"Working your way up" doesn't always look like "great education then good uni then great job with good pay."
This will be a thread of me telling you a list of all my jobs, and some experiences, from teens to now.
1/n

Sometimes coming from poverty means multiple small steps as even a good education cannot pay your bills when you have no family financial support or option to live at home. So I have had looaaaads of jobs. Am going to try and remember them all in order. I may mess up.
2/n

So starting as a teenager.
My first proper paid job was delivering leaflets every now and then for local shops. Not regular work but well paid and I got a lot of work as one of the only teens to not dump all the leaflets in the bin and take the cash. Age 12.
3/n

Then I got a paper round at 13 as that is the youngest they would allow. Great boss. Rubbish pay. Morning and evening rounds - £4 a week.
Good Xmas tips though up to £130 which bought family presents.
4/n

Alongside my paper round I also did babysitting and a bit of tutoring from age 14. And house sitting. All for family friends and not much money.
I mostly babysat my own brother though as mum and step dad both worked evenings. Mum occasionally gave me a bit of cash for that.
5/n

Then a friend working for a bakery got me a job on Saturdays age 15.
I worked there throughout GCSE year and sixth form on weekends and in the holidays. Took as many shifts as I could. Also whenever I came home from uni for holidays they found me work.
6/n

When I went to uni I first got a job in the Pizza Hut kitchen. £3.20ph. I had also interviewed for Maccy Ds on more money but during the interview a duty manager kept screaming at staff so I took less money but nicer workplace.
7/n

While working for Pizza Hut I also had a sideline selling books for DK. And did babysitting and tutoring. And leaflet drops. And worked 50 hours a week at PH while doing 40 hours a week at uni. Uni debts were mounting still despite all efforts. And I had a bit of a breakdown
8/n

The GP signed me off work with stress and I had counselling.
I decided not togo back to Pizza Hut as I had become the person to cover every shift. So I got a job stacking shelves in evenings at a supermarket. A lot less money but nothing else was available. Debts mounted.
9/n

Then my boss kept shouting at my supervisor in front of customers (supervisor had learning difficulties) so I publicly left in the middle of the shop. Cried all the way home wondering what I had done as debts tripled. Got home to a message from a pub offering me a job.
10/n

So I started work for the Hogshead pub in the little high street. Worked all the hours I could but much more chilled than Pizza Hut workwise as lots of socialising on the job and made great friends.
After finishing uni I took a job move to one of their London city pubs
11/n

That summer worked very hard every day and slept all weekend when I wasn't selling books or babysitting.
12/n

Then got a job at a chartered surveyors as a receptionist/typist. According to my line manager he hired me "cos I was the cheapest" but at £12k p.a. it felt like a lottery win to me. Spent six months there as maternity cover. Then they offered me the job permanent...
13/n

But I said no as I was bored stiff. I typed maybe one page a day and then sat around waiting for more work. Lovelier colleagues you could never meet though and they gave me a great send off.
I worked in the pubs at weekends still but debts spiralled due to interest.
14/n

So I decided I could no longer stay living and working near London due to rent costs. I moved back to home town and stayed with mum for 2 weeks. The bakery hired me back as a shop manager and I got a cheap flat attached to the bakery
15/n

But life ground to a halt and depression crept in. This was not all my hopes and dreams and i felt increasingly trapped without hope of moving up that ladder.
A guy visited the bakery every Friday and flirted a bit. He worked at the dry ski slope & offered me lessons
16/n

One day I took him up on the offer. Got the skiing bug. Quit my job and got a new one as barmaid at the ski centre lodge and got to ski every night for free after work.
Flat rent raised though due to leaving bakery so soon I was absolutely lost in debt and scared
17/n

Signed off work again with stress. More counselling.
Saw an advert for being a ski rep overseas. Interviewed in June at a local hotel for the November season. They called me as soon as I got back and asked mento move to Italy as a chalet host 6 days later. I said yes.
18/n

Sold everything I owned to pay rent arrears. Kept a box of stuff in mum's loft and my guitar and tools in a friend's garage and mum drove me to the airport with my life in a suitcase. On the way... "Do you even speak Italian?"
Me...."...nope..."
19/n

Landed in Italy at 1am
Dropped at chalet at 3am.
Wake up to chalet full of guests expecting breakfast and I don't know where anything is.
Muddle through and find that the town speaks Italian AND German. Phew...i can manage shopping in German!
20/n

Spend 8 weeks living in Italy in the mountains...with zero cash. No pay yet and brought nothing with me. Kind guests occasionally give me a day lift pass to use and an English book to read.
Season ends and I refuse to go home so they move me to a different resort still open
21/n

Now I am on Italian lakes with no money. But more friends and local shops and cafes who give reps freebies as we give them customers. Eat like a king in a different hotel every night til October when they send me home for 2 weeks with a bit of cash
22/n

Go to France then in November for training for the ski season. Have a great season although spend much of it propped at the bar in the evenings (where everybody knows me name as it is written above my bar stool)
Work really hard & apply for promotion for next season.
23/n

Start the next summer season as Team Leader in the lakes of Italy again. After 8 weeks am moved to the lake I ended up on the last year to help them sort issues as all the staff want to leave and loads of money is missing. So I sort the finances & convince staff to stay.
24/n

After a summer surrounded by wonderful people I go home for two weeks then to Switzerland for a winter season as Resort Manager looking after 3 chalets, a hotel and the reps.
Get to March 2004 then realise I still dream of being a teacher. Quit & come home as the season ends
25/n

So I come home a bit lost but determined to show unis that I can be a teacher. Sign up to Open University course in English language and literacy Level 3. Get a job as a telemarketer. Then comes a whole load of salesy jobs. Telesales, door to door sales, etc
26/n

I kind of lose track of the order and length of jobs here as it was all a muddle. But lots of selling and then came call centres. Selling but inbound calls this time. Customer service. And being the person you can drunk at midnight to buy a wonder mop from
27/nm

My debts are still off the charts at this point as every penny just covers rent. Food is sparse. People from my mum's church drop food on my doorstep. I lose weight but not in a good way. Can never go out with friends from work though I met good people
28/n

Move to Manc as a friend is renting a room. Temp in PCT for 6 months then in a call centre for a few more months. Finish Open Uni course and start a new one in French so I can apply for French PGCE Primary. All the rage. Friend decides she can afford to live alone after all.
29/n

So I move back to Plymouth again for more call centre and sales jobs. Then apply for PGCE. Get 7 rejections. Then @UniofGreenwich took a chance on me and gave me a place. But I am denied loans and grants due to debt. Dad agrees to lend me a chunk and I agree repayments
30/n

So Sept 2006 I arrive at uni. It cost me £3 to move there by coach. £1 took me there with my duvet and computer in a suitcase. I left that there and went back for £1 to pick up my clothes and books in my suitcase. Back to uni for another £1. IT guys give me an old monitor
31/n

I have £7 left til loan payment...which is in 3 weeks.
I spend the £7 on basic food to get me through and eat one meal per day. Walk 2.5 hrs each way to my first school placement for 2 weeks til someone realises and gives me a lift.
32/n