I began working at my very first job at age 16... 11 years later I have worked several jobs. My recent endeavor into the telemarketing world has led me to begin to ask myself a question, "What is the worst job I have ever had?" naturally that leads to one to reminisce over all the jobs one has had... so please join me for a trip down memory lane.
- Hostess @ H&D Chuckwagon, Reed City, MI. My first ever job. Busy and stressful - and for what reason? We're serving food people - not saving lives - why all the anxiety. Co-workers mean!
- Library Assistant @ VanWylen Library, Hope College, Holland, MI. I worked at this job all 4 years of undergrad. I worked technical services, and did a brief stint as a reference assistant. Co-workers excellent!!! This was a lovely place to work!
- Phone Surveyor @ VanDucthsomething Research Center, Holland, MI. Cool co-workers. Not fun job. Guess what??? People don't like to be called and asked to take surveys over the phone... oh well... at least they had free candy.
- Custodian @ Voorhees Hall, Hope College, Holland, MI (Weekend Student Worker). I cleaned bathrooms, and frankly - I found the work disgusting!!! FYI: I would rather clean the mens bathroom, any day over cleaning the womens bathroom. Gross. Gross. Gross.
- Custodian @ Van Wylen Library, Holland, MI. I used to have to be to work at 6am-8am every weekday as an undergrad. Woah, what a crazy party life I did lead. I used to vacuum the floors and wash tables. The entire time I would fantasize about a big fluffy bed that I could sleep in. Boring and sleepy.
- Windmill Tour Guide, Windmill Island, Holland, MI. I dressed up in a dutch costume and taught people about windmills during Tulip Time... it was awesome. :-) Fun. Cool co-workers. Busy long days.
- Videographer, SprillHill Camps, Evart, MI. I shot and edited videos of little kids at camp. It was pretty awesome and rewarding to watch the kids smile as they saw themselves on TV at the end of the week. :-) Cool co-workers but oddly stressful situation to live where you work... sometimes I just HAD to get out of there.
- Substitute Teacher, MOISD, Mecosta and Osceola Counties, MI. Pretty sweet gig, stressful though. Kids never like to be on best behavior for subs. Subbing for a pre-school was the best! You seriously get to sit down and color and play with the kids.
- Youth Counselor, Eagle Village, Hersey, MI. My, "lets save the world job." This was my effort after college to give back to humanity and do something good for the world. I walked out of that place with some wounds (emotional and physical). Hard hard work. Tough working with abused troubled kids... Co-workers - some really cool... some really horrible awful people! I'd like to think maybe I helped someone sometime while there - but it was so hard to see if I actually had. I learned a lot about life though, learned a lot about working with kids, and learned I need to put MYSELF first. My life is about me and making myself happy first! I can't sacrifice myself to help someone else.
- Tutor, Brain Hurricane, Chicago, IL. I use the word tutor lightly. I sure tried, but the third graders I taught were much more interested in hitting each other than learning - most of the time anyway. =P
- Customer Service Representative, Sydney, NSW, Australia. I took incoming calls answering questions about gov't rebates. Co-workers awesome!!! It was the co-workers that made this job so much fun and a nice place to be. It was really a pretty sweet situation and wonderful working holiday job.
- Office Assistant/Telemarketer, Chicago, IL. Well the work is pretty much explained in the title. The job is new but the co-workers seem nice. It is not glamorous or fun to telemarket - yet it will give me money to get me to the places I want to be.
So - what is my overall worst job??? That is a tough one... I mean... it was really gross to clean those bathrooms... and not fun to be a nuisance to people everyone calling them at home to bug them... but... I am going to have to the say nothing can beat Number 9: Youth Counselor.