jobs

[Entertwainer]

need to get out of my current job. had a spell of this about 6 months ago and said to myself i'd give it another 6 months and then reassess where im at.

still feeling the same in some ways, so got to the point where i'm looking for ways out.

Anyone here currently/been a driving instructor before?
i considered this last time i was looking for a different job, but not sure if its one of those things that takes a while before you start actually seeing a decent cashflow...?? im guessing there is initial outlay for training/spec'ing a car out or having one provided..??

anyone else made a job switch like this before? been doing the same job for over 5 years now, but the risks are far outgrowing the benefits/enjoyment of the job (i'm a technologist for a toy/gift manufacturer) - think of Mattel and the Lead issue in the US and thats basically the same level of shi*t that can be associated with my job (but on perhaps a smaller scale)

i've not got any trade skills and i'm feeling a little trapped considering i've been doing this job so long. plus all there seems to be down south are lettings agents jobs, trade jobs or receptionist jobs.....
other than starting out on my own - which im pretty sure i dont want to do (at least for now anyway) literally dont know what to do.....not even sure what talking to my current employer would do, get the feeling it would make things complicated/awkward which would be a last resort really....

got 2 kids and a mortgage (which has recently seen an increase in monthly payments - so dont want to be suffering too much of a pay down grade if im switching jobs).....

meh. im off to get me a lottery ticket.
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Honda CG 125 W - Turkish - 1998 - 2015 RIP

[Shinigami]

fluffer for ron jeremy.


p.s this is probably in the wrong section as it's not about bikes?
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Current: Honda City Fly CLR125 2003 Honda CB600F Hornet 2008 Yamaha FZ6 S2 + 1991 Kawasaki GPZ500
"Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense.

[N cee thirty]

i think the only way you'd make a living from it is working for one of the big companies and even then they'd be pushing you for more hours.

i had an independent guy and he could barely make a do, probably making less then min wage a day after expenses
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[_Iain_]

[-Monty-]

This is definitely the wrong section, presumably this will be moved to AuntyBCF my a mod and you should get some pretty helpful replies.

Sounds like a similar situation to my current one - read my thread here: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=293091
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Present: [Kawasaki ZX7r][Suzuki DRZ 400s]
Past: [Honda PCX 125] [Yamaha RXS 100] [Honda CB 500] [Triumph Speed Four] [Honda ST1100 Pan European - Po-Po Edition]

[Entertwainer]

oops, yeah forgot about 'auntie BCF' - there i was looking for 'general chat' section.
my bad
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Honda CG 125 W - Turkish - 1998 - 2015 RIP

[Itchy]

Skudd was a driving instructor.

So was an old boss several actually.

IIRC they said something about there being wide spread abuse of the green and pink sticker qualifications.

Whereby big franchise schools would simply use pink slips as they were cheaper if they failed to get a green sticker they would simply be replaced by another pink sticker person.


I do accounts for some driving instructors on the side. Most of them have been on a downward trend with the ones doing well having a flat income so essentially they are making less every year. The fuel costs are absolutely hammering them and a good run can be cut short by a student doing something silly.


Hell I remember way back 99 or something lessons were £20 a time, I him saying to me, you don't get much for £20 these days. I regularly see Bill Plant adverts 5 Lessons for £56. What used to make £100, with 58p a litre fuel price, now only makes £56 with a £1.30 fuel price!
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Skudd]

I could go on in detail, but the bubble has burst for Driving Instructors. Loved the job, but no good as a main income. If you are retired and have a good retirement package and want to top up your income then it is ok pocket money.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[talkToTheHat]

Two of my friends left driving instruction recently, one was with AA and getting by ok but found ways to make better money, the other was independent and part time and it was costing her more money than she made.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[c_dug]

What sort of thing can you do, and how far are you willing to travel?

