Success Stories

XR6_661 · 05-09-2007, 06:50 PM

So, I was talking to a mate today, who bought up the topic of being successful and how I'm doing well for myself. So here is my success story.

Started off in high school, working at bunnings casual. Doing pretty average in school, nothing special. Anyway, ended up quitting bunnings and doing really bad on my grade 12 cert. SO I went down the path of getting a traineeship.

Months went by with nothing, few interviews for retail jobs...just to carry me through until I got a good job. Things were looking pretty gloomy, didn't have a job, girlfriend of the time nearly left me, couldn't do stuff with mates. It sucked. Then one day, a training organisation called me and said I had an interview for a traineeship (Cert III, engineering technician level 1), I was hell excited needless to say.

So i went to the interview, thought I did pretty average, didn't think I'd get it. Not 1 hour out of the interview, I got the call saying I had the job. I was stoked! So 12 months later, I secured the certificate III and exceeded competencies. The company I was working for (Cairns City Council) offered for me to stay on as a temp to gain more experience. I accepted and my pay went up a considerable amount. Went out and bought myself a new car (03 BA XR6 Falcon) and a few other nice things to celebrate.

So my temp position was coming to and end. Council then offered to pay all my uni fees so I could study exteranally at USQ and still work full time there. Needless to say, I accepted. Luckily for me, my cert III in engineering got me into USQ. I'll come out at the end of the course (Associate Degree in engineering) as a mechnical engineer, I'll be 24 when I finish.

The start of this week, I started up my own contract CAD drafting business, and already have a job to help do a layout of a kitchen, even though some may think that's a small thing, for me, it's a huge step and I'm stoked.

So that's pretty much where I stand today,I'm 19, I work a 36 hour week,don't work weekends and I'll be studying 10 hours a week when I start my first course. I earn a really good wage for my age. And I've never had a day where I have dreaded going into work.

Now I Know some mya think, that's not success, success is something like lance armstrong. But in my eye's I am successful and I've worked my butt off to get where I am today.

So post up your success stories!

Duke · 05-09-2007, 07:01 PM

G'day 661,
Good story buddy and you're obviously excited about the path you're on, and so you should be. Success is different things to different people so never let anyone tell you that you're not successful.

I'd be interested to know what your plans and goals are for the future 661.

Care to share.

XR6_661 · 05-09-2007, 07:27 PM

I'm pretty much going to focus on getting the associate degree out of the way within the 4 years as well as doing odd drafting jobs here and there for my business, gonna be putting my hand up for any training courses, i.e. AutoCAD Advanced and stuff like that.

Once I finish the course, i plan on staying with Cairns City Council for a couple more years, get some more experience as a qualified engineer. My ultimate goal, as a mechanical engineer in years to come, will be to try and get into a car company. Namely ford =P. So that's what I'll be working towards. I've also considered doing a surveying degree at uni after I finish the engineering degree.

Once I start earning some decent coin, I'm gonna but a piece of land in part with my parents, one that is big enough to subdivide into 2. Let my parents build on it and live there, once the land has increased in value, I'll build a small humpy on my piece of the land, apply for dual occupancy, then subdivide it and sell up, with the profit I make, I'll buy up somewhere else.

Perhaps even in the future, I'd like to start up my engineering consultancy group. Somewhere I can work fulltime, but still second (sp?) my sevices to government agencies. I.e. 1 day a week work for a local council in a city development branch.

At least that's how I see it all happening! =]

DBourne · 05-09-2007, 08:06 PM

mate. your 19, own a BA xr6 and have a stable job which you love.. how can anyone NOT call that success?? well done

**Burnout** · 05-09-2007, 08:56 PM

Ditto to those who posted above.....

Success is a state of mind, it's that simple.

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." Sir Francis Bacon.

Sam_Boss260 · 05-09-2007, 09:19 PM

Mate well done for 19. When I was 19, I had no idea about anything...except chasing girls.....but that is another story !!

Ryan · 05-09-2007, 09:28 PM

You've done well for yourself mate.

I have been attending Tafe this year, doing a combined HSC/Trade course, so I've been picking up, where I should have in high school.

I'm not the greatest sucess story. 21 and never held a fulltime job.

