# What jobs have you held? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881 "2004-09-30T17:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/21 "2004-09-30T20:45:45Z")
Damn! Looks like I’m good at keeping jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/22 "2004-09-30T20:46:40Z")
I’m 35 and I retired last year, prior to that: [ul] [li]Summer camp staff crew[/li][li]Clerk at K-Mart[/li][li]Sales associate at a shoe store[/li][li]Assistant manager at said shoe store[/li][li]Shoe store clerk at a different store[/li][li]Assistant to the news director at a local rock station[/li][li]Production assistant[/li][li]Public affairs programming coordinator[/li][li]Promotions assistant[/li][li]Network coordinator/traffic director for both radio and then TV[/li][li]Customer service rep for online brokerage firm[/li][li]Stock broker[/li][li]Margins analyst[/li][li]Securities lending analyst[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/23 "2004-09-30T20:48:09Z")
–bagger at a grocery store –cashier at a grocery store –retail clothing store –pizza maker –fast food –Stripper –saleswoman for an industrial equipment place –customer service phone person at a medical lab –editorial assistant at a publishing company (current) and hopefully –acquisitions editor at the same publishing company ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/24 "2004-09-30T20:57:18Z")
I’m 27, if it matters: Lawn mower House Painter Maintance crew (mowing lawns and painting houses, but working for someone else) The guy in the parking lot with the two flashlight thingers to tell people where to park. (I loved that job. Stand around outside all day.) Usher at a theatre Actor Tech theatre intern Head rigger/Run Crew Chief Carpenter Carpenter/Electrician (at a couple theatres) Technical Director Head Electrican (at a bunch of theatres) Assistant Electrician (National Tour) Head Electrician/Lighting Supervisor (National Tour) I guess I move around a lot. Now I’m the Production Manager for a large regional theatre, as well as the Lighting Supervisor. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/25 "2004-09-30T21:01:02Z")
Let’s see, since 1975 I’ve done these jobs: Bass player Dishwasher Short order cook New car detailer Stockroom clerk Keyboard player Radio DJ Mover House painter Security on entrance gate to exhibition park Club DJ Record store stock person Guitar player Drummer Live sound engineer Parking lot attendant at exhibition park Telemarketer (for a week) Hundreds of temp jobs, from lifting sides of meat off trucks, to lifting sacks of potatoes off train cars, to working in a bank, to assembly line work, to warehouse work of all kinds… too many to even recall! Department store stock clerk Audio restoration specialist and back to Radio announcer/ engineer. There must be more, but starving musicians have to do something for food and rent! So I did all kinds of stuff. Thankfully, I’ve settled down. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/26 "2004-09-30T21:07:59Z")
I’ve actually had very few jobs, probably cause I’m just 21. In order of when I had them, they are: -Substitute paper boy - I filled in for my brother on average two weeks total a year when I was between 7 and 9) -Lawn mower - mowed a few old ladies lawns for $15 a pop for about three or four summers between 12 and 16) -Construction - mostly roofing, but other stuff. Worked for my uncle for the summers I was in HS, and freshman year of college, when I was 14 (how’s that for breaking child labor laws? 14 year old doing hard manual labor, and getting paid $4/hour to do it, well below minimum wage), 15, 17, and 18 (summer of my junior year I was doing something else. See below) -Hardware store employee. I didn’t feel like more manual labor in HS, so I worked at a hardware store for the summer. I hated it. Customer service jobs are not for me, I learned. -Asbestos Project Manager. Sophomore summer of college, first summer away from home. I knew I wanted to stay away from home, but didn’t have a job yet. i tried to get jobs with some professors, but couldn’t get one, so I went to a company a lot of my friends worked for the summer before. The asbetos industries is one of the worst jobs you can have, overall. Hard labor, dangerous enviroments (lung cancer, anyone?) and people always yelling at you that you’r doing the job wrong. Luckily, I didn’t actually remove the stuff, I just made sure the people who did, did it the right and legal way. -Lab assistant. The next summer, I did manage to work for a professor in her lab. It was an OK job, but boring at times. I autoclaved things, cultured cells, counted cells in pictures, and did some other simple tests and duties. -Wal-Mart associate. Same summer as the lab ass. I needed more money, since the ass. job payed not great and was less than 30 hours/week. I worked at Wal-Mart for three weeks before I quit. Worst. Job. Ever. And my current job is as a biomedical technician. I go to hospitals in northern NY and test and fix their equipment. If I had to pick my fav. job, I honestly think the contruction was the best. It was hard work, yeah, but it was satisfying. I know that I actually acomplished something at the end of the day. However, due to the fact that it makes no ise of my degree, the pay ain’t so hot, and I do want to at least find out what being an engineer is like, I’ll stick with my current job path for now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/27 "2004-09-30T21:35:57Z")
Lessee: Block hauler Block hauler administrator Scribe Assistant to the Pharoah Vice-Pharoah Oh wait, you mean THIS century? Window washer in a car wash Carpet cleaner assistant (worst job) Leaf raker Surveyor Military (electrician) Construction foreman Facilities manager Contracts administrator Projects coordinator Department Director Chief Operating Officer I would now like to just drive a forklift for Lowes. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/28 "2004-09-30T21:52:35Z")
