Hard to pick my favorite, as most of my jobs have been fun or interesting in one way or another. My two favorite would probably be starting a carpet cleaning company with my best friend (a short but entertaining venture) and as an auxiliary customs agent. Two jobs I definitely hated were at a solar panel factory and at a farm. The farm was actually enjoyable for the most part, but it was also a puppy mill and after the second time I had to bury one I couldn’t stay any longer.
@DaringSprinter
I don't think that I got any stronger. I just became a bit more misanthropic. I often spent entire shifts fantasizing about our species going extinct.
Yay!
@HogboblinZwei: I kinda see misanthropy as a strength.
Think how much less likely we are to fall for, say, a charity scam... or a boss telling us how bad it'll be for them, the company, our coworkers, etc., if we don't come in on our days off / work unpaid overtime / work without breaks or access to restroom facilities / be on call at all times without pay / whatever.
It's a loss of gullibility. Which is a gain in strength—of a sort.
Best job I made half the money I make now. I worked for a Persian family. The experience was amazing. The owners emotional intelligence was off the charts. I now work for a major corporation, great money, great benefits, ultimately I’m just a number. This isn’t the worst job however. Maybe this job with a boss I didn’t connect with was the worst. My current boss is amazing.
Worst: Ran away at age 15 and got a job working on a black market fishing trawler (one of those underground industries that used to exist back in the day). Long 14 hour work days dodging sharks, jelly fish and other critters that came in off the nets. Paid cash at the end of every work day though. That whole episode of my life was terrifyingly interesting. I fell in with an Outlaw motorcycle gang member who took to calling me little brother and talking lifetime family while stealing from private boats, sleeping in the boat cabins, and facing the end of a gun for the first and hopefully last time. I witnessed a real life orgy, got lost in the Outer Banks after overly potent Thai stick and acid, went all the way for the first time with a female runaway and saw a stand off gun fight between a swamp red neck and motorcycle gang member. I was properly motivated at that time to return home to a mom who said, “I was wondering when you’d be back” as she proceeded to call the cops. Such was the spring of 77.
Best: Current job. I am so established now that I forget I have an employer. They trust me totally unsupervised, they pay well, and I have been with them for two decades as a result.
Best: CCTV Installer, Computer Repairs and Networking that I do as Self-Employed.
Worst: Working as an IT technical support over the phone for an income tax service bureau back in 2004 for $350 a week paid as a 1099 "independent contractor" so my employer didn't had to pay the employee taxes, and they didn't had to give me any benefits, and at the end of the year I had to pay the self-employment tax which took a huge dent to the already low $350/Wk salary.
Lunch break was only 30 minutes, and all the restaurants except chinese food where located very far away that unless you wanted to eat greasy chinese food everyday, you had to order food by phone about 20 minutes before your lunch break.
At the end of the day, that job wasn't worth it, no room for advancement, low pay, paid as 1099 so they can get away with not paying benefits and taxes, stressful work environment as some customers weren't friendly over the phone. I left that job and decided to work for myself ever since.
This is easy…
Best= cuddling! Worst= all the rest!
@FunCartel: You sound very well established. That's how you know you've got a good employer who knows you're a good employee—solid pay and freedom to get the job done at your discretion!
I had the second one with the watchmaker, but not the pay. Someday I hope to find a job with both, too.
While cuddling is a close second, my absolute favorite job is when I get cast in a show! I majored in musical theatre, so I love performing. Unfortunately with the pandemic, those jobs have been few and far between.
I haven't really had a least favorite job since I've at least somewhat enjoyed every job I've done, but there were definitely people I didn't like working with/for.
Best: current. without going into too many details, I'm designing a spaceship. Responsible for making sure the astronauts can breathe.
Second best. First internship during college. I worked right above Mission Control, in the Mission Evaluation Room, launching and operating the space shuttle. My main responsibility was the Main Propulsion System (the big engines attached to the back of the Space Shuttles).
Each console in Mission Control had a corresponding console in the MER. We were engineers who were well versed in our subsystems and give the mission controllers "Go" from our end.
(The mission evaluation room: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19940030558)
Worst job, can't say I've really had one. I've been working since I was fourteen, in one way or another. I grew up in poverty and I witnessed my elderly parents struggle for low wages, so I've appreciated any job I've had. And I've had my share of min wage grunt work.
Though I used to hate having to rake leaves from the backyard as a kid.
Worst: Back in the early 90's when I was a Counselor for court-mandated HIV Testing. I was the one that got to tell prostitutes and their arrested clients their HIV results. There is nothing worse than delivering life changing news, which at the time, didn't have many medical options.
