The grumpy thread

[Guest]

I'm a bureaucratic failure, so it sounds right up my street!

[Minimad5]

A swift curt "Get Fucked" should suffice. Whats the crack there then?

Word spreads "Marks good with cars" , so i get all sorts of characters asking me to do things.From young kids on mopeds to a kind old man with a Nissan Sunny.Dunno if i wanna do the Serena to be honest, i mean i need money to start work on the Rebel, but it's the aggro of hauling my shit up there, keeping the jyppo's away from my tools, then getting back home.It apparently is making a horrible noise.So he has gone to town and brought a spare head & gasketsThere is also welding to do (so he says)All i know is that it is a 2.3 Diesel on an "M" reg.

[shite_meister]

A swift curt "Get Fucked" should suffice. Whats the crack there then?

Word spreads "Marks good with cars" , so i get all sorts of characters asking me to do things.From young kids on mopeds to a kind old man with a Nissan Sunny.Dunno if i wanna do the Serena to be honest, i mean i need money to start work on the Rebel, but it's the aggro of hauling my shit up there, keeping the jyppo's away from my tools, then getting back home.It apparently is making a horrible noise.So he has gone to town and brought a spare head & gasketsThere is also welding to do (so he says)All i know is that it is a 2.3 Diesel on an "M" reg.

Same as the LDV Cub.

[Rusty Pelican]

" I'm in a doomed job, .

This just about sums me up at the mo , the trade im in is dying fast , most people dont have electric motors rewound now unless its special or rare or too bloody expensive to buy a new one or a new ones not available , Car stuff like starters and alternators are just replaced now with cheapo Chinese stuff unless its made of unobtainium , took this afternoon off as holiday as theres fuck all to do , not sure how much longer il be employed TBH .

[Pete-M]

A swift curt "Get Fucked" should suffice. Whats the crack there then?

Word spreads "Marks good with cars" , so i get all sorts of characters asking me to do things.From young kids on mopeds to a kind old man with a Nissan Sunny.Dunno if i wanna do the Serena to be honest, i mean i need money to start work on the Rebel, but it's the aggro of hauling my shit up there, keeping the jyppo's away from my tools, then getting back home.It apparently is making a horrible noise.So he has gone to town and brought a spare head & gasketsThere is also welding to do (so he says)All i know is that it is a 2.3 Diesel on an "M" reg.

Same as the LDV Cub.

DON'T DO IT! They're bloody horrible.

[Minimad5]

haha thanks Pete and Shite_meister I'll just go up saturday and have a look at what needs doing

[Guest]

haha thanks Pete and Shite_meister I'll just go up saturday and have a look at what needs doing

Is this clunge paying your travel expenses?

[Lord Sterling]

The businesses are all there, don't any of them have jobs going? And the few jobs that are on offer are ridiculous - loads of demands for qualifications and experience which are no way close to what the job would expect. There's jobs on nearly minimum wage which expect you to either have or be working towards advanced accountancy qualifications - why?!

I feel your pain Hirst. I am going through almost the same thing at the moment. Only difference is I have no current job/work to speak/rant of.My own personal belief is that this was a knee-jerk reaction by businesses to the recession. Many educated and experienced people found themselvs without employment, seeing this, job advertisments suddenly became filled with over the top requirements. To be nothing more than office junior, you had to have 3 years experience and a masters degree in accountancy, not that you needed it, just because businesses knew they could get highly educated people in lowly-paid jobs.

[Richard]

Something has gone very wrong with the jobs/career market. When there is high unemployment and a skills shortage, despite record numbers of people going through Further Education it's time to have a serious look at how things are done.

[alf892]

Agreed.Got made redundant a couple of weeks ago. No notice, no warning and no wages for previous 4 weeks.The next day I thought best extract finger and get on with finding job so registered with a few agencies. Most are shit by the way.Then a call..........nice job...........money matched previous........lets go for it.Interview arranged. Then was sent a link to do a test!! Thought OK you have to play the game so did test and went along for interview. Interview went well until told this was only first stage of several!More CV's sent...........but those sites where you have to choose sector are doing my head in.......my role exists in loads of sectors and I can't loose the feeling I must be missing stuff.

[whitevanman]

Something has gone very wrong with the jobs/career market. When there is high unemployment and a skills shortage, despite record numbers of people going through Further Education it's time to have a serious look at how things are done.

I couldn't agree with you more......it's a fuckin mess out there

[garethj]

he few jobs that are on offer are ridiculous - loads of demands for qualifications and experience which are no way close to what the job would expect.