I've had so many interviews in the last 5 years, it's really quite astounding. Hopefully with some sort of qualification from Tafe, employers will look at what I can do rather what I can't do, and my age.

rodderz · 05-09-2007, 09:30 PM

Good stuff mate it's called setting up for the future. The more strings to your bow, the more experiences in different fields, the easier it will be to find jobs, or set up a business.

You're on your way to getting a qualification that will earn you some good coin, and should your CAD business take off you'll make more

conordec · 05-09-2007, 09:38 PM

congrats....

what price happiness???? you're there already.

V3RSAC3 · 05-09-2007, 10:00 PM

well done man ... 19 lolz ... im 18 and i hope to be somewere where u area t now when im 19 ... i will be going into business with my parents in a months time when i finish yr. 12 ... and i am hell stocked about it ... will be working nights, 5 nights a week; 6pm-6am ... working with my dad ...

well done!

MITCHAY · 05-09-2007, 10:09 PM

Congrats and it is good to have some direction in life ;)

I think I've done alright for myself.

Passed all levels of standard education with ease. So far I have earnt myself a Statement of Attainment, Cert I & II in IT. I have qualified for a Cert IV in Programming and currently in my last semester for Diploma of IT (Soft Dev).

If I pass I can get a Dip of IT (Web Dev) if I do another 6 months and probably a 1-1.5yrs off a Bachelor of IT, but stuff that I'm out of there pass or fail this semester.

I have worked in the same job since I was 15 and am now 20. Always have earnt more than most people my own age but that's because I have worked heaps of hours for that $. Plus had to study and go to school on top of that. Thank god for Redbull!

At 19 bought myself a MY03 WRX outright. That's probably my highlight because I worked so bloody hard for that car which costs me more money

:

I'm one of those people though that knows that they have done more/better than most but is never completely satisfied if anyone understands that

:

When I finish school I'm having a holiday and then I'll see where life leads me next I suppose.

:

DBourne · 05-09-2007, 10:23 PM

MITCHAY u can help me with my javascript gear for web dev then!

MITCHAY · 05-09-2007, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

MITCHAY u can help me with my javascript gear for web dev then!

LOL unfortunately that is what I would have to learn in those 6 months so I have very little idea about Javascript

I have to teach myself PHP for this project I'm doing now :(

XR8-260 · 05-09-2007, 10:33 PM

Well done mate. I'm 19 but haven't achieved a whole lot yet. Hopefully that will change when I graduate with a law degree

:.

asusdragon · 05-09-2007, 10:34 PM

well my sussess start back in adelaide bout 4 years ago i was dating this girl for bout 2 years. Till bout the end when i found out she was cheating on me with my best friend. as it goes we broke up and then just having some many common firends it was getting pretty hard and i was getting really depressed all the time, and got starts on all sorts of drugs etc etc
so made the decision to move to Perth to live with my old man for bout 3 months, all moved with in bout 2 weeks. got a job in a fruit and veg before very quickly rising to a managers position. working there for bout 7 months and meet my current GF Manda, after that i quit the job and went in to balustrading.
I have does very sussessful there i and now a supervisor and have two offsiders. i have also heard that i may be getting a promotion to running all the large multi story building site balustrading.
now to put this in persective i have been with the company 3 years now and im only 22, and during my time where Manda and I have been able to buy our own house which is something i had never really thought off, and have both just brought new cars
so to finish off i would have to thanks my EX for cheating on me coz if she hadnt i wouldnt have been anyway near where i am today

Powdered Toast Man · 05-09-2007, 10:36 PM

Good on ya XR6 661! Think you might even go for a bachelor degree in Mech eng?

I was so proud when I graduated I even had my degree framed. It's sitting in my bedroom leaning up against a wall now but I did have it up on the wall soon after I got it. And now 5 years later I am technically the head engineer at the company I work for. But thats just because of circumstance; the head engineer just retired and I'm all thats left so I am groomed to take over. Started off slow though, drafting 2 days a week for them which became 3 then 5 and then to make things more complicated I had 2 jobs. I was at my current work 3.5 days a week and drafting for another business the other 1.5 days plus a few hours on weekends. I'm now full time on salary which means I get paid for 38 hours while actually working 45 lol.

Like you I became a Mechanical engineer with dreams of getting into Ford. But after 4 failed attempts I've given up on that now. But at least I am designing a product where I work at an excavator attachment manufacturer. Cant stand maintenance engineering (the second job I had for a couple of years) and designing production line machinery (conveyors etc) doesn't particularly interest me either, so I'm happy.

