In reverse order as per every good CV please find below my career to date along with various comments about my time there. It is not finished but I will endeavor to get it finished quickly.
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Back to Education | Sx3 | Stirling University | Sky Interactive | DBS | DB Houston | Glasgow Academy | Boots Contract Manufacturing | William Patons | Glasgow Airport |
Been working here since November 2002 in several different roles, Field Technician and Desktop Support with Scottish Enterprise and Greater Glasgow NHS Trust.
Initially I worked as a Field Engineer visiting company sites and fixing their IT problems. This involved working on a variety of OS systems and hardware configurations. The work was interesting but quite demanding as you were also like an ambassador for the company. Good fun when you got it right.
My current role is Second Line Support at Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway. I like this role as it gives me the stability to learn how the systems work and then how to fix them. Job details, well....
I have also worked in the Scottish Enterprise main Glasgow Office at Atlantic Quay and Waterloo Street in a similar type role.
Did a 5 week sick cover contract working in the Pyschology department as Desktop Support Technician. The work involved
I also modified a feedback / course module rating form so that it could be completed on-line and then emailed to the lecturer in a CSV format. This was then imported into an Excel spreadsheet which had some pretty graphs showing the spread of data. It looked pretty good but the coding of the form highlighted how much I still have to learn about web development. The learning continues.
A bit of contract work here when I get the chance. Main roles
work is very ad hoc and certainly not reliable though when I get it the pay is pretty good per hour. Nice, need more though.
Good bunch of lads to work with which is always important.
A permanent job, the first after the Post Grad. Unfortunately, after being there only 3 weeks the company went through a re-organisation and yours truly was out on his butt. I finished off the work I had left and then left at the end of the month, five weeks in total.
The job was Database Programmer and Technical Support Dude. Software was Access 2000 and the company provided databases for the transport industry. My main roles were:-
Customise the db to the customer requirements
The Technical Support side was
The Technical Support was all done over the telephone which is quite difficult because you are relying on, in most cases, an in experienced operator telling you what is happening on the screen and then trying to get them to do commands and actions to fix it. Not easy by any means but rewarding when you get the problem fixed.
As mentioned at the start I was only in this job for a short time, 5 weeks in total. It was unfortunate as I felt I was getting more of a handle on the software and getting a good repartee with the customers and knowing what they were about and looking for. Would have been good if the job had lasted longer but I can chalk it down to experience.
A wee firm in Paisley that I did some work for on a part time basis after leaving uni. Installers of desktop units and servers amongst other hardware into Medical Practices they also provide technical support for users and other services. This was where I learned the 'real world' skill of Ghosting Software onto new machines and then setting them up on a network. Certainly not text book stuff - it is more interesting doing than reading and it almost always didn't go according to script at some point during the process.
Things learned during this stint
All of the above had been covered in varying depths at uni but nothing prepares you for doing it in real life. For a start sometimes the machine won't go on the network for no apparent reason and you just 'play around' with the settings and hey presto it logs on and everything is hunky dory. This was a good laugh though sometimes back breaking lugging the new machines about but hey it saved going to the gym every night. Shame I was still paying for the gym whether I went or not.........
If they speak nice to me I will include the website address for linking to, although Deak? will have to actually design and publish the blighter in the first place!
I worked as a Duty Supervisor at their new playing fields while studying at Paisley Uni. Not much to report except I cleaned up the changing rooms after everyone had finished up playing their hockey or football. Was some extra money for an easy job that required no thinking. Perfect really as I did WAY too much thinking while studying at Paisley!!
I worked at the Airdrie site between August 1996 and December 2000 when along with about 100 others I was made redundant. However on with the history of me working there. I have included some info below but it is not complete at this time. However the below gives a flavour for the type of work I did here.
I worked as an Industrial Engineer and my role was to save the company money. Simple, that was it, that was my job. However as with all simple things, you know who you are, it starts to get a little more complicated when you delve into the workings and try to figure out how to do it better / cheaper / easier / smarter. Now as with all job roles and positions you never focus on the one thing for long because in a factory of a 1000 people there are always things going on that you know something about, a little about and absolutely nothing about and Boots was no exception.
When I joined in '96 Boots was a well respected company that had a very stable, loyal and reliable customer base and as such making money and profit for the factory was dead easy. We make it, the Boots in the High Street sold it. Heck, we even made stuff for the supermarkets cause we wanted a piece of that pie as well. We'll come back to that last point later in the story.
My first project at Boots was to be part of the Mascara Project Team and bring not only and Industrial Engineering viewpoint to the proceedings but also a fresh pair of eyes to the company process of these Opportunity Reviews. Did I mention that BCM in Airdrie was the main manufacturing site for the Cosmetics sold in Boots High Street stores? Good, let the story continue. Anyway, first day on the review and we get paired off as is the usual group working team working huddle of the first meeting and I get paired off with a woman who had worked in the factory for longer than I had been ALIVE!! When you are twenty four that's a big deal and when you are 24 you also blurt that fact out. Impressed, I don't think she was. Anyway, she didn't hold it against me and we swifty moved on.