Sadly this is the case all over, my opinion of HR departments was always pretty low, but when they write adverts asking for an Engineering PhD for a job paying 8k less than I’m on now, it’s like they don’t exist in the real world.Hirst, what sort of job would you like to do? What are you good at? Think about these things and choose your job from there, rather than following your current career path. As an outside observer, why not send some stuff to motoring magazines to try and get your foot in the door? You’ve got quite a skill you know?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

A swift curt "Get Fucked" should suffice. Whats the crack there then?

Word spreads "Marks good with cars" , so i get all sorts of characters asking me to do things.From young kids on mopeds to a kind old man with a Nissan Sunny.Dunno if i wanna do the Serena to be honest, i mean i need money to start work on the Rebel, but it's the aggro of hauling my shit up there, keeping the jyppo's away from my tools, then getting back home.It apparently is making a horrible noise.So he has gone to town and brought a spare head & gasketsThere is also welding to do (so he says)All i know is that it is a 2.3 Diesel on an "M" reg.

I would fook this right off if you have the chance.Working on peoples tired old snotters for cash is in 97% of cases a total nightmare that will kill any enthusiasm you have for old cars. Especially someone who rings you up on spec to hassle you about it, and who buys the parts for you! Whay are they doing that? Cos a) they dont trust you to get the bits you need, without ripping them off and they can then whinge 'what!! I've already spent £60 on parts, now what am I gonna do' if you say you're not gonna do their mota for them. These people always expect an unlimited warranty on all repairs - if you do the head gasket on this old Serena, and it blows again in 6 months, you'll be getting an earful down the phone. Never mind the fact that the engine has done 300k, the block and head are thoroughly banana'd, and your man bought the cheapest possible non-OE gasket. Fook it off while you still can I say.

[ashmicro]

+1 to what Mr Bo11ox said.

[trigger]

Mr_Bo1 talks sense again, They only want you as your cheap, Just tell them that you have to much work to do at home and you haven't a clue with Japanese engines and wouldn't want to make it any worse.

[RedSparrow]

Something has gone very wrong with the jobs/career market. When there is high unemployment and a skills shortage, despite record numbers of people going through Further Education it's time to have a serious look at how things are done.

I couldn't agree with you more......it's a fuckin mess out there

The majority of 17-20 year olds at my work are going to do degrees on media studies, art or photography. That is the problem and I'm not exaggerating. As long as places on these courses aren't capped so that only the very best can do them and the rest have to do something more useful then the problem will continue to grow.

 

I actually cringe now when a kid tells me they're going to do music production at uni.

[Cavcraft]

How many people do dgrees and actually get a job around what they studied? Serious question like as I've met plenty of people who got degrees doing something then a job completely different, often at crap money.Not anti-education but often wonder why people sit through years of uni.

[garethj]

How many people do dgrees and actually get a job around what they studied?

I did, because to be an Engineer you need to have studied Engineering.

 

But it's a fair point, far from everyone does it. Perhaps because when they finish their degree in 10 hours lectures a week, there aren't many jobs about that need it?

[Guest]

Not anti-education but often wonder why people sit through years of uni.

I am beginning to wonder mate. At work there's a lot of very talented people in our midst whom the company judges worthy of taking phone calls, and nothing else. On my team alone almost everyone has a degree of some kind. One has a doctorate in politcal science, and another runs a business parallel to his post in t'mill.I wouldn't be under any illusion if I went back to University that it would automatically land me a better job. I'd be doing purely to better myself and do it on my own terms. A lot of kids get shoved on to a Uni course because their parents are living vicariously or their social standing perceives it's the 'right' time for them to do it. About 50% pull through, others lose their way, and some burn out trying. Of the former, they graduate wondering what the hell they just did with themselves, and stumble onwards into a career chosen by expedience.The course I want to do has applications across print, television and radio. Failing that I was told a large number of graduates go into PR. I'm at the stage in my life where I'll quite happily accept that my dream job working for the BBC isn't going to happen (mostly for reasons of political correctness and for the fact that I'm from completely the wrong demographic background) and will take any position that isn't soul destroying paying a decent wage.I certainly didn't leave school wanting to do statistical analysis, but I fell into it by sheer dint of making the best of a crap situation. If I get offered the job I applied for I'm certainly not going to turn it down on principal. I'll get a pay rise and a chance to end up with some industry qualifications.I will concur however that the job market is utterly bizarre and bereft of any logic or reasoning. Some graduates don't help themselves though, it must be said. A friend of mine (whom I've since made up with) got a First in English Language at Manchester but sat on the dole for 6 months because he wouldn't \ couldn't get himself a job he deemed worthy. He actually turned down a couple of office and supermarket jobs (in this climate) because of his arrogance. I thought he was fucking mental to be honest.

