Job/career! What do you do? Do you enjoy it?!

B

BH4

Active Member
Joined
6 September 2008
Messages
37
Visit site
I am currently doing my A levels and having to think about university. I have some ideas but really don't know what I want to do.
I was quite set on equine business management or science a few months ago but now wonder where that would take me and how useful it would be, so I am trying to think of non-horse things now. Some of my ideas are teaching, business, events management or animal science and a few others. Very varied as you can see!
So I just wanted to ask: What do you do for a living? Do you enjoy it? Can you can afford to keep a horse/horses/live comfortably?!
I know this seems very nosy, but I hope it will just give me some more ideas to consider.
Thanks to anyone who contributes :)
 
I have 3 different jobs... I am a GP, I sit on benefits tribunals and I'm a director of a company which has a technology solution .

GP - TBH don't really enjoy but pays really well

Tribunal services - LOVE LOVE LOVE but doesn't pay as well as GP (And you need to be a dr or a lawyer most of the time to sit)

Director of Company - LOTS of work and late niights... don't really enjoy anymore but it is the most lucrative of the 3 jobs.

Can afford to keep a horse easily TBH... I have 2 and am looking for a 3rd.

Blitz
 
Last edited:
What do you do for a living? - pensions administrator.
Do you enjoy it? - it's ok. Simple enough, if frustrating.
Can you can afford to keep a horse/horses/live comfortably?! - I've only been there six months, and TBH I'm not likely to get a whole much more money or career progression anyway. So no, and no... I'm frantically saving up for my first house at the moment!

Sorry, probably not much help. Though I was previously a groom... I eventually hated it (I wanted to work to live, not live to work!) and got min wage for it. Not worth it, at all. I never would have been able to live like that for long!
 
Blitznbobs - blimey, not sure how you do all that. How do you have time for the horses??

Hmm, I 'fell' into insurance after a stint of working in a bar abroad then as a holiday rep, then a sub editor for national newspapers. Somehow i ended up then insuring horses. Did that for just short of 7 years and quit a couple of months ago to work for a different insurere and I now insure farms and large country estates. It's a bit different, the pay's better and working hours are normal mon-fri 9 to 5 but with flexible working hours too.

It's certainly not what I would have chosen as a career path - I did an HND in equine science! However, I still hope one day i may find THE job for me but i still tell myself there are worse jobs i could be doing. It's not rock and roll but it's a job and generally the people are pretty nice and chilled out andm at the end of the day people are always going to need insurance of some form so it's a relatively secure job as jobs go.
 
I'm sort of in the same situation as you.

I am working out which foundation degree to do in September, either Equine Sciene, Equine behaviour & welfare or a few others.

I work part time in admin and it's alright. I don't mind it. For being part time it pays pretty well, I live with my mum so obviously don't have house etc. to pay for, I have 2 horses my mum pays for one I pay for the other and I can afford this, getting a car and still having money to spare.

My view is if I end up not using my foundation degree or not working with horses, so be it, I want to do the found. degree so I am going to. So what if it doesnt work out?
 
I am a business development manager for an internet based data marketing company...I enjoy it most of the time :) I work from home which I really like, especially as my ponies are at home too. It's also very flexible, a small amount of hours I have to do in office hours, the rest I can do as and when, as long as it gets done :) I can afford to keep my ponies on it, but I don't do anything else like go on holiday etc, my choice to have ponies instead though :)
 
I teach a system of dance/exercise called "Margaret Morris Movement" and am a Level 3 Registered Exercise Professional. Prior to this I worked for the police as a secretary.

Love it? Yes I do! I spend some of my time with special needs, which is such fun, and I can plan my week and fit it in around horsey stuff.

Some of you may remember doing "exercises on horseback" and "Round the World" on a horse, when you were in Pony Club? Wellll, looking at it retrospectively, those exercises were based on Margaret Morris Movement (MMM), and they're basically a sort-of dancing form of pilates, doing the same thing really, tho' we use movement much more than pilates does, plus we do breathing exercises, balance, agility & co-ordination.
 
ladyt25 said:
Blitznbobs - blimey, not sure how you do all that. How do you have time for the horses??

