What jobs have you had?

jenna8984

Mostly all of mine were high school & college because I've only been in my field since graduating college. Any scandalous work stories?

• babysitter- my scandalous story: I was 15 and the kids were 7. One time their 22 year old half brother stopped by to see his mom. Instead he met me and continued to come over on Tuesdays to make out with me. He wanted to do more one time but I was innocent at that age and told him no. So he kinda stopped coming after that but it was fun while it lasted haha
• camp counselor- 1 year pretend lifeguard in the 3 foot pool, 2 years general set shit up and walk kids to the bathroom
• waitress- family owned diner, and national chain
• title examiner assistant- look up people's deeds and property lines at the house of deeds & probate for my aunt
• bank teller
• CVS cashier
• retail at the mall- quit after one month, fuck that shit
• public accounting auditor- semi scandalous: I hated this job so I used to sneak to the unused conference room and nap under the table for an hour or two. I think people wondered where I was but I never got caught.
• staff accountant (current)

 

cupcait927

No scandalous work stories (involving me anyway) and very few jobs. I get jobs and stick with them, regardless if I hate them. Luckily I have a job now that I love.

- Newspaper carrier from age 11 through 16

- Cashier at a grocery store from 17 through college - two different stores, one being Wegmans

- Work study job in college where I was an assistant to the administrative assistants for the sociology department

- customer service support for an insurance broker

- client account manager for a different broker - this is my current job

ETA - forgot about one job - I was a field organizer for a NY State Senate race. Loved the job but the candidate lost so I didn't get to continue working for him.  

H on the other hand has had a million different jobs and definitely has some scandalous stories of his own.

novella1186

Psh I've done it all. Let me see if I can remember... In no particular order: 

• Dog sitter
  
• babysitter 
  
• Zoo gift shop employee (I got to sit next to the tigers) 
  
• Hostess in a Mexican Restaurant 
  
• Drink girl on a golf course (I drove around in a cart with a giant cooler full of booze) 
  
• Hostess at a fancy restaurant 
  
• Tanning Salon associate 
• Freelance writer
  
• Freelance painter
  
• Writer for the newspaper
• Fundraiser for my college (essentially a telemarketer)  
  
• Hooters Girl 
  
• Bartender 
  
• Manager of a Halloween store 
• Department Store sales associate 
  
• Web manager for a car dealership 
  
• Customer Service Specialist at a casino hotel 
  
• HR Office Assistant at a college 
  
• Data Manager at a huge company
  
• Clinical Research Specialist at that same company 
  
• ETA: model (started when I was 3) 
• Also ETA: horseback riding instructor and stable hand 

I think that's it... 

flutteringinfl

I have had the most boring work experience. I like reading other people's interesting work experiences because it makes me feel better about my uneventful ones.

• I worked in my dad's dental office off and on throughout high school. Mostly doing busy work, but the older I got the more they trusted me with "real" stuff.
• During college I was a tutor, which mostly consisted of me sitting in the tutoring center six hours a week and doing my homework. No one ever used the tutoring center. Eventually during my senior year they realized this and had us tutors also working the library desk, so it got a little more interesting, but not by much.
• I also worked at a Jo-Ann fabrics for a couple semesters. That was my first "big girl" job. I actually really liked it. The team was good and the customers were mostly friendly.
• My first full time job was running a Writing Center at a community college
• My current job is running a tutoring center at another college, and I also teach a couple sections of freshman seminar

larrygaga

• Babysitter
• McDonald's drive thru person
• social worker in a housing commission
• therapist
• camp counselor

I'm young so I haven't built my resume up much

maeday2

novella1186 said:

• Drink girl on a golf course (I drove around in a cart with a giant cooler full of booze) 

Ditto! This by far was my favorite summer job ever. 

One of my favorite golfers lived on the course. He used to get a jug of cranberry juice and pour half out and replenish with vodka. He'd put it in a grocery bag and hang it in a tree near his house. I'd swing by on the cart and throw it in the back ice chest. I was buzzed probably 50% of the time that entire summer while working. 

