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

Itizn

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Courier for a medicore NYC messenger service.
Delivery/kitchen prep for a health-food shop.
Produce inspector in the sketchiest part of town.
Technical assistant for a jewelry company.
 
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Ing

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I had many jobs. As I choose them myself, they all weren’t really bad.

The first was bricklayer, hard, much fun I learned a ton of things I used in my life.
I did that some years in the holydays. Ashes on my head: someday I was payed much too much as a mistake and didn’t tell. That was the end Of that job.( but so the beginning of my raeally good ones.

Cleaning man in a big cleaning column. We worked really hard effectively, so we solved our must in a short time. And we were a good team and had much fun.
In the end we were fired. To much fun, no respect of assholes.

The worst one was in a cardboard factory. Stacking Cardboards. Afte one day I rold the, to do that shit alone. Well, I only started as it was up to that day the best payed job. Here I learned, that money isn’t all.

I love it remembering to the jobs I had, because they all are stories of my life. And my life was good .
 

Onakosa

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Over the years:

Typist in the accounts dept of a paper supplier - as ‘interesting’ as it sounds.
McDonald’s - seemed to be constantly on cleaning duty.
Waitress - loads of times.
School dinner lady.
Shop girl in a chemist/drugstore
Telephonist in a builders merchant.
Handing out flyers for various stuff.

The theme that’s running through this thread very strongly is that entrepreneurial types are both restless and willing to do almost anything for some quick cash!
 

RicardoGrande

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I sort of like menial work that has a steady workload, because I can zone out and do moving meditation.
That being said, there were two jobs that tried to kill my soul.

1) Dishwasher at a pizza place - I will never forget walking out of work looking like a prune; ...or having to clean up the sh!t-crusted employee toilet or counting heroin needles from behind our dumpster for reporting
2) Level one tech support - Everything is your responsibility but you will NEVER have the time to give things the care they deserve. Perpetual pain and fire, everyone is on edge, everyone was gunning for each other.

Right now I work at a pretty easygoing corpo IT job, mostly shuffling papers and dying inside and thinking about my coding courses. Thing is, at certain times everything goes from 0-60 in a second and I'm suddenly working weekends and evenings. The tedium and constant low-level stress has been really toxic, and even drove me to drinking for a bit.
Unfortunately, it gives me just enough time to squeeze on by with my online learning and lets me pay the bills and save some cash, so I'll be stuck here for the forseeable future. I just hope it isn't too long, because a coworker in my same role has been there for 14 years and I think I can see that the light inside him has died.
 
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Timmy C

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Dead end shit jobs update lol:

Labourer
Chef
KFC cook
Door 2 door salesman
Delivery driver

Thank God I don't do that crap anymore lol. Very grateful for what I'm doing now.
 

Ivan2BAlive

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Let me see, dead end shit jobs:

1.) Working at Dairy Queen / Hardees
2.) Kirby vacuum salesman
3.) Amway (is now Quickstar)
4.) Thrift Store Furniture Pickup / Delivery Driver
5.) Grocery Store Clerk
6.) Box Truck Driver for Starbucks
7.) Working at Lowe's
 
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door123

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1.) Construction Laborer
2.) Pizza Delivery
3.) Honey Bee Apiary Tech
4.) Dishwasher at Joes Crab Shack (favorite dead-end job -broke a ton of ceramic plates)
5.) Self-employed Handyman
 

Shono

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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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GoingToSleep

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It's shocking to see so many kids saying they want to work in McDonalds and then adults just complaining about how them working in McDonalds was the worst.
 