.
Click to expand...

Easy peasy... GP 2 days plus 2 evenings a week..
Tribunal - 2 - 4 days a month commitment.
Director of own company - as long as the work gets done it doesn't matter where or when...


Horses kept at home and pay someone to muck out on days when I'm working - OLD DWB grand prix horse that is semi retired as he has arthritic hocks and doesn't understand the meaning of the phrase 'quiet hack' and so can only 'work' for 10 to 20 mins a day. And baby section A who is being long reined etc for my baby (human) boy... so REALLY I need something more to ride. (Lost my section D to a brain tumour 18 months ago).

Blitz - who doesn't like being bored
 
I work as an HR Manager for a large industrial services company. I love it!! It can be demanding but no day is ever the same and I get plenty of challenges and ways to develop myself. It pays well enough to be able to have a nice standard of living and keep my horse in the style to which he is accustomed ;) I'm having to re-adjust finances a little at the moment though as I've just had a baby and childcare costs are huge!!

I fell into HR as a career. When I was at 6th form I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Mum really didn't want me to work with horses (claiming no money in it - very true in many instances) but that was her only stipulation. I enjoyed fashion but wasn't sure about it as a career but ultimately chose to do a fashion and business degree which was an interesting combination and the business side of it has really held me in good stead. My best advice would be, that if you're not sure what you want to do long term, find out as much as possible about everything you're interested in and if you can't decide pick something (like management/marketing/business) which would be interesting to a variety of employers.

Good luck :D :D
 
Im still only 15, and have been considering many of the same options as you. I made a thread on here not too long ago, and with the feedback i got from that, along with my recent weeks work experience on an event yard, i would advise to do something seperate from horses tbh. You would get paid hardly anything and work very very long hours. Yes ive had a great time, but once youve worked with horses all day, you get back to yours in the evening at 5/6 o'clock, and its not a luxury having horses. Where as if you have a separate career you look forward to seeing your poines in the evening. :) Well thats my view on it :) Im thinkng of going down the business route, or possibly accounting now :) Good luck with what ever you choose x
 
I am a full-time student (9 hours a week in term time, haha!) who studies History, English Literature and French.

For a job I work part-time during term and practically full-time in the holidays for a company selling horse riding holidays around the world. Not sure I can say which without it being advertising! I take bookings, update the website and our Facebook page and sometimes test the holidays (oh how awful!). This August I will be escorting a trail in Italy for a week. We have a bunch of single lady travellers going so it should be a real laugh.

As for whether I enjoy my job, you can probably guess the answer! :)
 
I qualified as a secondary teacher a few years ago. I loved teaching in schools but unfortunately after my probation year I found myself unemployed. I am now working as a lecturer in scottish prisons and I love it. I have a house, car and horse but I do live with my partner.
 
I work as an assistant to a Conservative member of the European Parliament in Brussels. I love the job, and the money is lucrative considering I'm still in my 20s (just!), but I've been looking for assistants jobs in Westminster because I find UK politics much more interesting than European politics and want to run for council (and Westminster) myself. Was offered a job this morning but the pay was BAD (particularly for central London). As I have just bought a horse (madness!), I've asked them if they'll consider a bit more money before I accept.

If they won't go higher, I'm holding out for something with a think tank.

I adore politics and, after 7 or 8 years of doing jobs for money rather than interest, I'm in my absolute element.

However, my degree is in Zoology. Like you, I left education with absolutely no clue what I wanted to do and drifted for a long time. Tried teaching, estate agency, jobs with horses, lots of temping in various offices, working for a printers... loads of stuff. One thing I will say is that it helped me narrow down what I don't want from a job.