Good ol' AutoCAD, the bain of my existance! I get to sit there and draw on it all day (well I use it most days). Are you thinking about learning another 3D modelling package such as SolidWorks or Inventor? I'm slowly teaching myself SolidWorks as it is also used at work.

MITCHAY · 05-09-2007, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

I was so proud when I graduated I even had my degree framed. It's sitting in my bedroom leaning up against a wall now but I did have it up on the wall soon after I got it.

I'm tempted to burn my Diploma and p!ss on the ashes the way it's going! Been nothing but hassles

:

Duke · 05-09-2007, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6_661

I'm pretty much going to focus on getting the associate degree out of the way within the 4 years as well as doing odd drafting jobs here and there for my business, gonna be putting my hand up for any training courses, i.e. AutoCAD Advanced and stuff like that.

Once I finish the course, i plan on staying with Cairns City Council for a couple more years, get some more experience as a qualified engineer. My ultimate goal, as a mechanical engineer in years to come, will be to try and get into a car company. Namely ford =P. So that's what I'll be working towards. I've also considered doing a surveying degree at uni after I finish the engineering degree.

Once I start earning some decent coin, I'm gonna but a piece of land in part with my parents, one that is big enough to subdivide into 2. Let my parents build on it and live there, once the land has increased in value, I'll build a small humpy on my piece of the land, apply for dual occupancy, then subdivide it and sell up, with the profit I make, I'll buy up somewhere else.

Perhaps even in the future, I'd like to start up my engineering consultancy group. Somewhere I can work fulltime, but still second (sp?) my sevices to government agencies. I.e. 1 day a week work for a local council in a city development branch.

At least that's how I see it all happening! =]

661, you've done a lot of thinking on your future by the sound of it and that, my friend, is a huge head start for you.
My advice to you would be ...
keep your goals in front of you every day (write them down)
Never think you know all there is to know about anything
set yearly goals and each year review and reset them
Associate with people who are like minded in their desire to succeed
Buy and read 1 book each month on a topic that interests you such as property investment, wealth creation, personal development etc.
Be as generous as you can afford to be.

Simple but very powerful stuff, and... it works.... I have the proof.

Cheers.

TEaaron · 05-09-2007, 10:53 PM

Hmm well.
Failed year 7, throughout year 8 I didn't really try because everyone said i'd fail ect ect. So I did, failed year 8. by year 9 I was so far behind in everything cause I hardly went to school any more just sick of the sh!t, wagged 109 days of year 9, failed year 9. then left that school because of getting bagged.

Started at a new school year 10 so far behind on school work ect ect but made a few good mates there, failed year 10 so I pretty much said **** this went to tafe to do somthing I was actually interested in.

Did a 10 week course on fabrication engineering.

Got a job, that I go to every day, that I enjoy more than school. Earning over $30,000 a year as a 17 year old second year apprentice as well as taking night school courses working towards my certificate IV in fabrication engineering and design.

Then maybe do a diploma.

Do boxing now have some pretty good mates

Ringo · 06-09-2007, 09:07 AM

Its nice to have a positive thread.

Finished year 11 (just) and then went and began doing Engineering at Box Hill Tafe instead of year 12 - some of it was a sinch, some of it unbelievably difficult.

My second year at Tafe was my 'gap year' - I hardly went but still managed to pass a few things but I had lost my direction

Worked that summer in a friends factory....they said they might offer me a full time job .... and I thought hell no I'm worth more than this and gave myself a kick up the bum!

So in the middle of the recession I opened the Yellow Pages and called every Prestige Dealer I could get to and asked about being a first year apprentice in Motor Mechanics.

After a try out I got into a BMW Dealer and spend the next 7 getting my ticket and working on some of the most challenging and interesting vehicles. Because I had a good attitude I got a lot of other opportunituies and responsibilities to do non mechanic activities and projects....handy stuff to put on the CV too.

Ended up joining a fleet company and because I understand cars and numbers I am an asset to the company. I have done three different jobs here, learnt all about spreadsheets, business pratices, and the automotive industry and now most of my time turning 'gobbidy gook' fleet data that into meaningful conclusions for Lexus driving big wigs.

The other lesson I live by is that opportunities are only given to those who go and get them - not those who stand around and wait for them.

