What was/is your job?

The point I was trying to make () is, all the jobs on here sound quite high falutin'!

Where are the cleaning ladies/checkoutassistants/traffic wardens, etc. etc.

The forum does not seem to be a good cross section of "society".

Perhaps that is why things round here get boring.

I was waiting for that!

Answer a. I do not choose to divulge the info.

Answer b. Are you sure you really want to know....?

Choose.

But I probably won't come back on here.

You have not really answered the question jangly, I am sure many Gransnetters have been waiting with baited breath for your work history!
Top secret eh?

So, does/did nobody on this forum work on a tesco checkout?

I once participated in a saucepan survey and was paid with a lovely non-stick dishing out spoon.

What an amazing life you are leading Elizabethjoan keep up the good work, certainly an inspiration.

Ooh ElseG, I can beat you unfortunately! Failed 11 plus twice. V hard to recover from esp as parents then had to pay school fees. They were v encouraging and supportive despite my languishing in the E stream. Did lots of Choir, Guides, Drama, followed by Nursing and Midwifery, living and working in Trinidad with husband and two children, and now back here working with AgeUK in Day Centres and In Safe Hands. Also back into choir and drama in the local Opera Group, and doing a bit of stage acting as well. Oh....and love water-colour painting too though little time recently. Have just contacted SAA to join up with them and get some classes.

glamma I am so pleased that you enjoyed your first day.

My background is in education [teaching and TV] and law with a helping of the hotel trade thrown in for good measure. My DH and I have been running a company for the past 20 years though I'm now supposedly retired - ha! ha! In my spare time when the GC are not around I'm a campaigner for publicly accessible toilets!

Dizzy, sounds like a very worthwhile job, as indeed do others on here.

Nothing so noble here, I'm afraid. Currently Business Development Manager, past, Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator, office cleaning when the ds's were littel, ditto bar work,prior to that riding instructor, dental nurse, but not at the same tme!

I'm not a Granny yet but hope I'm still welcome here. I'm on Mumsnet too but prefer the slightly 'gentler' mode of expression on here.
I started off working in Boots as a dispenser then moved to Sainsbury's as a trainee manager. After that I worked in the city until I had my first baby nearly twenty years ago then a career break for eight years and two more children followed by a stint as a recruitment consultant.
I did cleaning jobs until I started work in a day nursery then back into accounts for a golf company.
Last year I decided to retrain and now work for the ambulance service as an Emergency Care Assistant which is like a paramedic/technicians assistant. I get to drive on blue lights and attend patients. It is the best job I have ever had and as I approach 50 I wish I had taken the plunge earlier.

glammanana - so glad to hear you've had a good day at Barnardo's! I would think that you'd come across some very interesting things in there! I'd find it very difficult not to go raking through things in the back shop...!
christineH don't you even dare of thinking of having an inferiority complex (now didn't that make a lot of sense?) Circumstances sometimes dictate what opportunities make themselves available for us. To bring up a family of 6 is a job to be proud of in itself! Another thing which isn't often 'available' is a job that you love and with colleagues that you're fond of. Enjoy it!

I haven't read all through this as I know I'll get an inferiority complex!! I'm a rep for a greetings card company and I simply love the work, travel and my colleagues. I've only been with them for four years as I spent many years bringing up six children and took work as and when it came up to fit in with them. It's hard work, but I guess if you don't slow down you never grow old.

P.S did my first day at Banardo's to-day really enjoyed it,am going to do
12hrs a week the girl's where lovely and friendly,I was on the women's
fashion so right up my street

There's nothing better than a nice piece of furniture done by a proper
carpenter

It's good to hear that you were able to stay in a job that you loved for all of that time, bunic. Not many people can say that these days! You must have loved and 'understood' the wood that you worked with. Do you still work on bits and pieces?

all my working life including a 5 year apprenticeship spent being carpenter which i loved every moment off.

I started out as an industrial chemist. I loved laboratory work but I was niche trained and couldn't find that kind of work in Germany having got inadequate qualifications.
I was approached and asked to teach English which I did at all levels till I retired, and I did translations and coaching for business men/ women, to prepare them for conferences in UK boardrooms.
During my time in Manchester in the 90s I did the reverse. Taught German in Stockport und prepared English businessmen for doing business in Germany.

I also did voluntary work in a Women's Refuge for 25 years. This was very close to my heart but proper jobs in social work in Germany need a four year degree course at university, so I was pleased just to help.

I am still working, as a university lecturer, and I love it.

What worries me, though, is that I shall have to retire in a few years.

I am wondering how to fill the spaces. I need something real to get my teeth into.

I shall be moving to be nearer one of my daughters and the children, and I am looking forward to that, but I sometimes wonder if I shall still be "me" when I am not working any longer.

8 years as Bank Clerkess, 8 years SAHM, 2 years Research Secretary at Uni. Then 18.5 years as a Women's Aid Worker (admin, training and counselling, etc.)until funding cut and made redundant. 6months as a job seeker/college student and then 2 x 3+ years as administrator for 2 charities, retired through ill health at 58. Completed 2 modules of a degree course, lost interest and now too busy as Granny to three.

I started out in Admin and helped run summer schools for kids. Married and then worked at an Arts Centre, followed by a few years in the Youth Service.
Retrained as a psychotherapist in my early 40's and worked for the NSPCC. I also had a private practice. Retired at 53, my boys grown and flown, and have had 8 years pootling about with my husband. Our joint job now is travelling. Lovely.

Respect Carol.

25 years as probation officer, very dedicated to this difficult but rewarding job. Now I've retired and don't miss it one bit, have moved to another stage in my life and don't identify myself in terms of the great job I did, but as mum, sister, nana, friend.

Teacher of English, starting in Dundee then Kenya (teaching English and being a Housemistress) for five years. Career break for child-bearing/rearing. Part-time work in Further and Adult Ed; then got full-time work in Manchester in same field. Redundant at 58 with re-training in ESOL as part of the package; ESOL for a couple of years then began to fall apart. Another interesting job was as a Census Officer in the Marshlands of Norfolk in 1981 and I was a Weightwatchers' leader for a year or so which was great fun! And now, in retirement, I am a volunteer advisor at Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Hope you have an interesting and enjoyable day glamma. The work that Barnardo's does is well worth while, so you'll be a part of something very special.

To day I start work at Banardo's and am looking forward to it,so here's to another chapter in my life starting