What Was Your Dream Job?

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by SkylaRose, Nov 27, 2022.

  1. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    If your doing it now, then congrats!!

    When we were younger we all used to dream of doing a job that at the time seemed far fetched or way out of our abilities. However, some do acheive it through work and dedication with a little bit of luck mixed in.

    When I was at WGSFG I dreamt of working in I.T so I went that route. I did a lot of online courses in computing and got a digital degree in Software Engineering (yes, they were a thing back then). After that, I needed to focus on one major role. I knew I wanted to be SE full time as my career so looked at options like Business Software, Commercial Software and even Video Game Development.

    However, as I love Areo-engineering and Space, I decided to focus on that area. Two major languages used in that field are Python and Ada/SPARK. I spent the next few years with my head in a book learning the Ada language inside out, then finally submitted some of my own programs to a few language experts online who were certified. After passing the Advanced Courses I finally got my degree as a Software Engineer (took about 15 years). So, that's what I do now. I actually get to work from home full time doing it - and submit my work via email and logistics to the company I work for. At the moment, I currently write back end and front end alogirthms for Satelite and low level rocket launching software.

    So, yeah that's my dream job landed I guess. I was bloody hard work and I had a lot of failures and rejections along the way - one of the most irritating ones being a female. Big IT firms in the past saw the path as a male-orintated industry but nowadays it's thankfully much more mixed.

    Are you doing your dream job? If not, what was it?
     
  2. TomWatfordFC

    TomWatfordFC Reservist

    Firstly, congrats on landing your dream job! I myself am an aspiring software engineer (currently in my last year at uni and applying for jobs at the moment). Funnily enough I would also like to end up in the space sector at some point. Your journey should be inspiring for any young girls looking to get in to software or STEM in general! I can't believe you submit your work by email - does your company not use version control?!
     
  3. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Head coach at Watford. One week's work before being sacked for incompetence, then 5 years pay.
     
  4. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Email is updates only on current tasks, nothing executable is sent via email for obvious reasons. We use two version controls - as they are public domain I can name them "Source Code Control System" and "Cocurrent Versions System". Using the latter invokes the GNU (which you probably know is an Operating System in itself) as it connects to UNIX.

    What sort of company would you be looking into? I'm still waiting for NASA to contact me, but I live in hope. Well done for following a similar path btw, I wish you all the best. :) What language(s) do you know?
     
  5. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Let's be honest you could not of been any less incompetant than Woy - the man litterally fell asleep in one game. Working for Gino would be mental torture mind.
     
  6. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Ice cream van driver or run my own sweet shop. Achieved neither …so far.
     
  7. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Proofreader. I’m itching to annotate Skyla’s post…
     
    Since63, SkylaRose and CYHSYF like this.
  8. TomWatfordFC

    TomWatfordFC Reservist

    That makes a lot more sense!
    Predominantly looking at traditional tech and finance companies at the moment. I'm pretty open as it will be my first permanent job - don't want to restrict my opportunities.
    The US rules and regulations are a bit of a bummer. Would love to work for a company doing things like SpaceX, but would need to get US citizenship first! We can live in hope that that may change in the future.
    Thanks! I mostly use C++ and Python, and I've used F# and JavaScript in the past. Dipped my toes into some Java and Lua too. And then a project I'm working on at the moment is in Go.
     
  9. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    You'd of made a terrible proofreader. I can't think of a roll you'd be fewer suitable for.
     
  10. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    That's quite the toolset, it also looks good on a CV for a protential employer. It's very unlikely you will use one language for the job so knowing at least three is always handy. F# - Microsoft's failed attempt to break out into something new. C++ I never got really got, but ironically I do know C pretty well. Java Script and Lua - hmmm scripting languages. JS practically runs the web nowadays and you can earn a pretty penny if your good at that with even a junior position. Go, another one i've never looked at but it's gaining fast traction and Google seem to be pumping money into it.

    If you've never seen Ada before, here's a very simple program I wrote in about 5 mins as an example. It runs on command line only wtih GNAT.

    Code:
    -- calculates circle dimensions
    -- Rose, Skyla  Nov '23
    
    with Ada.Text_IO;
    with Ada.Float_Text_IO;
    
    --
    -- procedure: Main
    -- in: nothing
    -- out: nothing
    --
    procedure Main is
    
       Radius : Float range 1.0 .. Float'Last;
       Diameter : Float := 0.0;
       Circumference : Float := 0.0;
       Area : Float := 0.0;
       PI : Constant Float := 3.14159;
    
    begin
       Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    
       Ada.Text_IO.Put(Item => "Enter the circle's radius: ");
       Ada.Float_Text_IO.Get(Item => Radius);
       Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    
       Diameter := Radius * 2.0;
    
       Ada.Text_IO.Put(Item => "Diameter of circle: ");
       Ada.Float_Text_IO.Put(Item => Diameter,
                             Fore => 2,
                             Aft => 2,
                             Exp => 0);
       Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    
       Circumference := PI * Radius * 2.0;
    
       Ada.Text_IO.Put(Item => "Circumference of circle: ");
       Ada.Float_Text_IO.Put(Item => Circumference,
                             Fore => 2,
                             Aft => 2,
                             Exp => 0);
       Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    
       Area := PI * Radius * Radius;
    
       Ada.Text_IO.Put(Item => "Area of circle: ");
       Ada.Float_Text_IO.Put(Item => Area,
                             Fore => 2,
                             Aft => 2,
                             Exp => 0);
    
       Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    end Main;
     
    TomWatfordFC likes this.
  11. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    I had a Toni-bell Ice cream van from 1979-81, depot in Burnt Oak, School at Leggatts Way Watford, round in Hatfield. hard work long hours but good life experience!
     