Second Worst: That time I was an HR and Finance Analyst and found and could verify fraud committed by the... Payroll Director. Which came about because Asst. Payroll Director couldn't balance her ass, let alone the 941 Quarterly. So I dug into a $20 Million dollar 941 Quarterly and found the the lost/unreported discrepancies, down to the penny. The internal auditor, who was friends with the Payroll Director, was furious with me that I had informed both the HR and the IT Directors, which meant she couldn't bury this incident. Both HR and the IT Directors were also furious that this couldn't be buried, which turned into secret, double secret meetings trying to get me to "lose" the audit trail, with threats to my career, HR record, and current position. Coercion much? In the final meeting with HR, IT, and internal auditor, I told them I'd go public if they tried to brush this under the rug and tried any further retaliation against me, which shut them down. The Payroll Director was allowed to retire. Fast forward to six months later when I was the Payroll Director and the internal auditor suddenly retired as well. I didn't understand the term "den of vipers" until I worked in one.
Second Best: Bartender for weddings in Napa/Sonoma. Serve happy people wine and beer in gorgeous vineyards? Yes, please. FANTASTIC tips.
Best: Program/Project Manager, where I coordinate work (sometimes onsite, sometimes remote at home in my bunny slippers) between vendors and clients while adult-babysitting leadership teams. I'm not bossy, I'm the boss.
@samfiddle wow that sounds like such a rewarding job!
@HogboblinZwei If the job was that bad and you endured, then you are strong. Being a misanthrope is a separate deal. Give yourself credit. You became stronger but you may not realize it at the moment. When you find the job that you enjoy and everyone there is complaining you can remember what this old job was like and it won’t seem so bad. That is acquired strength.
@FunCartel & @Sideon y’all should write books about your lives. I’d be enthralled.
Best: (Besides Cuddling!) I was a manager at Spirit of Halloween. We were allowed to dress up on the weekends and I enjoyed the atmosphere of all the spooky things. We got to listen to nice tunes and seeing little kid's reactions was either hilarious or wholesome. Not to mention how much the discount saved me 😂
Worst: Working as a Showgirl on the Las Vegas Trip. The ladies I met were very kind and helpful but the company we worked for ended up being pretty shady. When they hired me I was told I'd be free to accessorize and do my makeup to express myself, then I was told I was too "alternative". They raised the cost of renting their costumes and there was multiple nights we'd come back owing money. That's not to mention the harrasment of people trying to touch you while walking by, people touching themselves, and trying to proposition you. It wasn't all bad, and there were some nights we made more than a week's worth at a standard job, but it was very hit or miss. I only stayed with them for about two months.
Worst : When I was in high school working as a cashier in a lawn and garden department. Not only were we expected to run the cash register and deal with customers, we were supposed to be able to keep the plants alive. Neither skill I possess in any appreciable measure.
Best : My current position, particularly with my current employer.
I like being able to work at night, by myself, fairly autonomously as long as I get all the work done within my shift.
And I get to listen to audible books all night long.
@SnshineScarlett Its wonderful and I'm so grateful. I go to what some might consider extreme lengths to avoid giving my energy to unethical systems, and most non-profits are extremely self-serving, so this is a dream come true. Feels like im doing something that matters.
Best: Admin asst for a B2B store fixture company Worst: Data Entry for Peter Popoff (He's easy to google if you're curious)
A bouncer for one day. It was a brand new disco-tec with new owners. The old guard showed up to be badasses. I signaled the bartender to hit a bright light that prompted the owners to come to the front. The owner arrived, pushed all 4 of these guys up the stairs, back out onto the street, and proceeded to use Karate to kick the crap out of all 4 of them. The next day I read about it in the paper about their hospital stay. I just phoned it in. Not for me. I was a cuddler then too.
Best job? Rushlows Arabians in Romulus Michigan where I mucked stalls for two dollars a stall. Mr Rushlow did what my Dad could never do. He taught me character. And I got to transport their grandkids everywhere in a wheel barrow. LoL! Worst, a service manager job where management left as I was hired leaving an absolute train wreck and the owners lied about my salary.
"Best" is subjective in so many ways. But I would say the job that gave me the most joy was being a Starbucks barista in my early 20's. ☕️
I became a shift manager a few months later, but that took me away from my customers and gave the job a different vibe...more admin work, being a keyholder, counting in and out of the safe, people management, being responsible for corraling six baristas, managing breaks, delegating opening and closing tasks, etc., of course all while perpetually trying to cut labor. 📋🔑🤦🏻♀️📈 While I definitely enjoyed parts of that, it took me away from the main thing I loved.
