~Off Topic Thread~

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

g'morning uk!

[Jeraly 4]

Morning!

[mustang-sally 8]

Dont know about good weather is awful.

Morning to you !!!!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Oooh - sounds important!! What do you do?! And more to the point - do you enjoy it?!

It's a little hard to explain what I do, but I'm a Research Fellow at a think tank attached to a business school. My area of expertise is in corporate governance (how companies manage and run themselves), with a particular interest in executive compensation (i.e. fat cat pay!). Basically, the whole theory is that better-managed companies will provide better returns to investors because risks relating to poor management (like inflated salaries, payment for failure, scandals like Enron and Worldcom) are reduced. There's a lot more to it as well, but that's the gist of it. It's all about having more efficient capital markets.

I'm working on three projects here (won't bore you with the details ) and it is hard work but fun. I get to work with two of the biggest names in my field so it's a constant swirl of big new ideas and enthusiasm. The coolest thing is that I only work 25-30 hours a week (more or less if I like) so I get to run away a few afternoons a week to go to the gym or goof off. The worst thing is that technically I'm not a permanent employee so I don't have health insurance through work. That's the pits.

If you're really interested, check out the center's mission statement.

[Jeraly 4]

Oooh - will do so! I am always amazed by the jobs people have - I think because I have always had a job in admin/retail/childcare I find it fascinating how people get their jobs!! I would love to find a job I love and I just always wish there was some kind of test I could take to find my perfect job or a database of careers that can be searched... that would be awesome!! That is my next big goal once I move - find a job I love as much as my OH

Aww - that was really sappy wasn't it!?

[weedebz 0]

still battling with bank! HAAAAARRRRUMPH!!!!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Sappy, but cute!

I had some career counselling after I had gotten the sack from my second job -- Bristol Uni allowed you to do it for free as long as it had been less than three years since you graduated. (I had been fired twice in the two years from my graduation, so I fit the bill... ). It was a major turning point in my life and my working life has been infinitely more enjoyable since then. I took a whole battery of tests and then met with an advisor and I learned two things: 1) I was never going to be any good at the two things I had tried my hand at (working in TV production, which is what I went to grad school for; and managing a used bookshop -- I was particularly badly suited to retail!) and 2) I needed to go back yet again for more school. I was best suited to be a secondary school teacher in English or a commercial solicitor. I thought...hmmm. What makes more money?

So I went to law school in London, and through a series of strange events ended up working for a big pension fund on the investment team. I didn't end up being a lawyer, but I think what I do is pretty cool. I have been to some very interesting places, gotten a little sloshed with Al Gore in Amsterdam (!), shook Bill Clinton's hand, made railway pensioners more comfortable in their retirement and learned way more than I ever expected about how big business works. No regets.

[Jeraly 4]

But that's great though! It sounds like you have come along on such a journey and found your calling!! I just need to find a way of setting off on that journey!! I figure that moving will open my eyes to new things - everything is going to be new so why not go for something different?!

Just very frustrating that in the meantime I am just treading water

[Krikit 1,164]

Good morning/afternoon everyone. We're back from our hols with my sister and BIL. Lots of good fun and laughs. Dropped them off at the airport late yesterday afternoon. Goodbyes are so sad.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

They really are, but I guess it just makes it all the sweeter when you reunite again!

Glad to hear you had a great time

[Jeraly 4]

Ahh - yeah! Great you had a nice time!!

I'm about to go home! Yippee!

[a-jeanne 2]

Jeraly - I keep forgetting that you are on UK time. Yes, it's time for you to go home. When I finally get the girls to bed and settle down to my computer at 8:00 p.m. - it's pretty quiet on the UK side. I see that the talk is about work - what do you do and do you like your job? What jobs have you had in the past? What are you planning to do when you get here?

Just striking up conversation...

[weedebz 0]

for anyone still here in the UK that is interested there is a show on tv tonight about 2 people hiring a cheap car in the US and travlling all round the US with the aim of re-discovering the "real" america underneath all the starbucks, mcdonalds etc. They don't want to spend a penny to any of the big US commerical companies.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

I would like to do that...sounds like fun!

[Jeraly 4]

ooh - what channel and what time!?

As for work - well I want to set up my own jewellery making business I am a qualified teacher but have never got a job as one - by the end of four years of my training I was so disillusioned with the education system...