Thread: How did you choose a profession/trade when you left school?

Originally Posted by drfish

I was a little to ambitious with my University course selections in year 12 and ended up only getting offered my 4th selection which was a place in a BSc Biotechnology degree at UNSW; I had no idea what that was but commenced anyway. I wasn’t engaged so transferred to a more general BSc Advanced Science with a major in biochemistry/molecular genetics. Finished that and did an honours research degree in marine science and delivered a thesis on bottlenose dolphins. While asking myself “what now” got offered an Aus Govt Industry scholarship with UNSW and NSW Fisheries and completed a PhD. Won an Aus Govt Industry post-doc fellowship with UNSW and NSW Fisheries, and then landed a Lectureship in marine ecology with UNSW. Got a bit sick of academia, and ended up as a Principal Research Scientist with the Department of Primary Industries, where I still am today, specialising in a number of areas. Unlike many other posts here I am still quite a few decades away from retirement though. But it is a challenging, engaging and rewarding job which I really enjoy, so that doesn’t bother me.

"Dr Fish" indeed. I'm about a decade away from retirement, so somewhere in between.

I have no intention of retiring until I am physically or mentally unable to work.
I would be bored stupid, I don't have any hobbies except yelling at our kids & I "Usually" enjoy what I do.
I must admit that now I am well into my 60's I have slowed down a bit & try to take more time off. Where possible I only work a 5 day week now & take every 3rd or 4th week off to see the family.
Not always possible, staff away, **** happens & I am on call 24/7 but according to my time sheets I am working about 10 hours less a week.
Also terrified that if I retire I will die!
Jonesfam

Originally Posted by jonesfam

I have no intention of retiring until I am physically or mentally unable to work.
I would be bored stupid, I don't have any hobbies except yelling at our kids & I "Usually" enjoy what I do.
I must admit that now I am well into my 60's I have slowed down a bit & try to take more time off. Where possible I only work a 5 day week now & take every 3rd or 4th week off to see the family.
Not always possible, staff away, **** happens & I am on call 24/7 but according to my time sheets I am working about 10 hours less a week.
Also terrified that if I retire I will die!
Jonesfam

Well, given that I've still got youngish kids I was telling my employers the other day that I intended to work until I was 70 - they were ..... surprised.

I grew up in quite a small town on the North coast of NSW. My father completed the Intermediate Certificate and my mother never went to secondary school.
I started school when I was less than four and a half and was consistently second in primary school exams. I guess it is pretty easy to be a big fish in a very small pond.
My parents and probably most of the townspeople considered that the absolute pinnacle of professions was a school teacher, so it was assumed even when I was still in Primary School that I would become a teacher.,
The only way I could have a tertiary education was to get a Teacher's Scholarship, so after getting an Arts Degree and a Diploma of Education, I became a secondary school teacher.
I did work at other part time jobs while I was at Uni and during school holidays. I worked on a dairy farm, and on other farms, in a timber yard, as a cotton chipper and tractor driving on a cotton farm, and driving wheat trucks.
It seemed that there was never any doubt in anyone's mind that I would become a teacher.
Even though it seems I never made a conscious choice of career, I think it was the right career for me.

With a couple of interruptions, I eventually followed my father's profession as a metallurgist in the mining industry. As a kid, we moved around a lot, living in different mining towns. During school holidays, I would often find work as a labourer in the processing plant or in the laboratory - worked at Moline (NT) Silver / Lead / Zinc plant, Ardlethan Tin mine in NSW and King Island Scheelite mine in Tas.

Parents eventually enrolled me in Bendigo School of Mines, where I studied Metallurgy. I had a falling out with the family and dropped out of this course after a year, and ended up working at an auto brake specialist in Adelaide, where I completed training at Adelaide TAFE and qualified as a brake mechanic.

After a few more years in various jobs, including working as a mechanic on farming equipment in WA and a stint on the railways, I ended up back in the mining industry, initially running an assay laboratory at a gold mine in WA. Ended up at The Granites Gold Mine in NT where I started out running the lab, before they put me through the final 3 years of my metallurgy degree at WA School of Mines in Kalgoorlie. Did most of that course by correspondence, with two trips to Kalgoorlie required each year for "practicals" and exams. During this period, I worked as Plant Metallurgist and then Mill Superintendent at The Granites. Left the NT in 1991 and moved to Kalgoorlie to work in the mines.

Other than a short break for a couple of years when I got out of the mining game and worked as a sub-contractor in heavy haulage, firstly with my own pilot vehicles and later driving trucks pulling oversize loads throughout WA / NT / Qld - I have worked in the mining game since. Had roles including metallurgist / mill superintendent and mine manager in a number of gold mines, and then moved to iron ore. Was mine manager at Cockatoo Island iron ore mine for a while when it re-opened, and have worked there twice since in advisory / consulting roles for different contractors. Worked as national processing manager for two of the larger mining contractors in the country at the time - both companies have since been either taken over or merged into other entities since. Most recent jobs have been more in process engineering / design areas for new / smaller companies, mostly in iron ore in both WA and SA. I have long since given up any desire to ever work for large companies again - they are not my cup of tea at all.

Recently retired, largely due to health issues, I now spend my time at home tinkering with cars and enjoying my hobby of woodwork. I love working with timber & epoxy resins and will have a crack at just about anything that I've got the equipment etc required to do the job. Not sure how long we will stay here in Kalgoorlie for. The wife has just gone back to work full time - but we will probably sell up here and move to Tassie in the longer term. Have a house virtually on the water at the mouth of the Derwent River about half hour's drive from the centre of Hobart with a decent size shed for my woodworking gear

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Well, given that I've still got youngish kids I was telling my employers the other day that I intended to work until I was 70 - they were ..... surprised.

I have no intention of working beyond 60.
Wife and I were empty nesters by 40 (our kids are 27 & 28 and we have 1 Grandkid with another in the oven.

I have 10 years to set retirement up

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Well, given that I've still got youngish kids I was telling my employers the other day that I intended to work until I was 70 - they were ..... surprised.

I hope that is not because they weren't even thinking of inviting you to the Xmas party!

My first, post-school employment was chosen for me, by monetary necessity.