Charisa wrote about her first summer job and it got me thinking about jobs I have done. And there are LOTS!!!!
I applied for my first permanent job in 2000 at the grand old age of 28. What can I say I am a late starter? Prior to that I did temp jobs, which I LOVED! Unfortunately it is not something that you can continue doing indefinitely.
Some of the jobs I have done were pretty – hmmm….interesting. A lot of them I would never want to repeat, however the do make for the best memories and stories.
So here goes (and I am sure I will forget some). EDITED TO ADD – this got a bit long, so I have cut out some of the more conventional jobs.
- Waitressing – at quite a few different places with varying results. At the first place I lasted 1 ½ days at another I lasted nearly 3 years. In 1994 I vowed I would never waitress again and I have not. My first tip ever was R5.00 a lot to me at the time, especially considering I had spilt an entire bottle of red wine over the woman who happened to be wearing a white summer dress. I thought I would be fired. (Plettenberg Bay, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town)
- Packing CD’s – the result of vowing never to waitress again. Not easy finding work in London if you are unqualified and won’t work in a restaurant.
- Sticker Remover… Don’t ask. (London)
- Credit Card Counter…… It was boring and tedious but the most exciting part was that I got to use a computer with Excel so was able to add that to my CV. I must have been quite good at counting as they offered me a full time job. I left. (Edinburgh)
- Pharmacist assistant at a hospital; first for out-patients – I hated it and after the 2nd day I told them I was leaving, so they moved me to in-patients. I had to go into operating rooms and count supplies. URGH! I could never be a doctor or nurse or anything in the medical profession. (London)
- Receptionist – at a drug centre. To close to medical stuff so I left. After that I had 2 more criteria for jobs I would NEVER do! (London)
After that I had 2 more criteria to add to jobs I would NEVER do! Nothing medical, no reception work and no waitressing!! I was getting fussy.
- Envelope stuffer (yes, that was the actual job title that was on my pay slip). Yip, very fussy. (London) Then I got promoted to..
- Financial advisor….???? Who knows…I must have shown some promise in stuffing those envelopes. I remained “Financial Advisor for 10 months. Actually until they offered me a full time position and I freaked and left. (This was a trend). (London)
- Garlic picker – this has to be one of the WORST jobs in the world, it is back breaking and you stink of garlic. I did it for 2 days the first I got sunburnt so I covered myself in sunscreen for the 2nd day. It rained and the mud stuck to my sunscreen and it ran into my eyes. NOT FUN (New Zealand)
- Peach picker, slightly better than garlic, but only slightly. Who knew you could be allergic to the fuzz on peaches. (New Zealand)
- Apple packer – better than picking peaches but not by much. After a couple of weeks I decided to quit! I walked over to the manager to tell him but before I could say anything he asked if I could type – YES!!!! I got moved to Apple Control. FUN!! I stayed a few months. When I asked him later why he chose me he said I had the longest legs and the shortest shorts. Woo hoo! Glad I bought those shorts (New Zealand)
I have also worked as a cleaner (Sweden), a Guest House manager (South Africa), a Buyer (also SA) and as an event planner (SA). Now I work in insurance – go figure!!!
Talk about having a checkered career – it was fun (at times) and at least I can look back now and laugh.
Sounds like a life well-lived!
Wow, I thought I had been busy playing job musical chairs! Life experience is what it’s all about is what I say!
I might have to make a list too sometime.