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Unfortunately for ATOC and East Midlands Trains, they spent the best part of three academic years trying to keep on top of the way I used the rules they published to legitimately reduce the cost of that commute.
The idiocy of companies really knows no limits, does it? As someone in business, if I saw you doing that, I'd be doing everything in my power to contact you to offer you a very highly paid job as a ticketing expert. Unfortunately, people don't realise just what is sitting in front of them.
The idiocy of companies really knows no limits, does it? As someone in business, if I saw you doing that, I'd be doing everything in my power to contact you to offer you a very highly paid job as a ticketing expert. Unfortunately, people don't realise just what is sitting in front of them.
TOCs have employed as a ticket seller for over 10 years now . I suspect I might well be the lowest paid railway worker in the UK salary wise but for almost as long I’ve haI suspect I might well be the lowest paid railway worker in the UK salary wise but for almost as long I’ve had to politely decline job swap offers.
I do my job and keep my head down - I don’t think the technical experts are interested in the kind of things I find until they become a real world problem. On very rare occasions I’ll raise my head above the parapet if a customer has an issue and I can see it’s caused by something of a very technical nature - I’ll summarise and gift wrap it for the experts to deal with.
It’s also not only the railways I do that with - a lot of things in life I’ve found legal ways of paying next to nothing for or in some cases, making a profit from businesses when I’m supposed to be the customer. It’s true, companies would save a fortune if I told them where the loopholes are but they see things differently. However if I find things, other people with the same mindset will too and usually it’s only when things hit the public domain, something is done about it
It was interesting, I got a positive reception from lots of ticket inspection staff in the area in the midst of it all, there were very mixed views of what was happening! It got to the point where some started dishing dirt on those they thought were being OTT which was quite amusing!
I was never shy with writing in letters of praise for those who were particularly friendly or professional, sometimes that was the staff on the trains and sometimes it was the management dealing with it.
I just see it as valuable life experience now - a lot was learned that definitely wouldn’t be covered in a lecture hall
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I've stuck it out for 3 years but frankly I disagree with the sentiment that it's the 'best time of your life' and that it's where everyone has to go and excels at what they do.
I think that we force people through a sausage machine of having to do things an exact way to get a qualification. It's so rigid, people are forced into it and told it's the only way to succeed but I don't feel that their way of doing things is right for everybody.
My opinion is that university is seen as a way to demonstrate that you can align yourself with a spec that’s put before you and perform well. Which is basically what a job is. It has its place in the world and used in the right way, can be a benefit. Where the job market is concerned, a degree can help, in some circumstances but alone doesn’t entitle anybody to anything. The value isn’t in the bit of paper itself, but the opportunities it can create during the time spent studying. And in some cases further down the career path. In certain professions, a bachelors or even masters degree is very much the traditional route to even gain access to getting professional qualifications.
My question is, who actually tells us that this is the only way to succeed? Because I certainly don’t think it is.
In the last few years I began to think about this and the status quo. Getting a job. Exchanging a lot of hours for just about enough money to live on. Who tells us that this is what we have to do?
Who says you can’t flip it around and exchange a little bit of time for a lot of money? Which then frees up time to pursue things you really want to do, or would take years to get through saving wages. I think it is possible, but the people who have clocked onto genuine legit ways of doing this with a small time commitment keep it quiet.
I came to the conclusion that there is no fast, easy way to do this without investing the time to become an expert at something / being trained up, then cracking on with it. Some people set up a business and pay others to do the work. Some provide a service which they can charge a fortune for. Some look for where huge quantities of money shifts about and look for opportunities to collect some of that. Things like the stock market, currency exchange and the like. Some buy and sell properties, though there is a major financial barrier to entry to that for most of us. All of these things are risky but can work out if expertise is used to manage the risk. Even those doing well out of social media have to put in work to build themselves up, keep it up and stay relevant.
Of course, none of these things require a degree, but can provide the long term financial stability I think most people would like to have if done right. It’s hard to think long term at 18 or 21 but way down the line, if you happen to want to raise a family comfortably, or buy a house, or start a business or just stay in the black, it’s good to have a faint idea of how that might be financed.
There is no right answer as to whether someone should do a degree. Success and stability can be attained with or without one. It’s a personal choice, but it really helps if a decision is made about career choices early on. If you want a career that doesn’t require one, there’s no need.
There is a lot more competition for roles which don’t require a degree, but there are often ways of getting ahead of the competition.
As for financing, that shouldn’t sway the decision too heavily. I agree with those who say it works more like a tax.
My son had always been interested in computers right from a young age. He hoped for great things after his A levels but got disappointing results. His school suggested he went to a local college and try for a BTEC Extended National Diploma. This is achieved obtaining D*D*D* grading. Following on from this the same college then suggested he tried for an HND. Again he achieved top grades Distinction in all modules. Finally it was suggested that he use the HND as a lever to go onto a degree course.
So ultimately he earnt his Bachelor Of Science with Honours First Class but by going through a slightly route after only one year of conventional university.
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. I suspect I might well be the lowest paid railway worker in the UK salary wise but for almost as long I’ve haI suspect I might well be the lowest paid railway worker in the UK salary wise but for almost as long I’ve had to politely decline job swap offers.