–from ages 10-14 I mowed lawns and did door-to0door carwashing in my neighborhood to make money then –McDonalds –KFC –garden department in home improvement megastore –bookstore clerk –bookstore shift manager –bookstore manager –pizza delivery –chinese food delivery –waiter –record store manager –movie theatre manager and then my “real job” life started, over the past 7 years I’ve been in 2 different companies in software engineering and another short stint as a contractor. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/29 "2004-09-30T22:13:21Z")
Working at my parents’ swim club at the snack bar McDonalds wage slave Working in a grocery store (salad bar) Pizza delivery driver Telephone survey interviewer Administrative Assistant 911 Dispatcher Customer Service Representative Customer Service Supervisor ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/30 "2004-09-30T22:13:24Z")
I’m in my mid-twenties two years out of college, and have worked these jobs, in chronological order: -Assembly line worker (eletronics) -Chemical company R&D intern -Software intern, at two different companies -Software programmer Not including small, one-off jobs like gathering sigs for an election, or stuffing envelopes… ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/31 "2004-09-30T22:17:18Z")
> [@mouthbreather](#): > > –movie theatre manager Hey **mouthbreather** , did you manage a record store in Atlanta? If it was, which one and where? I managed a Turtles in Atlanta from 1990 to 1994… ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/32 "2004-09-30T22:47:06Z")
Paper boy. Local circulation manager for Sioux City _Tribune_ Half-assed steeplejack and painter. Movie theater janitor and ticket taker. Movie projectionist. Army private. Aviation cadet. Basic flight training pilot instructor. B-26 pilot. College student. Electrical design engineer. Various lower to middle echelon management. Full time, well paid loafer. Also a 3/4 time drinker during some of the design engineer and quite a bit of the management phase. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/33 "2004-09-30T22:54:15Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > B-26 pilot. Is that, like, a B-52 with only one wing? [B-26](http://www.rougham.org/aircraft.php) Seriously those are some real old aircraft, are you an old timer pilot or were you flying them more recently as vintage planes. ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/34 "2004-09-30T23:22:14Z")
lawn mowing kid KFC fry cook security guard baggage screener dishwasher army cadet army officer (engineer) administrator for a chemical company regional logistics manager for the same chemical company \ NOC technician Telecommunications Project Manager Non-profit program manager Telecom Project Engineer ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/35 "2004-09-30T23:22:47Z")
dishwasher/janitor/random task guy at a couple of restaurants (once I had to stack wood for the firepit) inventory counter McDonald’s (I did nearly every job that could be done there, except high level management. It sucked.) used computer parts salesman (that didn’t work out, the manager thought I was too honest :rolleyes: ) Domino’s Pizza (mostly I made the pizzas, that was fun) box packer at a warehouse video game tester (not as much fun as you think, but still pretty cool) tech support (Lots of suck. I’ve ranted about it many a time.) educational game tester (Now I know my ABCs. In German. Sort of. I can also spell a few words, but don’t ask me what they mean.) Next week I may be building computer systems, I’m waiting for a definitive answer on that. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/36 "2004-09-30T23:48:32Z")
in roughly chronological order: paperboy dishwasher data entry guy for a medical consulting firm factory labor (ran a strapping machine at a warehouse) soldier waiter cook guitarist bassist artist manager photographer bar manager line cook kitchen manager booking agent producer sound engineer recording engineer composer-in-residence graphic design concert promoter Currently I own and operate an artist management/concert promotion company. I’m also composing for a local theatre company and working with a new music project. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/37 "2004-10-01T00:07:53Z")
[ul]Lawnmowin’ Kid :rolleyes: [/ul] [ul]Radiology Filing Clerk :rolleyes: :rolleyes: [/ul] [ul]Data Entry Clerk ☹☹ [/ul] [ul]National Park Service Intern 🙂 [/ul] [ul]Teaching Assistant :wally [/ul] [ul]Wetlands Biologist/Ecologist 🙂🙂🙂 [/ul] [ul]Science Teacher 🙂🙂 [/ul] [ul]Whalewatch Naturalist 🆒🆒 [/ul] [sub]Smilie ratings run from 1 to 3 and tell you what I thought of each job.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/38 "2004-10-01T00:16:06Z")
[ul][li]Babysitter[/li][li]Library Clerk[/li][li]Grocery Cashier[/li][li]Nanny[/li][li]Research Assistant[/li][li]Teaching Assistant[/li][li]Research Fellow[/li][li]Superior Court Clerk[/li][li]Corporate Counsel[/li][li]Teacher (Middle School)[/li][li]Asst. Director of Human Resources (HR)[/li][li]Director of HR[/li][li]Guest Lecturer[/li][li]Assistant Professor[/li][li]Director of HR[/li][li]Global Manager of HR[/li][li]Associate Vice President, HR [/li][li]Vice President of Administrative Affairs[/li]Mommy[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/39 "2004-10-01T00:27:08Z")
In chronological order: Fast food worker Retail cashier First aid provider (at sporting events) Support work at Senior Citizen’s Centre Supermarket price-changer Athletic trainer for university/junior-level sports team Receptionist Data entry Special events planning (fundraising) Medical transcriptionist Volunteer management Insurance administration Medical data entry/administration And I’m only 25! (Although most of these were part-time jobs during university or summer jobs) ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881/40 "2004-10-01T00:32:36Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Damn! Looks like I’m good at keeping jobs. Bah! My career spanned 20 years. You can not expect someone to stay in the same job for 20 years and be sane. Wait! That is assuming I am a sane person. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jobs-have-you-held/266881.md?page=3)