What’s the worst job you’ve ever had and what did you learn from it?
Mrinalini Rabindranath
21 replies
We've all been there but what we takeaway from the experience is what matters. What did you learn?
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Jannet@jannet_jpg
For me, personally, I define worst job= worst job environment.
If the company culture is toxic (i.e. competing against each other or by department) there is no positive output in the long-run. From my past toxic company, I learned that you can have a great product, ceo, and growing revenue yet see the end to the company. The greatest indicator of a company going down is the high turn-over rate of employees. I hear from my past colleagues that the company is now laying off people and deteriorating though it is in the industry that highly benefited off the pandemic.
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I was part of lab which had really talented, and knowledge team members. However, it was a super busy lab.
I learnt that it's always important to ask for whatever it is, be vocal about it.
If one asks for it (whether it be a advice, seeking out a certain project/type of work, a new initiative), it makes it much easier for the rest of the team members to understand where you come from, and help you learn, and grow.
Worst case, according to the response, you understand the dynamics of relationship with certain people. You can strategize your efforts towards gaining experience from someone else, or restrategize how you get the best of a certain person, and give them back the same.
Everyone is accountable to someone, or something, and they have their own shit going on. Being vocal, open, and transparent about everything really helps everyone understand each other's position better.
I was in a company with extremely talented people, great vision and drive, but with a rather angry boss who did not shy away from yelling at you in front of everyone.
But one of the greatest things I learnt from her was the importance of apology, which she always generous with, and most importantly, the separation of these temperaments from your understanding and judgement of the person. We still work on projects and no amount of disagreements have forged a ridge between the great work partnership.
@stuti What do you think about heated discussions?
When I was working in a theatrical club in my university, often times we used to have heated discussions about a certain scene, or dialogue, or the delivery of the same. It was confusing as to what make of it. We tend to take things personally, but we were reminded by our seniors:
"You asking, or fighting for what you want, picking up heat along the way, shows how passionate you are about the art, or impact of it". That was something which always stuck with me.
It's very nuanced, and it's often tough to perceive whether the heat/tension is personal, or impersonal. However, we were also taught "API - Assume Positive Intent, Always!"
I was working with a gruop which develop things to sell at Kickstarter. I was social media responsible and had no profit - idea was you cant take profit if you dont develop anything. I didnt want to do projects because I simply didnt understand but EVERY WEEK I had to travel 2 hours go and 2 hours back and sit in there like 4 hours to listen the things I have no idea. Collabrative working I get it but I dont know how to produce anything and was feeling useless. It might be my bad to not excatly join the process I admit that. Long story short they fired me bcs I couldnt attend 1 meeting. I learned that you should work with people who can understand your feelings and abilities.
The first company I joined after graduation had a good reputation and also good employees. But lacked any form of management, I joined at the peak of covid and got no communication from their side whatsoever. They replied to my mails late and sent me no salary for months.
I learnt that everything that glitters is not gold. Having a fancy name and tech for your company is not the only thing. You need people who take care of every small thing in that case. Having is wholesome team and a good culture is more important than just having a good product.
@mayank_gupta11 like we discussed before "Culture is the invisible founder of an organization", nothing gels a team stronger than the culture itself.
Sorry, i will not agree with this question. because company offers you job and you accept it as personal choice. It is your own decision
@chandan_shopify the choice is personal but so is our experience. The question is about our learning from jobs.
I worked as a dishwasher at restaurant where most people disliked the head chef, including me, but they were too afraid to confront him.
What I learned that you have adjust your communication style towards the different employees, using the same tone and assuming everyone has your values is a form ignorance.
Also, the happiness of lowest person in hierarchy, tells a lot about the over employee satisfaction.
I used to translate subtitles every day from 9-5. I was earning online 4 dollars per day. I quit the job. I felt like my worth is low. I was used as a cheap alternative. I hope this experience will not happen again.
It was a job in a small bar. I worked nights as a bartender. I learned how to be friendly and listen to people like a psychologist. Successful people came to this bar and I realized that poor and rich people have the same amount of problems.
"I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed..."
Michael Jordan
Dishwasher when I was in highschool.
it was a job in a small café. i worked nights as a juicearian. almost 8 to 9 hour i ready juice for customers with omega j8006hdc. Mostly student comes to this cafe and give me advice to continue my study but i am unable to do it because of financial issues
I was the Director of Operations for a shipping start-up. We grew so fast and operational the wheels completely fell off. I worked over 100 hours a week for the better part of 3 months. I learned that's possible. Physically and mentally draining and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but it can be done. It was the most difficult work experience I have been through but after getting through it I feel like my resilience and capacity to handle stress is much higher.
I've had great jobs with bad experiences. Some have been with bosses who were bosses and would tell people to do their job & abuse them without having any experience doing the job themselves. I know this could be controversial but the leader makes the job interesting and not the job itself.
Almost all the jobs I have done have been good. Let me tell you about the best and worst job of my life. my first job was with sehhaty and it was the best job for me where i learn how to work professionally, how to manage time, how to manage team and many more. And the worst job I've ever had was customer service at a shopping mall.
I was working as a curriculum architect in one of the start up's where I was designing their courses, my boss had very unrealistic deadlines and was always in a hurry to complete things...Then he started cutting my salary if the work was not completed in the deadlines given. After a few days I left that job. The lesson I learnt was two way, firstly one should speak up for any behavior which is wrong and affects ones peace of mind. Second an employee is not just a employee but a part of your work family, treat them like that for better productivity and relationship with them. Also, leadership is with people not for the people..
Almost all the jobs I have done have been good. Let me tell you about my life's best and worst job. My first job was with allvendi discount men's facial scrub and it was the best job for me because I learnt many thing from this professionally, and my life's worst job is marketing