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Shortest job you have had.

(29 Posts)
Lizzies Mon 18-May-20 15:28:21

When my DD started nursery school I decided to get a part time job. Our local supermarket advertised for someone to fill the freezers with F****s foods. The hours were 9.30 to 11.30 which worked as DD was only there 9.00 to 12.00. The first morning I was given a size 18 overall (I was only size 12 at the time) being the one the last person had and shown what to do. I got to work and got my job done. At 11.00 a supervisor came and asked if I could stay until 2.00! I had made it clear at the interview that I had to go at 11.30 and told her this. She said if I couldn’t do overtime then there was no point me staying, so I went. I got paid £4!

V3ra Mon 18-May-20 16:35:03

My son is currently losing £500 a month on furlough pay as his regular overtime isn't taken into account, so he took a temporary job at a local parcel depot.
He arrived at 9am on his first day and was told by two supervisors if he wasn't happy with anything, no problem just go home.
As the day wore on he realised there was no toilet paper, no handwash and no sanitiser anywhere. He debated taking his own the next day but decided if no-one else did that wouldn't really solve anything.
The staff room had a grotty kettle and toaster, and a filthy fridge.
He left at 2pm!

CanadianGran Mon 18-May-20 22:24:32

Waitressing for me... in my early 20's I could not make ends meet with my part time job at a bank, so took another part time job at a pizza joint (not very classy). I'm afraid I did only one shift and realized I was not very good at it. The next day the bank offered my full time, so I called the pizza place right away to say I wouldn't be back! Never had the nerve to ask to be paid.

Hats off to all restaurant servers.

Lilypops Mon 18-May-20 22:39:35

In my Twenties I had a part time job to fit in with school hours as a waitress in a rather posh establishment. One day a group of Ladies who Lunch came in sat down and I took their order, I brought a plate in to them with different condiments on. Tartare sauce , mayonnaise, mustard ,seafood sauce, the whole lot slipped off the plate ,all down one of the ladies jacket that was on the back of the chair, the club paid for the dry cleaning and I left the next day ,I decided I wasn’t cut out for waitressing .

Grammaretto Mon 18-May-20 22:39:37

Mine was in a hairdressers when I was 16. It was a Saturday morning job. I was told to sweep hair off the floor which I did but I had hoped I would be allowed to wash hair. It was very dull so after one morning I said it wasn't for me and I didn't go back.

gillybob Mon 18-May-20 22:48:27

As a young single mum I once took a job in sheer desperation . It was in a factory operating a machine that spray painted
PCB’s (printed circuit boards) . It was really heavy work . Mans work really and I lasted 4 shifts .

merlotgran Mon 18-May-20 23:01:23

I was excited about my first holiday job on Ventnor pier working the candy floss machine.

I did one day then woke up the following morning unable to open my eyes. They were completely gummed up with conjunctivitis! shock

There was a happy ending though. A fortnight later they asked me if I'd like to go back and sell ice creams instead. grin

Buffybee Mon 18-May-20 23:16:56

I got a part time job when I was 17, it was commission only.
I had to drive around a nearby town, calling into corner shops and trying to sell them tights and if they bought so many, a free stand.
I sold to only one in a full morning, the commission wouldn’t even have covered my petrol, so I took the stock back and walked out. grin

Nannatwiglet Mon 18-May-20 23:28:22

Worked in an airport* cafeteria/kitchen, summer 1965 before going to college.
Employed as a waitress, washer-upper, floor-sweeper, cleaner etc.
A very hot summer... I was told to dig the cockroaches out of a big basin of butter. They had been escaping from some loaves of sliced bread -only to get trapped in the soft melted butter. Yuck...
Needless to say I only spent one day in this job and didn’t get paid.
* I won’t mention the name of this airport but the cafeteria was a workers’ one, not a Public one!

Artdecogran Tue 19-May-20 00:03:04

Umm ten minutes! I was a legal secretary doing some temp work. I was sent to a firm where the woman solicitor was very very posh, spoke with a bucket of plums in her mouth and did an airy fairy wave to show me where things were. She said the ‘gel’ I was covering for was off sick. She then showed me into what was presumably an old windowless cupboard. Useful information like passwords, toilets etc was in a drawer she said. Opened drawer to find all 3 drawers were full of green snotty and blood streaked tissues! The phone was black with grime and crusty. Put my coat on and walked out saying to the receptionist what a filthy pig sty this place was, right in front of some clients.no wonder the ‘gel’ was off sick.