Maggie0829

-  Florist (8.5 years total)

-  "Personal trainer" at Curves (1 year)

-  Government contractor (current job - 6 years)

I got my current job 6 months after I graduated college and up until that point I pretty much worked at a florist (worked at 2 different ones) since my Junior/Senior year of high school.

novella1186

maeday2 said:

novella1186 said:

• Drink girl on a golf course (I drove around in a cart with a giant cooler full of booze) 

Ditto! This by far was my favorite summer job ever. 

One of my favorite golfers lived on the course. He used to get a jug of cranberry juice and pour half out and replenish with vodka. He'd put it in a grocery bag and hang it in a tree near his house. I'd swing by on the cart and throw it in the back ice chest. I was buzzed probably 50% of the time that entire summer while working. 

It's amazing how much golfers can drink, isn't it? I remember this one guy (I will NEVER forget this guy, still remember his first and last name too) used to start at the earliest t-off time (6am) and immediately order a double diet coke and rum, and 3 beers to "tide him over" till I came back around. Well there's hardly anyone out that early, so I'd get back to him pretty fast, and it would all be gone, and he'd put in the same order again. At 6am! Then I would park under a tree and eat all the snacks. 

behsco90

No scandalous stories...I am boring.

High School

• Worked in the warehouse at my family's business doing QC
• Frozen custard shop
• Also at my family's business helping out doing random crap

College

• Retail - major department store for so many years

After college

• Major department store again
• Realtor (I will probably go back to this as my career once FI can support both of us while I build my business)
• Acupuncture office as a receptionist
• Countertop showroom as a receptionist

Now I work at my family's business as an administrative assistant.  

climbingsingle

- My first job was at Dunkin Donuts when I was 15. One of their donut bakers touched me inappropriately. When I finally got the courage to tell my parents, they made me go to the police. And then the police blamed me. A 15 year old girl. For this man in his 40s touching me. 

- I worked at a doll shop in an antique store from 16-17

- I then worked at a place called BMI Verification my senior year. This will date me. When people were changing their land line plans, there needed to be a third party to verify that they understood. That was my job. 

- My mom then got me a job at her company. I worked there all through college. I stayed for 8 years. I held many jobs:

Mailroom clerk 

Data Entry assistant

Accounting assistant 

Customer service rep 

Special orders agent 

Purchasing agent 

While there, I dated a co-worker who lived in California. I had no idea that he had a girlfriend that he lived with. I eventually found out when she called me. And that's the last time I dated a co-worker. 

- Account manager for a logistics company 

- Office manager for an engineering firm 

- And then the place I am now. I started as a purchasing agent, worked my way up to purchasing manager, then took over customer service and delivery. So technically, I'm now Executive VP. But that means a lot less in a small company  

blabla89

- Waitress at Steak N Shake and a couple other restaurants in my hometown

- Building sets for a college theater program

- Interned in the C-suite of an auto part manufacturing company in Austria. I spoke zero German when I started, and I didn't know anything about car parts. I loved being in Austria but hated every day of that job.

- Old man sitting. This was by far my most interesting job. I got paid to hang out with a 85 year old man while his wife (55 years old) was at work. He was incredibly intelligent (had numerous degrees and academic accomplishments) but he had some memory loss. He could tell all these crazy stories from 60 years ago, but he couldn't remember if he had already taken his meds. Sometimes I would run errands for his wife, and he would hand me $20 and tell me to bring him back starbucks and keep the change. Oh, and he never wore pants.

- Client service at a non-profit marketing agency. We've had some crazy stuff happen, but nothing scandalous per se.

emmaaa

-Camp Counselor when I was 16 at an outdoor day camp. We had staff "meetings" (we really met up at a restaurant once a week to eat) once a week. This one week we had a cook out at the camp pool. Well I got wasted before we went and passed out in my best friend's car. I ended up having to tell my parents but my boss never found out

-Data entry specialist at an ophthalmologist office.

-Call Center Representative at a sports equipment company.

-Sales Associate at JCrew and Saks.

-Barista at Starbucks

-Recreation assistant for a small town

-Waitress for Texas Roadhouse

-Senior Program and Special Events Coordinator currently for a town

jenna8984

behsco90 said:

No scandalous stories...I am boring.