    The undeniable truth likes this.
  12. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    For which I would of be fewer suitable.

    Never end a sentence with a preposition.
     
    miked2006 likes this.
  13. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    I was about 10 at the time and was consumed with the idea of consuming my own inventory. Didn’t understand P&L accounts at the time.
     
  14. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Aren't ice-cream van drivers self-employed? I don't know for sure as they obviously lease the van from the vendor. Musical chime they play hasn't changed much over the years. It's also getting rarer to actually see one nowadays. Anyone else remember this company? Looooved their ice-cream as a kid. They do more independent sales now rather than retail.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Lubaduck

    Lubaduck First Year Pro

    Oiling up Kim Kardashian for a photo shoot
     
  16. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    Yes Ice Cream vendors are self employed, Toni-Bell was Lyons Maid, Mr Whippy was Walls!
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  17. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Can we install a dislike button?
     
    The Voice of Reason likes this.
  18. reids

    reids First Team

    Doing it now! :D

    When I was younger I really wanted to work in IT fixing hardware so focused my time and college qualifications around that. I enjoyed it for the first couple of years (despite doing it for 12 years!) but it soon got repetitive and the lack of career progression suddenly didn't appeal to me anymore. So instead I decided to do something I really loved that did have some semblance of career progression and was rewarding so went down the footballing route instead.
     
  19. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    I'm not sure that you've understood the original question
     
  20. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    I've got absolutely no idea what any of this means
     
  21. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Had to google "preposition" :)
     
    Keighley likes this.
  22. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    "Posting on WFC forums" ?
     
    reids likes this.
  23. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    You probably meant to post this instead.

    [​IMG]

    :D
     
  24. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

    I've stumbled my way into a reasonably paid and very flexible job as a policy analyst, but I used to be an administrator, an assistant psychologist and a trainee organisational consultant (glorified tea maker).

    Not sure I've ever had a role that really suited my core personality, nor that I've ever really known what I have wanted to do. I'd probably be the same at most jobs: initially interested and dedicated then increasingly bored. I feel I'm pretty good at lots of things (analysis, people skills, management etc.) without being exceptional or ambitious enough to dedicate myself to be exceptional for a single thing.
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  25. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    As a serious answer, I wanted to be a vet. Would have needed 3 straight As at A level (back when As were rare) for vet degree which would always be just out of reach. So tried to be a doctor like my father. Didn't get the grades as girlfriend dumped me weeks before exams so I did no revision (B,C, D). Became a chartered accountant / FD. Luckily, as I would have been a crap vet/doctor. I'm too empathetic, I would have been too emotionally involved in outcomes and would have become an emotional wreck.
     
    HappyHornet24 likes this.
  26. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    I totally agree. Any work in the medical field, animal or human needs exceptional will power and and tight kept emotions (also a non fear of blood and needles probably helps). It's impossible to tell what you become as a person later in life, let alone how that will effect your choice of career. Nothing wrong diving into accounting either, somebody has to balance the books of finanace. You should have a stab at WFC's books.
     
    The undeniable truth likes this.
  27. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Watfords books would be fascinating. All about cashflow management rather than “profit” though they are of course connected. Very difficult to forecast given the variation in potential income and player values.
     
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  28. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

    You'd get a headache trying to account for the significant depreciation/ writing off of Mogi assets.
     
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  29. WatfordÉire

    WatfordÉire Squad Player

    Always wanted to fly, but like for many other hopefuls the finances involved prove a big stumbling block. Got an aviation related degree, then spent years working on the ramp in Dublin doing everything from cleaning toilets to loading bags and saving my b0llox off.

    Completed my commercial flight training last year, rough timing for the industry all things considered with covid etc and restrictions on travel, so now just waiting on that first airline job!
     
  30. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Awesome, that's what it's all about, going for the long game.
    Keep us updated.
     
    WatfordÉire likes this.
  31. lendal

    lendal Reservist

    Very traditional for my generation…train driver! Still love trains, but now in the worlds best job ever, retirement:)
     
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  32. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    I never had a dream job as a kid, always been the opposite of career focussed (whatever the word for that is), probably because my old man was a workaholic.

    I've got loads of interests that I'd love to work in - football, something to do with the Balkans, cooking and others, but nothing would pay anything like I'm on and I'm not sure what that would look like anyway.

    I work at a start up company that is now very big (I joined a couple of years ago when they were already huge) that pays me very well, no dress code, modern attitude to work etc. so it's OK. It's not remotely fulfilling, but it's convenient, easy going and I don't work late, so at least I have the rest of my time for stuff that actually matters to me.
     
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  33. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    That's great. While I have zero ambition, it's great to see people who do have a dream and make it a reality.

    With everything that has happened to the industry is it the case that there is now a high demand for pilots?

    I had an interview at EasyJet a month before covid arrived. Absolutely smashed the first interview, then the second was an absolute car crash so didn't get it - turned out to be very a good thing.
     
  34. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    One of the few pieces of good careers advice I received over the years was that not everyone can achieve a truly emotionally fulfilling job in a role that excites them. If you can't achieve that, then get a good well paid solid job and get your enjoyment from taking your hobbies/interests really seriously outside work.
     
  35. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Proof, if proof were needed, that anyone can be a career advisor.
     
    Lloyd likes this.

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