Purplepixie Tue 19-May-20 00:31:45

I went along to work in an office where the boss was a tyrant. Nobody could speak and when the sandwich van came around we weren’t allowed to go out to it. By the friday morning I had had enough so out I went to the sandwich van and ate my sandwich at my desk. The rest of the office looked horrified as the boss came over to my desk. He didnt expect me to get up, get my bag and walk out and I never went back.

Scentia Tue 19-May-20 05:50:09

I got a job in a local bingo hall and it was way before the smoking ban. I lasted all of 10 minutes as it was full with smoke and horrible. Good thing was they paid me for the whole week by mistake!

Oldwoman70 Tue 19-May-20 08:56:52

I lasted just a week as a secretary in a solicitors office. I was in a room with 3 others - none of whom spoke to me, at 10.30 on the first day they all walked out of the office and returned with cups of coffee. I went into the hallway to see there was a "tea lady" (who turned out to be the friendliest person in the office) By Friday I had enough, I hadn't even met the person I was supposed to be working for - I would arrive in the morning to find a pile of files on my desk - my work for the day. At lunchtime I picked up my bag and my coat - told the others in the room to tell the boss to stick his job where the sun don't shine and walked out.

tinaf1 Tue 19-May-20 13:33:00

Oldwoman70 we must have worked at the same place, I temped at an office in London exactly the same as you’ve described I also only lasted one week.?

rosecarmel Tue 19-May-20 13:45:39

Bartender- Under 10 minutes at a biker bar-

Glorybee Tue 19-May-20 13:52:47

.Nanatwiglet- “I was told to dig the cockroaches out of a big basin of butter. They had been escaping from some loaves of sliced bread -only to get trapped in the soft melted butter.” You poor thing, that’s horrendous- I’m glad I wasn’t eating when I read this! ?

felice Tue 19-May-20 13:55:30

Not me, X husband, went for a trial in a bar restaurant as a chef, as he walked into the Kitchen a mouse ran over his foot, when he moved the 'new' deliveries cockroaches ran everywhere, and the fridges seals were broken and tubs of mouldy food inside.
He walked out and phoned the environmental health immediately.
Place closed the next day, yuck.
It has since re-opened, this was years ago but I still have never been in.

GagaJo Tue 19-May-20 14:49:56

When I came back from working overseas, an ex colleague had arranged for me to have a job in a school in Sunderland. As a southerner, I discounted what I'd been told about Sunderland. I've taught in pretty hard schools before and had no problems.

This place though. It wasn't the students, although they were pretty tough, it was the management. It was one of those academy chains and the executive head thought that because his methods had worked in one school, they'd work in all.

I would say their treatment of the students bordered on abusive. Within 6 months they'd expelled over half of the student body. Absence was a huge problem, so once the students were in school, they were NOT allowed to go home for any reason. Vomiting students would be sent back to class with a sick bag.

Teachers were bullied too. So many went off sick from it that half of the staff were being covered by supply teachers. One of whom would come by my classroom crying at the end of every day.

I had four different teaching timetables in 3 months. Each time the timetable changed, I'd get different classes of children. Books were never forwarded.

I stuck it for 3 months and then finally decided that I'd rather do supply work than stay any longer. They gave me a big bunch of flowers when I left, which I gave to a neighbour. Didn't want them in my house!

grannylyn65 Tue 19-May-20 14:51:12

Breakfast chef, started 6.30, left 7 !!

MawB Tue 19-May-20 15:00:56

How long were you in Switzerland Gagajo ?

Deedaa Tue 19-May-20 18:15:50

My first Saturday job when I was 15 was in a local grocers. I was rubbish and was asked not to come back the next week.I did get my 10 shillings wages though.

Bellasnana Tue 19-May-20 18:32:30

I was a trained nanny and went to work for a couple in London to care for their three month old so solicitor mum could return to work.

Trouble was, she had been breast feeding baby and he refused point blank to take a bottle. They buzzed off to the theatre one evening leaving me with this poor little baby who cried and cried and would not entertain having a bottle no matter what I did.

I packed the job in the following day after only a week.

MadCatWoman1 Tue 19-May-20 18:57:27

When my children were at junior school, I found a job working in the mornings at a double-glazing company. It was so boring. I was in an office with 6 others, and we had to go through the 'phone book, ringing people. (We each had certain pages) Then we had to read some spiel from a card given to us and try to sell the product. I hated it and left after the first day.

ayse Tue 19-May-20 19:02:28

Two days training as an energy salesperson. On the underhand goings on really put me off. They targeted old people and poorer people. I told the job centre how bad it was.

grannyrebel7 Tue 19-May-20 19:04:47

A cleaning job when I was in my early 20s. I lasted one 3 hour shift and never went back. Why I ever took the job I don't know as I hate cleaning!