High School

• Frozen custard shop

This reminded me of Bluth Frozen Bananas on arrested development haha

maeday2

After my public golf course days, I started working at an extremely exclusive course in fine dining. My first weekend on the job I served Eli and Peyton Manning. 

That place was a fucking soap opera. It was always something. One of the dining room managers was screwing a contract server and favoritism was rampant. 

One day they ushered us all into the boardroom to be lectured on behavioral standards. They reminded us we aren't allowed to hang out with members in our free time. Turns out, one of the other dining room managers was screwing members for money. 

I hope that confidentiality agreement I signed is null and void at this point. 

lacqueredlover

I've had a few,...

• Babysitter
• Intern for a Congressman
• Intern for a State Assemblyman (who left office in disgrace after allegations of hitting on his male interns came to light)
• Intern for a financial firm (scariest drug test ever)
• Intern for Elle Magazine in the Music Department (best internship ever, got to talk on the phone with Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett and I said "fuck" to both of them accidentally)
• Online Consultant for E. Jean Carroll (advice columnist)
• Sex Columnist
• Marketing Assistant to an architectural firm
• Beauty Blogger 
• Nail art consultant to an online magazine
• Social Media Manager for several small beauty brands

littlemushroom

In no particular order:

Babysitter

Softball Umpire (ASA, NSA, and IHSA)- At 16, I was officiating high school softball games and women's leagues. I have many stories of middle aged men getting in my face and screaming and trying to intimidate me. It never worked. I was also the umpire sent to officiate a team and report back whether the coach was drunk on the field with his 12 &under team. He was.

Guest Services (code for Front Desk) rep for a couple major hotel chains

Ice cream shop employee

Clerk for a federal judge

Attorney at a big law firm in Chicago

Sales Manager at a hotel

Call center employee

Internal Help Desk Rep

Collector- I hated this job more than anything and it gave me nightmares until I told my HR dept to transfer me or I was going to quit. They didn't want to because I met goal every month

Administrative services specialist

Payroll Specialist- my current and one of my top two favorite jobs I have ever had.

ETA: Retail Cashier- forgot about this one. I only did it during the holidays as a second job. They hired me on permanent right when I met DH. He lived an hour away and I could only see him on the weekend, so I quit a couple weeks later. Best decision ever.

mikenberger

High school:
Hostess at Applebee's
Lifeguard at the Y

College:
Various pool jobs varying from coordinator for swimming lessons and lifeguard trainer and pool manager.

Adult jobs:
Aquatics Director for the Y
Retail at the Gap (second job)
Retail for Sprint (lasted 8 months. Hated my life.)
Software quality assurance
Quality assurance for IT (current) love being a nerd

novella1186

blabla89 said:

- Waitress at Steak N Shake and a couple other restaurants in my hometown

- Building sets for a college theater program

- Interned in the C-suite of an auto part manufacturing company in Austria. I spoke zero German when I started, and I didn't know anything about car parts. I loved being in Austria but hated every day of that job.

- Old man sitting. This was by far my most interesting job. I got paid to hang out with a 85 year old man while his wife (55 years old) was at work. He was incredibly intelligent (had numerous degrees and academic accomplishments) but he had some memory loss. He could tell all these crazy stories from 60 years ago, but he couldn't remember if he had already taken his meds. Sometimes I would run errands for his wife, and he would hand me $20 and tell me to bring him back starbucks and keep the change. Oh, and he never wore pants.

- Client service at a non-profit marketing agency. We've had some crazy stuff happen, but nothing scandalous per se.

I didn't get any sleep last night so my brain is not working. When I read "old man sitting" I pictured you dressed up as an old man and sitting in a chair, and being paid to just sit there like that. 

blabla89

novella1186 said:

blabla89 said:

- Waitress at Steak N Shake and a couple other restaurants in my hometown

- Building sets for a college theater program

- Interned in the C-suite of an auto part manufacturing company in Austria. I spoke zero German when I started, and I didn't know anything about car parts. I loved being in Austria but hated every day of that job.

