Dead-End Sh*t Jobs ... Yours?

[Deleted50669]

So with that said, what Dead-End *shit* jobs have you had? Do you currently have?
.

1. Paper boy in middle school until graduation - woke up at 3:00 am each day for 5 years to do a 3 hour route before school.
2. Landscaper during college - couldn't find an internship in school early on, so each summer got hired by high school to spread mulch, paint field lines, fill holes, mow lawn, etc.
3. Grad school teaching assistant - mental schema not found, error = repressed.
4. Management consultant - "what?!?! They make a boat load of money!! That's a great job!" This is actually the most vile job on the list. Salary and suffering are intensely correlated. Squeezing into a clown suit each day that never seems to fit, miming a smile in front of egotistical clients, having your thoughts regulated by someone ironically called a "partner". I could go on. The allure of income was a honeypot catching those chasing money instead of value (and I assure you, I'm not creating value with the exception of coaching).

I'm now someone chasing value in an money-minded environment. It's tough to maintain this perspective amidst the blind. I've purchased copies of Unscripted for my direct coworkers so they stop babbling on about slowlane bs.

 

[Siddhartha]

Currently a cross between low-level IT gopher and bureaucratic punching bag, paid better and less stress than my old gig at least.
I do nothing that contributes to anything meaningful almost everyday and have to leave 90 minutes before my shift in the mornings to get to work and avoid bumper to bumper traffic lest I pay another 220 dollars for another month of tolls going just 8 miles one way.
I'm spectacularly blessed compared to most, but where I'm at now and what it's trying to stop me from doing and being seems to be eating me and leaves me raw and hungering for a better life.

Sent from my Nokia 6.1 using Tapatalk

 

[Runum]

I am going to bump this 16 yo thread for all the newbies here. Everyone has to do what is necessary to keep the lights on.

 

[BEAR]

Re: Dead-End *Shit* Jobs ... Yours?

I have had many "shit" jobs over the years.

Even though each sucked at the time, I did learn something from each of them and they all had a part in sculpting who I am today.

I started at 15 yrs old and was on my own at 16, had my first daughter at 20 so yea, I HAD to make ends meet and keep my undesired "shit" jobs.

• construction labor
• dishwasher
• fast food (many times over the years)
• bus boy
• waiter (on the Tahoe Queen, that job wasnt too bad:smxB
• more construction labor
• auto detailer
• warehouse worker
• heavy equpment oporator
• mechanic ( a few times)
• service writer
• clerk (at a local grocery store)
• Realtor
• Asst. manager (construction company)
• Manager (differnt construction company)

Whew, I know that I have forgot a few but I sure am glad to finally be on my way to my dreams with my own company, but with the knowlege (and mistakes) from all my past employers.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

How did you stay positive considering how bad the circumstances were. I would like to hear your response on this?

Simple. I was on a road that converged with a dream. Just because I was on the shoulder on the road picking up dog-shit didn't mean I was to give up. In other words, my dream was ALIVE. These jobs would have been destructive if my dream was dead.

This is why if you have a passion for something and are on the right road, the garbage jobs can be endured.

 

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[Disobey]

1. Flipping burgers at McD's (3 months) Became quite chubby
2. Poker Player (6 years) Made decent money, lost my soul and almost took my life. Stay away from gambling peeps!
3. Snow removal (2 months) freaking cold
4. Delivery boy for an italian restaurant. (2 months) My advice: Stay away from the chef's daughter.
5. Meatpacking at a slaughterhouse (1 week) I couldn't eat meat for 6 months after that.
6. Construction worker (5 months) Felt like digging my own grave, endlessely.
7. Painter (2 months)
8. Stock clerk (for almost a year now) At least I get to help some people out at this one. It's not much but I feel less empty.

This year is gonna be the last I work on someone else's dream. Can't stand beeing at the bottom of the food chain.

I'm at war right now. I wan't my independence, and I'm gonna get it!

