# Jobs I have had **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915 "2008-05-20T00:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/41 "2008-05-21T10:29:52Z")
- Harrods (temp for sales week) - Local authority data entry clerk - Computer programmer / lecturer - Administator National Chess Federation - Chess, roleplaying + computer games teacher :eek: šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/42 "2008-05-21T14:26:09Z")
In no particular order: Restaurant bus boy Disc jockey Newspaper reporter Radio news director TV news reporter Booth announcer ā€œAdultā€ book store clerk Soldier Gandy dancer Call center phone agent & supervisor Construction laborer Security guard Mobile home salesman Pizza deliveryman College instructor ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/43 "2008-05-21T14:50:20Z")
This is a great brain exerciser. Highschool: Dunkin Donuts Donut finisher. Pizza Cashier Supermarket cashier College: Health and beauty aid cashier/asst manager Medical Receptionist Post College: Office Manager for small company 2 years Business Director for med sized company 5 years Executive Director med sized company 12 years Author I tend to stay put rather than job hop. I admire all the different experiences other posters have had. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/44 "2008-05-21T14:52:17Z")
long ago : Babysitting 1995-1997 : Selling school-logo products at the school store in high school 1995 - 1997 : Concession stand at school dances 1998-99-2000 : Receptionist/clerk at City Hall (summer replacement, did 3 summers) 1999-2000 : Telephone Sales Rep (yes, itā€™s telemarketing) 2001 : Candy store employee 2001-2002 : Bath and Body products store employee 2002-2005 : Tech for a pharma company that does clinical trials 2006 : Medical technologist, blood bank 2007-present : Medical technologist, evening shift generalist (Iā€™m guessing at some of the years, there was a decent amount of overlap for some jobs, as I was working a few places at once) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/45 "2008-05-21T14:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] > [@Max Torque](#): > > Letā€™s see, from start to current, something like: > [ul] > [li]swallow shooter[/li][li]bean rider (same summer)[/ul][/li][/quote] > > šŸ˜• heh. Itā€™s a farm thing. The swallow shooting was shooting barn swallows with a .22 (a rusty old bolt-action thing, Iā€™m lucky it didnā€™t blow up on me; actually had to pry the spent shells out with a pocketknife) so they wouldnā€™t crap on all the expensive farming equipment. And bean riding is something Iā€™m pretty sure is still done: you get a tractor and outfit the front with a special rig consisting of, one, a big tank of Round-Up weed killer, and two, a long horizontal arm with four seats and a spray gun for each seat. You get four people (usually kids) to sit on the seats, and drive up and down the rows of beans. When the kids see a weed, they blast it. I got four bucks an hour for that one, which is good money when youā€™re 12. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/46 "2008-05-21T15:15:30Z")
Well in reverse orderā€¦ 2008 - present: Current job at a technology startup 2002-2008: Microsoft UK mid 2000-2002: Technology startup which didnā€™t do so wellā€¦ 1998-mid 2000: Microsoft US in Redmond as a test engineer 1996-1998: Support call center. 1996: Spent six months in Portland, OR, working various jobs as I just moved there. I was a lifeguard, worked part time in a restaurant, and worked (for about 2 weeks) in a stockbrokerā€™s office as a phone drone cold-calling customers 1994-1996: Going to college in Montana, so worked as a lifeguard, auto mechanic, light construction, tutor in math and science, surgical tech in the hospital, and also was in the Montana Air National Guard during all of this. Dropping out of college meant I was actually working _ **less** _ than whilst going to school. 1991-1994: US Air Force, aircraft armament systems technician High School (1987-1991): Worked in a pizza joint, had a paper route, washed dishes at a restaurant, worked for 2 summers at a local ranch shoveling sheep shit, and summer after I graduated worked for my grandparents landscaping their newly built house. Pre-high school (1980-1987): Mowed lawns, babysitting, shoveling snow in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/47 "2008-05-21T15:22:16Z")
Damn, letā€™s see if I can remember. Roughly in order from when I was 8 in '69. The first money I made was shoveling snow. Didnā€™t pay FICA, though. Mowing lawns. Dito. Babysitting when my sister couldnā€™t. Likewise. paper route. still no SS deductions Worked at a popcorn stand when I was in 8th grade. More of the same! janitor at a jr. high. First time to pay into ā€œThe Systemā€ watered peopleā€™s lawns dishwasher janitor again delivery for a blue-print company (Do people in the CAD world know what this is?) assembly line worker ā€“ absolutely mind-numbing work. never again! Mormon missionary (not paid) janitor store clerk in a basket shop in a mall. Cute customers. night security on campus professional magician translation manager import manager sales manager marketing manager sales _and_ marketing manager just a marketing manager ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/48 "2008-05-21T16:10:48Z")
Pizza delivery driver Telephone opinion survey taker Musician Barback Body Piercer Sound engineer Constitutional Law tutor/Research assistant Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge Attorney at Law ---
**Author:** ![masterofnone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@masterofnone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/masterofnone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/49 "2008-05-21T16:17:11Z")
High school: Cemetary mower Residential lawn mower Plastics factory drone Construction laborer laborer for a house mover XC ski shop attendant Farm hand Dishwasher Between high school + college: US Army Stinger missile gunner/teamchief Bum Tech school: Plastics factory drone (for 2 days) You know the little basket of fake grass with smelly soap cameos/sea shells? I assembled and shrink-wrapped them. laborer for a house mover Little Ceasers pizza drone Big white party tent erector College: Lab assistant Retail store warehouse worker After college: Microbiology QC technician for a pharmaceutical company Lab technician for an academic institution Side business as a micropipette calibrator Iā€™m sure Iā€™ve forgotten several. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/50 "2008-05-21T16:22:59Z")
