I worked at a car wash when I was a teen. The worst job was working the interior of the cars, cleaning the windows and upholstery. Nasty business, that; hot, dirty and nonstop. The only plum jobs were wiping down the cars as they came out of the blow dryer. It was the easiest job and since it was at the end of the line, they got handed the tips.
Dr. Singh, is that you?!? 
Music Producer/Recording Engineer here.
Interns start in the studio learning how to be early, shut up, and be available for sessions. The ideal intern - just like a PA in the film/video world - always has pen & paper, gaff and label tape, a multitool and a sharpie. Always where you need them to be, with the gear you need, anticipating your moves and needs, whether in the control room, the studio or the machine room.
After doing this for six months to a couple of years (depending on the studio and the abilities of the intern) they have worked on a ton of sessions, in all genres, doing everything from patching in processors, mic-ing every kind of instrument and sound source, configured the console a million ways to Sunday and dealt with most every possible common crisis with the equipment, the workflows and of course Pro Tools (or other DAW, but mostly PT)
Producing and engineering are definitely not the same thing, and that describes more of a path for an engineer or recordist but after doing this for some time, they develop a solid understanding of all the crazy aspects of high end studio recording - from technical and hardware, to workflows/concepts/techniques. Ideally, they’ll have done that with recording, mixing and some level of mastering (sometimes, depends on the studio). If the studio also produces, then probably more on working with clients, sessions, time budgeting, costing etc.
Being a successful producer or engineer requires a unique gestalt of technical, project management and people skills that must be mastered or at least very well internalized before you can begin to bring in the creative aspects and learning how to get the best performance and facilitate the artistic visions.
I also worked on survey crews between college years. The noob got to swing a machete to clear survey lines, carry the stake bag and sledge hammer, and carry the rod for the guy using the transit/level. The only time you got to do anything resembling surveying was when you held the dumb end of the surveyor’s chain. Times have changed, of course, and GPS/laser equipment has made some jobs obsolete.
My first shot on working the soils end of things was pulling tare tickets for dump truck loads. The drivers weren’t crazy about slowing down to give you the ticket, so you got lots of exercise. It was a relief when they finally put me in the soils lab cooking dirt.
Mathematics professor here. The scut work is teaching calculus and even pre-calculus. But it is vitally important and we all had to do it. The other thing is that doing research is great fun but writing it up is not. But if you want to be published you gotta do it and no one else can do it for you.
Litter picking and bin emptying, picking up the discarded dog-shit bags with the grabber - its a bit of a contrast to what I normally do
I think it’s pretty common in public education for the youngest and most inexperienced teachers to be assigned the most disruptive and unruly classes.