 

[VegasMan]

A few of my more memorable ones:

• landscaper (glorified lawn mower)
• fence painter (ok, it was really just one LONG-a$$ fence)
• sound and lights guy in a metal bar (once got yelled at by the singer of Quiet Riot)
• mall photographer for kids sitting on Santa's lap (torturous, but chicks dug it)
• painter for a funeral home (not the bodies, but washed my brushes in *that* room)
• forklift driver (once put the forks right through the side of a semi trailer and once through a barrel of oil)

And still thankful I never had to flip burgers!

 

[jon.a]

Cleaning shitters
Scrubbing decks
Washing airplanes. I hated washing airplanes.

 

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[mayana]

I've had too many terrible jobs to list. I've always been a really hard worker and usually had more than one job while I was going to college (and usually working on a side business).

I've worked as a server, host, bartender, cook.

I worked as a telemarketer for a couple of weeks and DIDN'T EVEN GET PAID. I went home crying more than once. The place packed up and flew off in the night before I could even get my first paycheck. Boo.

I spent a couple of days on an assembly line packing something like c.d's into boxes. I couldn't keep up with the production line most times. It was terrible and I feel sorry for people who have to do that for a living.

I worked as a cocktail waitress at a couple of different night clubs... those jobs might take the cake as the worst in so many different ways. One of the clubs was the club that everyone went to went the other clubs closed at 2 am. You can only imagine the state that my customers were in.

The best strategy that I found was to pick one crappy job that was tolerable, get really good at it, and stick with it. The pay gets a little better, and you have to deal with a little less crap than the new people. Plus, you get to really learn and understand the business, whatever industry it is.

Nothing wrong with a little hard work - but I won't pretend that I wasn't glad to say goodbye to this stage of my life.

 

[maverick]

I have had many, many terrible jobs however to make a point I will list the last 3:
[1] strategy consultant for consumer goods companies (airplane,hotel,office - repeat)
[2] ecommerce manager
[3] CRM manager

The most important thing is that you have an end goal. What are you working towards? You need to know what that end goal is at this very moment. It will change over time as you reach goals however having an end goal is the motivation that will help you to keep going.

What I'm trying to say here is this:
I used the experiences I got from being a strategy consultant to build a network of people that work at the bigger consumer good organisations. This helped me switch from consultancy to an ecommerce role. After that I picked up CRM work. I then had the skills to setup my own company that creates digital growth for companies. You see how I transitioned that? I then used the skills and experiences I got from growing established companies, by setting up my own companies and driving the growth.

The end goals as they changed for me - in sequence:
[1] Move into ecommerce
[2] Expand my ecommerce knowledge
[3] Grow my independence

All in all, I set an end goal and moved the goal posts as I achieved them. This can be applied to ANY sequence of jobs. Just as long as you set realistic end goals.

Looking back, the overall end goal is ALWAYS growth - keep growing and evolving.

I'll end my rant here..

 

[SquatchMan]

-Subway sandwich "artist"
-Jimmy John's bike messenger in Gainesville, FL in the summer (it sucked)
-parking valet
-Amazon warehouse associate

They all sucked. The Amazon job really motivated me to get my shit together.

 

[Vigilante]

How long? Sorry but I can't help think of @Vigilante

When my kids were little, they always used to say they wanted to work there.

I would tell them they could never work there, but they could own it.

At the time, I didn't realize I was encouraging them to own their jobs.

 

[AlexLegault]

I used to work at Pizza Pizza as a CSR. So basically I'm the guy people would call when they would be really pissed or when they just felt like beings dicks typical shift was 7pm - 3am. Woke up at 11 - 12 every, had virtually no social life due to shitty work hours. I had this one customer who called and knew I wasn't allowed to hang up on him (all calls are recorded and reviewed by management and supervisors) and would say "Why don't you hang up on me eh? Oh wait it's cause you can't. Why? Because you're a piece of shit that works for Pizza Pizza. *laughs*, did you get that? Let me say it clearly. You. Are. A. Piece. Of. Shit. You F*cking cunt a$$ bitch. Hang up the phone bitch, do it I dare you. You F*cking piece of shit. You know why you work at Pizza Pizza? Cause you're garbage. Hope you F*cking die."

Still ended up hanging up on him, ah good times..