But if you're really not sure what you want to do, there's no rule to say you HAVE to go to uni directly after college. My sister wasn't sure what she wanted to do after A levels but was fed up with studying. She spent about four years working, finding out what she liked and didn't like. She then realised that, for the job she really wanted, she needed a business degree, so has now gone to uni - and just got a first. Now that we have to pay for degrees, I'd say there's nothing wrong with waiting until you're sure what you want to do (or have at least narrowed it down) and that the degree actually will be useful.
 
I am a nurse in the NHS for a special project that overseas private nursing homes (a bit like district/practice nurse for a caseload of around 450 patients) the hours are monday to friday with some flexibility :)
i have one horse who i am trying to event, i do eveything on a shoestring! no horsey parents (in fact mum and dad have never seen horse) buy lots of gear in sales or through ebay. I also do night shifts in the hospital to fund my horsey addiction so i can afford to eat!
Pony wants for nothing though!
 
I work part time behind a bar and am currently sorting out dog walking business.... Life's stress free and as I do my own hours in the day I have plenty of time for my horse who I've only had a few weeks.... I'm not very rich and have a rubbish car etc but its good!!!! :D

PS avoid notts trent for any degree (if I'm allowed to say that on these things?!?!)
 
i did a national diploma in horse managment and then decided i didnt want to do horses as a career, when your in the sh*tty weather all day mucking out and shovelling sh*t it just isnt enjoyable when you do your own. so for the last 9 months i have done learning support for college students with learning problems and now the students have finished i have no work which is the down side, but i have just applied for a job working with adults with challenging behaviours and awaiting to hear if iv got it and after deciding that i would do uni im starting a degree in september to do with learning problems. i can afford my horses but i still live at home, but if i get this job i will be planning on moving out but being only 19 im not rushing so im saving for a decent flat to rent.
 
I'm a small animal vet nurse, worked in same practice since I left school so been there 18yrs now.

Yes I do love it most of the time, I know I wouldn't be happy not doing anything with animals but I wish I had more of a life as long hours, do four 10hr days and a 4 1/2 hr day plus look after in-patients, they get done between 9-10pm plus four times a day at weekends.

No I can't fit a horse in, I prob could as I did it before I lost my lovely mare two yrs ago but I don't feel it would be fair on me or the new horse TBH so having to stick with riding lessons to get my fix. Also financially it's a struggle and still havn't got over my huge vet bill when my mare was ill xx
 
I am a criminal defence solicitor.

I earn enough to live and keep my horse comfortably.

Up until last year I worked in "traditional" firms which meant I often worked 10 hour days and then evenings and weekends on call and had very little time for anything. I am now self employed and as such can choose when I work and when I go and ride.

If you have the grades and aren't sure what to do Law is a good degree to have as it will allow you to go on and do most things afterwards.
 
Im a research scientist and I work in Molecular Parasitology. At the moment I am looking into cattle and seeing if thay have a gene which codes for succeptibility/resistance to liver fluke (in simple terms).
0730-1630 mon-fri
I enjoy it when its going well and when things work/when you find out what you want to find out but not when you spend months on something and dont find anything! ie. cattle dont have a gene for s/r to fluke...yes Ive found something but I wanted to find that they did!

I am own my own horse bedding company-selling wood pellets we dont just deliver pellets we set up beds and visit customers after a week to make sure everything is fine. 1830-2100 2-3 evening a week
Love it! Hope at some point in the future to be able to go p/t at the lab and concentrate on this

I also milk my friends cows at the weekend so he can have a morning off. 0500-1000 every sat
Dont really like but if not for me he wouldnt get any days off at all in a whole year so I do it.

I own 2 ponies and keep them at my friends house, she has 4 and we share them between us, she does morining and I do evenings and we both ride/exercise our own. Her son also rides.
 
I'm self employed - have a dog grooming salon. I love being a dog groomer and I love being in charge of my day. The pay isn't great-- but that's really down to me if I want to give myself a raise. However, after seven years of running my business I can safely say I'm probably going to ride out the recession because I've not gone too overboard with my pricing (even though I've a reputation for being the highest priced in the area).

