What is your biggest career regret?

embraer170

Simple_Simone wrote: »

Had a chance of moving to Brussels for three years (and possibility of 3 more) with decent rent, travel and expense allowances thrown in, but my better (??) half and the kids over-ruled me. To this day I regard this as a missed opportunity for the whole family.

The kids (who were then 10 and 7) would have had a great opportunity to pick up French and German (whatever about learning Walloon!) in the international school in Brussels, and the Better (??) Half could have developed his long-running love affair with Belgian Trappist beers and the wines of France, as well as learning how to ski.

But he preferred to remain at home, watching Sky Sports and grumbling about Bertie, Biffo, the Pee Dees, the Greens and the cost of living in Ireland!

I am not sure where in Belgium you would learned to to ski, and the kids might have picked up Dutch... but still a shame.

the_syco

Although I regretted staying in a certain company (doing 1st line IT Support) for as long as I did, on hindsight staying there helped me get better jobs when I did leave, and it changed my future severely (in a good way).

madmaggie

I landed a job I thought was ideal. It was retail, but I enjoyed helping the customers, no till work, all shop floor stuff. I had been warned beforehand about the manager, but I was in no way prepared for that psycho. It was a relief when I was let go due to the recession.

AudiAvant

A big regret I have was going to a career I thought I would love
I wanted to be a truck driver just like the father
Got my licences at a young age and was in and out of jobs over the last tens years,the profession has sucked the life out of me
Endless hours and no social life for shocking pay and been treated like dirt
Should have listened to my father
Looking to try something new but unsure what direction to go in

gandalf

The one decision I keep thinking back to was back in 2009 when I chucked a job with a multinational to work with a former boss in a company that was in distress that he was trying to turn around, it was a major punt and unfortunately it didn't work out. It lead to me having two stints unemployed, one for 16 months and another two years after that for nearly another two years. The upside to it was that I got a degree and a diploma whilst I was unemployed which meant I landed my current role. TBH if I had the choice again I would probably take the punt again but I can't help wondering if I didn't do it I may have been financially far better off but not educationally.

The other major regret I have is not continuing on with further education. It took my 15 years to get my ass in gear and get back to college. I'm now applying for a Masters course and I have vowed that I will keep trying to educate myself as I found I enjoy it (it must be a masochistic streak or something!).

Faith+1

arsebiscuits82 wrote: »

Turning down 2 things, first an army cadetship and second the guards. Very happy with where I am now but sometimes think of what might have been.

If you don't mind me asking, why? The effort to be accepted for both is quite difficult and to turn them down is surprising. Tried to join the Guards twice and was rejected twice

Faith+1

AudiAvant wrote: »

A big regret I have was going to a career I thought I would love
I wanted to be a truck driver just like the father
Got my licences at a young age and was in and out of jobs over the last tens years,the profession has sucked the life out of me
Endless hours and no social life for shocking pay and been treated like dirt
Should have listened to my father
Looking to try something new but unsure what direction to go in

You're not alone. I always had this notion that Truck Driving was exciting, rewarding and well paid.


Got my rigid licence 8 years ago with the intention of getting my artic licence the following year. Found it very difficult to get a job and when I did the pay was €10 p/h! The days were ridiculously long and the places I delivered to treated me like pure sh*t.


After 2 Months of it I had enough, I was feeling depressed and felt if I stayed in the job any longer I'd drive the f*cking thing into the side of Dunnes.


So I quit for my own sanity and got a position with my Local Authority. Tbh I laugh when I heard about a driver shortage, it does not exist. Plenty of lads have a licence but got out of it due to sh*t money, long hours, assh*le employers and arrogant customers.


Take my advice and get out it asap.

AudiAvant

Faith+1 wrote: »

You're not alone. I always had this notion that Truck Driving was exciting, rewarding and well paid.


Got my rigid licence 8 years ago with the intention of getting my artic licence the following year. Found it very difficult to get a job and when I did the pay was €10 p/h! The days were ridiculously long and the places I delivered to treated me like pure sh*t.


After 2 Months of it I had enough, I was feeling depressed and felt if I stayed in the job any longer I'd drive the f*cking thing into the side of Dunnes.


