two kids (Lily 6 and Reuben 3), riding trials, playing pc games/flying flight sims (currently ARMA2 and DCS A10C) and just generally bobbling along with life. Trying to get out of past debts, not a major problem but a long slow drawn out process.

My life is good right now

[dann2707]

Did random subjects at sixth form. Really was into gaming at the time and was wanting to do a computer games design course but that slowly faded out as I got a car and started tinkering.

Now i'm in my first year at huddersfield Uni studying Automotive technology and engineering and its awesome so far!

Haven't learnt that much about cars but i've met some proper awesome people. So glad I went for this option rather than sitting at a desk making games!

[JD™]

Didn't go to uni. Did shit right. Got in the shit. Did more shit right. Have more shit.

[isitafox]

Sacked off college after 3 months as I really didn't enjoy it at all, floated about for a few years working in supermarkets, pubs etc then got a job as a window fitter/fabricator which got me a level 2 NVQ. Business looked like it was goin down the toilet so I jumped ship to become a railway signaller, not summat I ever thought of doing but I love it, great money, very steady work, loads of opportunity to move to different areas of the company should I want to. Hours are a bit crap but when I'm basically my own boss and can generally bring stuff in to do at work like build/fix/respray bikes and other bits I can't complain!

[anzo]

Did 6 th form, went to Plymouth uni, to study applied geology, got a job 2 months after my final exam, have been with this company as a geotechnical engineer for 3 years now.

Cool, my missus is currently doing a masters in Geology at Leicester uni. Don't think she knows what she wants to do afterwards though!

I left school, went to college and got my NEBOSH health and safety qualifications, used it for about a month and moved into IT and never used it again.

Now I work as part of a 3 man team looking after 3 manufacturing locations in the midlands and the North. I love the job and gives a massive range of skills and I really do learn something everyday.

As for my future, who knows...currently I work for a massive worldwide company and we're working to merge two networks onto the corporate network which means a lot of security (both technical and physical, new fibre optic backbone, switches, servers and client pcs), once this is done we may disband and join other sections of expertise and work on various projects.

That's something I seriously hope happens, then you get I do what you love all the time and all the crap jobs go to a centralised helpdesk down south

[Muel]

Went to uni, worst mistake I ever made. (Well, apart from going straight out to work after school that is). Now working in a job I'd be getting paid more to do if I'd never gone to uni and had taught myself, and I have to go back for my final year of uni in September. Not looking forward to it at all.

Not saying uni is necessarily a bad choice, just avoid Sheffield Hallam at all costs and if you want to be anything in the Web Design/Development fields then you're better off teaching yourself. Everyone successful I know left school after GCSEs or A levels and taught themselves.

[tomturd]

Everyone successful I know left school after GCSEs or A levels and taught themselves.

Depends what they're doing really, if you're going self employed then your clients aren't going to care too much if you have a degree or not. But if you're looking for a job then uni teaches you other stuff that some employers like (for example, your ability to work to deadlines, ability to learn stuff that you otherwise wouldn't - that sort of thing). I'd say 95% of the developers here have a degree of some sort, but not necessarily computer science. Saying that I know some very successful devs who don't have degrees, but I wouldn't class these people as normal, they have brains where they just read something and they 'get it' immediately.

I'm still web developing in Cardiff, soon to be made a 'business analyst' which is pretty sweet and should allow me to eventually move my life more in the direction I want it to go.

Outside of work I've spent the last 8 or 10 month renovating my house, pretty relentless stuff and took about 4 times longer that I anticipated (that's why I haven't been on here much, basically been working 10-6, then working on the house until 9 every night and all weekend for the past.. too long), I'll try and dig out that old thread and update it. I don't think I'll make much money on it, if anything, but I've learnt shit loads along the way and would like to get a new house and do it all over again. This time with a more of a level head on what really needs to be done and what I can get away with leaving alone.

In August my girlfriend starts a job in Pembrokeshire, so we're looking for a rental place down there. I'll be commuting from Pembrokeshire to Cardiff 3 days a week hopefully - not looking forward to the drive tooooo much but it should be nice to live outside of a city for a while

[Muel]

I'm talking front end dev/design. Look at any of the agencies round here I want to work for (Rckt, Hammer Design etc) and they all employ people without degrees.

In the future it may prove useful, but I'm only talking of the 18-21 year olds I know. If I someone had a degree and 5 years experience as well I'm sure they'd be a better candidate.

Sorry I wasn't clear, meant it in a "Where I could be right now if I hadn't gone to uni and had spent the last 5 years teaching myself" kind of way.

[tomturd]

I'm talking front end dev/design. Look at any of the agencies round here I want to work for (Rckt, Hammer Design etc) and they all employ people without degrees.

In the future it may prove useful, but I'm only talking of the 18-21 year olds I know. If I someone had a degree and 5 years experience as well I'm sure they'd be a better candidate.

Sorry I wasn't clear, meant it in a "Where I could be right now if I hadn't gone to uni and had spent the last 5 years teaching myself" kind of way.

Ah right, sorry you're right I'm talking more back-endy sort of stuff. I think if you're working alongside doing a degree at the moment, then you'll be in a pretty good spot when you tell that to an interviewer. From what I can see, the only people who are getting jobs with us at the moment are the ones who are actively doing stuff at home. I realise you haven't asked for any tips, but when it comes to getting a job after uni you'd be in a pretty awesome spot if you knew (if you don't know them already) things like GIT/subversion, require.js, sass/less, backbone.js, CI - all those new(ish) things that still fall under front end dev. Put them on top of a degree and you'll look like a superstar (I may be preaching to the converted, if so I apologise!)

