What's The Worst Job You Ever Had?

[Poncho65]

He does not like the name parking garage, parking ramp, or parking lot.

We don't use those terms here (perhaps parking lot occasionally) but I have heard them on American TV.

I have built several and all the drawings (blue prints) said Parking Garage These have been for a few major universities as well as other establishments over the years

[Poncho65]

I have actually only ever had this one job I did work for my dad back when I was younger (maybe 13) on a few side jobs that he did but I was doing the same type of work as I do now, which is masonry So I guess I could classify different buildings as different jobs as we tend to move from one building to the next I would have to say that the building we are working on now is the worst job I have ever had Not that it is a bad building but the stupid schedule on it is ridiculous Not only did we get a late start on the job but they cut out almost 6 months from the schedule that our company said it would take to finish the project with a regular crew So we had to put a lot more people on this one and we have to work 6 days a week until sometime next year (probably past August or September) just to finish half way on time Would have been a great job to work on if the schedule was better on it

[pomsbz]

First job I got after getting married and finished university. Colonial slave driver who believed that paying employees, providing the resources required for the job or allowing quality output was morally reprehensible. I was the manager and had to deal with the complaints from both above (him) and below (the clients) on a constant basis without the tools to satisfy either. When you lie in bed at night afraid to go to sleep cause it will mean you have to wake up and go to work again, you know you're in trouble. On reflection, it was a good training ground for life. I've never allowed myself to be taken advantage of like that in a job since but even so, I had nightmares of that job for decades after.

[Etherealicer]

I have actually only ever had this one job I did work for my dad back when I was younger (maybe 13) on a few side jobs that he did but I was doing the same type of work as I do now, which is masonry So I guess I could classify different buildings as different jobs as we tend to move from one building to the next I would have to say that the building we are working on now is the worst job I have ever had Not that it is a bad building but the stupid schedule on it is ridiculous Not only did we get a late start on the job but they cut out almost 6 months from the schedule that our company said it would take to finish the project with a regular crew So we had to put a lot more people on this one and we have to work 6 days a week until sometime next year (probably past August or September) just to finish half way on time Would have been a great job to work on if the schedule was better on it

That is flawless management...

I had recently a project (big complicated webshop for car tires).
Designer started working with the client on the project in fall 2016
In July 2017 the design was set and the project was handed over to us... invitations for the launch party (beginning of August were already sent out).
End of August the client realized that he didn't like the design and asked us to do a redesign

 

[Syncop8r]

When you lie in bed at night afraid to go to sleep cause it will mean you have to wake up and go to work again, you know you're in trouble.

Sounds like most jobs I have had. 

I have heard a saying that people don't leave jobs because of the company, they leave because of their managers. Or something like that.

[WoodsDuck]

First job I got after getting married and finished university. Colonial slave driver who believed that paying employees, providing the resources required for the job or allowing quality output was morally reprehensible. I was the manager and had to deal with the complaints from both above (him) and below (the clients) on a constant basis without the tools to satisfy either. When you lie in bed at night afraid to go to sleep cause it will mean you have to wake up and go to work again, you know you're in trouble. On reflection, it was a good training ground for life. I've never allowed myself to be taken advantage of like that in a job since but even so, I had nightmares of that job for decades after.

I have this issue whether I'm working the next day or not. It's not a good time.

[magentus]

First job I got after getting married and finished university. Colonial slave driver who believed that paying employees, providing the resources required for the job or allowing quality output was morally reprehensible. I was the manager and had to deal with the complaints from both above (him) and below (the clients) on a constant basis without the tools to satisfy either. When you lie in bed at night afraid to go to sleep cause it will mean you have to wake up and go to work again, you know you're in trouble. On reflection, it was a good training ground for life. I've never allowed myself to be taken advantage of like that in a job since but even so, I had nightmares of that job for decades after.

I have this issue whether I'm working the next day or not. It's not a good time.

I hope things improve for you WD - Been there and it's horrible. Hang in there buddy. Is there a chance of changing work or for things to improve?