Having said that...if I didn't have a horse I could "keep myself". But I'm married, and my husband takes up a lot of slack so that I can keep the horse.

My work week consists of opening shop at 0800 and usually work til 1600 or 1630 Tue-Fri, and then Saturdays 0900-1400 with no breaks. I work one Sunday every second month for as long as I need to (might be three hours, might be eight). I work lots of evenings doing administrative stuff from home.
 
I'm a personal trainer and pole dance instructor, love it and it means I can fit my work around my horse. Money is tight though as the market for PT isn't great still post recession, thankfully my expenses are low and my boy is cheap to keep. Thinking about expanding into equine massage and rider fitness.

I have a degree in environmental science (clearly that has come in handy!) and have also groomed internationally - fab when you work for nice employer who value you, but horrendous when you work for a bar steward with a bad temper and no manners!
 
When I left school I went to an equine college then took on a WP pupil post at riding school and livery yard I could not afford a horse but lucky parents helped out with the horses :) I then went on to teach at another RS which helped with me being able to pay for my horses :) I did enjoy it though I am quite open in opinion and found it very difficult to teach clients on horses that had been going for hours at a time though they did listen and ensured the the horses got regular breaks:) I had been off for 2 weeks and came back, was teaching a class and one of the cobs just collapsed on the client :( I was deciding to move area anyway and I thought I dont wanna do this any more so this helped.
I know work for NHS on a mental health unit its intensive care unit so very intense and we take a lot of grief but its so rewarding and and certain times it makes me remember how much I really enjoy it :D I can afford the horse though sadly I lack time :( thats due to the kids and my partner having own business no regular routine for him :(
 
i'm 27 and a management consultant. career progression is fast and so i earn enough money to comfortably keep two horses at the moment - but it can be difficult to find time to do them both justice. i have a degree in physiology from Nottingham which fits in quite well with work as we mainly work with pharmaceutical companies.

TBH, i fell into consulting by accident (i had started a PhD and decided bench science wasn't for me...far too clumsy!). The main thing i wanted was a career which would be varied and challenging - you get both in consulting! - and where i could hopefully use my degree. the only problem is that i could sometimes do with more sleep!!
 
I did a Biology degree. I graduated in 2006 and didn't really know what to do with myself. My sister got me a temping job at her company (a big publishing house). I applied and got a job working as assistant manager at a City Farm. My dream job :D......or so I though :(

One super-bitch as a boss and one tribunal later and I was back at my old job in publishing :( (I won the tribunal and the bitch got in lots of trouble :D Turns out bullying isn't tolerated!).

I was very disheartened so OH said 'what do you REALLY want to do?'. I said that I'd always wanted to be a vet. OH said 'why don't you go and do it then?'. I replied with a very saracastic 'oh, I'll just do that then, it's THAT easy to be a vet!!:mad:'

Then I thought...........maybe I will!!! I had C*** A-level results to due various family problems (addiction etc :() but I took unpaid leave to do work experience and re-did A-level chemistry at night school. Got an interview :) and was rejected :(

Finished the A-level, got an A :) Took a Saturday job at a vet's, re-applied got an interview and an unconditional offer :D Going to the Royal Veterinary College in September to do accelerated veterinary medicine :D

Long and rambling!!! I don't think many people know what they really want to do at 18, but it's never too late to discover what you really want to do and go for it!
 
Hi I'm an independednt Financial adviser, and it was one of those jobs that just happened. Really enjoy it as meet all sorts of people as I also specialise so advise GP's and consultants, vets and dentists to business directors.
I also work from home which means that my work is really flexible and fits in with my horse and competeing.
It does allow me to afford it quite easily, but as I have just bought a house thats a renovation project this seems to be taking all my money :)
 
Wow montyandzoom! How fantastic for you, and what a lovely OH you have!!