Len_1590

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Re: Dead-End S*** Jobs ... Yours?
The list isn't as extensive as some:
  1. Paper boy - surely a lot have been here?
  2. Cashier and shelf stocker in the paper shop
  3. Waiter in a Chinese restaurant (no/sh!t tips in the NE of England)
  4. Pot wash in the Chinese restaurant (a promotion apparently)
  5. Bar man at a student nightclub (cleaning the floors and stuff great)
  6. Bin man - genuinely enjoyed this for the few months I did it, I got in some of the best shape of my life running from bin to bin
  7. Bottler in a beer bottle factory - mind numbing
  8. Bar man in a general bar
  9. Labourer - just pick stuff up and put it down
And now I'm an actuary posing as an accountant.
So yeah
 

Chrisrod2597

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I'm posting this here in Your Fastlane Plan because sometimes, dead-end jobs are a necessary evil. We all have bills and obligations to pay -- sometimes dead-end *shit* jobs are just the bandaid we need to pay the bills while our greater focus is put into our efforts on business growth.

So with that said, what Dead-End *shit* jobs have you had? Do you currently have?
I was thinking back to all the crap jobs I've had and I am amazed I had the fortitude to endure it all.

My list:

1) Pizza delivery (Had to mop floors too)
2) Subway sandwich lunch driver (Lasted 3 weeks)
3) *Student* Painter (Lasted 6 weeks)
4) Charity organization can collector
5) Bus boy, Chinese restaurant (cockroaches in back!!!)
6) Wholesale flower deliverer
7) Plumbing day laborer
8) Stock boy, Sears Roebuck
9) Newspaper delivery at 3am in the morning
10) Hospital TV system auditor (lasted 2 days)

Much of these jobs I had after college graduation. :nonod:

If you find yourself in a *shit* job, take a deep breath and reassure yourself that it is only temporary. Your job is no predictor of your true potential but only a byproduct of your circumstances and your choices.

I did my best thinking while enduring these jobs -- I remember mopping floors and coming up with ideas as well as stockpiling motivation. The thoughts "I'm better than this!" builds and builds until the fire under your a$$ can no longer be tolerated and leaping into action is no longer an option, but a survival move.
1.) Deli Delivery Driver(Also had to clean up the dead roaches under the counters with a rag) (lasted 1 month)
2.) Camp Counselor (2 months)
3.) UPS Seasonal Helper(2 weeks)
4.) UPS Package handler Had to wake up at 3 am to drive to work by 4 am (2 months)
5.) Internship at my father corporate job(Which began to make me think that corporate is a waste of time) (2 months)
6.) Package handler for FedEx( Also wake up at 3 am, during peak season had to wake up 11pm to work all night) (lasted 6 months)
7.) Corporate job as a temporary employee (This really opened my eyes that a corporate job for 50 years is bull sh**.) (6 months)
8.) Construction laborer (Had to wake up extremely early and fight NYC traffic at 6 am to make it to work on time. Stressful job and I felt miserable) (Lasted 7 months)
 
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Eurojanek

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I did a lot of those, as I finished all my schools (mind you one of them the best private university in the country) there was a recession in Poland with unemployment rates up to 20% so manual labor for minimum wage it was :) There's no point listing all of them, just 2 worst that come to my mind:

- Strawberry Bus delivery driver in Germany: wake up 1 AM, load the bus drive across southern Germany and Austria, drop the berries at about 20 places, pickup leftovers from previous day, go back to base, sort the leftovers, clean bugs from windshield, wash the whole bus, put fuel in, go sleep. Job was 7 days a week for 3 sommer months, no AC in the car nor in the attic where I slept :) On the plus side I got to listen to Radio Culture night auditions with great jazz concerts.
meme-1221602-1684934090.jpg
- Inbound IT support call center specialist in german language. Well stress 100%, each day different working hours, you had to ask the supervisor in order to get to bathroom. Learning a ton of new technical data about new product in order for it to be obsolete within a month, then learning new products and so on. Definitely not recommended - some people lasted 1 day at this job. I did it for 2 years.
 

RightyTighty

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My first job was pulling weeds for a dime an hour at a family-owned nursery business, participation mandatory. At age 6 I may have had the youngest FTE ever.
 

goldstein

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I posted on this thread before, back in 2017 or 2018, but ever since then, I’ve had a very difficult job experience that thought me the real value of money.