[Mr Lobster]

I do sometimes wish I'd gone to university and studied something useful and 'proper'. That way I might have gone on to get a better job than working for my utterly shit current employer

[pompei]

I did a degree in law, but railed at the prospect of becoming a lawyer - I'd come across too many of them - real and wannabes. I messed about in local government housing for a while then became a trainee surveyor and did exams and assessments by correspondence course over a number of years. So I got a degree and two professional qualifications and was more or less OK until "the crunch" came. Now I'm earning a pittance - probably less than the minimum hourly wage when I tot up the hours I put in.Locally, there's fook all out there - the only vacancy one of the agencies has put to me is in central London. So it's not necessarily any advantage to have qualifications in the current jobs arena. You still get shafted.

[dollywobbler]

Balls to university. I never bothered. However, I definitely had some lucky breaks. I worked at Transco, who used to be the gas network people (now all part of National Grid). Bizzarely, I used to sit next to TV host Alison Hammond. It was a crap job but as a temp, I bounced around a few teams, making it clear to management that I was a hard worker. Moved onto an IT project team, still doing admin and still being paid £5.50 an hour, but that enabled me to move on to a better job doing the same thing. IT project management pays a ridiculous amount of money.I've done some really crappy jobs (reading gas meters and working at Mr Clutch were low points - I lasted four days at each) but have never been afraid to give something different (even something completely different like working as a Van Sales person, selling nuts and bolts from a knackered Peugeot 305 van - good times) a go. I think people pigeon-hole themselves too much these days. I worked with someone at Severn Trent who ended up in the IT department despite having a degree in Environmental Sciences or something.Ah, just remembered. My first job was working at Kwik Save stacking shelves. I quit that after the manager told me he could see me in his shoes one day.

[FredTransit]

I couldn't wait to get out there and earn either, couldn't be doing with uni. Seemed like a way to be overqualified for most things.

[dollywobbler]

It's not necessarily a great way of live - I once had ten jobs in two years - but I got a lot of life and work experience from it.

[RedSparrow]

I did one year of a degree in media and film studies, decided it was a waste of time and money and left. Mind you, it was a shit uni.Since then I've done C&G Electrical installation and Certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages, both of which have been extremely useful.

[Mr H Sceptre]

Did a degree & when I finished I tried to get into my chosen field for ages but to no avail, but I'd moved back home with my parents in a small village so decided that getting a few quid in my pocket & moving out (back to Leicester, where I studied) was my priority. I just took up at temping job for British Gas, which lead to a perm position/promotion etc etc....I agree that going to Uni is probably only relevant to getting a job if you study something vocational ie if you want to become a lawyer, architect, doctor etc etc. But, what I certainly found was it was such a great step in getting independance ie moving away from the family home etc. Plus, I met some close mates who I know I'll be friends with all my life, including Mr Leyland from this parish.

[dollywobbler]

I agree that going to Uni is probably only relevant to getting a job if you study something vocational ie if you want to become a lawyer, architect, doctor etc etc. But, what I certainly found was it was such a great step in getting independance ie moving away from the family home etc. Plus, I met some close mates who I know I'll be friends with all my life, including Mr Leyland from this parish.

Now that I do miss to a certain extent. Ended up living at home until I was 25 as my piss-poor jobs didn't pay enough for me to move out!

[Parky]

Mrs Parky went to Uni in New Zealand to do Linguistics. Probably worthy enough but not much use. Four years of study plus a year in the US on exchange and what does she have to show for it? Nothing at all. I never went to Uni so am apparently stupid. Certainly feels it sitting here drowning in her student debts!I personally believe we should have a scheme where Uni is free for "useful" courses. Cant afford to go to University? Make Engineering free. Cant be arsed to go to work and fancy avoiding it for a few years? Yes, do Media Studies by all means but you are paying through the nose for it. That way I think we would have A LOT more engineers and fewer marketing folk. Cant be a bad thing can it? After all the best way to get out of our current mess is exporting stuff. Remember the post WW2 slogan "Export or Die"? Stands true today. Make something for a quid which we sell overseas for two quid. Simples! Sadly we need engineers for that....

[M'coli]

Which is partly why I'm studying engineering with the Open Uni. I should have done it 20 years ago (it's a long story) but studied genetics instead. I went to university straight after school because there weren't any jobs on the edge of the Scottish Lowlands, or more to the point, all the jobs for young people that were worth doing and lead somewhere were filled by youths whose dad knew the correct "handshake"/someone at the golf club/yacht club/bowling club.

[seth]

Good luck to the engineers! As my chosen career, following five years of being in and out of uni (two placement years), it chucked me out three years later...