MYVYSS · 06-09-2007, 09:28 AM

mmm OK...Dropped out of school at year 10...mucked about with PC's and computers till I was 21, did ok and was on 50k and car in no time, decided to take a different approach and MET two blokes who changed my life, they taught me about commercialism and work ethics, they also allowed me untrained to implement a payroll and finance system for Local Government, turns out I am good at it, spent about 8 years working my way thru the systems and companies I chose and wanted to gain experience in (retail, Public Sector, private, health, logistics and telecommunications) worked on some of the largest roll outs in Australia's Corporate world, created my own one man consulting firm and was making around 1700 a day, thought life couldnt get any better, then was made an offer to migrate here to the USA and work on a couple of very large projects for the next 4-7 years....Good Coin and Company paid for all expenses, so I moved the family across and the rest is history... Am I successful I think yeah I am in a way....but stuff success, more importantly I am HAPPY!!!! and to some extent very very content...with who, how and what I am..!!! and thats important. I dont aim to Die a RICH man, but I want to Die with a Smile knowing I gave it a red hot go, and also DID it MY WAY.

Am now a Snr Manager with a Top 4 Consulting Firm based in the US of A and havent felt this good in YEARS!!!...

Duke · 06-09-2007, 10:03 AM

Wonderful stories folks, very inspiring, thanks for sharing with all of us.

gozza · 06-09-2007, 10:41 AM

Go to Oprah - Go to Oprah !!

PoMmYwOG · 06-09-2007, 01:50 PM

i'm in a similar boat, i finished my HSC with a disappoointing UAI so i could forget my ideas of going to uni...

I then got a part time job at Lonestar Steakhouse, was terrible there, came home reaking, and at 1am, pay, bad managers etc...was there for about 3 months, untill... i got my Business Admin cert111 Traineeship for a big international steel trading co.

Started in march 2005(was 18) as a trainee doing customs clearance. In the first 9 months i got promoted to a Logistics Clerk(much better than customs clearnace) and my pay almost doubled.At end of 2005 i upgraded my old VP wagon to a VS Calais(what a diff!!!) was a pretty sweet job.
Towards the end of 2006 i gave the calais to my brother and bought myself my 03 BA XR6 i have now( Loving it!!)
Then last xmas i got approached by one of the managers in the steel trading div about a BSR(Business Service Representative) position coming up in his dept.

He gave me the xmas holz to think about it , even tho i basically straight away accepted the offer...was over the moon becuase usually a person of my age doesnt get a position like this.

Started my BSR role march this year(20 now), loving it, very full on... Also my company are gonna pay for any studies im gonna do( Diploma in Business & Bachelor of Business @ Uni).

So all in all i consider my self to be pretty sucessful for a 20yr old, on good money, own a pretty good car and have a job with alot of future prospects in it, great boss and great staff.

I would never think i'd have ended up like this at the time i got my HSC results...just goes to show, with will power and confidence and the right train of thought, u can make things happen.

Regards
Jamie.

uranium_death · 06-09-2007, 02:02 PM

Finished Year 12, got 77.95 for my ENTER. Would have earned a better score if I had actually worked.

Had no idea what to do. Started Bachelor of Primary Education at Deakin Burwood. Halfway through the course I thought I didn't belong, but I soldiered on.
Third year first semester, things went great. Nothing below a credit, loved my rounds...looking sweet. Second semester, things went to the buggery. Got 38 for one class (thought it wasn't purely my fault), had a nightmare round in a particular school and a friend of mine died. I mentally self destructed.

2006 was meant to be my final year, but I decided to do it over 2 years. Last year, no probs. Did well in all classes.

This year first semester, did my first semester rounds and got along well with the kids but was crap in the classroom. I was walking around making sure ppl were on task and I was asking myself under my break, "What the f am I doing here?" I knew I had done my dash.

Left at the end of the semester and am now going through Centrelink looking for work.

So why is this a success story? Because I am trying to discover what I want to do in life. Being a success isn't necessarily being a doctor or a CEO. Success to me is when you do something you really like doing, regardless of prestige, monetary rewards etc.

On EQII though I have success....had a level 1 character...almost level 70 now. Probably should have been 70 ages ago, but I don't play enough anyway...plus this pc is sloppy poo that has been smeared all over the place just to make things worse.

Cheers

Bax · 06-09-2007, 02:03 PM

You could basically quote that first post for me, not quite the same path, but I went through and got the Cert 3 in Engineering, working for Ergon, got extended into a casual position, which then extended and extended into a full time position as a Trainee Para Professional, with work paying for all my uni.