[Aloha]

Thankful that nothing stands out.  Sure I've had some jobs that weren't awesome but nothing stands out thats noteworthy.  I worked a variety of jobs but if ever one was not to my liking or someone ( management mostly ) was an idiot then I didn't stay long enough.  I worked a security job ( grave shift ) and while the manager was a nice guy the job he was pretty much was useless.  I worked a week then left.  I also worked as a driver for all of 2 days.  The manager was an idiot.  I came in day 2 for my training shift and she left me in her office for almost an hour waiting .  When she returned she was surprised I was still there.  I only stayed to tell her she was an idiot and obviously quit. 

I've been thankfully self employed now for good long while.  I am so thankful but I still have "bosses".  The great part is is that I can speak to them honestly without any corporate mumbojumbo.   Bad part is all the benefits that come with some corporate jobs.  Pick your poison is what mom used to say. 

[italophil]

In high school I had a lot of side and summer jobs. I was a dish washer in a factory cafeteria. I worked for a company that printed company logos on pens, lighters etc with my job being to remove mis-prints with volatile solvents. I worked as a night time cashier at a gas station / mini mart, I only got robbed once, but there is so much other drama going on between 2-4am. All of that was tolerable.

My worst job was teaching operations research to second year engineering students in Italy. So much whininess and entitlement from the students, it was just unbearable. I had 20 year old men bring their mom to office hours to complain that the homework took all weekend. If you don't like math don't go into engineering!

[WoodsDuck]

First job I got after getting married and finished university. Colonial slave driver who believed that paying employees, providing the resources required for the job or allowing quality output was morally reprehensible. I was the manager and had to deal with the complaints from both above (him) and below (the clients) on a constant basis without the tools to satisfy either. When you lie in bed at night afraid to go to sleep cause it will mean you have to wake up and go to work again, you know you're in trouble. On reflection, it was a good training ground for life. I've never allowed myself to be taken advantage of like that in a job since but even so, I had nightmares of that job for decades after.

I have this issue whether I'm working the next day or not. It's not a good time.

I hope things improve for you WD - Been there and it's horrible. Hang in there buddy. Is there a chance of changing work or for things to improve?

Oh, it's not the work. It's just me. The idea that I have to get up and do all the things I have to do on a given day causes me stress. Having a job with a schedule stresses me out because all I can think about is doing the same thing at the same time every week, ad infinitum. It's draining.

It's like looking over the prow of a ship at endless leagues of water you must traverse for the rest of your life. The main reason I maintain several hobbies is to provide some attractive islands with which to break up the monotony. Of course, hobbies use up a lot of energy as well, but without their distraction I'd be overwhelmed by thoughts of the miserable drudge I know awaits me tomorrow.

Well... That was more of my lame personal smurf than I'd ever planned to express in public.

[Poncho65]

No judgement from us here WD No one is perfect and life is life Glad you feel you are able to share with us

[El Corkscrew]

Pressure washing garbage trucks

[Huntsman]

It's like looking over the prow of a ship at endless leagues of water you must traverse for the rest of your life.

...... or driving through Mid-West USA       

[N_N_R]

What a thread to come acrosss.... when I'm again unemployed....for the third time in less than a year 

I haven't liked any of the jobs I've done so far, really

Teacher - for many years - not the job for me. I don't like being the center of attention and having an "audience".

For 8 months till Feb 2017 - translator/editor at a Translator's Agency - LOTS of work, little money. I didn't have time to even make coffee or EAT at that job, because I knew that if I wasted 5 minutes on something, I may not be able to catch up with the work. For too little money (my latest job would earn me twice as much)

For 3 months immediately after that as an office-manager at a Language Center.... where the manager/owner kept humiliating us all the time, kept blaming us for her own mistakes and stupidity ... until one day she just fired my colleague and friend.... and then I decided I'd quit as well. And made my friend leave the office in the middle of the working day and we went out and had fun 

My last job was a cashier at a casino... good money, but.... I assume the bosses didn't like the idea of us getting tips much, so I worked there for two months only and in both months, at more or less the same time of the month, one and the same amount of money... went missing. So a couple of hundred was withheld from our paychecks without anyone giving us any plausible explanation or showing evidence. They just said nobody could be seen at the cameras, they couldn't find whose mistake this might've been... so everyone paid. And I decided it was time to quit as maybe next month the'd withhold more or my entire paycheck and may even end up owing them money I didn't steal.