- Old man sitting. This was by far my most interesting job. I got paid to hang out with a 85 year old man while his wife (55 years old) was at work. He was incredibly intelligent (had numerous degrees and academic accomplishments) but he had some memory loss. He could tell all these crazy stories from 60 years ago, but he couldn't remember if he had already taken his meds. Sometimes I would run errands for his wife, and he would hand me $20 and tell me to bring him back starbucks and keep the change. Oh, and he never wore pants.

- Client service at a non-profit marketing agency. We've had some crazy stuff happen, but nothing scandalous per se.

I didn't get any sleep last night so my brain is not working. When I read "old man sitting" I pictured you dressed up as an old man and sitting in a chair, and being paid to just sit there like that. 

Ha! No that was the old man's job. And by "dressed up" I mean that he wore a robe, a white tshirt, boxers and socks. My job was to keep him company, fix lunch, make sure he stayed out of trouble and tidy the house.

[Deleted User]

In HS I worked as support staff for the brand new water park in our town- cleaned bathrooms, "supervised" the sand area, pulled fat dudes down the inner tube slide, and got warts b/c I had to be in my bare feet all of the time- even in the locker room where I was walking through a lot of nasty foot-water slush.  The next summer I worked admissions and one day a week in concessions.

Then I got a job at the local SEARS... they put me in the children's department.  Yuck.  I also did one winter of seasonal help at a Things Remembered and the summer before college I also worked at music store.  Retail blows.  At SEARS we had this thing called the Kid-vantage program where people could exchange items that were worn out for the exact same size / "model."  I had one woman who would always bring in her kids underwear.  At 8:59...  when I wanted to go home because I still had 2 hours of homework ahead of me. 

Worked there my first year of college too, then I temped for a summer at the Arbitration Center for the county I lived in- easy and interesting.

Took a job in a hotel in my college town and it was awful.  Horrible hours and manning the desk all alone...

I also worked in a paid internship for my college in the Marketing / Advertising group, which was kind of fun.  Did a lot of weird research projects.

After graduation I went into my field- HR and haven't looked back.  I had the most rewarding time as a generalist (also the most interesting since I got to deal with lots of areas of HR), and now I'm specializing in recruiting.  It'd be fun if my company weren't so 1950's mentality / work culture.

Jells2dot0

- secretary at my city's public works office

- secretary at my dad's office

- hostess at a local restaurant

- computer lab assistant at college

- research assistant at college

- engineer at my company since my senior year of college (I interned and was hired on full time)

 

You can't get any more boring than that!

thisismynickname2

I'm never involved in anything scandalous, but my coworkers are.

• Babysitter
• Pottery studio clay measurer/roller person
• Dairy Queen blizzard bitch
• Community pool cashier
• College tour guide
• Customer service
• Student Advising
• University administration

My DQ coworkers used to sneak make-outs in the walk-in freezer. There are always people hooking up with and dating each other (and marrying each other, hey-o) at all my other jobs too.  I don't let office pens in my inkwell though. Too much drama. 

Inkdancer

High school: babysitting. I was also a nanny, which was super fun. I loved having an excuse to run around on the playground equipment.

College: -associate at UPS store. Which meant spending my days doing sudoku puzzles in between the morning and evening rushes. Nothing scandalous but I did once pack and ship a tree.
-office assistant for the English Department. Seriously did nothing, except when we were hiring, and all I did then was make photocopies of CVs and portfolios.
-old lady sitter. She was hilarious. I loved working with her. When I first started, she had just gotten over a major surgery and wouldn't do anything (would not pour milk on her own cereal because the milk was "too heavy"). By the end of the summer she was helping me make meals. I like to think I put some life back into her, because she was on the verge of giving up. Also she taught me a bunch of card games.
-restaurant hostess. I could write pages of ranting but suffice to say, the owner was a dick and a moron who didn't understand how profit margins and staffing worked.

post-college: -associate at TJ Maxx. I was the service desk girl and the jewelry girl, which meant I spent most of the day getting yelled at, but I mostly liked it. I'm good at calming people down.
-front desk at a medical office. LOVED my patients
-front desk at a dance studio.
-costume designer at a dance studio. got paid in free classes and it was awesome.
-leads program at a very very large corporation that makes medical devices. got to spend all day listening to music and doing Excel spreadsheets and was the happiest camper. I would still work there if the contract had not ended, because it was the best job in the world.
-trade show coordinator. HATE. this was just a crappy crappy situation and getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me because by the end, I was throwing up from stress every day.