So I quit for my own sanity and got a position with my Local Authority. Tbh I laugh when I heard about a driver shortage, it does not exist. Plenty of lads have a licence but got out of it due to sh*t money, long hours, assh*le employers and arrogant customers.


Take my advice and get out it asap.

Cheers for the reply
Good to hear I am not the only one who felt that way,drove me to the doctor's with depression and anxiety,also like you said serious anger and stress
I actually have all the licences,including ADR for the hazardous stuff
I was always on day rates,never lucky enough to get payed by the hour
Some haulers I did do work for never even payed me

Definitely out of it now,no shortage of drivers like you said
Shortage of lads who want to be treated like filth on a shoe

Not sure what direction to go in now,still young but the whole thing has knocked the confidence out of me

Good to hear your out of it and happy

Faith+1

TBH Audivant I'd take a job packing shelves rather than drive a truck again. If you're anyway competent with paperwork/computers I'd recommend applying for the Public Service.

In fact DCC will be starting a new Clerical Officer campaign either this month or the next. Great opportunities for promotion, free courses etc.

AudiAvant

Faith+1 wrote: »

TBH Audivant I'd take a job packing shelves rather than drive a truck again. If you're anyway competent with paperwork/computers I'd recommend applying for the Public Service.

In fact DCC will be starting a new Clerical Officer campaign either this month or the next. Great opportunities for promotion, free courses etc.

Cheers
Ye I'm actually good on computers and clued in on paperwork
Will keep an eye out for them positions
Thanks

scudzilla

I worked in probably one of the largest companies in the world for over 10yrs as a contractor, job was great, my work colleagues were great, my management though were complete and utter idiots, mostly sociopaths and promoted way above their intelligence.
I was bullied (exclusion from projects, messing with roster, slagging me off to others) but stood up to them at every step as my contract was iron clad and the client loved me and knew i was damn good at my job. They hated the fact that i actually stood up to them and told them how it was, all the others were just scared of losing their jobs.
Zero chance of any promotion as they only seemed to promote idiots but i loved the job
I took the leap last May and left, was hard, leaving a very well paid job at my age to go somewhere new, my biggest regret was that i didn't do it sooner.

New company i'm working for are amazing, treat me like a human, going for a big promotion this week, sky's the limit here

Hector Savage

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Working in a large corporation, truly awful working environment

Agree, the absolute pits, I worked for a big US tech (think the call themselves<snip> - The absolute bowels of HELL.

horrible horrible horrible place and just killed my interest in tech for a while.



edit - removed Company name...actually PM me if you wanna know the name, I like to warn people

valoren

Started in QA in 2007 after 4 years of tech support. I regret not starting in QA sooner.
I was single and with positions available in other countries I was happy to travel. The company was a QA contractor.
I worked primarily in the UK from 2007 until 2010 with a stint in the US also and accrued some great experience, working with major banks. My area being Swift messaging, IBM MQ Websphere, the typical financial transaction processes etc.

One regret was that I have always been passive about test automation. I was never a good programmer and never had the self-confidence to try it and work on a project requiring it. I still feel I don't have the aptitude for it nor would I have the love for it, although it's not that difficult.

In late 2010 while in Bournemouth with JP Morgan word came through from a colleague that his company (financial services) back home in Cork were actively looking for QA and the role was a perfect fit. I would have loved to have had the chance to go back home but the role was initially a 6 month contract. Given the economic situation at the time which was the IMF bailout, I regret not taking the risk of accepting, and stayed put. After the JPM job finished up, I ended up being back at the base in Dublin. I was travelling up from Cork on the monday morning and heading home Friday evenings. Worked with Revenue for a year and then almost 2 with BOI. Having accrued 7 years financial services experience I ended up getting assigned to a telecoms company. I hated it. And hated more the fact I had zero experience with it. Our company were just throwing people (including me) at it to get it over the line.

After having requested a day's leave it was immediately denied due to the pressure on the Telecom project and I actively started to look for another role. In a case of serendipity, during that period, the same colleague in the same company contacted me during this time regarding a major project. It was a case of if you want it, you can have it. Again it was 6 months contract but given the likelihood of years of off-shoot projects, there was a view towards permanency. I accepted without a second thought and the 30% pay increase was welcome too. I've been here ever since and my regret is not accepting it 3 years before.