How many sectors have you worked in?
Posted by upthewatwo@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 53 comments
Bonus question: do you think you can have an opinion on a sector you have had no practical experience in?
CityFarmer91@reddit
1) catering 2) retail 3) emergency services 4) utilities 5) automotive
You can have an opinion. But it’ll likely be wrong until you get evidence/experience.
Kvark33@reddit
Four
Surveying
Construction
Retail
Project and Land Management
kettlejuices@reddit
Three.
The middle one was my favourite and it was culture shock going back into a corpo environment.
ClarifyingMe@reddit
Off the top of my head I've worked in 8 different sectors.
There's an argument for if I've done 9 because Education, but it can be split down to SE, FE and HE.
kylehyde84@reddit
insomnimax_99@reddit
Once you join the railway you either leave in the first few months or never leave. True for both frontline and HQ.
kylehyde84@reddit
I'm an office bod these days but I don't ever see me leaving
LadyInAllPower@reddit
I’ve just worked in fashion my whole career. Mainly recruiting models, nowadays I do a bit of consulting
BigRedTone@reddit
I had an opinion on finance and people in finance, then I worked in finance and realised it was every bit as fucking awful and laden with the worst people on god’s green earth.
So I’m going yeah, you can have an opinion.
dbxp@reddit
Depends on the type of finance, there's the coke snorting investment banking types and the tedious insurance and accounting types
BigRedTone@reddit
The is very true, to be fair I was ensconced in the tedious accountancy types, but the awful reality of being (geographically) in the city is you couldn’t move for tripping over the cokey wankers and the braying poshos and the brown shoes rubber wankers and and and
Tbf it all changed with Covid so maybe that’s all in the past.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
Yeah there's a smart/cynical/ambitious sweet spot where pure evil lies, and they get paid very well
PoolRamen@reddit
That's hilarious coming from someone in your field
Atomlad360@reddit
Two sectors. 1. Immunological research 2. Housing market development
I pride myself as one of the few people qualified in housing policy and spleen dissection. Sadly little intersection between the two.
dbxp@reddit
It could be an easy way to lower the asking price
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
At least there was a little dissection.
PoolRamen@reddit
Perhaps you're not trying hard enough
jim__nightshade@reddit
I was once nominated to be a fourth sector pathfinder.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
Tell me so much more.
Shrimp_Watch101@reddit
Manufacturing, retail, third sector, and a tiny bit of creative work.
And I have opinions about all kinds of stuff I have no practical experience of. I'm not saying they're worth listening to. Just saying I have them...
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
Do you think your opinions on the things you do have experience in carry more weight than the opinions you have which are (presumably) based on 2nd/3rd hand accounts?
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
I have a fun job where I can be working in up to 5 different sectors on a given day. What this has shown me over the year is how stupidily easy it can be to become a sector expert when it comes to thereotical or policy work. There is a lot of carry-overs between deskwork in multiple industries.
Don't however let an non-expert loose on a practical project if you expect that bridge or wall to stay up.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
I think this is how upper management people can swap from one sector to another - at a certain level it's just ticking boxes in a different coloured pen
Whereas you couldn't go from, say, managing a restaurant to managing a care home without at least a year or so getting to grips with the functions and goals of each
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Logistics and scheduling can be the same whether bananas or people. I do think immersion in a sector is good but I managed to become an "industry expert" in one very niche thing in a week simply because it was so niche no one else was really looking at and that scared me a lot.
Friendly_Bad_8882@reddit
Retail, hospitality, Higher education, private health, logistics, charity.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
Great spread. Which one has been the most useful/given you insight you might not have had? (I'm gonna guess logistics, I think it all kinda comes down to logistics...)
Friendly_Bad_8882@reddit
Honestly I'd say retail and hospitality. Dealing with the general public in a service industry is a bitch but it builds resilience. Everyone should have to do it at some point.
The other ones not so much, usual corporate bullshit with process and hierarchy and little impactful work being done by a lot of people.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
Ok yeah you convinced me. I do enjoy a good process and fitting pieces together, but yeah, retail has the most interaction with the humans, and that is the best training for anything. Until we're all talking to robots all day. (I seriously try to make my comments seem "real" almost to prove to myself that I'm not a fucking robot.... Anyone else? And of course now that I've put this sentence on the internet, AI will learn and talk like this, so it's all shitty fuck soup we'll all be cooked in soon.)
