In good news, next week I get to start what is the job of my dreams. But as in most fairy tales you do have to kiss a few frogs (via HMRC) before you find your prince and I have had my fair share of toad-like jobs. That being said not all of the jobs that I had ,since being of working age (which in the UK is 16), were that bad and some I do miss- a lot. In the interest of keeping things that should be private sort of private I won't be disclosing all of the nitty gritty about where and when I worked- however it shouldn't be too hard for you to dig up if you really care about that sort of thing. Or if you're a stalker.
Additional Disclaimer: This list shall include any work experience/volunteering that I have done because why the heck not. We have all day right?
The first job I had was at a call centre taking telephone donations for Red Nose Day. I managed to get into this as a friend at Sixth Form happened to have a parent working at said call centre and you know the more the merrier applies when it comes to these charity events, more volunteers means more calls can be processed and me and my good heart couldn't say no to helping the cause. That being said I, pre-meds, was not the best person talking to strangers via a telephone and tech at hand didn't necessarily always work which proved a bit of a nightmare. But when pizza and all-you-can-drink tea is involved you can't say no. There's some dodgy photos out there from these fateful nights (oh yes, I did this for two years until the centre shut down) if you go all Sherlock Holmes on me.
During the Summer I started doing a bit of work decorating events through a company I happened to know through somebody I once knew. All in all it was fun, me being the weird human I am I really enjoy repetitive tasks such as putting on chair covers and placing centre pieces on tables, not to mention showing off my artistic flair throwing confetti on tables a la salt bae. I did this for a bit over a year, not minding the early starts and again free pizza often occurred (you see there's a trend here.)
My first paid, tax letters in the post, phone calls to HMRC because my code was wrong job was at Next over the Christmas period. I'll get onto my second position with them later but this was by far the better of the two. There's just something about working at Christmas that is so darn wonderful, being able to dance (internally) around like a goofball while clipping sale price tags onto garments because the shop is close and no one gives a f-. Yeah. I, for one, didn't mind working Christmas Eve. It's not as if I was doing anything special either, other than being excited that it was Christmas and we were finished fairly early because of the quality team we were. Sadly all good things come to the end when you are a temp and I bid farewell to Next 1.0 shortly after, McDonald's in hand thanks to Dad and his taxi service.
I then got a job as a waitress. God. The flashbacks. It was at a pub near where I lived but verging slightly more on the Tyne and Wear side of things than Durham (I never understood why its postcode was DH.) This was at the time when I was learning to drive so I have the route ingrained into my brain and had the scars off the bushy back roads ingrained into my old car (bliddy bushes.) It was a good job, probably the better of the two waitressing jobs I had if you take away the very vague hours and how tips were shared. Plus we got to wear waistcoats and look like sassy af penguins. And I like penguins. I left that sadly because I had passed my driving test and couldn't afford the insurance with the minimum wage job I had. Which leads me onto the next job.
Interlude. This is where Next 2.0 came in. I covered the Summer season while working at the pub I've just mentioned but this time at a different store. It wasn't as great, there was no Christmas music or jumpers or dancing. Just children's clothing and various sizes and prices and no joy. It was still fairly enjoyable and I enjoyed the compliment of 'you've got a great customer service face- stand at our door and hand out bags' so yeah, it worked out.
Post Next 2.0 and after a lot of interviews I landed at job at the Cath Kidston. To this date this is the only new shop I have ever worked out and I have to say opening day was a blast. Getting to meet influential people in retail, hand out goodies and land in your local paper is a pretty sweet deal. I have to say Cath Kidston is a fantastic brand, just incredibly expensive and it did sadden my slightly not being able to impulsively spend my discount even though the wage was very generous. My last shift was early morning Christmas Eve so I was certainly tired out by the time clocking out rolled around. Oh and the staff room was impeccable, mainly thanks to my and my top notch cleaning skills and the handy hoover.
The last job to mention was my second venture into waitressing and the longest I have been at any job, that being nearly a year. I did love it. The staff nights out were legendary, the split shifts certainly memorable and if anything I made true friends there. That job saw me through the most bizarre year in living memory- a lot of highs and lows- but I loved the working lates and building relationships with the regular customers. Although I am still truly sorry to the ladies on table 82 that we didn't have any toffee sauce in the end. I left at Christmas time, so god knows how epic that would have been, although working Christmas Day would have been a push- even for me.
And that's it really. Honorable mentions include the day I worked at a cafe before finding I couldn't do the hours and the time I helped out at my Dad's caravan park and all the little acting jobs that could have (or have) been.
So here's to the next festive period at my dream job and to all of my student loan going on bath bombs. It's going to be a great three months.
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