[Poncho65]

Dang girl that is some bad luck there for sure Hope you find a good job this go round

[N_N_R]

Thanks I hope so too, 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I used to manage a small retail store for a couple, who I am still friends with today, even though they separated and don't like eachother much anymore! 

The store was great, but when the original couple retired and was purchased by another couple, things went horribly south.  The wife was great, but the husband was a real piece of work.  It made me really hate working there, and on many occasions I was absolutely certain that all five foot nothing of him was going to take a swing at me.  He knew nothing about retail and decided to make things up as he went along rather than actually learn anything about it.

At one point he complained that the store was mismanaged and that I was lazy because none of the prices on the products were at MSRP, the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.  If you don't know why that is wrong, feel free to read this thread.  At any rate, he didn't listen (big surprise) then tried to bully customers into buying more expensive products (not upselling, actual bullying), cut out several of our top selling products, then decided the one product we were most famous for was too much effort and got rid of that too.

I ended up putting in my two week's notice (I'd have walked out immediately but I felt bad for his wife), then ended up getting in a car accident (I was rear ended) on the way home.  I used the accident as an excuse to not bother going back.

I'm not sure that was my worst job, but it is the one that first came to mind.  Compared to working there, delivering newspapers in the freezing rain as a kid was fantastic.   

Def

[Syncop8r]

Shovelling smurf in a zoo was one of the better jobs I have had. I prefer dealing with animal smurf than people's 'smurf'. No stress to take home at the end of the day.

[Kev D]

I've worked for the same company since the day after my 16th birthday, the job has always been the same (sort of) electrical apprentice, electrician, shift electrician, electrical team leader, electrical engineer, etc. The only difference really has been the different plants on the steelworks site I've worked at.  By far the worst for me was the blast furnaces. Apart from being a smurfhole of a place, and molten iron and slag in a lot of places I had to work, the guys there were on the whole a bunch of smurfholes.  There were the odd one or two that weren't, but the majority only gave a damn about themselves and wouldn't help you one bit unless there was something in it for them.  I was only there 6 months as part of my apprenticeship and I hated it from day one until the day I moved to my next 6 month placement.

I still have to go there in my current role occasionally and its a lot better now than it was back then, but I'm not sure if that's because of the position I'm in now that forces them to do the work and help me.  Once I leave I am most likely the biggest smurf on the planet to them. Who knows  , but I still don't like the place.

[lister]

The worst job for me was the one I had for the summer in between the high school and university. I worked in a failing factory that made wood windows, doors and such. I had to place pieces of cut wood on to a different pallets according to differing characteristics of the wood pieces. Nobody of course explained to me what those characteristics were. I was also given a lot of smurf for being a high school graduate (is that what you are called after you finish the high school?  ).

During my time at the university I smurfed up my chance at playing a scientist for a three year period (payed PHd progam) by failing my last exam. That exam was on the subject thought by my mentor, needles to say he was not very impressed. But that was after four months of me finishing more exams that are in two semesters. I got myself in to that position by not being very serious student. 

So after graduation I ended up in my current job. And I really need to find a more interesting one... 

 

[Huntsman]

What a thread to come acrosss.... when I'm again unemployed....for the third time in less than a year

Good to see you again NNR - Haven't seen you around for a while - Dealing with lots of cr8p by the sounds of it - I liked it when you were a translator!!

Good luck with the hunt.

[chrono]

Worst job for me was egg packing at an egg farm. I did it for the weekend hours. Pretty intense and bloody, not for people with heart condition. My hands got cut all the time while folding cardboard boxes. Pay was about the same as a McDonald employee. If the fast food sector employees deserve $15/hr, the egg packers should get $25.