When I lost my job in 2019, I had to pick myself up and I got some work as a telephone agent in a call centre. I worked for several teams in that call centre, but the one that had the most profound impact on me, was when I was in the Payment Inquiry Line department.

All I can say is, the struggle is real out there. Don’t mess with people’s pay…

To you it’s just 20$, but to them, it might mean one more meal to feed their sick child.

Life can be cruel and harsh when you don’t have much.

Even if my job sucked at the time, I remember feeling very grateful to be on that side of the line and not the other way around.
 

Aidan04

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I'm posting this here in Your Fastlane Plan because sometimes, dead-end jobs are a necessary evil. We all have bills and obligations to pay -- sometimes dead-end *shit* jobs are just the bandaid we need to pay the bills while our greater focus is put into our efforts on business growth.

So with that said, what Dead-End *shit* jobs have you had? Do you currently have?
I was thinking back to all the crap jobs I've had and I am amazed I had the fortitude to endure it all.

My list:

1) Pizza delivery (Had to mop floors too)
2) Subway sandwich lunch driver (Lasted 3 weeks)
3) *Student* Painter (Lasted 6 weeks)
4) Charity organization can collector
5) Bus boy, Chinese restaurant (cockroaches in back!!!)
6) Wholesale flower deliverer
7) Plumbing day laborer
8) Stock boy, Sears Roebuck
9) Newspaper delivery at 3am in the morning
10) Hospital TV system auditor (lasted 2 days)

Much of these jobs I had after college graduation. :nonod:

If you find yourself in a *shit* job, take a deep breath and reassure yourself that it is only temporary. Your job is no predictor of your true potential but only a byproduct of your circumstances and your choices.

I did my best thinking while enduring these jobs -- I remember mopping floors and coming up with ideas as well as stockpiling motivation. The thoughts "I'm better than this!" builds and builds until the fire under your a$$ can no longer be tolerated and leaping into action is no longer an option, but a survival move.
When I was 16, I got my first job in fast food and had it for about a year and a half. It was hell. The place was in disrepair and was actually at a run-down rest stop. They demolished the place about a year later after I stopped working there and it made me so happy.
 
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Chris_Varick

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1. polishing wooden window frames by hand for 7 hours per day
2. cold calling "any kind" of store and try to sell videoprojectors
3. a job I did not do but traumatized me was seeing a guy who only put 2 screws in a chair all day (okay it was in the 80s ) but as a kid I was already afraid to end up like this
 

Vntonio

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1. Research assistant where I got $50 above the minimum wage. Then, I would have gotten my Ph.D., in 6 more years, after I would get +$200 in my monthly salary.

For the rest of my life. Why?! Because you have to be a director of science to get $1200-$1400. And there is only one guy in the whole institute.

Also non-stop a$$-kissing.

This job lasted for 6 months, there were too many dead people (inside and by age, the average was 50-60 years old)

2. Peisagistical guy. I had to lift 70-200-300 kg of stuff in 1-4 people because there were no machines there. Also, my income was lower than the minimum wage because I drove the company car.

Funny story, I had to water the flowers for the biggest corporate buildings in Bucharest. I ruined someone's keyboard and PC.

People there, after 5-7 years were paid less them a Lidl worker.
Lasted 4 days.

3. Corporate software manual tester. I lasted for 1 day since my boss would non-stop swear, put on loud music, and everyone was so... corporate. I hate this life.

There was always someone who left the job because the pay was not getting better after 2 years.

4. Mascara worker. I had to learn and package mascara. It was funny. I ruined my back (sciatica problems) while packaging mascaras. Lasted 1 day. Most of the guys there worked without a contract.

