Post by MikeI won’t ‘soapbox’ or ‘hobby horse’ on this one but, I left school a few
months early to start work, had a total of six jobs during my working
years, used holiday leave in lieu of giving notice to leave jobs to start
the next job all the sooner and was fortunate in never having a day of
unemployment and retired on my 65th.
My story is similar. I left uni after a year because I didn't like it
and wanted to start my flying career with the RAF which I did the weeks
after uni finished. Unfortunately my piloting did not last long (umra
passim) and I managed to leave the RAF 3 months later when they finally
accepted that I wasn't going to stay on as a navigator.
The day after I got home I went to the Labour Exchange (Professional and
Executive as an ex occifer (except I wasn't as I was only "acting" and
had never been commissioned)), the lady asked what I wanted to do, so I
told her computer programming, she made a phone call, I went for an
interview that afternoon and started the next monday at RR Engines 5
minutes walk from home. After that job I worked 25 years or so at TI, a
few months in the middle of that time at Massey Ferguson in Coventry and
then ended with 10 years as a contractor at Frod, retiring early at 57
and then being self-funded until OAP kicked in at 65. So like you Mike
never on benefits, unless you count uni, but even there I had an RAF
scholarship instead of a grant.