[RobinJI]

I finished uni last Friday. I finished school back in 2005 and went straight into a BTEC National diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Somerset College. I finished that with a much lower grade than I should have (Got a MPP, when I should really have been getting DDD). I started the foundation degree in Mechanical engineering, but it was being run appallingly at the time and I ended up dropping out before Christmas of the first year.

I then had to wait until September to start whatever next, and applied for, and was accepted for an apprenticeship with a local fan manufacturer, but bailed out at the last minute after finding some massive holes in the contract, which I wasn't willing to risk for a mundane job, so I then had to wait another year.

Then in 2009 I started a foundation degree in Motorsport Technology at Bridgwater College, which I really enjoyed, and I followed up with a final year at Oxford Brookes Univercity to make it a full Bachelors with Honors, which brings us up to last Friday. I definitely think having a year and a half out of education before doing my degree helped a lot with my attitude towards it, I've got the intelligence to do very well in terms of grades, but I've never been able to as my personality's not very academic, I tend to learn what I find interesting and I feel I'll need later, rather than what I'm actually going to be tested on.

My current plans are based around an idea I've been discussing to work closely with a local firm working self employed doing Motorsport based fabrication, I've potentially got a few £££ worth of jobs lined up through them, which I'm meeting the owner to discus tomorrow, so hopefully I'll know more about my future income then.

I'm generally feeling pretty happy, and massively looking forward to summer as well as the idea of having a little money again, I really enjoy learning when I'm in education, as well as the social side of it, but it holds back hobbies thanks to taking up all your time and money. Can't wait to get back out on my bike a bit more, as well as hopefully starting Kayaking again and getting on with building my Mini.

I definitely don't feel this is the end of my education though, end of full time maybe, but I'll never stop learning, I fully intend to keep doing classes in evenings and doing plenty of my own research, as well as the obvious learning on the job. I enjoy learning new things, so don't have any intention to ever stop.

[Pete.M]

There's no doubt that a degree can help to get you places but most of the time you need experience too. (or contacts, get to know people!)

I think apprenticeships are the way to go. I tried to get into an apprenticeship with prodrive, who then cancelled the scheme, I got scared of being stuck at home working bad jobs so I put in a late application to a university and somehow got in. I've got one year to go to get my honours in Motorsport Design Engineering. I thought I wasn't clever enough for uni, I guess I've really surprised myself.

I've had a great time at uni learning many useful things but despite this I think I would've preferred that apprenticeship. My uni is terrible, really terrible, and combined with other factors I don't see my degree getting me that far in motorsport. Don't get me wrong though, overall I'm glad I've had the university experience.

The ultimate plan is to work in the field of race engineering. I may either have to start at the bottom in a little team and work my way up, or get further education specifically in race engineering. I may not earn much working in motorsport, but my ambition was always to be able to love my job, not make loads of money.

Race engineering is something I could potentially do in many different countries. Whatever happens, I'd like to see and experience more of the world before I get old.

[Max Quinn]

Good topic.

I did 6th form, standard academic subjects, and then decided I wanted to do something at uni that was as little like school as possible, so did Photography. Ended up hating it for a bit in my first few years, mainly just because it teaches you more about chatting bullshit to support your work then anything else, but the uni life kept me going and it just provided a nice, relatively stress free, environment to persue other things like graphic design, illustration, making music, promoting music etc.

Kinda got back into photography in my third year, so if someone wants to put my stuff in a gallery then cool, but I don't really have the passion about it to live that skint artist life tryina peddle my work. Last year I started a website Broken-Culture.co.uk about music/graff/art/lifestyle etc, so over the next few years the plan is basically to develop that into a company (advertisement, tees, club nights, record label, artist agency etc). I basically just wanna work for myself whatever I'm doing, so at the minute I'm kinda just jack of all trading it doing that alongside web/graphics design, journalism an stuff until I find somewhere i slot in.

I've just finished uni now, so while doing that lot I'm gonna get whatever shitty retail/office job I can for the summer, then go travelling again over winter. Then either stay out there as long as possible, or simply come back and repeat that process for the next few years.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Max Quinn

[Muel]

Ah right, sorry you're right I'm talking more back-endy sort of stuff. I think if you're working alongside doing a degree at the moment, then you'll be in a pretty good spot when you tell that to an interviewer. From what I can see, the only people who are getting jobs with us at the moment are the ones who are actively doing stuff at home. I realise you haven't asked for any tips, but when it comes to getting a job after uni you'd be in a pretty awesome spot if you knew (if you don't know them already) things like GIT/subversion, require.js, sass/less, backbone.js, CI - all those new(ish) things that still fall under front end dev. Put them on top of a degree and you'll look like a superstar (I may be preaching to the converted, if so I apologise!)

I'm doing a placement year as part of my degree, which is teaching me rather a lot but it's very difficult to fit extra time in outside work. I have learnt a lot of new stuff on the job, like SVN, Watir, some basic jQuery, enhanced my Wordpress knowledge etc. Never looked at SASS/LESS because I use OO CSS anyway, which I believe kinda negates the need for them? Anyway back at uni for a year next year so I'll be pushing on learning new stuff more then, when I'm not working 9-6.

[tomturd]

Never looked at SASS/LESS because I use OO CSS anyway, which I believe kinda negates the need for them?

Sounds like you've already learned a bunch of useful stuff. SASS/LESS dont seem to be too similar to OO CSS from what I can see, but its nothing complex (really simple actually, but its a nice buzzword (hate that word) to use though)

[Andeee]

Went to college and studied 3 years in music performance as i play drums. After that i wanted to look more into the aspects side of technology and music. Just finished my 2nd year of the course and after that hoping to set up my own studio business or go into production. Currently have a mini set up at home with a control room and live room but it would be good to have an actual big premises for it.

Oh and i work in a bike shop part time to keep the money coming in.