I was involved in many teams where we would look at production areas and figure out ways of making the job easier, safer, quicker or just more consistent and reliable and usually involving the operators and team leaders in every step of the process. I say usually but I can't really think of a time when they were not involved, certainly in the work I did they were usually the first to be asked by me what was going on and who they thought it could be changed. They worked on these production lines day in day out and were the most likely source of any info I needed even if they could only give me opinions and pointers as to where the problems lay. It all helped.
Anyhow a list of achievements and projects I worked with / on are listed below. I haven't included any of the money figures which I saved, suffice to say that it was a lot and even a 10% cut of it would make a huge difference to my retirement plans. The general rule of thumb for Industrial Engineers is to save at least twice was the company pays you - that means they are saving money by employing you and therefore you are an asset to the company to keep. Sounds good in theory but when the music stops and you aint got a seat its game over and see ya later. I saved way more than twice my salary so a job well done during my time if I may say so.
My first job after leaving Glasgow Cali University. Patons is a Shoe Lace and Insole Manufacturer sited in Johnstone near sunny Paisley and they supplied most of the British retail and industrial market for shoe laces and insoles during my time there. I think this has changed, as has every market with the increased foreign competition but last time I spoke to the guys they were alive and kicking strongly. Keep it up I say.........
I started here as an Industrial Engineer, finished as that as well like, and was involved in many projects that were very instrumental in changing the ways the factory worked and made huge improvements to processes and quality and of course people with the purchase of new equipment and introduction of new working methods and practices. For me it was a really exciting time to be involved with the company and it was the best possible start I could have had in my career. This was being involved when the company was changing the way it carried out its business and it was superb to be working with them during the change. Couldn't have been done in a better mix of people.
The first project I was involved in was to measure the yield of insoles achieved from the cutting processes and look at ways of increasing this. I don't think I increased the number of insoles per metre but working with Gordon and Peter we managed to get a consistant return from the rolls of material which was a bonus. A good repeatable repeatable process is much more useful than one that is great some days and mince on others.
Other projects I was involved in include
Doesn't seem a lot for 30 months of work but it was quite involving and time consuming to bring a work force from Individual Performance Related Pay to the more useful, company wise anyway, Team Working environment where you pay never changes from the basic hourly rate. That is a major achievement for any company and certainly doesn't happen overnight. There are so many things need to be in place before the change can happen otherwise the whole lot comes crashing down around your head. Patons did it in one continuous move that was run at a pace that was controllable. It worked and many companies failed before and afterwards to do the same.
It was truly an interesting time, yes it had bad and low points but so does every experience and job. The point is that overall I really liked the job and the reasons I left to go to Boots were down to money to pay for house repairs and an ever tightening textile industry plus it seemed a chance was going a begging. Do I miss the place, a little but since I still see a couple of the guys I used to work with I get the news and gossip just fine.
My first 'real' job was here working for Trusthouse Forte in the cafeteria, Crumbs I think it was. I did this during the summer between 5th and 6th year school, summer of 88 I remember it well....... er actually don't remember much but it was a laugh.
I stopped this for about 2 weeks at beginning of term time then started again working at weekends and remained there through til Jan 94 working through the weekends while at uni then making some 'serious' money during the summer breaks.
I worked mainly in the dishwash, through the back with the likes of 'im was mentioned at the time ;-) and it was fun if absolutely roasting during the hot summers, though oddly enough not warm during the winter.Various people I worked with included mad bad and generally unstable people, think weekend workers, mainly students add alcohol and it's a wonder any of us made it into work for the 2pm starts never mind the 6am ones!! It was a laugh most of the time but when flights were delayed during the summer time it got all too serious and heavy. Can't really blame passengers getting hacked off cause their flights were delayed for days in some cases but hey, not our fault and neither were the prices. If they didn't like it they were free to go elsewhere. Problem was in those days there wasn't anywhere else so they either paid up or starved. Either way they were pretty pissed about the whole thing. Working with the public aint much fun at those times. Just ask anyone who works in a fast food joint.
Anyway a few people I remember are
Derek G - Aberdonian but general good bloke. I went to school with this guy and he has recently had a kid, ah bless his little cotton socks. At least his girlfriend Alison did, though he helped out in the beginning. I'm stopping here before I get into trouble
Caroline P - mad as a brush but real nice. Last I heard she had got married and was still living locally. UPDATE - she is going round the world with hubby. Good on ya girl
the twins Alan and Alastair - had to look twice to be sure which one I was talking to!!
Neil and Alasdair, brothers one an architect the other an accountant in that order, dunno where they are now
John - mad bloke but a good laugh and decent to boot,
John Other - serious drink type man always smelled of whiskey even at 9PM the following day!! Impressive unless you shared the dishwasher shift with him.
many other people whose names escape me right now. If anyone stumbles across the site email me using link on the home page and I'll add your details, if you want of course, to this list of merry people.