Now I work at the library part time and spend the rest of my time writing. I need a full-time job but I am happy doing what I love.

buttercup1958

Depends on whether volunteering/not getting paid counts ha.

High school

I was a camp counselor for two weeks. I didn't work much in high school

College

I worked as a radio dj for a year. I loved it but they couldn't pay me really and I always had night shifts. This started to affect my school work plus I felt uncomfortable walking alone at night so I decided it would be best to quit.

Work study: I was an assistant to the assistant for the geology/physics/anthropology department. Then I was promoted to an other work study position and I helped grade, set up labs, ran errands, ect. Just this year I was promoted again to the student manager position for our museum and I was really happy! I love my job!

Summer: I've volunteered at a children's museum and a natural history museum. The children's museum was fun but I didn't really like my co-workers. A lot of them had a bad attitude, were combative, ect. I had to roll my eyes at a few of them particularly the guy who told me my plans were stupid. Of course you know best pony-tail paper boy hat douche. I only volunteer there that summer and won't do it again. My natural history museum is awesome though. I learned a lot and all my coworkers are/were awesome! I'm going back this summer and hopefully they can pay me!

chibiyui

Cashier at Kay*Bee Toys, before they went bankrupt

Cashier at a department store, Before and after they went bankrupt

Work study in the Equipment room at college

Package Handler at Fed EX (Good pay, terrible job, Not for me)

Clerk at a shoe store

And finally, selling mattresses at the same department store that went through bankruptcy. They're good now.

And in a month. Full time artist? Oh god, I am so nervous about that.

amelisha

I've been 

• Bookstore cashier (awesome - we got to borrow the hardcovers for free anytime.)
• Au pair (in Spain, twice but four years apart, one kid each time. I lived in a house directly on the ocean, worked a couple hours a day, and hung out with the awesome parents and drove their cars and ate amazing food and drank amazing wine and swam in our clifftop pool. Best. job. ever. Ever.)
• Assistant manager at a lingerie store (not awesome in any way. Horrible clients and part of the job was fitting people for bras, and if I never see another sad, sweaty, droopy pair of boobs in my life it'll be too soon.)
• Travel agent (did two years of school for this and hated it. It's just heavy commission-based sales and the perks did not make up for the fact that I hate sales.)
• Bartender/server in an "Italian" chain restaurant (ugh.)
• "Character server" and bartender at a dinner theatre (sometimes very fun, but sometimes I was onstage in an Afro wig and jumpsuit doing choreographed dances, and sometimes I was dressed like 80s Madonna and getting groped by drunk guys there for their company Christmas party. Low point: an Indiana Jones parody show where I played an anthropomorphic leopard and had to convince female members of the audience to throw enormous prop panties at the lead actor. I have stories about that job ALL DAY.)
• Bartender in a mid-range steakhouse (good job, great food, nice restaurant and nice staff. Easiest way to get through my undergrad.)
• Promo girl (nopenopenopenopenope. I will never agree to another job involving skankerific "uniforms" ever again.)
• Exec assistant (what I do now. It's great for me and I love it.)

I also gig a bit as a singer (mostly wedding ceremonies and orchestra concerts)  but I don't count that as a job as it's intermittent and doesn't pay much. And in high school I led trail rides on a dude ranch one summer.

southernbelle0915

I got into healthcare after college and have only had 2 jobs since then - one in health insurance and another for a hospital system. 

In my "amateur" work years, I was a babysitter, pet sitter, had a lemonade stand, worked retail, caterer.....

I only have two good stories: When pet sitting, I invited my friends over to swim in the person's pool. When I was a caterer, I was serving at a SUPER fancy wedding. I had a big tray of champagne with raspberries that I was supposed to serve for the champagne toast. I fumbled and dropped the entire tray. Giant crash, glass everywhere, champagne on people's clothes, raspberry stains... yea. People were actually really nice about it because I think I was tearing up. I was quarantined to plating food in the back room for the rest of the night. 

