People at Work

A. Name: Adrian Bohane. Occupation: Sales director of a company selling satellite imagery.

I usually work in the mornings and afternoons but because the company headquarters are based in Canada, I often have to turn on my personal computer as soon as I get home from the office to check for e-mails. This means about three hours more work after I should have finished for the day. My main job is to look after thirty distributors in my area so I spend much of my day making contact with them. I often attend conferences on satellite data and also do presentations to explain to clients about the industry. Most clients come from an academic background as satellite data is often used for scientific reasons.

The high point of the job has to be the excellent opportunity I have to travel and it is great to mix with people from so many nationalities. Conversely, travelling can sometimes be a low as I am never at home and it involves working on my own a great deal of the time.

Sometimes it is difficult to remain connected and know exactly what is going on at head office. However, at the end of the day I am my own boss - which is nice - so I only really have to worry about me.

In my free time I like to travel and go diving, but as I am so busy with work there is very little time for any of this. What little time I do have off is spent relaxing with friends, eating out or working in the garden.

B. Name: Victoria Williamson. Occupation: PA to an all-girl pop band.

I was actually part of the girls' management team for two months, before they asked me to be their PA. If we're in America, I get up at 6 a.m. to stay in touch with London - getting up so early can be really difficult! - but in Europe, I get up around 9.30 a.m. I go to the hotel gym, make sure everyone's up, check in with security and confirm the day's appointments and interviews. I'm the link between the girls and the record company, stylists, accountants and print media. Now that they manage themselves, there's also a lot of legal paperwork to be signed and returned quickly.

I'm working all the time that I'm awake. I don't have breaks as such, and I'm often up until 2 a.m. But because the girls have such a great sense of humour and fun, it's always a real laugh. And at times we can get really emotional together. Working for women is fantastic because they're much more on my wavelength than any of the male bosses I've had.

C. Name: Dr Heather Hall. Occupation: Assistant curator at a major zoo.

I arrive at the zoo at about 7.45 a.m. and catch up on what's happening in the aquarium and reptile house. If I have time before my department meetings, I walk round each section and talk to the keepers about any problems that may have come up.

I oversee about 2, 000 animals, and we are constantly reviewing which animals we want to keep. If we're left with just one individual animal from a particular species, we try to send it to join a breeding programme at another zoo. After lunch - usually something to eat at my desk - I open my post, which includes letters and questionnaires from students and other zoos, which I respond to. My afternoon work is likely to be more diverse. I work closely with a group of scientists at the Institute of Zoology, working on population and species management. I show visitors from other zoos and institutes around, talking them through the set-up. I also give lectures to students, anglers, fish hobbyists and members of the public. I finish work at 6 p.m., when somebody else takes over, and if I sometimes spend evenings at home, catching up with reading or research, that's really for my own interest.

D. Name: Hannah Latham. Occupation: Motorcycle courier.

I do about fifteen to twenty-five pick-ups a day. I mainly pick up and deliver small packets - that's all fairly standard, but sometimes I take passports to embassies, wait for visas to be issued, or pay cheques into banks. Some of the requests can be quite strange: I once had to deliver 20 cream cheese bagels to a café! A lot of my work is in inner London, so I have to be really careful, especially in wet weather. The job takes a lot of concentration, and I occasionally get angry with drivers, but I have to control my road rage as it impairs my riding. I used to get lost quite a bit at first, but it didn't take long to develop my map-reading skills.

I do feel really satisfied when I've had a good day, and I don't seem to have any problems switching off in the evening. I used to work Saturdays, too, but now my weekends are completely taken up with motorcycle racing, which is my new passion.