|
|
| Mark Abbiss - left 1986 | |
|
What was happening in your life at the time you left Cedars? Due to my appalling skills at maths I had to retake my 'A' and left Cedars a year later than anticipated with no particular direction in mind. I had applied for a few degree courses but over the summer found myself a job as a surveyor for a small company in Woburn Sands. After 3 months of early mornings and standing in fields, I decided that surveying was not my future and took a place on a 4 year BSc Geography course at Coventry University (then Poly). During your time at Cedars, did you have any idea what you wanted to do next? Absolutely no idea at all. Never had a career path in mind. I went through various stages of wanting to have a go at being a cameraman or working generally in the film industry. In the back of my mind though I knew I wanted to have a job that gave me the chance to travel. What actually happened next? Finished my degree in 1990, with a one year placement at the Institute of Hydrology. Based solely on the fact that my then girlfriend was going to Newcastle University, I looked for anyone hiring geography graduates in the Newcastle area. British Gas, as it was then, graciously agreed to accept me onto their Management Trainee course. What was your first real job? I joined British Gas (Killingworth) in the Information Technology department and found myself drawn to the user support group. For the next two and a half years I was located in Newcastle but was then offered a secondment to a new IT group being set up in Solihull just outside Birmingham. It was during these 6 months that my life took a significant new direction. What did that lead to? Whilst on my secondment I applied to join a BG sponsored Operation Rayleigh expedition to Indonesia. Halfway through the selection weekend I decided that Rayleigh was not how I wanted to do my bit for the developing world, so I hunted out other opportunities and passed the selection weekend for a group called Trekforce. In return for some favourable publicity for BG, I managed to obtain sponsorship to join the Trekforce expedition to Sulawesi. However, around the same time, I was also looking into the possibility of going to Japan to teach English. Working in user support didn't exactly have me jumping out of bed in the morning and the occasional drive over to Carlisle to fix computers really didn't satisfy my desire to travel. Luckily, a company called Nova Intercultural Institute were willing to hire native English speakers who didn't have any TEFL qualifications. I applied and was offered a job teaching in Tokyo. So in August 1993 I headed off on my expedition to Sulawesi. When I returned I handed in my resignation and left for Japan in November. As luck would have it, I met a research student in the middle of the rainforest and decided after six months of being in Japan that I would give up teaching to return to England to be with her. We both enrolled on an MSc course at Warwick University (Ecosystems Analysis and Governance) where I discovered the Internet and Remote Sensing. I thought about staying on to do a PhD but through my Professor was offered a six month job in Rome working for the United Nations. The girlfriend became and ex and my six months became two and half years. During this time I met my now wife who was also working for the UN and was posted to China. So I left Rome and the UN and moved to China for 18 months. Having no job, I tried a little bit of freelancing but thanks to my early computer support skills I landed a short-term contract with UN World Food Programme. When that ran out I was lucky enough to get another IT post with the British Embassy. At the end of 1999 my wife and I decided we would like to return to Europe. What are you doing now? We decided to move to Munich, which is where my wife is from. My first job after returning was working for an Internet start-up, which lasted just under a year before going bankrupt. Thanks to contacts within the company I got an interview with the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space company who took me on as a consultant and after 18 months recruited me full time as a Systems Specialist. What's next for you? Do you have any plans for the future? At the moment I am happy where I am. Munich is a fantastic city and with a second child on the way, it isn't really the time to think about moving. However, we both suffer from Wanderlust and would not disregard the possibility of moving on in a year or so and start all over again. What is the best piece of advice you were ever given? "You're a long time dead." Not sure where I heard it first but it rings in my ears whenever I feel I might be slipping into a rut. What advice would you give to a Cedars student getting ready for the future? It may be a cliché but life is short and precious. Don't waste a second of it. Focus on the things you know give you satisfaction and never be pushed into anything because you think it is what you should be doing. I'd probably still be sitting behind a desk in Killingworth asking people to check if the printer cable is connected properly if I hadn't seen that poster for Operation Rayleigh ! Back to home |
|
|
|