Benend91@reddit
Retail (multiple different stores)
Education (as a PM. Hated it, so much bureaucracy and infighting)
Digital marketing/tech (current sector, where I feel most comfortable)
Hungry_Hannah23@reddit
I also worked at a summer camp in America but not sure if that counts as childcare?
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
I don't know about childcare, but it's certainly an important skill - knowing how to talk to kids, individually and in groups. I only started interacting with kids in my late 30s (had no children in my peer groups at all, then got a job as a substitute teacher and had to quickly figure out how to talk to kids), it's really weird if you haven't spoken to a child since you were one. So yeah, all experience is useful experience.
811545b2-4ff7-4041@reddit
In 25 years.. research (academia) and healthcare technology (with the occasional bit of research thrown in)
Rowanx3@reddit
Been in 3 sectors, im a chef, worked foh longer than ive been a chef, i hate when other chefs get mad at foh for things they dont understand because they haven’t done it before and they think foh is just taking orders and running food. But i also get mad at FoH for being shit because I’ve done it.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
This is the level of understanding a restaurant should have
You're not two opposing teams, you're one team, and both things are hard
Yorkshiremoneysaver@reddit
I have never worked in retail such as a supermarket but I get the vibe it would be hell. From the customers to management.
upthewatwo@reddit (OP)
I enjoyed retail. People need stuff, so it's a worthwhile job. Some customers are shitty but that's just because some people are shitty some of the time and retail has the broadest cross-section of volume/variety/time/context for interaction - you could interact with a crack head, an uppity soccer mom, and the kindest grandma in the same day; that's unlikely in office email job, but it is likely that there will be one person who infuriates you in the office and you will have to interact with them every day.
Disagreeable-Tips@reddit
Retail, hospitality, finance, maternity services, construction and education.
A decent spread...
Willsagain2@reddit
Tourism (clerk/receptionist)
Hospitality (cafe assistant)
Financial services (reinsurance clerk) Retail (sales assistant. Trainee manager)
Local Government ( Management services officer. Human resources officer. HR service manager.) NHS (HR Advisor in mental health trust & community health trust) Electrical Contractors ( receptionist) Charity sector (HR advisor) Civil Service (HR advisor. Census canvasser)
elhazelenby@reddit
2 but both in food roles: Retail (Deli Assistant in a Spar) and Hospitality/Entertainment (Cafe/Kitchen assistant at an activity venue).
ramona1987@reddit
Hospitality/catering, care, retail, transport and now I work in healthcare.
3507341C@reddit
Horticulture - 6 hours - strawberry picking
Construction - 20 years - electrical installations
Education - 20 years Primary School Teacher.
gemmajenkins2890@reddit
Retail, hospitality and manufacturing
Internal-Leadership3@reddit
Microbiologist Accountant Commercial diver Wind turbine technician
In that order
rcanalyst@reddit
Sector 7G
SirGranular@reddit
3
ScarletBitch15@reddit
Care work, Web services (?) (copywriting), Telemarketing, Agriculture, Public Sector (3 orgs, two countries), Gas, Nuclear.
From first job at 13 to now, so tried my hand at a lot.
Commonality wherever is generally people make or break the job, and I got the most satisfaction (but also frustration) about customer facing roles… which I phased out of mostly by the first public sector job, but I’ve chased pay/stability/flexibility since then.
AstronomerFickle4823@reddit
Retail only X(
LowAioli3870@reddit
Healthcare (NHS), public health, civil service, charity, education, research, hospitality, retail
Fine_Cress_649@reddit
Healthcare - people in healthcare are both better and worse than the public imagines.
The arts - as full of nepo babies as you would think
charlottedoo@reddit
Cleaner, hospitality, sales, education, water sports, construction management, building control.
DeafeninglySilent@reddit
• Hospitality (Coffee shop, hotel reception) • Sales and Marketing (Building company) • Building Surveyors (adminstrative role) • Technical Support (broadband company) • Aviation (cabin crew) • Law (Legal Support and Legal secretary) • Healthcare (Paramedic)
IncompleteObjects@reddit
Hospitality (Barman), Education (Museum and Tour Guide), Entertainment (Games designer) Retail (Furniture store) and Financial Services (Insurance)
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