I dont actually work at the moment, i thought i wanted to work with horses so i went to Hartpury College and did Equine Science for a year, HATED it so i left, i have been looking for a job grooming for a year or so untill i figure myself out. Its so hard though because i cant find anything!

If you have the grades as annother poster said ..if you would be interested in it..do a law degree..gets you most places in life
 
MontyandZoom said:
I did a Biology degree. I graduated in 2006 and didn't really know what to do with myself. My sister got me a temping job at her company (a big publishing house). I applied and got a job working as assistant manager at a City Farm. My dream job :D......or so I though :(

One super-bitch as a boss and one tribunal later and I was back at my old job in publishing :( (I won the tribunal and the bitch got in lots of trouble :D Turns out bullying isn't tolerated!).

I was very disheartened so OH said 'what do you REALLY want to do?'. I said that I'd always wanted to be a vet. OH said 'why don't you go and do it then?'. I replied with a very saracastic 'oh, I'll just do that then, it's THAT easy to be a vet!!:mad:'

Then I thought...........maybe I will!!! I had C*** A-level results to due various family problems (addiction etc :() but I took unpaid leave to do work experience and re-did A-level chemistry at night school. Got an interview :) and was rejected :(

Finished the A-level, got an A :) Took a Saturday job at a vet's, re-applied got an interview and an unconditional offer :D Going to the Royal Veterinary College in September to do accelerated veterinary medicine :D

Long and rambling!!! I don't think many people know what they really want to do at 18, but it's never too late to discover what you really want to do and go for it!
Click to expand...

oh my word. Good on you girl!!! that's fabulous!
so much that can be said for studying a little later than the norm in life and going into what you REALLY want to do later in life! I'm doing the same thing (not vet though)

x
 
BayJosie said:
oh my word. Good on you girl!!! that's fabulous!
so much that can be said for studying a little later than the norm in life and going into what you REALLY want to do later in life! I'm doing the same thing (not vet though)

x
Click to expand...

Thanks hun :D OH has been very supportive.....especially last year when I was doing 45hour a week full time job, 8 hours on a Saturday, looking after 2 horses, 2 evenings a week at college and studying for exams.

I was MOODY! :D I have to say, two years of work I was so happy to get in.....but now I'm pooing myself :eek:
 
I studied Animal Science and Nutrition at uni... I really enjoyed it, and hoped to work for a horse or aniimal feed company. I then worked for a feed/tack shop and then their distribution place, then for a pig feed manufacturer. When i was made redundant I decided that the industry was too unstable and looked elsewhere. I took the first job that came along and I'm still here nearly 2 years later.

I am a production planner for Firmenich, who globally make food flavours, perfumes and fragrances, although our site just makes flavours, and predominantly savoury ones. Chances are you've probably used about 4 products that we are involved in this morning alone, but you'd never know and have probably never heard of us. It's very corporate and I get a bit of grief from friends for selling out to corporate hell, but I really like my job, the people I work with, and where I work (10mins from home, or 30mins on a bycycle). I actually really admire the company for being so big and still caring about the people who work for them.

I also do a bit of PC teaching, some schooling, feed advising, and clipping/trimming/plaiting etc in my spare time for a bit of pocket money.

I can afford to keep my horse and live relatively comfortably, but then I keep him at my parents house and pay £10 a month towards repairs to the place, and then pay for his feed/bedding etc etc etc myself as it still works out cheaper than livery. And I share the mortgage and house stuff with my husband which helps! :D

At the end of the day, with a few exceptions, it doesn't really Matter what you study. It's as much about learning to study, learning to live away from home, making some life decisions (alcoholism and the life of riley, or the straight and narrow mostly! ;)) and doing some growing up. Make the most of your degree and have fun, but don't sweat too much about the jobs! If your degree is something fairly generic like business management then you've got a good chance of getting a good job if you back it up with work experience, though the job might not necessarily be in what you thought it would be in! Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top