 | Career and Life Planning 'Make today the first day of the rest of your life…'
When I grow up …I want to be a train driver! Maybe it doesn’t surprise you to learn that someone with the surname of Hornby should have had his eyes on a career as a train driver at the age of 9. I wanted to be like my uncle Eddie, who drove one of those huge steam driven locomotives back in the 1950’s and 60’s. Then one day I had the chance to ride on the footplate of an engine. The experience terrified me! The noise of the steam and the clanking of the carriages were louder than I could have imagined, the place was filthy from the coal dust and it was as hot as an inferno from the heat of the fire. Thank goodness I only had the ‘pleasure’ of a short ride. I can’t remember what I decided I ‘wanted to be’ instead, but I definitely didn’t want to be a train driver. This was the first career planning decision that I ever made and, whilst I’d decided on what I didn’t want to I’m pretty sure that I hadn’t decided then that I wanted to become a portfolio worker – which is what I do now! So, what do you want to do when you grow up? I expect that you’re reading this because you’ve come to a point in your life where you have made a decision to change job, or perhaps someone else has made that decision for you? Maybe you’re ready for a complete change of direction and you’re ready for a complete life-makeover, including a new job. Or maybe you’ve been working as a store manager for years, you’re a good store manager, your circumstances have changed and you want to get another job as a store manager. Whichever is the case this website can help you achieve your goal. Career and Life Planning So instead of becoming a train driver I left the school and joined the Scientific Civil Service, working as a scientist testing military supplies. It was a wonderful job. Chemistry had been my favourite subject at school and now I had the most enormous chemistry set imaginable. Then one day I was asked to test some fabric which was used in making protective suits for soldiers who were exposed to war gases. I used mustard gas to test the suits and then decided to find out more about war gases in our classified library. As I read about the effects of mustard gas I decided that I did not want to continue doing what I was doing. If you’ve ever read anything about the effects of war gases on people then you may understand the reasons for my decision. I visited the Youth Careers Advisory Service and at the age of eighteen made another major career planning decision to leave paid employment to go to college to train as a chemistry teacher. In the past 40 years I have had a non-linear career and my jobs have included: butcher’s lad, Tesco shelf stacker, lab technician, builder’s labourer, engineering factory worker, Howard Johnson chef, shoe factory production worker, lay missionary / VSO volunteer, teacher, pharmaceutical sales rep, market researcher, marketer, sales manager, sales training manager, corporate training manager, HR manager, HR Consultant and now portfolio worker. Some of the changes I have made in my career have been incremental, like my promotion from sales rep, to sales manager. Many of them however have been transformational changes which have brought major changes in my lifestyle; like the decision to become a VSO volunteer / lay missionary and live on a subsistence level, or my choice in1990 to leave a well-paid job to start my own business. Compare my career so far with that of my friend Brian. Brian is the same age as me and like me he left school and joined the Civil Service. He’s risen through the ranks by a number of promotions but continues to work for the Civil Service, and now has almost forty years service to his name. Now the question I would put to you is; which one of us is more successful? My answer would be ‘I don’t care’, and I know that Brian’s would be the same. The fundamental point is that both of us are doing what we have chosen to do and are happy doing it. As I said before I’m assuming that you’re visiting this site and reading this because you want to make a significant change in your life, so as a starting point I’d like to invite you to stand back and have a think about the career decisions you’ve taken over the years; what did you want to do when you were a youngster, how have things developed and evolved and finally and more importantly – where to from here? You’re never too old… By the way, if you’re thinking ‘Well I’m too old for major career change? …. or indeed any other negative thoughts about your continued success then how’s this for a reality check? Ray Kroc was of Czechoslovakian descent and worked as an ambulance driver in the First World War He subsequently moved to the It was McDonald brothers who invented the "Speedee Service System", which established the principles of modern fast food restaurants, but it was Ray Kroc who recognised the enormous potential. He encouraged the brothers to put him in charge of franchising, and founded the McDonald's Corporation with the opening of his first franchise. Within six years Ray Kroc went from travelling salesman, to successful businessman and in 1961, he bought out the McDonald brothers for US $2.7 million. It is Ray Kroc who is credited in the history books as being the founder of the international brand; McDonald’s. Ray Kroc died in 1984 at the age of 81 having built up a fortune of 500 million dollars in less than thirty years. ‘If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.’ Ray Kroc To be perfectly honest I’m not a fan of ‘McDonald’s’ as a meal, but I am a great fan of Ray Kroc and the commercial success which he achieved. Ray Kroc’s success is a lesson to all of us that life can re-start at any age if you have the passion and enthusiasm for what you want to achieve. Good luck |