Now I'm a farmer. I will stay a farmer until I will find my own path and succeed. No way back to any jobs. Dead-end or not.
 

emavery176

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1. ticket counter agent
2. university student assistant
3. tech support
4. call center representative (lasted only 3 months)
5. airbnb host
6. transcriptionist
7. data entry clerk
8. Google map data entry
9. donating plasmas (not a job but definitely a gig)
 
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oosmart

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1. ticket counter agent
2. university student assistant
3. tech support
4. call center representative (lasted only 3 months)
5. airbnb host
6. transcriptionist
7. data entry clerk
8. Google map data entry
9. donating plasmas (not a job but definitely a gig)
What makes data entry a shit job?
 

David Fitz

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Installing fake grass with a Chinese guy in 40 degree heat when I live in Australia. The guy wouldn't even give me a break.

Working in a Johnson & Johnson factory in my hometown and working with all the lazy brown nosers who knew how to play the bosses and get away with doing nothing. Most of my old friends still work there today almost 15 years later. Thank God I never got stuck in that trap. The thought scares me.

Working with an old Irish guy installing drains, hardest work I've ever done.

Driving diggers and dump trucks 14 hours a day when I lived in the UK while working with the grumpiest men on the planet. Another bullet I dodged by not getting stuck doing that.
 
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GymBro

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My sister is considering working at a vape store because it pays a lot. My family does not support vapes and kids vaping. I realised that either she has to violate her morals and give kids vapes, or get jumped after she refuses. Sh*t job if you ask me.
 

UNKNOWNUSHER

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The dead-end sh*t job I currently have is pushing carts at a grocery store and boy is it BAD.

It may not seem so bad, unless you actually have had the job before. Only then would you understand the pain of it. I've dealt with a load of customers and angry Karens that would do nothing but give me bs. One would spill spaghetti sauce on the parking lot floor and flip out asking for the manager because she couldn't make sure to keep her items secure. Another would litter on the floor and curse at me like they own the place. They give 0 f*cks.

That's not even the worst part. Aside from all of the times I've had customers or shoplifters run me over with their stupid cars or curse at me in front of their kid, or treat me like my worth is significantly inferior to them, you wouldn't believe what kind of sh*t we find in carts that people leave behind. I'm talking used diapers, eaten food, rotten bananas, and yes...even a vibrator. A used one. And we don't even sell that at our store.

I'm trying to become a freelancer marketing my 3D art skills so I could make enough money to get a car and do DoorDash and invest into businesses like a game studio and YouTube, so I can escape the current situation I am in.

But the point is, although it may not seem like such a bad job at first, cart pushing is painfully awful. Way worse than it looks and I honestly don't know how I am still enduring. Cart pushers have way less credit than they deserve, and that's an understatement.
 

HoneyBadger302

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I've had a lot of jobs that were shit jobs (sometimes literally shoveling shit - in fact, that's what I was doing p/t last year to make ends meet while trying to get my business from idea to a functional and executable business).

My current day job (still a necessary evil), while not "dead-end" would be a guaranteed way to stay in the rat race. I can grow in it (am using my day job to build skills, reputation and broaden my experience so I can apply that to my business), but as an employee, I would never get out of the race. Could potentially - someday - do "okay" in the rat race, but I'd still be a rat in a cage.

It's kind of amusing how, with my focus on building a business and company rather than my job, but using my job to help bolster those larger goals, has actually made me a better employee, because now, I care about learning those things - growing - getting better - absorbing all the experience and skills I can so that I can turn around and apply it to my own business - figuring out my values and the values these CEO's and companies have and what I do/do not like and do/do not want to see in my company....

I also use my day job to "experiment" with new ways of doing things and to see what is effective or not, with no risk to my business.
 
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MattR82

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My first job was pulling weeds for a dime an hour at a family-owned nursery business, participation mandatory. At age 6 I may have had the youngest FTE ever.
My Uncle used to pay my cousins and I to clean up his cigarettes from the gardens around his house. Think we got like 5 cents per butt lol. We felt like the richest 8 year olds in town!
 

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