© gbswales 2015
About Me - Working Life
When I left school at 17 there was no problem in fnding jobs - quite different from now.
I applied for three jobs and was offered two - the one I accepted was in an advertising agency
Dudley Turner and Vincent. A stand out moment there was when an inebriated me at my first
office party slapped the chairman on the back saying “cheers Viney old chap” surprisingly I was
still working there in the new year.
Like most young people I longed to be fully mobile, so again taking advantage of the easy job
market I went to work as a merchandiser for Golden Wonder Crisps, the relatively new offshoot
of Imperial Tobacco. This gave me use of an austin J2 van which had sliding doors that you could
leave open, on a sunny day, as you sped down the road to the coast. Although the novelty of
driving a van with “Mr Pop-a-crisp-in” (Golden Wonders mascot) painted on the side door, it
wasnt long before I yearned for a car. Ronald Kauffman importers gave me that an upmarket
Ford Corsair. The rep who was training me told me that the only question asked by one of the
interviewees was “what car is it” - I didnt have the courage to admit that had been me! I quickly
found that selling basketware and household goods to deparment stores was not going to be a
career life changer for me and I think the job only lasted about 8 weeks.
Newly unemployed I went to sign on at the Kingston Employment Exchange. Although I went
there hoping to claim benefit I found myself just 3 days later working behind the counter there. I
didnt know it at the time but this was the start of a 30 year career in the Civil Service. I worked in
the emplyment service in Kingston, Richmond, Hounslow, Feltham and Hammersmith. This
included a week seconded to the Heathrow Office which was in an old bungalow that sat
alongside the main Runway. Lunchtimes would see me at the fence watching the planes taking
off or landing. After several promotions and a move to South Wales I finished my civil service
career as the personnel and admin manager at ACAS (advisory Conciliation and arbitration
service). A voluntary early retirement scheme came up and as I was by then communting a 140
mile round trip I grabbed it.
Having made myself unemployed I pondered on various opportunities to go self employed when
a friend told me about temporary job in the careers centre of Swansea University. As the work
involved liaising with small companies it matche my experience and I committed to 6 weeks
work. This was a funded project and when it ended I was approached about joining another.
Well to cut a long story short this led to a second career lasting 18 years - one that I enjoyed so
much that I worked on for years past 65 until formally retiring just before my 68th birthday.
My last post, as manager of the University’s online learning system (Blackboard) and of the
eLearning team was by far the most rewarding, and most enjoyable of all my jobs.
Swansea University