 

[All_In52]

• Working 70-80 hours as a car salesman (1 month, this was the worst, especially when I was told to stand on "line 2" for up to 4 hours at a time because a "fresh up" is a sure deal)
• CutCo Knives Sales Rep (3 months; I actually enjoyed the interactions but felt bad for selling to family, family friends, etc.)
• Amway MLM (1 day; bought kit then returned it upon arrival)
• Graveyard Quality Assurance Technician (5 Months; a lot of times the sanitation speciailsts a.k.a janitors wouldn't clean the plant in time for the morning shift so I had to join in and help)

The rest of my jobs were okay. Even with the dead end Sh*tness of these jobs I still learned a lot of lessons from each of them. Except the MLM one lol

 

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[robodale]

1st job: 12 years old. I delivered the local newspaper for 2 years every morning 5am, 7 days a week. I live in the frozen upper midwest, so those dead-cold mornings were a nightmare. Sunday's sucked! Heavy Sunday paper plus the giant adverts in each one. With the money, I bought my first computer in 1984 (a Commodore 64).

2nd Job (15 years old), stocked Coca Cola delivery trucks 4 days a week after school for $3.35 USD per hour (this was about 1986). The owner was a drunk (he lead me to his office one day, opened his lower filing cabinet, it was stocked with 1.75 Liter bottles of Lord Calvert - most were full). That explained the smell Lord-Coke on his breath! The supervisor drove the forklift and would throw cans of Coke at my feet. They'd often explode and I'd be a syrupy mess by the end of the night. Rode my bike to work there and managed to get sprayed by a skunk. Good times? No!

3rd Job - stocker at local grocery store. Worked there until I graduated high school in 1991. I was offered $28,000 USD to be a shift manager instead of going to college. Went to college, 5.5 years later got a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. My first engineering job? $35,000. Nearly 6 years of tuition, expenses, classes I hated, being broke...only to get a job paying $7000 more than no degree.

The rest of the jobs - mech engineering turned to software engineering and now I'm building web apps and sites. Yes they paid well. I took that scripted path, but realized I need to do my own thing to be happy. This is why I'm in this forum....building my Unscripted life out from under my Scripted one. I haven't cut the scripted cord yet...but I'm pushing hard to get there.

Thanks MJ and everyone else!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

5. Shift manager - McDonald’s

Back-kitchen “cook” (lol) - McDonald’s

Drive-thru cashier - McDonald’s

Cashier - McDonald’s

Consider them badges of honor.

All things held equal, I'd much rather hire/partner with someone who's open to handling the McDonalds grind, not to mention the associated stigmas.

 

[Shono]

Even when I was living at home being spoon fed by my parents who didn't want me to grow up and rather gave me a monthly allowance, I still chose to work shit labour jobs. It seemed to be a thing I instinctively gravitated towards to drive me to work towards something better. Although I fondly remember working in a hazmat suit for a summer, because I had 0 distractions and was able to listen to audiobooks for 8 hours a day.

1) Window washer
2) Roof/gutter cleaner
3) Janitor
4) Hazmat/demolition labourer
5) High pressure steam cleaning

 

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[Runum]

Bump for the newbies and proof we all have been there.

 

[phlgirl]

****Ok, so I just thought about that for a minute and although I absolutely agree that the money is top-notch, when you find yourself heading to the airport on Sunday night and then flying home Friday, working a minumum of 12 hours each day and staring at the same hotel room wall each night, the hourly wage doesn't seem to make much sense anymore. Particularly when you add a few winters in Buffalo, NY to the mix. You get about 48 hours a week with your friends/loved ones so the quality of life is pretty weak.

Don't get me wrong.... no complaints. I would not change a thing. I learned a TON and met great people but it does have it's dark side. It's a trick you see..... there is no logical way out. What's the level for a consultant? Senior consultant. Lovely paycheck but there is no career path which leads you off the road. It slowly drives you insane.

 

[Iwokeup]

Janitor
McDonald's
Concrete (driveways, etc)
Dollar Rent A Car
Chemistry supply clerk
Jarhead (haha)
SAT prep (God awful job)

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Truck Driver (fired)
Hardwood Floor sander (escaped)
Cable TV Tech (fired)
Electrician (fired)
Warehouse Manager (fired)
Electrician (fired)
Project Manager Commercial (fired)
Commercial Property Manager (fired)
Asset Manger (fired)
VP Sustainability (quit)

Wow, some decent stuff there-- at least it makes for a nice resume.

