I'm currently working in a very mind numbing IT post. I'm capable of much more, (I won't bore you with details) but I'm starting to see IT as a bit of a dead end. (Typical - I grew up with "Ooh you'll be able to make lots of money when you're older", as I've been into computers for as long as I can remember.)
Anyway. I'm deliberately not going to give much detail so that people don't rule anything out.
I'm very interested in cars, motorbikes, computers, and computer systems (Even down to car ECU's etc.)
I know that a lot of BRer's (!) are intelligent and/or have interesting sounding jobs.
So, if you can - Suggest me a job that you think would cover my interests/knowledge.
Mods feel free to delete if you see fit...
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What do you want to get from your work?
Money?
Kudos?
Interest?
To work with really bright and enthusiastic colleagues?
Travel?
Lack of travel?
Variety?
or something else?
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Money?
Would be nice!
Kudos?
In what way do you mean NC?
Interest?
Definitely. I can feel my brain closing down at the moment.
To work with really bright and enthusiastic colleagues?
Yes
Travel? Lack of travel?
Short commute but opportunity for travel would be nice. No way essential though.
Variety?
Not essential if the job is interesting anyway...
Basically I just want a job that can keep me interested and motivated. We all spend 35+ hours a week there so even money can come second to pure satisfaction.
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Expected Salary, age, qualifications ?
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IT and motorbikes huh. Well, we go bike racing during summer and every so often come across a team who obviously have a bob or two. Out come the lap tops and they plug 'em into the bikes and get a perfect tune. Poor teams like us rely on the rider feeding back reliable info to us so that we can set up the bike. What we small teams need is a guy like you in the pits who can plug his lap top in and give us teams the correct setting. Naturally we would pay but it would mean that we were a little more competative.
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IT and motorbikes huh. Well, we go bike racing during summer and every so often come across a team who obviously have a bob or two. Out come the lap tops and they plug 'em into the bikes and get a perfect tune. Poor teams like us rely on the rider feeding back reliable info to us so that we can set up the bike. What we small teams need is a guy like you in the pits who can plug his lap top in and give us teams the correct setting. Naturally we would pay but it would mean that we were a little more competative.
Hmmmm. I'm getting more familar with car OBD systems (ISO, PWM, etc) but I haven't looked into bikes at all. My Africa Twin is blessed with carbs and closed CDI ignition! That sounds very intruiging though. What part of the country are you in?
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What is commonly known as "up north". Find out where the nearest race track is to you and go there on a club race day. We are not talking MotoGP here. Have a wonder round the pits and just have a talk to the guys doing the spannering. However, do a bit of research into bikes first.
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What turns you on?
Remuneration - reward
Recognition - acknowledgement by others
Self satisfaction - achievement
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Try something completely different. No qualifications needed - be a builder. Stimulating, a bit of travel, every job a challenge, but some of the people can be a little less thoughtful /deep than you and conversation can be a bit repetitive and boring - football and whatever is in today's Mirror headline.
Be organised like most aren't and you'll be a success.
As for the money - well I'm just past 50 and will be retiring this year - enough said.
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Interesting question. I went through a similar thing recently. IT freelancer, but bored rigid. I've swapped with my wife - she's working and im doing 4days/week childcare and 1 day/week writing fiction - Im going to give myself a year or so to see if I can get published.
I had a good look at doing ecu/diagnostics work. I still think that there is abusiness there if you have the time/inclination to do it. Have you looked at vag-com ? As a business model its ideal. Take an existing VAG diagnostics tool and reverse engineer it. I gave serious thought to spending £5K on tools and doing similar. Choose a popular make with a good base of likely buyers and base your work on the standard obd2 stuff initially, then get hold of the mfr's tools (ebay) and add the non-standard and non-engine bits. Could also look at diesel stuff which isnt covered by obd but does seem to fit a standard. Most is bosch so maybe start with getting hold of the bosch diags and some test kit. There are a few products out there that do some of it though and there is soome cheap chinese diag products. In the end I decided not to risk it. (working on expenditure and 6 months dev time before having sellable product)
Other things I looked at included 'green' energy products, so the newer solar energy systems, ground pumps etc. Getting certified as a lecy or plumber (overdone now of course). Or a total change - which is what Im doing.
Other option of course is to take whatever IT skills you have and look at how you can contract or set up a business - depends on what you have. I know several people making a reasonable living just doing small websites - which I had discounted as being more hassle than it's worth.