People may be able to match you up to something they know of.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Entertwainer]

[c_dug]

I moved from 6 years doing crappy jobs in retail, to a Maintenance Technician in the Science Museum based more or less on a good interview. I didn't have any suitable qualifications other than a single year of a motorcycle mechanics course.

I'd spent a long time convincing myself that I had no chance of escaping the retail sector, but in the end it was a case of just apply and see, when it came down to it, what was I loosing by applying for jobs or attending interviews? A little time, maybe a bit of transport cost. Weighed against getting a job I really wanted I was loosing nothing at all.

It paid off in the end and I got this job.

What I'm trying to say is don't just discount a change in career because you don't feel qualified, ultimately it is the interviewer who will decide if you are suitable for the job, and much of the time qualifications are irrelevant to the job in hand anyway.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[dodsi]

What sort if thing do you want to do and what are your salary expectations?

[Poseidon]

If you're looking at driving jobs anyway, why not look at getting PCV (bus) licence. If you can't afford to do it yourself, try one of the bigger companies. First put me through mine and made me sign a contract whereby if I left within 12months, I had to pay them back. Worked there for 5 years and had the time of my life. Piss easy work and £8.50 an hour (bearing in mind this was 4 years ago I left). I left to go to uni as I didn't want to make a career of bus driving, but once into a new city, first depot I went into offered me a job on the spot at just over £9 an hour.

I went in today having not worked there since last september and got offered all the shifts I want... I'd only gone in to drop something off! I've taken 3 shifts next week that will net me over £325 take home (I wont earn over the tax allowance this year).

Depots are crying out for staff. Even if you don't do it forever, it's very easy work that gives you loads of time to read/think/enjoy yourself. No bosses breathing down your neck, windows open with the summer air in your face. As we say in bus driving, "it beats working for a living!"


EDIT:

Should add that the southeast and especially london depots are much better remunerated than us paupers in the north.
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Quornholio]

I was going to say that First pay about £9/hour now, local to me anyway.
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Everyone give this dood green karma pls --> https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=4045389#4045389
XxXxX

[Bunny Lingus]

You're in Brighton. My mate is a Brighton cabbie. He has three kids & looks after them through the week whilst his estranged wife looks after them at week ends. So he just works Fri, Sat & Sun & he earns good money. Ok, so he has to deal with drunks, fighting drunks, hen nights & gayers but fuck it, aside from w/ends he more or less works when he wants - if he needs to batter it for a holiday or save for something, he can. If he doesn't feel like it, fine. The Brighton knowledge only takes a year... I'm thinking about doing it myself.
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Bunny Lingus & The Flipside Faggots

[Itchy]

I'm sorry but driving jobs will very soon go the way of the dodo.

While we can talk about Google cars.

Consider this:

Ok so its on a motorway and it isn't in the city, but at 1.17 he gets out of the drivers seat and the car happily drives itself.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY_zqEmKV1k#t=30

This is technology you can buy TODAY, fast forward 5 years and it will be mass produced with the driver being a backup device. Much like commercial pilots are used as a backup device if the computer fails.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Poseidon]

Unlikely Itch. Until you completely remove the human element from the roads, I don't reckon machines will be able to cope with their unpredictability. This will mean that the self drive tech has to be available for everyone, which means it has to be cheap/free. Not going to happen.

And even if there is a workaround for that, no drivers on public transport has one major flaw in this country... Tickets. At the moment, outside of London, most public transport is pay the driver. Smartcard systems do exist, but the vast bulk is done with cash. To move the whole system over to driverless, you'd need massive investment in ticketing infrastructure, as well as the cost of converting the vehicles to driverless. York tried it with the FTRs (the driver not issuing tickets that is) and within 6 months they had a team of conductors on board as the systems put in place to remove the ticketing from the driver just weren't up to scratch. I'm not saying that pay before you ride etc doesn't work. It does. In fact, with the proper stuff in place to make it work, it works far better than the driver issuing tickets, but it would require a massive overhaul that I just don't see happening in the next 5 years.
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)