Probably the biggest thing I've learned that I knew subconsciously all along but only now has it come to my conscious mind, a job may be a job, but you are still at the end of the day working for yourself, despite the terms of the contract. Your boss at your job is in reality your customer, and your services/skills are your product that you are trying to sell. Even a shitty job can still teach you about being an entrepreneur if you look at it with the right attitude. Basically everytime you interview, you are polishing your presentation and sales skills. From there if you get hired, you will get regular feed back about your product (you) and how it relates to your customers operations (your boss and the job you were hired for). Either you adjust to better meet your customers needs or you learn how to politely say "I'm sorry, but I don't know that my product can meet the standards of service that you require" and move on to your next big sale (job interview/opening your own business etc.)

Thick face, black heart... how you do anything, is how you do everything.

 

[sam9530130]

Been at my current job for 2 years (out of college)

Actuarial analyst in Pension and Investments.

The whole corporate thing is so toxic and destroys your drive, for me anyways.

It takes me about 3.5 hours of travel each day (door-to-door) and I get 0 satisfaction out of working for someone else.

I will leave my job before 2018 and move to another country while starting my other business. Working on getting some traction right now.

 

[G-Man]

Just watched a compilation video of this guy saying "damn". That's 3:46 min of my life I'll never get back.

 

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[jpanarra]

Of all the jobs out there, this is one that probably makes the least sense to me. Being sandwiched between a government bureaucracy, a union, and other people's children? for 35k a year? Sounds amazing!

The sad reality is that we should be teaching those teachers how to teach children to be independent free thinkers and deal with real world problems instead of basics. They have to deal with so much shit from students that don't want to learn and then deal with their parents that don't understand that their child is not the center of the universe. I know this because I used to do it, I got a temporary position for 2 years because I had a chemistry degree and the school couldn't find teachers that have a background in chemistry with a teaching degree.(i wonder why).

Look over at Sweden or the nordic countries, children are done with "grade school" type of work at 8th grade. Then they go into certain specialties or even trades and is very similar to university type of concentration of learning by doing. It worked for the united states in the 1940s and 1950s because it was a way to raise the base standard... but now we have the internet and other tools to help us learn.. its time to update everything. The teachers get paid so low because their approach is outdated, so like everything that gets old... it gets cheap. Sadly the lawmakers have too much control over the education system and push dumb a$$ standardized tests and confined standards that all schools must be the same which kills the competition and growth of the education system.

I could go on about this all day, because I was in the system for 2 years as an educated chemist with some business sense for survival reasons.. Its a disaster, and its not the teachers or lawmakers thats paying the price.. Its the students and the future of the country that will have to compensate for the lack of education.

 

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[LimJahey]

Retail

RETAIL RETAIL RETAIL.

Never do it.

 

[Xeon]

I left vocational school at the age of 19, and after serving compulsory military conscription, I left the army at 21. Then I started working :

1) DATA ENTRY CLERK : Sits in front of a computer at a corner of the office, staring at spreadsheets all day. The job is to compare and check airway bill numbers, hundreds of them, rows after rows, and update the status. Salary was only slightly higher than a toilet cleaner.

2) OFFICE BOY : Shipyard office. They gave me a tiny table chucked at the back of the office, where I'm surrounded by cardboard boxes.
I photocopy entire manuals daily. Often when my manager was in a bad mood, he would roar at me as if I was his son's murderer. Salary here was about the same as a toilet cleaning supervisor.

3) ADMIN GUY : 3rd company. Boss's desk is right behind mine, so she can see everything I do on my screen. Worked here for 4 years, doing the EXACT SAME CRAP daily. Before I go to work, I already know exactly what I will be doing.
By this time, guys and girls my age were earning 2x more than me.

4) DESIGNER : This job was some years after 3), and I got a design cert and training, so I started working in the design industry. Got bullied daily and made fun of by my superior. He knows I needed the job badly. I hope one day, I will have the chance to say Fark You to his face.
To make things worse, this company makes no money and people are let go every month. I was lucky to survive.
By this time, peers my age are already earning 2.5x more than me excluding bonuses.