FiancB

Oh gosh, have I had a variety. 

-National park ranger

-Dorm food worker

-Retail in electronics at Fred Meyer, which is sort of like Target

-Stripper. My favorite story is about the girl that bit me. Twice, several months apart, at two different clubs.

-Volunteered as lambing crew at the on campus sheep barn. That was fun. I'm sure the people at my 8 am class did not think I smelled very good. 

-Host at country club and Applebee's. One girl was just flat out incompetent and crazy, and in a rage one night tore off her uniform in the parking lot and hit the boss's car on her way out. She got caught so I'm pretty sure there's charges against her. 

-Dairy worker- I milked cows, fed and birthed calves

-Working student/apprentice/intern at 4 different horse barns. Neverending drama in that industry. 

-Volunteered at the hospital, started on med/surg but that was really awkward and boring so I asked to go to the nursery. I comforted a baby addicted to opiates and that broke my heart. When I got home, I looked up the mom on facebook, which is bad but I had to have a face to direct my hate at. 

-Currently work at a group home. Right before I moved and transferred homes, a girl I worked with was accused of having sex with one of the clients and had to be fired. I don't want to believe it, but she did admit to giving a BJ to another staff in the med office, sooo...

- Next up: nurse. Currently in school. 

kat1114

I didn't think I had that many, than I started this list and realized I've had quite a few!

-1st job: Starbucks barista/cashier at a major airport. It was awful. I worked 40 hours a week while I was still in high school. On the plus side, I made a shit ton of money on tips. On the downside, I realized it was because the other cashier was stealing money and putting it in the tip jar. I quit pretty soon after that realization.

-Towel cabana attendant at a resort waterpark- I can't even believe this was a job. I checked people for wristbands and handed out towels. They paid me $9/hour. My manager was a dick. He once told me "You coming to work without your name tag is like you coming to work without a shirt on." I gave my two weeks notice on the spot, and then never came back to work after that day.

-Maid- I cleaned 2 houses and decided that was not the job for me

-Youth soccer referee. The first day of work I showed up hungover as fuck at 6 am and survived reffing 4 back-to-back games and setup/cleanup in 105 degree weather. It was one of my proudest moments.

-Sales associate at Lush Cosmetics. I love Lush, but working there was kind of redic. I was fired after 3 weeks because I wasn't a "good fit." 

-ETA: mail room clerk at the corporate office at a major restaurant chain. In 40 hours, I did maybe 2 hours of work, and there was always delicious free food because they had a test kitchen in the building.

-intern at Insound.com 

-after-school program worker- I did this for 3 years, and it was actually a great job.

-intern at immigration law clinic- depressing as fuck. 

-intern at a corporation that manufactures officer stun guns. This job was awesome! I got tons of real experience, worked with awesome people, and got to watch people get tased quite often.

-current job: attorney at aviation company. I work with great people and have lots of autonomy- it's pretty awesome.

phira

I used to work as a lab tech at a research institute. Nothing too scandalous ever happened, although we used to have a drawer that was dedicated to cookies. Not supposed to have food in the lab, but we lived on the wild side.

lovedryn

I have been a babysitter, dog walker, live in nanny, vet tech, server / fast food worker, receptionist, did a little modeling in college, also played the violin and harp for weddings throughout college... I was a substitute teacher for music for a while until I managed to get on full time teaching chemistry and biology.

--- Fun story from teaching... I decided it was time to look for a new profession when the undergrads in my class (a 24 year old senior and a freshman in college) decided that in chemistry lab it was ok to squirt 1 molar hydrochloric acid on each other and at each other across the lab benches. Granted the acid was dilute and would likely only cause irritation to the skin until it was properly washed off. But still... For the love of all things holy, what 20-something adult thinks its ok and a game to squirt acid on people? And during a lab class of all places? Smh

So I now have the rather quiet desk job of legal oversight at a bank. I basically just monitor to make sure their standard operating procedures are in line with state and federal regulations.