High School: Camp counselor - pack of 14 5-year-olds and only three of us. Oh, and since I was underage I was paid the equivalent of $1.50/hr. Hated that job. Ice Cream Cake Decorator - Had a lot of fun for a while, good high school job. Free ice cream rocked! College: ā€˜Associateā€™ - Bath and Body works sales. Bad work environment and they tried to make me work while I was scheduled for finals. Assistant - Asian antique store. Couldnā€™t look customers in the face, and he had makeup in the back room if one of us forgot to wear some. Spent three weeks listening to the same opera CD and addressing envelopes. Oh, and he hated letting us get lunch; he would nap in his office and ignore us instead of letting us eat. The fridge had food so old the mold connected boxes to each other. His wares were gorgeous though! Data Entry - Billed as an internship with occasional overtime, but just data entry around 60-70 hours a week. Paid really well, if I hadnā€™t been heavily misled as to the position I probably wouldā€™ve enjoyed making all the money. Library Assistant - Current job. Law library at a law school, really easy work. Check in/out material, open and close library, shift/shelve books. I can study while on the desk, and the hours are very flexible to work around my school schedule. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/51 "2008-05-21T16:38:03Z")
forgot twoā€¦ [QUOTE=GomiBoy] 1994-1996: Going to college in Montana, so worked as a lifeguard, auto mechanic, light construction, tutor in math and science, surgical tech in the hospital, _ **grave digger, ski lift operator,** _ and also was in the Montana Air National Guard during all of this. Dropping out of college meant I was actually working _ **less** _ than whilst going to school. [/QUOTE] Best job I ever had was a grave digger. People didnā€™t ask me for my services at parties or when I went home for visits, and rarely a customer complaint. If they did complain, we just hit them with shovels until they went away! šŸ™‚ Worst was ski lift operator - nothing worse, being a skier, than having a bunch of out-of-breath sunburned people with huge grins bragging about the powder when youā€™re freezing your bollocks off on the top of a mountain trying vainly to keep warm. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/52 "2008-05-21T18:02:52Z")
Apprentice Electronics Tech (starting at about age 12) Journeyman Electronics Tech Cryomagnetics Lab Assistant Bartender Jazz Trombonist in a cabaret Lab Assistant in Charge of Robotics and Explaining Things to Boneheaded Mech E Students Blackjack Dealer Cellular Radio Network Designer/Optimizer Systems Engineer (working on military communications networks) Tech Support (briefly, for a weird little cell phone/PBX interface) Test Engineer (cellular network software stuff) Software Engineer (more stuff mostly related to cell phones) Several of those overlapped, and throughout most of it, I also did freelance electronics design and consulting. I may have also omitted a few, for various reasons. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/53 "2008-05-21T18:34:04Z")
High School and College Summers - Line cook and cook for Marine Corps OCS (one summer) College - Convenience store clerk Assistant to Clerk of House of Delegates Chief Intern for State Parks Department Post Graduate - Legal assistant Graduate School - Graduate Assistant to Dean Zoning Officer Post Graduate School - Planner Senior Planner Planning Director for rural locality Planner with state environmental agency Secretary to local Board of Zoning Appeals Comprehensive Planner Director of Community Development ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/54 "2008-05-21T18:44:05Z")
High School: McDonaldā€™s ā€“ burger maker Grocery store ā€“ produce section Menā€™s clothing store ā€“ the managerā€™s bitch Bulletin board system ā€“ system operator Post-HS: US Air Force, computer repair guy Scientific Research Lab, computer technician Hospital, PC technician II Consulting firm, network administrator Post-college Public school system, high school history teacher Consulting firm, network engineer Restaurant reviews website, webmaster/developer Consulting firm, network architect ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/55 "2008-05-21T22:49:49Z")
Naturally forgot something [QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] translation manager import manager sales manager **freelance writer (for brochures, manuals)** marketing manager sales _and_ marketing manager just a marketing manager [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/56 "2008-05-22T05:39:04Z")
**School:** Food Vendor at Baseball games Synagogue assistant **University:** Stocked shelves at Sobes Guitar lesson instructor Instrument cleaner **Post University** Guitar Instructor Band Teacher Next job? Looks like Iā€™ll be subbing soon ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915/57 "2008-05-22T14:57:05Z")
Starting at the age of 15: High School: Busser/food runner - local vegetarian restaurant Waitress - Johnny Rockets Virtual World employee (anybody remember them?) Waitress - Johnny Rockets College: Waitress - local diner Gas America cashier Post-College (didnā€™t finish): Hostess/busser - local japanese restaurant Vet clinic employee (everything from receptionist work to kennel duties to grooming assistant) House cleaner Accounting assistant (to my mother-in-law) Office manager/bookkeeper for a property management company Office manager/bookkeeper/customer service for a costume shop Stay at home mom Starting June 30, student at community college enrolled in a three-year AAS program to become a registered vet tech This is my first post in over a week! Stupid Paypal e-check took nine days to process. Itā€™s good to be back. šŸ™‚ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-i-have-had/449915.md?page=2)