5) DESIGNER : 5th and 6th jobs lasted only a couple months, cos' I couldn't take the abuse. In the 6th company, one of the higher-ups would come to my desk every 1 - 3 mins daily (he need to see a shrink), chasing me for the impossible. At this time, guys my age have already reached managerial level, earning 3x more than me.

6) DESIGNER : Worked hard for this 7th company. Office feels like heaven, but I got laid off. Reason? They outsourced the job to a poorer nation. Oh, the pay here is about US$50 higher than my previous job.

7) DESIGNER : This 8th company is a design agency sweatshop. Each person here does the work of 2 - 3 people. 2 - 4 people leave every month. Lots of overtime with no pay. No bonuses. Oh, they gave me a US$150 increase in pay cos' I slaved harder than the rest. Thanks.

8) DESIGNER : Current company. Pay is about US$75 higher than 7). This job is pretty laid-back, so I can use my working hrs to work on my business.
At this point currently, most of my higher-earning cousins are earning 4x - 6x more than me.
One of my younger cousin got a new car only after working for 2+ yrs. A Mitsubishi. Maybe Lancer. He took a pic of himself posing with his new car on FB. Lots of swag.

My first real F*ck-THIS EVENT took place a few months ago while at this current job.

 

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[Consolation]

Junk factory – Collecting dirt, shit, and every imaginable filth in the world. Nowadays, the smells of a rotten meat is nothing to me.

Lesson learned: I can always switch jobs. My ex-employer didn’t point a gun in my head to collect his junk at the first place.

Waiting staff in a small restaurant – Cleaned shit, washing dishes, taking food request.

Lesson learned: Automation works best. There were workers before me quit so soon, as they are underpaid and overwork. He should’ve rely on automation as the business was good. Was good; he closed the restaurant soon after that. Rent was high.

Toys shop – Selling fidget spinners, installing display booth, repairing RC toys.

Lesson learned: Heck! The low level employees won’t care about your profit. The boss was mad for his capital loss made by one of his long-time employee. Think you’ve got a remorseful employee? Nope. He didn’t care.

 

[MattR82]

Oh man. I've had good and bad slowlane jobs, but the one thing that seems almost constant? There's always that 1 guy. A friend of mine had a name for this guy at my last job. "Suckhole." I love it haha.

Suck up? Person who will kiss a$$ to get ahead. I don't really have a problem with these guys.

Suckhole? Person who talks shit behind everyone's back to further his career.

NEVER stoop to their level.

Looking forward to freeing myself from a scripted life full of suckholes. Thankfully I feel more pity than anger towards them these days. Getting older lol.

 

[hamhock89]

1. Telemarketer
2. Whataburger
3. Cable guy
4. Audio Visual
5. "Slowlane" Self Employment business that failed (I learned a lot! This wasn't' Law of Effection by any means!)
6. Hobby store employee (This taught me how volume and margins worked and how sales and marketing were affected by invoking emotion)
7. Cell phone tower climber

I'm done slaving away and working to build someone else's dreams. The fire has been lit and is in the leap state. I work just as many hours with lack of sleep laying my foundation recently for my money tree seedlings. In fact my first arrival from China should be here next week. Time to take a different road!

 

[DrunkFish]

First job ever - Walgreens. Before i knew i was NOT a 9-5er. I remember thinking to myself at age 17, how come my first job, that is ABOVE minimum wage, feels like im doing shit and wasting time? Foreshadowing is strong here.

I might be missing one, but

Next i think was bank teller. Second lowest paying bank in the area. Boring as all hell.... worked with petty women who all had small children who had play dates and shit (not my thing what so ever.. they all hated me as i pulled up with my modified car talking about my business ventures at the time lol. lame) Had to wore a dress shirt and tie everyday even in the 100+ humid a$$ STL weather for $9 an hour.

Next was a cell phone repair shop. Was a lot better but not what i wanted to do forever. I never came back to that job after i got a spot on a TV show that filmed in Richmond,VA that opened my eyes to what was possible with my life.

 

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