My first job ever was babysitting for my cousins when I was 10. Thinking back, I wonder how the heck anyone thought a 10-year-old could be responsible for the well being of anyone, let alone a 2-year-old and a 5-year old? I'm now over 30 and I'm still not even good at keeping plants alive and healthy. But somehow I've always been able to convince employers that I was a responsible, diligent person.
Suckers!
I don't think I've gone more than a few months since then without having at least a short-term job, and most of them seem pretty random. Among the teen-standards and more career-driven positions, a few stand out as being extra-bizare, at least to me. Let's take a look:
Babysitter
Grocery store cashier
Summer camp counselor
Recreation commission events registrar
Girls softball league team tryout coordinator
Soup taster (for a market research company; lasted 1 day)
Customer service at a Hickory Farms kiosk during the holiday busy season
Substitute teacher: grades K-12 (music, art, science, math, english)
Salesperson at a leather goods store (lasted 3 weeks)
Games Department worker at a Six Flags amusement park (lasted 3 days)
Manager of a jewelry and crystal souvenier concession at a Six Flags amusement park
Background investigator for Citibank applicants
Manager of men's recreational basketball league
Copywriter for medical division of a PR agency
Marketing copywriter for a business software company
Office manager for a municipal uniform supply company (ask me about my Kevlar discount offer)
Editor for medical journals (including Pharmaceutical Discovery, Emergency Medicine and Applied Radiology)
Freelance writer/editor for educational content publisher (as needed, over 10 years)
Freelance music reviewer (about 4 months)
Promotions manager, volunteer coordinator and overall logistics for an independent film festival
Background investigator for nuclear test site applicants
Resume writer
writer/editor for an online magazine.
My personal favorite was my stint doing background checks for nuclear test site employees. You'd be surprised how often people fudge their credentials, even for high-security positions like this. At least once a former employer reported that a candidate had come close to causing an accident, and dozens of times we found people had lied about their salaries, birthdates, social security numbers, education and experience.
Anyone out there have a weirder employment history, or a particular bizarre job that can beat what's on my list?
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3 comments:
I didn't know about Hickory Farms. Explains the vegetarianism.
Oh, but you did have access to those lusty pastel meltaway candies.....
Did anyone ask you what was in those sausages? Pray tell it wasn't rejected applicants from the nuke plant!
Ya know, the Hickory Farms was a few years before becoming a veg, but thinking back, I should have seen the writing on the cheeseball. Seriously, who the heck needs two pounds of cheese, wrapped in a ball, covered in nuts and packaged with a bunch of meat in stick and bar form?
And yes, we had huge stockpiles of the melty mints. mmmm.
"My personal favorite was my stint doing background checks for nuclear test site employees."
You did that for a while, but only lasted 3 days at Great Adventure?!
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