Very scary to read, I actually got off the drafting last year to get into this position. Due for a pay rise in a few months, but for now overtime does wonders for my income.

Duke · 06-09-2007, 07:44 PM

I went from sawyer to millionaire, but I feel successful because of who I am, rather than what I've done.

It's good for you teenagers and twenty somethings to be proud of your achievements and the way you've bettered yourselves, but don't forget to be proud, and boast about, being the kind of people that have high levels of drive and ambition. Those things come from inside you and are far more valuable than the courses you've passed.

That's not to say that you shouldn't also be proud of your achievements, of course you should, they're the milestones that highlight the fruits of your determination.

More stories folks, there's more of you go getters out there...surely...

mad cow · 06-09-2007, 08:38 PM

i started work at 13 (part time) working at a local garage as a gopher and at weekends on sideshows as well as also helping on the family farm. (it was a 20k ride by pushbike to town daily to allow this, rain hail or shine) i barely passed yr 11 before starting a mechanic apprenticeship (didnt work out) then at a car yard before again milking cows. at 19 i started at a truck yard as a trainee delivery driver and when i left 10 years later i had worked my way to be the assistant manager and helped to build the buissiness to a 5 mil a year concern but i didnt like the stress of the larger company so i quit. now i own and run my own specialty concrete concrete company which is doing way over any of my expectations, so my advice is to 1, always belive you can do or have what you want, 2, never listen to others if they disagree with no 1 and 3, always be confident even if youre not sure as confidence is even more important than education. i did all this on sheer false confidence and im not really the sharpest tool in the shed.

my real sucsess however is my wife and 4 childeren as they make me happier than any of the above. oh and ive only just racked up to being 30 years young.

schnoods · 06-09-2007, 09:24 PM

I went to high school and was in the academic extension there for years 8 9 and 10, having no interest in school work I went into year 11 in a metalwork and engineering course, a few teachers were disappointed as well as confused why i didnt do TEE. After seeing I was wasting time i Decided to go to tafe the following year.

I did a Pipefitting course as well as a Tig Welding ticket. As a 16 year old I was the youngest Person in WA to be coded for AS 1796 (pressure pipe). Still I found it tough finding an Apprenticeship so I worked part time labouring for a Sand Blaster. A year later i moved to Darwin.

Within 3 weeks of moving to Darwin, I found myself an apprenticeship in Metal Fabrication as well as having a year reduced (started 2nd year with no first year wages) doing a Cert 3 in Metal fabrication.

When I finished I moved back down to Perth and have been working at the Same Company since I moved down 2 years ago. I have worked up to a Leading hand position, at the age of 23, which a few boilermakers at 50 tend to be annoyed.

Next year will be my final year in the Metal Game as I am cashing in my chips, so to say. The plan is to go back to study, As I want to be an Engineer. After that it seems alot more windows open.

Thats my Story.

JD86 · 06-09-2007, 09:38 PM

awesome thread, good to know some people my age think along the same lines as me, as a lot of my friends dont

youve done very well 661

my little story:

since about the age of 12 i wanted to be an architect, i was pretty good in school and thought i could do it

got awesome grades in school until year 12, my parents divorced and i got a bit depressed and that, and i also realised they couldnt pay hecs for me and i didnt want a debt like that at an early age

got a bit side tracked and dropped out of methods, wagged biology as i hated it, stayed in physics because i enjoyed it, but got a pretty average enter score

applied to get into a drafting course, which i got into straight out of school, and did that in 2005 and 2006, working part time as a stone mason (a job i kind of fell into)

got my certificate 4 in drafting in 2005, then my diploma of drafting in 2006, i am now doing my advanced dimploma at night and am working at an awesome architects office in collingwood, working with multi million dollar budgets

i plan on studying architecture part time in a few years after i buy a house

i am also looking at buying a new car very soon, either an au ltd v8, or a ba xr6t, cash no loan

so i am pretty proud of what i have done, especially considering a lot of people my age (just turned 21) that i know are in dead end jobs and waste their money on drugs, its a big problem

i find the motivation and inspiration in reading others peoples stories, so thanks for starting this thread

i love looking up motivational and inspirational quotes which help me keep focusted, i can post some of my favourites on here if people would like?

anyway thanks for reading my story haha