As just a barista, I was free to focus on interacting with my customers. 🧑🏻🦰👴🏻👨🏾👧🏼 I absolutely loved them, and learned them by name, drink, and sometimes, life story. Some of them would spontaneously bring me Starbucks cards back from their travels to other states or countries...a regular took me to buy new windshield wipers, and installed them for me...one family brought me a stuffed wombat all the way from Australia...a customer named Jason literally gave me the shirt off his back. 👕😄 They were just lovely to get to know, and helped me grow in so many ways.
Worst job...
I can't really say I have one. I tend to stay at jobs for a good while, so I've only had four. (Plus my very first gig; covering for a receptionist's month-long trip to Italy.)
There were positive and negative aspects to each of the four. None were largely bad in any way.
The first one, I loved my co-workers, but was often left to one-man the place.
The second, I adored my customers, but didn't appreciate being just a number to corporate. 📑
The third, I loved being my own department, neither managing anyone, or relying on others to get my projects done. But it was a small business that was fraught with toxicity and a lack of professionalism, all the way up.
And the fourth, I loved my work, and the total lack of drama from our small location, but the lack of training was abysmal. 😆
~ Sunset Snuggles
🦄 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Fiend 🐘 Animal Lover
Happy summer vibes! 🐬 🎹
One of my best jobs was summer camp counselor when I was 18 and 19. I had so much fun but didn’t make much money!
Another great job was playing volleyball for university. They paid my school tuition and I got to play and go to school!
Worst jobs I've ever had . . .
Bad - working as a security guard for Pinkerton years ago. The job sites were supposed to have minimum standard facilities - a portable office, some sort of toilet, electricity, etc. Nope, kept getting put on job sites with ZERO facilities of any kind. Didn't dare walk around some of them for all the rattlesnakes, so I'd sit in my vehicle most of the shift.
Worse - being a teaching assistant at a public school. I only lasted a week. Was able to deal with the out-of-control children, but the teachers, parents, and staff were insufferable.
Worst - McDonalds. Tossup between whether the customers or the managers were worse.
Best job was being a fill-in fishing guide for a couple weeks in Alaska for a friend. He had charters booked and wasn't feeling at his best after surgery, so I went out with him and his customers, ran the boat, etc. - he was still Captain of course, but it was a blast.
I already posted a couple of years ago on the best and worst. But the most odd job was about when I was 18-19 digging up dead people. While living in WV a new 4 lane went thru a cemetery and it had to be moved. They would dig down about 3’ with machines and then we hand dug the rest of the way down. The saddest dig was a baby grave and the only thing I found was a plastic toy, the wooden casket and the remains turned to dust. Most all were wooden caskets. When we got to the 6’ mark and could not find anything but the metal handles from the casket we would put 1 shovel full of dirt and the handles into a small wooden box and then it was moved to the new location. That was when I decided I was going to be cremated as I didn’t want anybody moving my body around.
Oh, wow @waynewv yeah, you win. That's way worse than McDonalds
Worst: Retail/Department Store Clerk, for obvious reasons. 🙄
Best: Cheese Factory/Warehouse, received 4 bonuses a year, great healthcare provider and if you take off on a Friday then Saturday and Sunday was automatically given to you as well. And they had ESOP, where they match your percentage dollar for dollar!😁
They shut down unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. 😏🤷♀️
Worst was my last one. Company was delusional, convinced that the COVID sales good times were going to keep rolling (which they weren't). They wanted a new brand voice, but had never done any market research, had no idea who their customers were, and admitted their only unique selling point was meaningless to consumers. They spent a ton of money hiring an entire marketing team, only to fire them less than five months later.
Well I've only had 3 jobs...
And the best one was techically doing voluntary work in a local charity shop. Met some great people, the odd celeb haha, it was great.
Worst, my current one working admin for the NHS. The work itself isn't bad, but the people you work with can spoil everything. So glad I switched to four days as it was killing me.
I was a personal assistant for a man who constantly played porn in every room on mute, treated his staff like servants, and threw a dog bowl at me full of homemade dog food (that I took time to prep for the whole week) because my presentation sucked. He was awful and I'm so glad I never have to see him again.
Luckily, I don't think I ever had a worst job. Mostly I have exciting time and boring time during same job. If I have to pick a worst time then it was last 1-2 years of my first job that I ultimately quit for a change in life. Although first 2 years of that job were fun.
Now again I feel like I need a change because current job is quite relaxed and boring, while last 2 years of this job were challenging.