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Most jobs become boring after a while and those that aren't boring are probably stressful! Boredom? Stress? A bit of both? It's a trade off.
If you think of the things you'd like to do in your work, ask yourself if you'd still like doing them 8 hours a day 5 days a week, week in, week out.
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>I've swapped with my wife - she's working and im doing 4days/week childcare and 1 day/week writing fiction - Im going to give myself a year or so to see if I can get published.
mark99, you have my admiration. I do two afternoons a week childcare and though my daughter is wonderful it would drive me mad doing any more. Have you looked at self-publishing, possibly by setting up your own press? The economics are currently tricky (the economics of fiction publishing are a nightmare anyway), but print on demand is going to be big. lulu.com seems like the best deal to me and they should be starting up a uk/European operation in the summer and the upfront costs are negligible. If your work is good you can sell it if you have the energy. In the mean time, non-fiction and/or feature journalism is the way to make a regular (if not spectacular) living. If you've published anything at all I can recommend joining the Society of Authors for their advice alone.
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Baskerville
I have seen the lulu site - I'm a little uncertain because self-publishing still has a poor reputation in the uk, I can see it works for niches where the big players are not interested, but it still seems (by hearsay) to be the kiss of death if you want a deal with an established agent/publisher - but then its in their interest to spread some FUD on the issue isnt it?
I have a friend who is in the Soc of Authors and I was very impressed with their journal, so that is something I will look at. I'm in the early stages at the moment, I'm doing a course at York uni, and the short stories that I have produced are very well received by the examiners and by other writers that have seen them, so I'm going to stick them into some competitions and see what happens. The medium term plan is to knock out some mainstreamish fiction. I have several plot outlines and extracts put together and I intend to get to the point of having a completed novel by the end of the summer.
What sort of stuff do you do ? Crime/thriller I would guess from the name ?
Childcare is 'interesting' isnt it ? We have a 4 yr old and a 1yr old and although the eldest is at pre-school every morning it has made me appreciate the mental and physical effort that mothers put in every day. I confess that some evenings 5:30 doesnt seem at all too early to open a bottle of red!
Mark
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Mark
This is getting way off-topic, so maybe the mods would be so kind as to pass on my email address. But anyway print on demand really depends on the deal as to how dodgy it is. Many of the companies offering it are vanity presses by another name and will charge you for everything. But if it really is a "send us the proofs and we'll publish it" deal, it's not really a bad thing. All you have to contend with then is the savage discounts demanded by the retailers (50-60% not uncommon). With companies like Lulu you can publish under your own imprint anyway, so nobody will know, though of course a deal with Simon and Schuster will be better. Nothing to stop you being a publisher and a writer though; I believe Kazuo Ishiguro has self-published at least once for instance. It's hard work to make it pay which ever way you do it though.
My stuff is non-fiction mostly (I dabble in stories), but I have managed to make a moderate living at it for five years now. And yes, I do have a crime fiction interest, though I don't really count myself as a crime fiction writer. The main problem is the variable income month by month. Wives with salaried jobs. Bless 'em.
Baskerville
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I think doing small-time home-based stuff like websites etc is not going to bring in much money. Also authoring books, even relatively successful ones, is not terribly profitable from the perspective of hours worked unless you really hit the big time.
If you are interested in automotive electronics then consider trying for a job with firms like..
Pi Technology (Cambs)
ATP Electronics - Staffs
MIRA - Nuneaton
Sagem - Birmingham
They are all on the product development side and places like MIRA can be really interesting.
Alternatively you might want to consider becoming a 'technical trainer', training motor technicians how to use diagnostic kit...
Auto Diagnostics
Bosch
Omitech
etc, are some of the big names there.
Another option would be to become one of those cossetted 'public sector' types... You could teach in a Further Education college - they are mostly very short of staff and you'll get one of those lovely public sector pensions and be able to take life easy - lots of long holidays. (Only joking of course - they are mostly hell-holes with low pay and long hours - but you probably WOULD get offered a job at one if you are reasonably well-qualified and ask nicely....).
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Wow thanks guys - some really interesting suggestions here. Haven't had a chance to read the all thorougly yet so bear with me!
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Only go into motorsport if you like working very long hours(I average 92 per week)and thrive on pressure and stress.
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Become a teacher. Long hours but rewarding.
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Become a teacher. Long hours but rewarding.
I only left skool 5 years ago...wouldn't become a teacher for anything!
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